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Wednesday, July 08, 2009

ETD: 4 Days

You may recall that about 4 months ago, I wrote a pretty schmaltzy post about leaving Korea "for good" after two years and then some.

But, as most of us more or less knew I would, I am going back. To be specific: I'm going to work a summer camp at Soongsil University, which happens to be ranked #24 in Korea, for what it's worth, which probably isn't much because my students will all be elementary schoolers. We'll see.

The camp starts on July 15th and goes until mid-August, but my visa lasts until late September. This is quite a boon, since it means I won't get deported after the camp even if I haven't yet found another school to sponsor my visa. I don't anticipate any troubles - I've got applications in dozens of universities and have done or planned interviews with several of them, and anyway if I don't get a university post in Korea there are hundreds of other places I could go - but it's nice to have the security.

I'm hoping to get out another post later this week about traveling and how much it cost (in case you are planning some future travels, [wink nudge]) and what it felt like and what (if anything) I learned, complete with another quotation from David Foster Wallace, who you're probably sick of by now. But, in my humble opinion, the dude was a genius, not to mention quite often hilarious. So deal with it.

Stay tuned~~

6 comments:

David Cecil Pekema said...

Keep the DFW analysis coming. DCP thoroughly enjoys it.

DCP said...

I just recalled the "required reading" your dad would assign you, Andy and I. Those were the days.

Mike said...

Totally. I feel sorry for people whose fathers didn't insist they read Portnoy's Complaint at the age of 12.

jss said...

What do you SNOOTS think about commas in a series? Specifically, the last comma, e.g. "'you, Andy and I'" (from DCP's post) or "you, Andy, and I" (how I would write it).

Ready, set, go!

Ready, set go?

Mike said...

I don't have a fully formed opinion on the matter. I was taught to include the third comma and I also feel like the third comma better conveys the pace of our speech in those situations. That said, a lot of people much smarter and more respectable than me (I'm not referring to DCP here) tend not to use it.

I'd also add that from an ecological standpoint, we'd probably be better off dropping it. Thn gn, frm n clgcl stndpnt w'd b bttr ff typng wtht vwls, t.

Anyway, in my own writing, I"m more comfortable using it than not.

Associated Press said...

AP standard is to not include the final comma - saves space. In standard grammar the rule demands it. There are exceptions, of course.