Return to Asia: China-Style

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Another jaunt to Asia! What on earth am I doing this time? Well, it’s a mixed bag of goodies and comes in 4 parts.

May 10-June 5:

Shanghai! I will be doing a Maymester class through Georgia State University at Shanghai University. The class is called Special Topics: TEFL Practicum in China. TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language, so it plays nicely into my Applied Linguistics and ESL master’s degree. Essentially, the course will expose us to the Chinese educational system and EFL practices. We will observe English-language classes in the university and numerous other educational settings around the city, give micro-teachings (mini-lessons) in those classes, and take a few Chinese culture classes ourselves. Sight-seeing will also be important!

June 5-June 28ish:

I’m free as a bird! While my classmates head home, I will take to the road and see other parts of China.  This will be a solo trip, as I am fond of doing. I hope that the survival language skills I plan to acquire during the month in Shanghai will serve me well! The trip is not entirely planned, but I hope to combine a little of big city life, village life, natural and man-made wonders.

June 28-July 21

Beijing! My university has a great relationship with Tsinghua University (the Harvard of China!) and 5 master’s students have been invited to teach at the English Summer Camp. There will be three weeks of classes, where I will provide entertaining, yet informative lessons, and attempt to amuse the poor college kids who just want to be on summer break!

July 22-July 28

One more week of travel! I will have a few days before I need to get back down to Shanghai for my return flight home. Where I go will depend on the itinerary already completed. The last exciting portion happens on the flight home. I fly through Seoul, and I have an overnight layover! I hope to see a few friends still living in Korea, and to eat a lot of great Korean food!

Sounds fun, right? Let’s see how this develops…

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