Published by the Gwangju International Center since 2001
Alzheimer’s is a nasty brain disease. The nerves in the brain are slowly rotting away until they die. It becomes increasingly difficult for the brain cells to communicate with each other, so the processing of information by the brain slows down dramatically. This means the scores on IQ tests get lower and lower, and even the simplest tasks previously become too difficult.
You go on adventures, you talk to strangers like you have not done before, you hitchhike… The world is suddenly full of possibilities that you had not considered. They say that “the sky is the limit,” but one should add, “especially when you are abroad.” You are free and strangely bereft of the habits you had in your day-to-day life in your country of origin, which allows you to create a new “un-routinely” routine, full of exploration and discoveries.
“Many expat teachers in Korea today got their start in English teaching at one of the many private English institutes that populate the streets of every population center in the nation. I did not begin my days in Korea working at a language institute (aka hagwon) – nor did any expat in Korea at the time. It was against the law. “English fever” and “English hell” are not such recent phenomena. During the Park Chung Hee administration, only a very few hagwon were granted business licenses, and those that were so lucky were limited to teaching content directly related to standardized exams such as the college entrance examination, and hiring non-Koreans to teach English was also against the law. “
Many people in the Gwangju area know Professor Park Joo-Kyung for her work in the field of English language teaching (ELT) as an instructor, teacher trainer, administrator, ELT association leader, and the list goes on. But what you may not be as aware of is that she is also widely known in ELT circles throughout the nation and, indeed, throughout Asia and beyond for her leadership and service – as attested to by her recent appointment as president-elect of AsiaTEFL. Our KOTESOL interviewer recently caught up with Dr. Park to quiz her more on her leadership and service activities over the years.
My involvement with the “Lost” column began this month back in 2018, and as much as I’d like to have a single, significant topic to cover, this fourth anniversary has fallen during a creative slump. As per tradition, whenever this happens, I’m left to cobble together a few half-baked ideas with little rhyme or reason to them. And so, here it is – an underwhelming medley of odds and (dead) ends that have been crowding my workspace these past few months.
“Find ways to excel with your abilities, improve your skills, and remember that we will be students forever, so let’s choose our methods of learning early.”
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