Teaching Mayhem and Lots of Golosh

Hello All!

So I now have two solid days of teaching under my belt and I must say it is seriously hard work! I really do love it though. Anyways, Let me start from Monday night. My new friend Edena and her boyfriend Zoolie invited me out for some sort of walk. I really had no idea what the plan was, but I was prety psyched to hang out with locals my age so away I went. Also, I don;t have a cell phone here, which in gewnerally has been extremly freeing, however it is about 10 times more difficult to find someone in a large Romanian market without one. I did find them, though, and we wne tfor a brief walk through a loval park. Both Edena and Zoolie are English majors at a local college, so they were excited to practice their English with me. Edena is sweet and a bit quiet, she wears long colorful skirts and her glasses always. Zoolie is very, very tall and thin, with a happy face, and a tiny mustashe. He wears glasses which he constantly switches for shiny avator sunglasses depending on the amount of shade. He is a pretty quirky, funny guy with a goofy sense of humor. They have been dating for a year and a half, and they are so sweet and loving to each other all the time. They hold hands whereever they go.

We walked for wuite a bit and then abruptly stopped in front of a closed, unmarked wooden door. Zoolie annouced this is the pub where I would meet some of their "colleagues". At first I was rather confused by how they called everyone we met up with their "colleagues" and not their friends. While on the tram yesterday, we had a very interesting chat about the word. They told me in Romania, you only have one maybe two people you actually call friends. This is someone you have most liely known for years, and trust completly. Everyone else is a "colleague", or an aquaintance. In America, they said, it seems everyone has many friends, however this is not quite true in Hungarian culture.

After the pub, which was quite fun, we headed back to my host family's home. I really feel pretty much at home here now. Dora, my host sister, si adorable and spunky, but she is too shy to speak English to me. As I speak no Hunagrain, we mostly just smile at each other a lot and I nod encouragingly. Hopefully she will feel more comfortable speaking to me soon. The talk of the house is her birthday party, which is on Saturday. Tomorrow I will help her mom make the cake. We have been debating cake flavors, fillings, and frosting for 3 days, but it was finally decided yellow cake, chocolate pudding filling, vanilla frosting.

I lesson planned for about 2 hours that night, but I was so anxious about the next day I woke up several times throughout the night. I was unsure of my students levels, and had no idea if what i had planned would be appropriate.

I had planned with my host mother the night before to wake up at around 745, in order to get to the school a half an hour before class to make photocopies and such. After tossing and turning all night, I woke up to my host mother Otilia gently sayign "Good Morning Emma". I rolled ou of bed and walked to the kitchen where she had layed out a beautiful breakfast of motzerella, tomatos, bread, corn bread with fruit baked in, homemade jam, and coffee. I sat down and lazily looked at the clock. It was 8:37. I was supposed to be my classroom 7 minutes ago! Anyone who knows me well knwos how much I hate being late. I started to mentally calculate how much time the tram would take (15 minutes or so) and started to panic. I downed my coffee, washed my face and put on clothes in 3 minutes flat. As I rush into the kitchen all ready to go, my host sister, who was to come to schoolw ith me on the tram daily, is leisurely drinking her hot coco. My host family, as I learned that morning, does not rush. Their mind frame was Ok we overslept a bit but why not enjoy your expresso? As I waited for her to dress, I took a deep breath and remembered this experience is all abotu fitting into thei culture and mindframe. And really it was going to be just fine. I also thought about how even though my host mother overselp, her first thought was to lay out a beautful breakfast for me and let me sleep a few extra minutes. Yet I had barely appreciated the meal. I am going to try to not rush foir the rest of my time here. It was a goodlesson for me, in a way, I think.

After Dora finsihed getting ready, we rushed to the tram. Riding the tram is a rather unique experience. The tram is sort of the giant, lumbering metal trolley with all sorts of graffitti and such. It goes about 20 miles an hour and makes very frequent stops. Also, it doesn't stop for anyone, so you better look both ways before you cross the tracks. We arrived at the school, which is in a community center in the town square. I ran up the stairs and walked into the classroom and their were instantly 25 curious pairs of eyes glued on me. My first class is my little ones, the 6 to 10 age group. They are seriously adorable.

Being a teacher is kind of intense. For a whole hour, you are on, on, on. My first class went well, we played a game where we stood in a circle and threw a small ball to each other. When you caught the ball you had to say "Hello my name is..." My second class, which is the beginner 11-13 year old group, was a bit more haphazerd. I totally underestimated their language ability so we blew through my lesson plans in 20 minutes. Then I had to freestyle a whole lesson plan baed on the theme, which I dreamed up in class, of "Going to the Doctor" vocabulary. I was exhausted by the end of that class, and I still had two hours left! My third class, advanced 11-13 year olds, went much more smoothly and I felt much more in control. My fourth class, which is the 14-17 year olds was the most fun. They are very advanced speakers so my lesson plans can be much more creative. We played an improv game called Taxi Driver and some icebreakers.

I fianlly went home with Dora, where my host mother had prepared a vat of golosh, a traditional Hunagrian stew. It was very good, and she even tryed putting soy in it because I told her I liked it. Later, I met Edena and Zoolie and walked around for just about 3 hours. They are so sweet, they have sort of appointed themselves my unofficial Oradea tourguides. They showed me just about every church and town, and even a synagog or two. They also wouldn't let me pay for anything. Later, I had dinner with my host family. Afterwards, I had a very long talk with hod mother about education and the Gypsies. There are many Gypsies in Romania. My host mother works in child protection services and has had a lot of experience with the Gypsy community. Gypsises are ostresized by most of Romanian society, and face many issues. She expressed frustation at what she sees at their refusal to integrate into soceity. It was really great to hear her prospective on the violatile issue, especially since she is so committed to education and child rights. We talked about other things as well, such as family and kids. It was a really nice conversation overall.

Teaching today went much more smoothly. My favorite part was the debate I am organizing with my older students. It will take place on Thursday. I am genuinly really excited. I actually like teaching a lot. It's hard work, what with four hours of lessons, two hours of lesson planning, and nearly 100 students, but very rewarding. It is one of the greatest challenges I have ever faced I think.

Edena invited me to her home this afternoon to have lunch. It was so touching, she had set the table the night before in her modest apartment, and had prepared the food. I am a vegetarian at home and her fried chicken was the first full meal of chicken I have eaten since I have been here. My stomach was a bit upset, but I could not refuse. Both her and Zoolie were incredibly focused on making sure I had absolutly everything I wanted. I have been absolutly floored by the amount of hospitality that has been lavished on me since I arrived, but especially by Edena and Zoolie. They will not let me pay for a single thing, and have opened thei hearts and time to me so freely. They are extremly geniune. There is no pretense of being "too cool" or any of that nonsense with them. Once they had decided to take me in, that meant spending every day with me for the last few days, and sharing their lives with me completely.

After lunch, Edena and I talked about food for a long time. We pured over recipes, and I think I will make an "American" dinner for her next week. She also showed me her textbook for her class on American culture, which was hilarous. I think she probably knows more about the American Dream and the Frontier than I do. We then went to the "cinema" with a friend of their and their favorite professor. It was a very funny American movie with Romanian subtitles.

Also, Zoolie informed me my picture was on the front page of the local newspaper, which I find flattering and slightly outrageous. He said he would bring me the article tomorrow.

I geel really happy and needed here. I am so glad I came.

I miss everyone and I love you all so much!!!!

Emma