Was rejected from first round of my summer scholarship

[FadedSunrise]

If anyone still remembers about my various posts about my relationship situation, I've been trying to get government scholarships to visit my SO in China. I live in Los Angeles, CA. We met last year when I was abroad in Beijing and despite trying to stay away from each other we haven't been able to and kind of got together. I am 21, but still live with my traditional Chinese parents, who themselves have a somewhat dysfunctional marriage that lacks communication but who most importantly oppose to my relationship to the point that they would disown me if I actually told them outright I'm still in the long distance relationship.

Our relationship is not serious yet, but I guess I just posted this thread to mope to the strangers of the internet. I haven't seen him in person in 13 months now, and since I just got rejected from my program my earliest shot is applying for a summer program in Taiwan and having a slightly closer still international relationship, or waiting on my fall/spring combined scholarship. If the fall and spring one go through at all it will have been 2 yrs or so since we've been together. If none of these programs go through and they just might not, given this trend, I really don't know what I'm going to do.

I just opened the email at 9pm and have holed up in my room crying for the last 45 minutes straight. How is it possible to care this much about someone who I've only spent about 3 months together in person with? Is there a God afterall?

[digitalfever]

This might sound like a long shot but have you tried any internships?

China is really good reputation for taking REALLY good care of their interns and even paying for return flights in some cases. I know its not a study course but looking into a few internships may help you out.

[13000km]

Haven't heard from you in awhile! I'm sorry to hear the scholarship didn't work out. It is very possible to care a lot about someone you've spent only a short amount of time with. My boyfriend and I only spent 3 weeks together before we closed the distance. Also, we've been looking recently at maybe going to China to teach English, or something similar, after we graduate. He'd be a linguist and I have my certificate in preschool education and will have a degree in communication disorders. There are many such arrangements you can find online where they find a job for you, pay for your flight there and back, a lot of times pay for lodging too. You have to be careful, though, as not all these companies are who they say they are. But I have friends who have gone to China, South America and South Korea and they all have only good things to say about their experiences!

[FadedSunrise]

Hi 13000km! Yea, I've been extremely busy since after Thanksgiving. Law school applications and the first phase of this larger scholarship were coming up simultaneously. I have considered teaching English, vaguely, but I am not educated as a teacher/linguist like you and your boyfriend. I am just interested in languages, but have not really taught anything. There is this blog, eatyourkimchi.com, which is run by two former English teachers in korea, and they recommend a pretty good company. Other than that I don't really know of any to China.

As to internships, I have also considered that-but I don't know who to go to either. Back to the drawing board I guess.

[13000km]

Hi 13000km! Yea, I've been extremely busy since after Thanksgiving. Law school applications and the first phase of this larger scholarship were coming up simultaneously. I have considered teaching English, vaguely, but I am not educated as a teacher/linguist like you and your boyfriend. I am just interested in languages, but have not really taught anything. There is this blog, eatyourkimchi.com, which is run by two former English teachers in korea, and they recommend a pretty good company. Other than that I don't really know of any to China.

As to internships, I have also considered that-but I don't know who to go to either. Back to the drawing board I guess.

This first rejection might have been discouraging, but don't stop trying for different ways in! International Affairs in universities usually have quite a wide connection with universities and might able to find you a program/internship that matches your needs. If not, they might know which direction to point you in so you can begin your job/internship hunt independently.

As for teaching in China, Craig's stepbrother and wife (the closest people we know) taught in Korea for a year. They worked alongside many Americans who have Bachelors in non-education fields. Many of them do this right after they graduate, and teach English to experience another part of the world for a period of time, some had worked in other countries (India and China) before. According to them, most companies really don't care what your degree is in, as long as you're a native English speaker, they want you. I only know that because he is very insistent on going to China after we graduate, as he is currently learning Chinese and is in love with the language and the culture.