Bad News and Turning it All Around

Bad news was received in the form of an email. The Lehigh professor helping me with the Fulbright decided, after looking over everything that I would have a difficult time being able to win the scholarship. My pursuit of a business degree and work experience in advertising didn't exactly hail me as the most likely of candidates, but I feel so passionate about working and "giving back" to the world right now I figured it would be enough. Apparently not. I will find another way or the European Union may just be ruled out for a while at least.

In other news - I have continued my soziety.com interactions. There are a limited number of Americans who speak English on the site so I usually am bombarded with people wanting to chat via Skype. Currently I am chatting with Miguel from Seville, Spain the most often. He works as a financial controller, is 36, likes long walks on the beach...just kidding.

I am starting to consistently talk/IM via Skype with the same people and my only fear is that I may run out of things to say. They want to hear the English words for familiarity and I can't just spit out random sentences because that's not really helpful. Yet, there is only so much of "how are you," "what is your favorite color," "it's Friday night in (European/Asian country insert here) so why are you on Skype learning English and not out having fun?"

I may be delaying my move to Turkey because of an opportunity (to be discussed later as it develops) that may take place during the month of September.

I am continuing to read my grammar books and need to crack open my "Younger Learners" book just in case little ones are in my teaching future. Also, I fully intend to practice my guitar more often than I have been. No more excuses. (I say this more to push myself than as an interesting sentence for the readers).

The Turkey soccer game is coming up soon for the Eurocup and I fully intend to watch! Hopefully some of you will as well.

Some funny items listed below:

One very funny comment I saw on the Facebook SpeedDate application that I had mentioned on Twitter and Plurk - Please read the the 4th comment:
http://ur.lc/1r



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Be sure to watch the Penguin flying video that I posted from YouTube! Totally the best commercial ever. :)

And the process continues...

I have encountered a very minor, but annoying, dilemma: there really isn't any offline material for someone pursuing a teaching career within the EFL field. More specifically, someone who has an interest in utilizing Web 2.0 capabilities within their teaching practice. I know it may seem ridiculous to desire to read a book about these two elements when I can find the material online, but I figured there might be a great book with consolidated information that I could use as constant companion in my new adventure.

I have gone to a couple of larger bookstores to attempt to find the "all encompassing" book but haven't been successful. I realize that most EFL/ESL books center around teaching to students in which English is the primary language. I know that I could learn some important and essential tips and tricks on teaching by reading these books, but I am looking for a read that places the emphasis on being in a location where English is primarily a second language.

I did some perusing on Amazon and found, Teaching English Abroad, 7th (Teaching English Abroad) (Paperback) from 2005. (Amazon listing: http://ur.lc/14) Could be interesting, but is it the only one of it's kind? What about a book referencing social media outlets, etc? Maybe this one instead TEFL Questions and Answers (Paperback)(http://ur.lc/17).

I have been reading How To Teach English (Book with DVD) (How S.) (Paperback): http://ur.lc/16. It has been pretty fascinating to read about aspects of teaching that I never would have considered previously. Such as a general layout of a classroom and the social impact that it can represent.

Thankfully there are lots of great online resources that have helped me formulate some good ideas not only for when I begin to teach but also for my Fulbright application.

I had spent the majority of the last few days writing by hand (almost a foreign idea to me nowadays) my proposal and personal statement. Last night around 11PM I started to type-up my rough drafts. Organization is lacking within my paper so now I need to motivate myself to complete that...


Some cool applications/sites that I have seen on the web that would be relevant for TEFL:
*Forvo - A pronunciation guide in different languages by native speakers (http://forvo.com/)
*Heads up English - a website with English lesson plans and articles (http://www.headsupenglish.com)
*Twitter - always deserves a mention. Great social networking (http://twitter.com)

Off-Topic Alert:

Here is an interesting Turkish news story: http://ur.lc/15

Also, here is an extremely funny reward for making it through my blog from LOLCats:

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The beginning...

I have been wanting to start a blog for a while but never felt I had anything worthwhile to say...I now realize that I want to collect my thoughts and feelings for personal gain as well.

I am about to embark on a really amazing experience (at least I hope it will be amazing).

My story (in very short form): I had graduated from college with a business degree in marketing and communications and have spent the last three years working within the interactive marketing and advertising sector. I have had the opportunity to work in publishing as an intern in NYC to pharmaceutical advertising in Philadelphia. In order to move away from sounding like a resume/CV lets just say that I had some good and bad experiences. I have personally experience "the Devil Wears Prada" type of boss and have felt caged by the three cube walls that I began to view as a second home. At the same time I have been challenged and had the thrill of working through some complicated material or project successfully. I always struggled tremendously with accounting and finance in college but somehow managed to do quite well when faced with required budgeting tasks.

About a year ago my boyfriend was able to get a relocation opportunity to the south of Spain through his employment to start this summer. We started to consider what we should in terms of my career, blah blah. Countless (and I meant countless because I am definitely one of those people who go over-the-top in terms of planning and preparation) conversations later we had decided to possibly get married. Then we decided maybe not...time was limited and it was stressful enough moving to a foreign country. Also, I wouldn't be able to work over in Spain. If I did choose to get my certification for TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) there was no guarantee that I would get a job and a work permit as a non-EU. (I will discuss all of my research on this subject in a later post).

Finally it all came to a halt as he needed to go over there early and I am not sure how it will all play out. I have decided that after endless research about the best opportunities for teachers in EFL/ESL that I will go to Eastern Europe. Istanbul, Turkey specifically. I have a friend (who has been ridiculously helpful) teaching there now and think this might be the best option.

Also, I am applying to the Fulbright program for a teaching assistantship in Spain for the 2009-2010 school year. (More to come in later posts on this as well)

So that is my first blog. My last year of decision-making and stress all wrapped up in a few paragraphs. Regardless, I am so excited about what the future holds.

Well that wasn't really all that hard. Maybe I am self-absorbed and like writing about myself. :)
That couldn't be it...