Going

Yes, I finally think I can update now.

Because I'm going.

Where? The question is. Hong Kong. The answer is.

After all the grand thoughts and sad days and waiting and planning and hoping, I have settled to go to Hong Kong. The place I'm going to is called The Hong Kong Institute of Education (香港教育學院). I'm going to do a 4-Year Full-time Bachelor in English (Honours) (English Language) - Primary Programme. I'm writing in simple direct sentences because I'm too lazy to think of composing my words :P Oh, how I wish I were one of those who were naturally amusing! (*forgive the drama)

The next question, I believe is - What? Why? Thought you were doing Architecture? Why do Education in Hong Kong?

Sigh... I suppose an explanation is due. In case anyone else asks in future, I can always direct them to this post, right? So... for reasons why I'm no longer doing Architecture, you can read this post here. After that is done, then you would know that my other interest lay in languages.

I wasn't searching for courses in Education actually. It was after I hit a lot of snags (financial, datelines) with language courses, that I had this question posed to me, "Would you consider doing Education?" I pondered. I thought, if I did languages, the road would either be translating the language, or teaching the language, right? If it was the latter, then a course in Education in a particular language makes sense, doesn't it?

As to why Hong Kong, actually I was just looking for more viable options. Since the US and UK are technically off-limits due to financial restraints, it meant that I had to look for somewhere nearer. I entertained the idea of going to Korea for a while, because I had been learning the language and was interested to continue pursuing it, but even Korea is too expensive without a scholarship. And Singapore is... so near. Hong Kong now, is further without being too far, and has the advantage of being an international hub, which brings to thought that there might be options to learn other languages there. Or, you could google "Why study in Hong Kong?".

Why English then? Because. That is what is offered.

Why would you do EDUCATION/ ENGLISH in HONG KONG? You can do that in Malaysia? Because.

I just don't want to study in Malaysia.

Not because of any bad reasons, really. It's just my personal dream of studying overseas.

So, I think I'm done explaining. All the itsy-bitsy stuff would take too long to write and I don't think anyone's interested anyway (those who are should already know...).

Final word - 18th August 2010 is the date I'm going! :D

Study USA - The AEO Tour

So excited when I saw this tour! I was so tired of doing all the research online and was hoping for some human guidance. Went to KL Hilton around 5pm with mum. The education fair was kinda big actually. Or maybe the function room was spacious XD Too bad there weren't many universities near the area I was supposed to go. Only 4 stars (place marks) in the California state, and only 2 around Los Angeles. One, Southwestern Academy, wasn't even there which left me with only ONE college rep to approach.

El Camino College is in LA, which isn't really near the place I'm supposed to go, but we decided to just get some advice in general (after coming all the way). The man was quite nice actually. He's not nice in the smiling face kinda way, but rather in his dead serious, dry humour manner of speaking =D Got some important advice though. According to him, the universities in US generally don't accept international students into their freshmen (1st) year, which means they were only accepted for transfers. Normally, we would have to go to a 2 year college, and then transfer to a 4-year university into the junior (3rd) year. Interesting.

Came back and did more research. Apparently, the 2 yr college and then going for the last 2 yrs in university would work out even better. Because the fees for a 2 yr college is much cheaper than a university. And the datelines were much kinder (not here yet). Narrowed down selection of colleges to two (by distance) - Mount San Antonio College and Chaffey Community College.

The big US plan part 2

To update on the location in the big US plan, I was first informed that it was somewhere in Los Angeles. Upon Googling, I quickly discovered how big LA really was and I could be buried in search if I didn't ask for more information.

Google Map: Los Angeles

Upon clarification, aforementioned niece actually stays in a place called Upland, CA.
Where is Upland, I ask?
More Googling... Upland is approx. 30 miles east of LA.
How far is 30 miles, I wonder?
I ask my dad at night. My dad says, "About here (KL) to Seremban la...." What??
Here to Seremban would take like 1 to 1 and a half hours drive, depending on your speed.
Obviously, I was not going to study in LA.

Upland area (place marks are universities)

You can see some continuation in the 2 maps. Look for West Covina, Fullerton and Anaheim on the right side in the 1st map. Then look at the same 3 places on the left side in the 2nd map.

Apparently, Upland is rather near to a lot of universities, don't you think?

After more Googling, I am in despair. Many universities are already closed for registration for Winter (Jan '09) and Spring (Feb/Mar '09) semesters. The soonest is Fall (Oct '09) and the dateline is coming soon too.

The big US plan

Though I have always dreamed of studying overseas, I have never once thought of going to the United States. There isn't really a reason to it, it just... never happened. Perhaps it was due to the fact that as I was studying Architecture, the States wasn't as viable an option as UK or Australia because the US degree isn't recognized by the board of architects here, PAM (ironic though it may seem considering the quality of education in US). I don't quite understand why PAM doesn't accreditate the US degree, but the biggest difference is obviously the education system.

I digress. (this line seems to be abused by bloggers a lot XD)

So what triggered the big US plan? The story goes like this: My mum has a former lecturer from her teaching college, Ms. Y. Ms. Y has a niece staying in US. Said niece has a family there with two kids. Said niece and husband are both doctors. Thus, they require a babysitter for their children. Niece wants someone who would stay for a longer period of time compared to those they're currently hiring. Niece asks Ms. Y (her aunt) to look for a babysitter, maybe someone who's interested to study in US so that the person can go there with a student visa. This babysitter would of course, take care of her children. In return, this student a.k.a babysitter would be given room and board for the duration of stay in the US. Which means, student only needs to take care of tuition fees and have almost all living expenses taken care of. Student will also get allowance from babysitting.

Apparently my mum told Ms. Y about my predicament (the no-money-thus-not-being-to-go-overseas thing) so Ms. Y thought I might be interested. And I am kinda interested actually. To have almost all your living expenses taken care of (except transport) when studying overseas is actually saving on more than half of what you need to pay. Thus began my research on the universities and courses I could take. And I found this:

If I decide not to continue Architecture, my horizon is far, and big indeed.