Time has flown!

 Well, the last I wrote, it was Thanksgiving, just two weeks into my Pakse teaching assignment.  What happened after was my intense focus on understanding and fullfilling my assignment, day-by-day, nose to the grindstone, falling into coma-style sleeps at nighttime.  And at the same time, the program had committed me to preparing 2 presentations each for 2 conferences.  

Weeks at school were full, and weekends in December and January were taken with this preparation. I probably got more anxious about the work than I needed to, but at the time, it was, for me a huge endeavor which could only be worked on in a steady slow fashion.

I'm now two weeks past not only that work but the travel to Jakarta, Indonesia for the mid-year ELF (English Language Fellow) conference and the TESOL (Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages -- trade group for my profession). 

For those of you interested in my topics, they were:  

-Preparing Students for a Multi-Cultural Work and Study Environment -Beyond Listening Practice:Teaching Strategies to Improve Comprehension -English Language Rhythm: in Words, Chants & Songs -Negotiating cross-cultural challenges in East Asia-Pacific (panel discussion)

My take-away:  I ended up enjoying the conferences as well as  meeting or reacquainting myself with fellow teachers both from Laos and from East Asia. I especially enjoyed working with and co-presenting a fellow teacher at the University (Ajan Somphien) and a Fulbright teaching assistant, Nnadia.  And the panel discussion about cultural challenges. 

So, here are some of the fun pictures from January and February!

 Fellows and Teaching Assistants with DCM- US Embassy, Michelle Outlaw

Access Teachers in Indonesia with  Fellows from East Asia Pacific

                  My co-presenters at Lao TESOL
I met an Indonesian English teacher who had spent time in Ann Arbor and who knew my co-teacher Josh at MLC



My fellow ELF and good buddy Sharon 

 It's our year.. the year of the Snake! Fellow ELF working in Cambodia and I at the mall in Jakarta.



We had a fancy dinner at a historic building in Jakarta.

I made cartoons to demonstrate some of the cultural differences that I've experienced to share at the Mid-year conference. 




Comments

  1. Hedwig MurphyApril 20, 2025 at 4:12 AM

    I love seeing your posts, Julie. I know you are busy, but keep them coming!

    ReplyDelete

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