In about a week I will be boarding a plane to leave my home country for approximately 1 year. As a junior in college I left for a semester to study in South Korea at Korea University's Sejong Campus in Jochiwon. During those awesome 4 months I made some awesome friends and learned more than I ever expected to about the world and myself. Check out coffeytraveler.blogspot.com for more details on that trip. That amazing experience led me to apply to Fulbright for a grant to teach English in South Korea which I eventually won.
In mid-June 2012 I received a phone call notifying me that I was being offered a grant and giving me the opportunity to accept it. My first reaction, indeed the first words out of my mouth were: "Are you serious?" Then I proceeded to have a mild panic attack. What would you do after receiving life changing news?
After 2 weeks of rigorously filling out forms and overnighting them to various places I am finally in the packing stages. Packing for a year is difficult. I have to have enough baggage to last me for a year, but I have to be able to manage it around an airport and I need to bring objects besides clothes, like teaching materials. And I want to bring my Korean textbooks and favorite novels to keep both my language skills sharp. I'm an advanced beginner in Korean so I need to stay sharp and work hard to improve.
I'm also mentally preparing. I want to treasure the little time at home I have left. After having been abroad, for me having good memories of home made a difference when I was lonely. I'm spending time with friends and family, finishing the last couple episodes of my favorite tv shows, and taking memory pictures of my favorite places in town. Two of my friends are abroad for the summer, one in Spain, the other in Egypt and it will be very exciting to trade snail mail messages with them while we're abroad. I'm so glad and honored to be moving into a new stage of life with Fulbright and with so many other people. This opportunity with bring me new friends and new worlds of understanding. As a Christian I can feel God moving in this and I wonder what He will do during the next year.
In mid-June 2012 I received a phone call notifying me that I was being offered a grant and giving me the opportunity to accept it. My first reaction, indeed the first words out of my mouth were: "Are you serious?" Then I proceeded to have a mild panic attack. What would you do after receiving life changing news?
After 2 weeks of rigorously filling out forms and overnighting them to various places I am finally in the packing stages. Packing for a year is difficult. I have to have enough baggage to last me for a year, but I have to be able to manage it around an airport and I need to bring objects besides clothes, like teaching materials. And I want to bring my Korean textbooks and favorite novels to keep both my language skills sharp. I'm an advanced beginner in Korean so I need to stay sharp and work hard to improve.
I'm also mentally preparing. I want to treasure the little time at home I have left. After having been abroad, for me having good memories of home made a difference when I was lonely. I'm spending time with friends and family, finishing the last couple episodes of my favorite tv shows, and taking memory pictures of my favorite places in town. Two of my friends are abroad for the summer, one in Spain, the other in Egypt and it will be very exciting to trade snail mail messages with them while we're abroad. I'm so glad and honored to be moving into a new stage of life with Fulbright and with so many other people. This opportunity with bring me new friends and new worlds of understanding. As a Christian I can feel God moving in this and I wonder what He will do during the next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment