Technological Dilemma

This is my mp3 player. It's a SanDisk Sansa Fuze I got as birthday gift in 2008 I believe. As evidence by the tape holding it together it's been pretty well used/abused to the point that the screen messes up, I can't pause, the wheel hardly responds so forget about lowering or increasing the volume, I can't hear anything out of the left earbud, and I have a hard time shutting it off. It was pretty banged up by the time I needed more space (since it comes with a microSD expansion slot). It served me well for 5 good years and it's about time I need a new one.

The store it was purchased from no longer carries the Sansa Fuze nor any other store I know of in the city carries it's next generation, the Fuze+. Sure I could purchase one on the internet but the reviews for the Fuze + are not so favourable on amazon.

So what options are there? With the file sizes growing larger as well as my music collection I'm looking for something that can hold more than 4GB of space. 16 GB should suffice I think. From the brands that I've seen, I'm looking at HipStreet, Sony, and Apple.

I have never heard of the HipStreet brand before and I'm guessing it's something along the lines of the COBY mp3 players: the cheap ones if you're not looking for anything fancy. HipStreet has a touch screen device that comes in 16GB but reviews of it are not that satisfactory so there's no chance of me getting that one.

Sony also has a 16GB mp3 player. It costs less than an apple product and it not being an apple product I'll be fine with random file formats (as I have mix of mp3, wma, and aac). Sony is also a recognizable brand. I could go with it but I don't find it aesthetically appealing with a very limited colour selection (black). Asthetics shouldn't have to with the sound quality and when I listened to the sample track in the Sony store the sound was okay to me (or maybe it's the headphones that they were selling). With this I believe I can use windows media player or winamp to transfer files.

And the choice I'm leaning towards is the iPod. It's not cheap but it is quite attractive with the metallic colour choices and it's a well known brand. As for what to choose, I'm stuck between the nano and the 16GB touch. The touch costs more than the nano and has extra features such as a camera and wi-fi capabilities, features that are something I would rather look for in a smartphone or a tablet. My current phone (a nokia c3-00) may not be Skype friendly but it can still access Facebook and I can upload photos with my phone to Facebook. My main purpose is basically to listen to music while I'm on the bus, in the car, or walking to places so I may lean towards getting the nano over the touch (I don't need to play angry birds or temple run and I have candycrush on Facebook). The drawbacks to this are the touch screen and how I upload things to the device. I find touch screens are so sensitive that I fear that I'll break it at some point within the first year or two but I guess I can by an accessory like a cover to take care of that (more or less protect it). And then I hear the only way to upload tracks to it is through iTunes (which I already have) and with some of my files being wmv I wonder if they will play or will I have to find the cd's I got them from and rip them into a compatible format.

So basically my dilemma is between should I get an iPod or a Sony Walkman. Should I go with quality or aesthetics? Should I move onto something different or stay with something similar to my old mp3 player? Is the $149 dollars worth buying an iPod or should I go with something $40 cheaper? I may be from Canada but a Black Friday sale might make the difference. I guess I'll find out by then

Hey you, why aren't you sleeping? Or better yet, get a damn job! (an update in the life of well, me)

So this month I graduate with my ESL teaching certificate. What do I do next? How about getting a job? But where do I find one?

Qualifications aside, I'll work anywhere. By anywhere I mean here in Canada or teach English overseas. When it comes to overseas I'm quite picky. My ideal places I want to work in are Russia, Turkey, or the Gulf. In that order. The places I want to avoid are Japan, Korea, and China. Why do I want to avoid the last three? Mainly out of disinterest and because I believe those places are popular.

But something tells me I shouldn't be picky about an overseas location. In the places I want to avoid I can get some job experience before going to the places I want to go. At the same time I want to do something that makes me happy. If I am unhappy at a job or place where I work it could lead to depression. Each area, places I want to go and places I want to avoid, have a 50/50 chance of me being happy. I mean I've been to Russia before and I have an interest in seeing Turkey but I have no idea if I'll end up being happy or not there. I have a disinterest in getting a job in Korea but if it boils down to me having to get a job there just to go on an adventure I'll apply for a job there and who knows, maybe I might fine something there to keep me happy.

So my credentials will be this:
BA Linguistics
Pronunciation teacher via a student experience program
TESL certificate from an accredited institution (will need accreditation status with TESL Ontarion)
Practicum sessions where I observed and led a class
and maybe add in learning some Russian, Arabic, and Turkish (being in the learner's shoes and observing teaching methods)

But some places may want things like
- BA in Education, BA in applied linguistics, MA applied linguistics with some ESL concentration, specialty in some other subject (if teaching something like high school math)
-CELTA (teaching in Europe), TEFL (specifically for overseas), TESOL (possibly interchangeable with TESL but it's a more recognized name)
-a CV instead of a resume or along with a resume (I haven't written any papers that are academic journal quality. Maybe some countries use CV over resume).
-x years of experience teaching (makes finding an entry level job not so easy)

And then there are things that scare me:
-Will need copy of passport and other official documents (Why not ask for a photocopy?)
-Will need photograph (not that scary, but someone who is blonde and looks "American" may be chosen over a Canadian who is of mixed background. Yet again one of my lung specialists I've visited to see if I have asthma or not marked me down as Caucasian under race.)
-tourist visa (sure you can get residency and work permits in the country, but I'm not taking my chances at ending up as an illegal worker).

At the same time I have connections. I've asked one of my former classmates for her experiences and then there's this guy I've met on the internet who has been doing overseas teaching for a couple of years (and I believe he started out in Korea). I may not be able to pick and choose where I want to work but at least I can count on them for advice.

Last posting I mentioned I'm taking on the NaNoWriMo challenge. So far I seem to be ahead of the game, as in typing more than 1667 words every day. One thing I experienced from this so far is if you haven't told people in your household in person that you're doing this challenge they will communicate with you. At the same time I'm not comfortable with telling this to my parents as from my perspective they will not understand or possibly want to know what I'm doing. I'd comment more on it but my brain needs a rest.