"RAURA TEACHER!"

Currently, it is 6:11 a.m. here in Gyeongju, and I can't seem to sleep in. From what I've heard that's normal and to be expected until I get adjusted to the time difference, but I'm annoyed that I woke up feeling like it should be 10 a.m. when really it's a quarter to six. Boooooo.

Yesterday was my first day observing Stephanie at English World. My school schedule is 2:30-7:30 Monday through Friday (9 classes per day) and I will be teaching kindergartners through 14 year olds. The kindergartners and first graders are hilarious-- they are my first two classes of the day. Not only are they hilarious, they are SUPER rambunctious. At first some of them seemed a little intimidated by me. Little did they know, I was terrified of them because they come in such large numbers.

Although they are not this young, they would sound just like him if they were to sing a Beatles song, too.

Back to the large numbers. When I say this, I'm over exaggerating because the maximum class size that I have is 12. The classes are 25 minutes lessons with 5 minutes in between each lesson. However, in the time between classes the kids come to the office and sit on your lap or talk to you excitedly in English, and when they all consolidate like that in a tiny room there seem to be many, many more than there actually are. If there was ever to be a battle of teachers vs. students, the students would undoubtedly win. The students are super cute though. A couple of them took to me really quickly and whenever Stephanie would introduce me, it would go something like this:

Stephanie: Everyone, this is Laura Teacher! She is your new teacher. Tomorrow Stephanie Teacher goes "bye, bye" back to the USA and Monday you will have Laura Teacher.

Me: Hi everyone!

Kids: Hi Raura! Raura Teacher!

Although that was a poor rendition, that pretty much sums it up. When I would go in the hall after my first couple classes the students would either ask what my name was or stare at me. In fact, Cate told me to wear my hair up for the first couple of days because she thought that the kids might be afraid of me! I literally LOLed to myself when she said that. Me + my height + my curly hair = scary American. Clearly! They were sweet though-- really excited about telling me their names. "My name is Gina", "My name is Lily", "My name is Trevor", etc. They practice their names a lot when they are at a younger age and I think they were trying to show off a little. Very cutesies.

I went out to a Vietnamese restaurant last night with Stephanie and a few of her friends. There are Diane and Michelle, who are from South Africa and have thick accents-- Michelle especially. I really had to listen to understand what she was saying. They apparently don't think much of Americans, with the exception of Stephanie, Bo and now myself. Bo is from Texas and he has been dating Diane for about 6 months. Hearing about their relationship is adorable-- he met her parents in Hong Kong, she will be meeting his parents in a week or so in Seoul, blah blah blah, all cute, but pulled at my heart quite a bit. Made me miss Brett a ton.

The restaurant was great, though. We got to make our own spring rolls-- definitely a novel expierence! They had these rice patties that looked like thin paper and you would dip them in hot water, at which point they would soften. Then, with your chopsticks (I am having quite the time trying to get good with them), you take it out of the steaming hot water, and then you fill it with vegetables and meats of your choice. So on mine, I had chicken, pineapple, celery, onion, some kind of thin mushroom, and peanut sauce. It reminded me a little of eating at Mongolian Barbeque except much healthier, and without actually watching your food getting cooked. I drank green tea with my little Vietnamese spring roll concoction, and then was served a huge bowl of noodle soup. The soup was good, except that I don't really have an apetite yet. Again, I've heard this is completely normal. Stephanie said she didn't really have an apetite until after her first week.

Once I returned from dinner, Cate and Mark offered to buy beer. So we sat in their living room (although almost no furniture, I'm not sure what else to call it) and drank a 6 pack. I showed them a photo album Shayna gave me back at home, as well as some going away party/Megan's birthday party pictures on my camera. Cate thinks that Jeff (Goldsmith) looks "like a character from the fairy tales", that my brothers are handsome but look nothing like me, and she kept confusing Brett with Jeff (Rosenberg). It was nice that her and Mark were so interested, though. I got to explain to them about the parties and my friends and family. At one point, Cate said "All pictures, same friends!" And she seemed happy for me. We had a nice conversation, with Cate acting as the translator. Mark said I need to go out and do everything I can while I'm here in Korea, and that if anything ever broke or needed repair at my apartment to please tell him so he can fix it-- it's like having a free landlord. Amazing!

Today, Stephanie was also kind enough to offer to meet me at 10 to show me around Gyeongju. She's going to show me the post office, grocery stores, I expect some restaurants that she likes, et al. I move into my apartment once she moves out tomorrow morning, and will officially be set up around 3:00 p.m. She said setting up my laptop will be really easy, and she was also kind enough to leave behind her Korean cell phone which I will be able to use to call Michelle and Diane. I'm a little nervous about meeting people on my own, but I know I will. Everyone's been telling me there are plenty of foreigners in Gyeongju, and once a new one moves in, everyone wants to meet that person. So I should be good to go, and Michelle and Diane said to call them as soon as I get the chance to.

To answer some questions, I will not be able to actually call anyone while I'm here. International calling rates are expensive, and I just plan on using Skype/AIM video chat/e-mail with everyone. I will get pictures up as soon as I get my own computer working, which should be tomorrow. The outlets here are different, hence why I can't just plug in my own laptop yet-- there is a convertor at my apartment.

I know you're all really interested in my hygiene, so guess what? I have yet to shower (sick!) since I've been here, and it's Friday, meaning I haven't showered since I left Tuesday (which was really Wednesday here) morning. I meant to shower yesterday before lunch (which I forgot to mention, was pork cutlets that Cate bought me), but I fell asleep an hour before I got picked up to go to the school and didn't have the time to. So I am off to the shower with no walls, the drain in the middle of the bathroom, and hopefully some breakfast soon. And who knows, I might even venture out before I go to meet Stephanie at the school. We will see how courageous I am feeling.

Til then. :)