Travel to....teach?

Having just finished a "day" of teaching, I thought I should document some of what we are doing here. Monday to Saturday, there are two morning classes from 10-11:30 for beginner and intermediate students. The school has two levels and so far I've been teaching the intermediate class upstairs which are mostly teenage students. All I was given was a grammar book and was shown around where they are at in their learning.....aaaand go. I wasn't so sure at first at my teaching abilities but it seems like it could get easier..? Holly, I applaud you for teaching for 5 months, what a feat!! The evening class, of which I just finished my first one tonight, is at 17h and is more of a discussion period than anything. It went soo well compared to the morning classes, partially because we are all just trying to communicate and learn from each other as oppose to a teacher/student relationship in a classroom. The class, which consisted mostly of people 21-30 years old, was in disbelief to hear that I am only 19 lol. Either the shock comes from the fact that that seems young to be travelling and that I am teaching, or just that I look older. I get the shocked reaction quite a lot actually, I have yet to find someone who just accepts it :P.
We had our first rainfall yesterday which brought with it many mosquitos unfortunately. It seems that it only rains in the afternoons, which is what it said in the guide book but it still amazes me that it can be beautiful blue skies all day and all of a sudden, around 17h, torrential rains appear. The vietnamese have the most outragrously creative ways to keep themselves dry whilst in the rain. Sophie and I saw one man with a plastic bag over his head(while riding his moto!), and others with full body suits of plastic protection, like one piece snow suits but clear...so funny, I'll have to get a picture.
That's another thing that is a hot topic that I haven't mentioned yet, is the motos. Nobody drives cars here unless it is a taxi or they've come from another city. The streets are absolutely riddled with motos (not quite motorbikes). The high volume of these also mean that the sidewalks are ignored, and pedestrians usually have to walk onto the road to avoid parked motos, as well as street vendors. Just as I had heard, they pile people on those things like you wouldn't believe. I think the most I've seen in 5 people on these smaller versions of motorbikes: two adults, two kids sitting in front and in between the adults, and one baby, already trained to hold on to his dad while standing on his mom's lap. It's just a way of life here. The way they drive them is even more chaotic! Traffic lights don't exist here. The intersections are just like four way stops...without the stopping. Some bigger intersections have mini traffic circles, but generally, people just drive on through honking their horns to tell each other where they are. It's absolutely fascinating to watch! The honking never subsides, but it all just seems to work...I'm going to have to take a video during rush hour on our street corner because it never ceases to baffle me. Pedestrians also come into this strange mix. There are crosswalks, but it seems only for the walkers to find their way across, because the motos never stop. It's like a game of frogger really, I've found myself a quarter or half the way across and find that I have to stop and wait because they all just keep going around you, and it's you who has to find the space to cross the street in between them haha. I was scared out of my wits the first time I had to cross the major road! All good fun though in the end... no one drives over 40km and there are apparently hardly ever crashes.
Must run though, will write soon.

Om.

P.S. Yesterday was the annual celebration of Buddha's birthday and there was a parade in front of our house so I will put up the video on facebook!