Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Taiwan Bound?

Well, it looks like I am finally getting somewhere with this teaching English in Taiwan adventure. The past 3 weeks I have applied to many places, gone through a placement agency and used (my brothers) networks to get things rolling. But let me make some observations:

1. I am thinking that when schools ask that you come in for an interview in person (that is come to Taiwan without the knowledge if you will be hired or not) they are saying "We'll call you..."

2. When I paid the University of South Carolina $200 per semester in "technology fees" and it still takes them OVER 3 months to get me my diploma, I think there is a problem. Being I graduated on December 14 and they said that we should receive our diplomas in March, this could cause some problems with my work visa for Taiwan. If transcripts don't work, I'll be camping outside the registrars office until I get my diploma. And I'll do it too...

3. For the school that I will be working at, some kind of teaching certificate is required. Now, most of the other ones I applied to didn't require this, but it's fine. But what is interesting is that I will be a certified substitute teacher in Arizona. I haven't even been to Arizone before...

4. When a placement agency sets up an interview with you, and then they stand you up, you make sure you give them a shout out. Thank you Reach To Teach Recruiting. Luckily, it was my backup school in Korea. So no worries.

I have a feeling this will be a very interesting next couple of months. No doubt, there will be setbacks, but hopefully I can stay on top of these things and get moving.

More to come...

Monday, December 21, 2009

A little of this, a little of that

So I finally graduated. Yep, I made it. Somehow.

This past week, I have done a little bit of traveling. On Thursday, I headed to Charleston with some friends. Played a little basketball (got schooled) and did a little running (got cramped). That night, we went to downtown Charleston and went salsa dancing. By the way, I can't dance. No matter how hard I try. It's impossible. But that has never stopped me.

We went to Southend Brewery and Smokehouse for the salsa dancing. They had a $5 cover charge. Never have been a fan of a cover charge. But I guess since they had a live DJ and had to pay him, they needed to pass on those costs to the consumer. Thanks capitalism.

There were several things I liked about Southend. For one, it was a microbrewery (well, they had their own beers, but their "vats" were encased and really small, nothing like Hunter Gatherer here in Columbia, so I think that they make the beer elsewhere). I tried two of their beers and had to say that they were actually very good - and only $3.50!!

Another thing I liked was that the restruant was actually 3 stories (they have both an elevator and stairs) and they have a "gawking" area set up so you can look down on the people below you. On the 3rd floor, they have another bar, dart boards and a few pool tables. Unfortunatley, they had already closed the bar - or so the bartender told me - so we couldn't play pool. Ever hear of coin slot operated tables?! Anyhow...

The music was good, the atmosphere was overall friendly (minus the short stocky black guy who came over to where we were sitting and said "this is my table" like 8 times. Yeah, I heard you the first time.) I would defintly recommend hitting this up if you're in Charleston sometime.

Then Friday I went to Aiken, SC and Augusta, GA. Never really have been to either of them before. Didn't actually do anything in Aiken. But Augusta was a very nice place. They have a great layout for their downtown, with parking on both sides of the street and parking lots built in every other block in the middle of the road. Very nice, very convienent, and very busy.

We went to a place called Firehouse (I think) and it was pretty interesting. In Georgia, unlike South Carolina, they don't have a smoking ban in bars. Not a big fan of laws governing our actions, but have to say I do like SC's laws a little better. But they had fair prices on their drinks (domestics seemed priced about $2 each) and they had a few local microbrewery beers on tap. Besides Firehouse being where the local wildlife of Savannah hangs out, it was a good place. Had a pool table and a very tiny bathroom. Just FYI's. I was also told the womens bathroom had showcurtains for dividers. Now that's classy.

Next up for me will be - hopefully - Boston and Philly. Maybe NYC? I don't know yet, but I'm going to try to get up that way sometime after Christmas. More to come...

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Been an interesting past couple of days...

Yesterday, randomly around lunch time, my cell decided to just stop working. The screen just blanked out, no warning...just bam! But since it was still under the factory warranty, they sent me a new one (in less than 24 hours!) for free. Unfortunatly, they couldn't transfer any of the data I had...so all my contacts, pictures, videos - lost. And I had some good stuff in there. Oh well.

Tonight, I saw my first ever "professional" play - in America. I had seen Chicago and The Tempest in England years ago, but I had never seen a professionally done play before. I saw Rent, which from what I was told had a great cast. I thought it was pretty cool and think its something everyone should do.

Today was my last day at the governors office. Not much to write home about. I have to say that the internship was, for "experience" purposes, almost a complete waste. Minus the fact that I was able to sit in on a state supreme court hearing (Sanford v. Ethics Committe) and got to make a few contacts at some of the state agencies, all I can say is that the opportunity cost made me lose out in about $700 per month. So not cool. Not cool at all.

Tomorrow is my last day at Avista. I've been there for 2 and a half years, and although I really do love the people I work with, it's time to move on. I've been a "glorified" telemarketer and think I max out on what I could learn about a year ago.

Graduation is on Monday. Ironically I have my last final that day too. Way to give me a parting middle finger there, USC. But come 3:30 on December 14 (and me passing a certain final that I took on Monday) I will be done with college - and none too soon. Burned out doesn't begin to explain it. But I made it, with a double major in business (accounting and management) and a minor in political science.

Right now, I'm trying to get a job teaching english abroad. I'm concentrating my efforts in getting into Taiwan. Not really sure why - I know almost nothing about the Asian culture. But maybe that's why I want to do it - no real predisposed biases and something that I can only learn from. It would be a year long thing and I could be leaving as soon as the end of January. I am all for it, but I may have started my application process a little too late. If it's meant to be, a door will open. Or the security system will be off so I can knock open the door......

Monday, December 7, 2009

Ray LaMontagne

Ray LaMontagne is in my opinion a more chill artist than Jack Johnson, but has a much wider variety of songs, and a much better lyric writer. Here is a sample of one of his songs...listen to the words, I think they will blow you away...


Sunday, December 6, 2009

The End of Ideology and Beginning of Wandering

So for many, this may come as sort of a surprise:

I really couldn't give two shits about politics.

You see, after all the reading I've done over the past 4 years, the conversations I've had with people of all persuasions, and working for a politican for the past semester (yes, the famous Governor Sanford of South Carolina), I must admit, politics is too much banter, too little governing.

So at the ripe old age of 23, I'm looking for something new.

So what will it be? It's easy for me to get into anything. I love sports, music, friends, beer, dogs, cats, long walks on the beach, roller coasters, zoos, snow, sun, and sleeping. Food too.

With this in mind, what encompasses all of the things I love most? I thought long and hard about it. At least 6 minutes.

And I came up with an answer...

Travel

Yes, I think the next thing that I will begin to do, begin to study, begin to write about, begin to live is travel. And as a college graduate with a business empahasis, finding time right now to travel should be no problem.

So with the political ideology behind me (but don't confuse that with me saying I will never dive into the subject again. It's just I'm going to be focusing on others things for the next chapter of my life) the new passion will be travel, and all that it encompasses.

And lucky for me, it's a lot. So far, I'm already planning a few trips around a Frank Turner/Flogging Molly concert; also looking at hitting up DC, Boston, and Philadelpia. Even an outside chance of doing that teach english abroad in Taiwan for a year. Imagine that?

Well, I guess I have to graduate college first, so I better get back to studying for my finals - my final finals. Strange how real this is...