Wednesday, January 10, 2007

A Kind Card from a Student

Image from Burgoyne, Inc.

I received a kind Christmas card from a former graduate student but didn't pick it up until I visited Korea University again on Friday last week to help with the editing of a feminist journal.

I said "Christmas card," but the card literally offers a "Season's Greetings" on the outside and extends kind wishes on the inside:

Wishing you
every Happiness
this Holiday Season
and throughout
the Coming Year

My student then added a personal note:

I send this card to express my deep gratitude and affection for you and your family. Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher and I wish you all the happiness and blessings from God. Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Hyun Ji Kim

P.S. Instead of going to Law School I have been admitted to Interpretation School. (GSIT: Graduate School for Interpretation and Translation at the 한국외국어 대학교) I am very happy about this!

That's very nice personal letter, which comes at a welcome time as I leave Korea University and find myself on the hard job market.

Thank you, Hyun Ji, and I wish you the best if you see this message.

8 Comments:

At 4:31 AM, Blogger Al-Ozarka said...

Lyon College, perhaps?

 
At 5:25 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

I'd love being back in the Arkansas Ozarks, but does Lyon College have any openings in history or English? I looked at their website but didn't see any announcements of that sort.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 1:28 PM, Blogger jj mollo said...

You could write. There seems to be a big market for any book that begins with "Idiot's Guide to ...". Do they already have guides to Beowulf or Milton? You have demonstrated that you can make these works approachable for the layman, and entertaining interpretation is your forté. Throw in some of the numerology and you could sneak into the Da Vinci Code slipstream.

Your Arkansas reveries are very powerful too. Although I don't know what the market would be.

If you just need a job, there is a BIG market for ESL.

Personally, I find it hard to believe you would have difficulty finding a regular professor's position. I'm sure you're a great teacher.

These things take time. My wife is in a similar situation. She's on the roller coaster. One day she's depressed and doubtful of her chances. The next day she's excited and full of hope.

 
At 9:53 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

JJ, I'm certainly idiot enough to qualify!

I wish that I were a great teacher, but I don't know that I am, for I've mostly taught people whose first language is other than English, so I don't know how good I'd be in a context where I'm interacting with genuine native speakers.

I hope that your wife's circumstances change for the better and that she finds a position.

I hope the same for myself, but I see no guarantees...

Jeffery Hodges

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At 11:11 AM, Blogger Conservative in Virginia said...

You might look into craigslist. Maybe you'd like to teach English in China?

 
At 3:51 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

CIV, thanks for the links. The China position is probably like many private-academy positions here in Korea.

If we leave Korea, it'd have to be for a solid professor's job in the States (or an equivalent elsewhere).

Jeffery Hodges

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At 10:24 AM, Blogger Conservative in Virginia said...

How about this site?

 
At 3:45 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

CIV, I used to apply using the Chronicle of Higher Education, but I never received any offers, not even of an interview.

I think that one simply has to have contacts with people, and I don't have many.

Jeffery Hodges

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