san

[san]

Here are two screenshots of my messages screen. There are so, so, many more.

The word SAN isn’t a dictionary word in any of my languages, but it still means something to me. It’s the last syllable of my surname and that’s what I was called in high school, in the way that syllables are dropped to reach a nickname.

I do use this Tumblr. Most of my posts are private. 

[san]

Julien Vallée, Spray Can (2008). 

[san]

Illustrations by Laure S

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Cat in European languages

[san]

Lunch, Malaysian Airlines. January 2020. In these coronavirus times, this feels like ages ago.

[san]

Impulse buy (the game, not Captain the cat)

[san]

빈대떡 and 막걸리 for (almost) rainy days

[san]

Dog in a Small Korean Town Follows Street View Photographer, Photobombs Each And Every Photo

[san]

The occasional public update

I’m still in Korea. In 2014, I moved here to up my resume for the Foreign Service. I didn’t get in (ultra competitive) but I’m going to try again soon. In the meantime, my life here is really good. No expensive bills for having a cold, no need for a car and gas and insurance, cheap food, fun life.

The downsides? For one thing, I cut my own bangs in my bathroom last night, and I super regret it. Have been feeling ugly since. Oh well, it’ll grow back.

[san]

Dinner with friends. This kind of looks like an ad?

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Lunch today. 볶음 김치 (stir fried kimchi) is my favorite! I'm happy enough to just eat that with rice.

[san]

Brunch at a cafe

[san]

덤 = a free addition, 서비스. Free extra long cheese sticks with my delivery pizza. I always feel a bit dirty after ordering delivery....but it was delicious.

[san]

Brunch tarts at the Hongdae branch of Tarr Tarr (technically in Hapjeong....) 서울 미포구 양화로6길 50 50, Yanghwa-ro 6-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul

[san]

Next step in the Foreign Service application process are the personal narrative questions (PNQ). I'm going to give it my best shot, but I highly suspect that will be the end of my candidacy... leastways, for this cycle! Budget cuts, ultra competitive field, and WHY haven't I built hospitals, cured cancer, or interned for presidents!?

But, I did pass the FSOT on my first try. Major bragging rights. But I'll probably never mention it, because I might have to add, "....and that's as far as I got."

Also, the supervisor who wrote my recommendation letter? On Thursday night, I also asked him if I could put his name down on my PNQ. A couple of hours later, he announces to the staff that it's his last day. Makes sense now why he told me to keep a scan of the letter, on Wednesday. And it appears that I asked for the letter on the day (maybe plus or minus one day) he put in his 2-week notice.

I will miss him. Greatest manager I've had. I've had three awesome managers in my working lifetime, and he's definitely #1.

[san]

I also found out that I passed the Foreign Service Officer Test today. Amazing. I opened the letter with a sigh, expecting it to ruin the rest of my day. I was staggered when I read the letter: “Congratulations”? Huh? For a few seconds, I couldn’t understand why the letter said congratulations  – I truly expected to fail. When I took the test, I knew I had done well – but I didn’t think I had aced it. At the time, I felt like I scored maybe a C+ on a university exam.

To be honest, I didn’t really study for it. I read The Atlantic and The Economist for a few months, and I had a quick look at the US Constitution the day OF the test… and that was it. None of this reading material was directly helpful. Can’t completely study for the test through book-learnin’. You just have to live your life and pay attention to things along the way.

I think it’s not possible to truly study for the Job Knowledge part. You can only hope that you know the right bits of trivia, and be some kind of Jeopardy whiz.

I did not prep for English Expression, and yet my highest score came from that section. I didn’t realize that the Biographic Information was scored – I thought I just had to write little notes about myself.

[san]

Korea

I've decided to go ahead with applying to work in Korea. Korean is one of the Critical Needs Languages, and I feel that living and working there will really improve my Foreign Service candidacy.

I think I'll go through a recruiter. My reasoning: I am a first-timer, and I need a backup system in case things go a bit pear-shaped at any point of the application or job.  And to give me a shot at more than just EPIK. I'd prefer the public schools, though. I realize that there are good and bad hagwons. I just worry that I'll be in a bad hagwon. And it seems to be so, so, so much worse to be in a bad hagwon situation, rather than a bad public school situation.

I asked for my two letters of recommendation this week.

First Letter Me: Are you closing today? Supervisor: No. Me: Oh.  OK.  Um, what time are you leaving? Can I talk to you before you leave? Supervisor: .... Are you quitting? Me: No. Uh ... at least, not yet.

As for the second letter, I took the recommender out to lunch today (I insisted on paying, of course). Impressively, he called his office RIGHT THEN AND THERE to request more letterhead paper and envelopes.

Tomorrow, I'll do a whole bunch of other stuff. Notarizing a copy of my diploma, getting fingerprinted, etc. Mailing out transcript requests. So many things to do.