Roller Coaster Ride

Posted! For good or ill, I just posted my ridiculously lengthy "teaching portfolio" (actually called a Thematic Unit) to Blackboard for my online TEFL course. There is plenty of room for improvement, and my emphasis on pronunciation (one of seven required components of the unit) is sorely lacking, but it'll be a passing grade, which is about all I need to earn an A in the class at this point. I'd be happy with a B too, for what it's worth. I'm just glad to have been carried through this week to its end!

Last time I blogged, I had not yet heard back from the recruiter. Well. I did receive an email the morning following my last post, and quite frankly, I was devastated. All the application materials I received and the city preferences list were for EPIK (the "anywhere but Seoul and its suburbs" school system). There went all my hopes and plans and research, dashed with a single email! I wrote back with some reluctant preferences of cities, but asked very pointedly, "What about GEPIK though, aren't they hiring yet? I know they started in November of next year, but maybe if I wait, I'll miss both windows!"

Worries plagued me, and I fretted about what to do. My mind flitted from concerns about safety in less-researched areas to irrational worry that "The farther I get from the Olympic Stadium, the farther I will be from the occasional bilingual sign, oh NO!!" The lack of my normal busy work gave way to more temptations of anxiousness. I even went so far as to write the pastor of the Korean church I had been hoping to attend so I could ask how far away some of my new placement options were. The reply from him was discouraging too (though his words themselves were uplifting) - best case scenario: two hour commute from the nearest EPIK city to the church.

That was Wednesday though. Thursday was a brand new day. And there was no morning calm, only morning rejoicing. Somewhere in communicating with a non-native English speaker, details had gotten mixed up and the lady with whom I am corresponding had not realized I was specifically applying to the GEPIK system. Her second email included all the application materials and forms I had originally expected I would get, along with those beautiful drop-down menus with all the Gyeonggi province placement options. And there was much, MUCH rejoicing. ...Yes, I did just call a function of Microsoft Excel "beautiful." Oh, this cross-cultural experience is going to be character-building. I can see that already. And I still find myself scared that I've "put all my eggs in one basket," since I don't even have an interview scheduled yet! It'll work out too though I believe.

With roller coasters (not that I can speak with much experience since Space Mountain Orlando is about the only one I've been on in my memory), you have all the terrifying thrill of the plunge, but I believe it's kept in perspective by two things: looking forward to the next climb, and knowing that the terror and the roller coaster won't last forever; eventually, you will arrive at Home, safe and sound. Soli Deo Gloria.