About Me…
It's me... The QiRanger aka Steve
I’ve been around the Internet for year! In fact, I remember plugging in my first modem and having a blazing speed of 2400 baud! That’s right… bytes per second! To think that we connect the world in terms of gigabytes per second is mind blowing, considering it hasn’t even been twenty years.
So about me… Well I am a diverse person. Really.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology, a Masters degree in Education, and a 120 TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate all to my credit. I’ve worked in private and public institutions of learning both in the United States and the Republic of Korea. Over the years, I’ve also volunteered as a National Park Ranger, owned my own Chinese Medical Massage business, and worked in the IT industry. However, despite the diversity within the careers themeselves, I’ve always tried to keep a firm hold on education.
This is why, my greatest joys have always been associating with academic institutions. Teaching English in Korea, has been by far, the greatest of my experiences. not only because it allowed me to live and experience a new culture, but to actively impact the minds of young and emerging adults.
Over the years, I’ve also tied in professional photography and videography duties with my educational roles. It’s lead to some fascinating adventures, that I post here on the blogsite. So that’s a little about me… never hesitate to ask more questions.
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Hi Steve,
Since there is no other contact form on your blog, I figured I could use this one to send you a quick note.
I thought I’d let you know that I like your podcasts, and even picked one of them (the one on dieting and new year’s resolutions) to use as the audio material for one of my English lessons I teach on real-english.ru.
If you are wondering what the website is all about, it is a free ESL service for Russian-speaking learners of English where I try to leverage what I have picked up throughout my ten years as a Canadian resident, combined with my web-programming skills, to build an online community of enthusiastic English learners.
In case you want to see how your podcast was used, here is the lesson: http://real-english.ru/assignments/2009-01-19/
While the content is mostly in Russian, I am sure you will figure out that the assignment was to listen to, comprehend and transcribe what was said in the podcast. I chose your video because I liked your voice and your manner of speaking.
I hope you do not mind if I refer to your other podcasts in the future. Over time you may become quite popular in Russia
Thanks for the great work, Steve, and I would love to hear back from you, as to whether you like this idea or not.
Best regards,
Ican Zamoranov
Ivan Zamoranov
April 24, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Glad to know you got some use out of it! Thanks for letting me see the
lesson.
Steve
April 24, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Hi Steve!
Thanks for the comments on my blog (crystar683.wordpress.com, in case you don’t recognize me!)
I’ve been paging through your blogs…we’ve definitely had some of the same experiences teaching in Korea. Since you seem like a traveler, and I’m always up for tourism
, was there anything in Korea that you really loved or wish you had seen?
Hope to hear from you!
Crystal
crystar683
May 19, 2009 at 10:36 pm
I really enjoyed my time in Korea and will be returning there June 1st (Dongtan, near Suwon). I really liked Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon. It was rich with History. The other place that really really impressed me was Changdeokgung (the palace with the Secret Garden). The tour gives you a nice over view, but as I recall, on Thursdays, you can roam the grounds without a guide. I really never made it outside of the Seoul area that much, since I was trying to hit as much as I could.
I’m going to try and hit Busan and Jeju this year, as well as a flight over to Japan. I would recommend going to Everland and Lotteworld. In July, there’s the Mud Festival, which is a blast.
Well, that’s a start of some of the more interesting things. Oh…. and Seosaemun Prison was really neat too.
Steve
May 19, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Darn, I missed you, I wanted to see if you wanted to have coffee when you were in Korea. I couldn’t figure out how to contact you (youtube is in Korean in Korea), but now I came across your blog. If you have any questions about this region, I might know, might not know. ^^
Now, I’m finishing up a 27 page essay for my Korean history class titled, “Fall From Heaven, How the Collapse of the Sinocentric System Shapes the Destiny of Korea”. Of course it is a bit amateur, but I feel I am getting strong in this area, as I read multiple sources from books on Chinese, Korean, and Japanese history to be a bigger picture on the topic…
Joaquín Menchaca
June 9, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I’m still in Korea… Where are you located? I’m in the process of getting my ARC again, so no mobile yet.
Steve
June 10, 2009 at 9:53 am
I am in Shinchon. You have facebook? I’m Joaquín Menchaca on there. Search for suavecali@yahoo.com. I’ll add you as friend, and my phone number is on there. Right now I am in final’s week.
Joaquín Menchaca
June 16, 2009 at 7:20 pm