"What've I got? I've Got an Accent"

                Christine Stone, our English Education instructor sits us down on the green carpeted floor of the Fulbright office and instructs us on how to play her version of English language dominoes. "Now you've got to say "I've got a bawnawnaw"' She instructs, "There you are, that's alright."


"I've got a bawnawnaw" we practice... as laughter escapes our lips.


        I expected many things coming into this trip - to try many new types of food, to battle Kathmandu's thick pollution, to do laundry out of a soapy bucket on patio tiles...

One thing I didn't expect: To come out our month long training with traces of a British accent.

       Christine is determined to have us teaching our students "proper" English. This prospect seemed quite ridiculous at first, and a silly thing to concern ourselves with, but after seeing the student textbooks, it's become apparent that teaching the "American" way of saying things would in fact only cause more confusion for our students. Of course, a British accent isn't a requirement for teaching the phrase: "What've I got? I've got a rucksack and a rubbish bin."  But it kind of comes naturally anyways, especially when we are attempting to copy Christine charismatic manner of speaking.

This trip is going to be full of many things unexpected. It's only been a month, but I'm already starting to compile quite a long list of unexpected experiences. Here are a few more to be added, in addition to dealing with over-sized moths and sideways head-bobbles.

1. Falling absolutely head-over-heels in love with the stunning beauty of Kathmandu's "Monkey Temple"

2. Also falling in love with the thousands of adorable baby monkeys that live there

3. Getting locked in a bathroom (don't worry, I eventually got out)

4. Accidentally trying to order Kurtas in a blanket and pillow shop
 (It finally caught our attention that the fabrics were quite a bit bigger than in the other shops)

5. And getting completely soaked by a monsoon (despite having an umbrella)

More to come. All my love to those back home.