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Aggro Craig posted:I had one of those, as did about half the PCVs in my group. My physician told me she was just checking to make sure my rear end could handle potential violent diarrhea or what-have-you (and boy did I have it for the first two months.) I'm pretty sure finger up butt tests are to check your prostate (or possibly for nasty hemorrhoids). I got selected as an alternate for USMC OCS in October and after some soul-searching I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the military isn't what I want to do, so it's probably for the best that I won't be going. I started applications for a Fulbright (Bosnia teaching assistantship) and the Peace Corps. I speak Russian and Bulgarian with intermediate fluency (low 3 or so on the US gov't scale) and have previous English teaching experience in Eastern Europe, so is it likely I'll be sent to a place like Ukraine or Bulgaria? I wouldn't mind going to the Middle East or Central Asia, either, but I'd prefer not to go to Sub-Saharan Africa, the Far East, or Latin America.
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Sep 10, 2009 19:28
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CronoGamer posted:Right now (literally) I'm procrastinating on my essays for a Fulbright application to South Korea for next year. I'm also looking at the JET program in Japan. Depending on which I get into, doing that for two years, then coming back to get an MA in IR or possibly an MBA. You should probably get going on the Fulbright stuff since it's, uh, due at midnight today. I'm applying for a teaching Fulbright to Bulgaria. I just submitted my Peace Corps application a few days ago, it's my backup if I don't get the Fulbright.
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Oct 19, 2009 19:31
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CronoGamer posted:Haha, yeah. I'm aware. I was just writing my personal statement last night. Submitting everything right now. I'm looking at ETA as well, if that wasn't obvious. Are you applying through a school or at-large? I graduated in May so I could have gone through my school as they'll sponsor you for a year after, but I had planned/been selected to go to Marine OCS before getting hurt and deciding it wasn't what I wanted to do, so I was kind of scrambling and missed my campus deadline. Luckily my mother works at a study abroad office at another school and they have a Fulbright adviser so I had someone to look over my stuff, and I have a buddy doing it in Germany right now and he sent me his essays. I think I would have been lost on them if I hadn't.
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Oct 19, 2009 20:32
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I submitted my application October 16th and had all but one reference in by then. It's now December 8th. I've been contacted by my recruiter, got my fingerprints and all that jazz done. I contacted a former volunteer supervisor (now a Navy Ensign) and he was in Afghanistan but said he'd do it, I gave him three weeks with several reminders before giving him up for gone (he's back in the country as of now), then I contacted a former professor and she said she'd do it. She started the reference form on December 2nd (she did my Fulbright reference as well), and hasn't finished it 6 days later (though it's finals/holiday time so this is understandable). I know I'll have it within a week most likely, but I feel like my recruiter is going to think I'm not serious about this. It's not the end of the world because I want to wait to find out if I won a Fulbright grant before I get nominated anyways, but still, I feel like kind of a jackass.
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Dec 9, 2009 01:20
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So my last reference finally came in and I have an interview set-up in a couple weeks. Should I mention that I'm competing for a Fulbright (to teach in Bulgaria) as well, so I should hold off on being nominated until May or so? It's another US government program but I'm not sure if the Peace Corps would like hearing 'you're my second choice.' But I also don't want to get nominated and then turn it down because I still haven't heard from the Fulbright. Also what should I say subtly to increase my chances of going to Eastern Europe or Central Asia? I'd most specifically want to go to Bulgaria (I took a couple years of Bulgarian in college), though I took 6 years of Russian between HS and college so anywhere with Russian as a main language (Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, etc.) would perfectly fine as well; I was a History and Slavic Studies double-major in college. Obviously I can't come out and say 'I only want to go here and here' but should I say 'I'd strongly prefer somewhere with seasons/somewhere with winters/somewhere I speak the language?' I figure speaking Bulgarian is a rare enough skill that I'd be in that pipeline but I've also read in this thread that they'll send Russian speakers to Cambodia. I've also spent a summer teaching English in Eastern Europe (Bosnia) if that makes any difference. A lot of it is that I plan to go for a History Ph.D with a concentration in Eastern European history so I desperately need the language experience as well. I have intermediate proficiency in both languages but I could really use time around native speakers. I'm interested in the Peace Corps' mission, of course, but I'd rather spend time in a culture around which I'll be spending many years of academic study eventually as well. HeroOfTheRevolution fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Dec 22, 2009 |
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Dec 22, 2009 17:13
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I had my interview Monday and got nominated yesterday. English teaching, Eastern Europe, September 2010. I still have to hear from the Fulbright, but even if I get the Fulbright I may want to do the Peace Corps afterwards. According to the PC Wiki the two Eastern European countries with staging dates (likely) in September are Macedonia and Ukraine. This is awesome because those were my 2nd choices after Bulgaria (which stages in May and is where I applied for my Fulbright). I took 6 years of Russian and a year (at a high level because of my familiarity with Russian) of Bulgarian; I've spent several months in former Yugoslavia (Croatia and Bosnia) and taught there as well. Either would be fine by me, since Ukrainian is close to Russian and Macedonian is close to Bulgarian. So that's pretty awesome. I just want to make sure I get my invitation after I get word on the Fulbright, which will probably be in April, so I can make my choice depending on that. And yeah, my recruiter mentioned the increased budget.
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Jan 13, 2010 23:38
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necrobobsledder posted:I was involved in US intelligence for a while and because of that, my sister can't apply for Peace Corps for quite some time. Can you explain the reason why my liberal-as-gently caress sister will be rejected from serving in supposedly another part of the US government (as said in OP) because a close family member served in the army or the defense industry in general? I don't really believe the PR drone canned response is anything but BS, so what's the scoop? The intelligence background questionnaire does say that having a close family member who served in intelligence may be disqualifying for a period of up to 10 years. It's odd but understandable, the Peace Corps can't screen every applicant and right now they have more applications than positions to fill so it's easier to make overarching qualifiers than to expend resources on a case-by-case basis. It's the government, you should understand that. v I think that's what he meant by 'the PR drone canned response' v HeroOfTheRevolution fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Jan 14, 2010 |
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Jan 14, 2010 21:19
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RagnarokAngel posted:Finally got to send my application in (Getting reference from my former places of employment was a nightmare, they were either out of work on sick leave or moved to other jobs) now I wait for an interview. Anything I should know? Even "obvious" stuff like dress, I've never had a real interview before, just bum jobs like gas station worker and stuff. I had my interview last Monday and they asked me those questions word for word, so just prep answers but don't come off as too scripted. It's a pretty informal interview, to be honest. I wore the pants from my suit (though any dress pants would do) and a button down shirt and felt neither under- nor over-dressed; a full on suit with jacket and tie is probably unnecessary but don't wear jeans and a t-shirt or something, just go business casual.
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Jan 19, 2010 07:49
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internetstuff posted:How did you find this information? http://www.peacecorpswiki.com/Timeline Though it only has this year's up to the end of June, you'll notice that the dates tend to match up year to year (well, give or take a few days). The two Central Asia staging dates for September last year were Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.
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Feb 5, 2010 01:27
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Pocket DeSade posted:Do they really have positions in Japan? They're like more developed than we are They don't, a quick trip to the website could have told that guy this
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May 18, 2010 15:47
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If any RPCVs from Bulgaria read this, could you tell me where you were there? I'm a current Fulbrighter in Bulgaria (Blagoevgrad), and a number of the other Fulbright Fellows here are teaching at schools where they have had PCVs in the past.
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Aug 25, 2010 06:52
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MadcapViking posted:Браво на теб! Бях в Дупница, около 30км север на Благоевград. Кой регион/град е твой любимец? Били ли си до морето, все още? Или до 7те езера? Мерси! Аз само дойдох 3.5 седмеци преди; бях в Благоевград за седмеца, Банско за дбе, и сега в Варна съм, така че аз на морето съм. Аз харесвам Благоевград, и Варна е много хубаво също. Приятел ми ще бъде Fulbright учител в Стара Загора, и беше PCV в училището преди няколко години. Какво е вашето любимо място в България? Имам една година тук и искам да видя колкото се може. Учих българский език в университет, но това е моят първи път тук. HeroOfTheRevolution fucked around with this message at 20:28 on Aug 25, 2010 |
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Aug 25, 2010 20:21
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Just as a heads up... if you're applying for the Peace Corps and expect to teach English, you might think about putting in an application for a Fulbright ETA position. The Fulbright name carries a lot of weight, and while it's more competitive than the Peace Corps, the benefits are also better monetarily and it's only 10 months; the money is yours to do with as you choose and the opportunity to do research and travel is greater (you also can live in much better abodes). This is especially true if you're interested in Eastern Europe; Bulgaria (where I am now) expanded their number of ETAs this year and may expand further next year, and some of the new ETA spots will not have many applicants. I think Macedonia just added an ETA, for instance, and I bet there will not be too many applicants. This is better for people who are in their senior years or have just recently graduated, though you can apply at large (I did so because I missed my campus deadline after graduating). I think it's due in mid-October, but it really can't hurt to put in an application. At this point, the process takes less time than the Peace Corps. I applied for the two last Fall with the PC as my backup plan and ended up being nominated to leave for the PC in October while my Fulbright grant ended up starting in September (though I came in August).
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Sep 11, 2010 21:40
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Omits-Bagels posted:It looks like you need to take the TOEFL exam (and it is already too late to take it for this year). Also, do you need to state that you want to become a teachers? The site seems to say so. Neither of these are the case (especially since TOEFL is test of English as a foreign language, that wouldn't make any sense). Some countries do have language requirements, but for example amongst the 12 Fulbrighters in Bulgaria, there are only two of us with any sort of formal training and proficiency in Bulgarian (myself and a Bulgarian-born American). For example, these countries in Europe have ETA grants: Andorra*, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium*, Bosnia/ Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic*, France*, Georgia, Germany*, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal*, Romania, Russia*, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Spain*, and Turkey. The asterisked ones indicate countries where language proficiency is either required or preferred. In some cases, for instance the 3 new ETA grants in Laos, the grant description says something like: "All instruction is in English, but some Lao will be needed. All candidates should plan to incorporate Lao language study into their grant terms." In most cases, no previous teaching experience is required and you are not expected to want to be a teacher, but you should check the country description to be sure (the West Bank, for instance, requires a year of experience teaching EFL abroad). Out of the 10 or whatever ETAs in Bulgaria, only two have education degrees and most have no teaching experience at all despite the country description saying some is required. I have previous teaching experience in both the US and Bosnia, but not as a certified teacher in either case and I have no desire to be a teacher; I think my SOP made it clear that I want to go to graduate school after for a degree in IR. Since you only teach for a short time each week (we all teach 4 hours per day in Bulgaria Monday-Thursday and have Fridays off), you can generally pursue a separate research project... or travel if that's what you're interested in. The new ETA awards this year are Laos, Bahrain, Rwanda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Macedonia, Serbia, and Cyprus, and none of those have language requirements. Worth noting is that Bulgaria's page on IIE only lists 2 awards but USAID and the America for Bulgaria fund poured money into the Bulgarian program and expanded it to 10 this year (they had to get applicants from the Poland, Romania, and Bosnia pools because the applicant pool wasn't what they were looking for with that many grants available, though I had applied to Bulgaria), and the Fulbright Commission here is talking about extending it even further. If you're interested in Eastern Europe or the Caucasus, Bulgaria or one of the new programs are probably good bets and will likely be slightly less competitive in terms of number of applicants (you will still need an exceptional university-level record, however). The application is due next month, however, so you will have to hurry to get recommendations and transcripts in and fine-tune your SOP and Personal Statement. HeroOfTheRevolution fucked around with this message at 11:16 on Sep 12, 2010 |
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Sep 12, 2010 11:14
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Peven Stan posted:Oh boy, I know someone angling for a Fulbright to Macedonia. What exactly do you need wrt to credentials in college to get ahead on the Fulbright? It's different for everyone. I'd say most of us had high GPAs (3.5-3.8), some extracurricular activities and leadership positions so we did not look like boring pencilnecks (I played ice hockey professionally, for instance). I think it's more about the way you can write it into your SOP and Personal Statement that matters more. Since the purpose of a Fulbright is a cultural exchange, I wrote a lot about how sports helped me in understanding different cultures and facilitated a good environment between them; I think that pushed me over the edge because most Fulbrighters aren't the athletic type.
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Sep 16, 2010 08:12
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Any PCVs in Bulgaria going to the Halloween party? They invited all of us Fulbrighters, so I'll be there.
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Oct 28, 2010 16:23
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I got an e-mail from some Peace Corps guy in Bulgaria that he sent to all the Fulbright Fellows here and the subject was literally 'Collaboration and Saving the World!' It said save the world at least twice in the body of the e-mail. I'm about 99% sure he wasn't attempting irony, and it couldn't have been more stereotypical if he was. I just thought it was hilarious.
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Jan 9, 2011 19:04
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