One thing I still haven't gotten used to is the European habit of greeting one's friends with a kiss on the cheek. It's not that I mind it per se. No, I'm not quite that repressed, only enough to become incredibly awkward when I'm the one being kissed on the cheek. See, my problem comes not from the kiss itself-- I am never going to argue with a tradition that occasionally gets me kisses on the cheek from cute boys-- but in that I never know how to react. Half the time it's not expected, so I panic and freeze up and therefore don't return the kiss. Then I worry that I've somehow slighted them. When it is expected (e.g. if someone arrives and kisses all members of the group hello in turn), then I spend the time waiting for my kiss in ever-increasing anxiety. What if I accidentally move and cause them to miss? They could end up with my ear (awkward) or my mouth (possibly even more embarrassing) or even my eye (which would likely be painful). Also, I'm expected to return it, and what if I miss? I've not had enough practice to really do it well. If I get air, but they hit cheek, it's suddenly unequal-- is that a jilt? And so on. By the time the greeting itself approaches, I'm so tense and nervous that I'm certain the other person will think that I don't like them, or that I'm such a puritanical American that I can't deal with cultured greetings. (Which might slightly be the case, at least subconsciously.) All in all, I'm worried that they'll think that for whatever reason I don't want them to kiss me on the cheek (which will decrease the chance of more smooches, including from the aforementioned attractive males). In actuality, however, it's just that I'm incredibly awkward (which to be fair, also tends to decrease the chance of smooches from attractive males, although it doesn't usually affect the platonic sort that I'm talking about).
(P.S. Sorry I've been so bad about keeping to my one-post-a-week goal. I do have several half-written, so I'll try and finish them and get them up in quick succession.)
21 February 2010
09 February 2010
Февраль. Достать чернил и плакать!
So I had kind of a crappy end of last week, a really great weekend (my Russian conversation group went really well-- we actually managed to stay in Russian for almost 2 hours!-- and my team came in second in a pub quiz and got free beer), and a really bad last couple of days. It's one of those times where everything is happening at once and it's a little overwhelming. Tomorrow I have to have an observation for my intermediate class, and I'm really worried. Which is a little funny, seeing as a friend of mine had an observation last week and I kept telling him it was ridiculous to be worried, of course he'd do fine. So, send me good luck at about 10 am CST on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll still have a job at the end of the week.
Also, I found out I'll be going back to camp for the spring session, which should be fun. I don't know any of the other teachers who are going, but I didn't last time either and I made some good friends.
Also, I found out I'll be going back to camp for the spring session, which should be fun. I don't know any of the other teachers who are going, but I didn't last time either and I made some good friends.
02 February 2010
Groundhog's day resolutions
Happy Groundhog's Day, everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in so long; January was crazy. I was in the States for a couple weeks, then when I got back I was inundated with cover classes, since so many people were still on holiday/doing visa runs. So since I didn't post my resolutions on New Year's Day, I thought I'd take the time to post them now, in no particular order:
1. Write. I'd really like to get back to writing every day, if possible. Not necessarily anything important, but something, at least.
2. Keep better contact with friends and family at home. That includes posting more often on here-- ideally at least once a week. I'll try to make more smaller posts rather than fewer bigger posts. I've been on facebook more recently, mostly for this reason. I also want to buy some postcards to send.
3. Sleep less-- get up when I'm not tired instead of laying around in bed, which will cause me to fall back asleep and then have to wake up at some awkward point in my sleep cycle.
4. Keep up with hobbies, such as crochet, music, and reading. Cooking too. I've been good so far at this one-- I've been reading a lot on the metro and I played the guitar just last weekend, and I plan on cooking later this week.
5. Learn the art of small talk, and of pretending to be confident.
6. Work on being "fit" (both in the American sense and the British sense, where it just means "hot"). Exercise, eat right, work on my posture, and be good about wearing my retainer. I also want to cut down on some of my vices (e.g. Coca-cola).
7. Combat my internet addiction. I realize this goes against #1, but I'd like to actually turn off my computer for a day or two sometime.
8. Be nicer to friends and people I like. Not that I'm a mean person, but I could do with less snark and sarcasm.
9. Get organized, pull my shit together, and stop procrastinating. (Yes, I realize the irony in writing that in a post I meant to make a month ago.)
10. Learn Russian!! Seeing as that's the reason I came here in the first place. I can't take lessons yet, but I need to make an effort to watch Russian movies, read Russian newspapers or books, work in my grammar book, etc. I am organizing a Russian conversation group for this weekend, so I suppose I am working on it, but not nearly enough.
In case you are wondering, the groundhog would not have seen his shadow today in Moscow. Somehow I don't think that means spring is just around the corner, though.
1. Write. I'd really like to get back to writing every day, if possible. Not necessarily anything important, but something, at least.
2. Keep better contact with friends and family at home. That includes posting more often on here-- ideally at least once a week. I'll try to make more smaller posts rather than fewer bigger posts. I've been on facebook more recently, mostly for this reason. I also want to buy some postcards to send.
3. Sleep less-- get up when I'm not tired instead of laying around in bed, which will cause me to fall back asleep and then have to wake up at some awkward point in my sleep cycle.
4. Keep up with hobbies, such as crochet, music, and reading. Cooking too. I've been good so far at this one-- I've been reading a lot on the metro and I played the guitar just last weekend, and I plan on cooking later this week.
5. Learn the art of small talk, and of pretending to be confident.
6. Work on being "fit" (both in the American sense and the British sense, where it just means "hot"). Exercise, eat right, work on my posture, and be good about wearing my retainer. I also want to cut down on some of my vices (e.g. Coca-cola).
7. Combat my internet addiction. I realize this goes against #1, but I'd like to actually turn off my computer for a day or two sometime.
8. Be nicer to friends and people I like. Not that I'm a mean person, but I could do with less snark and sarcasm.
9. Get organized, pull my shit together, and stop procrastinating. (Yes, I realize the irony in writing that in a post I meant to make a month ago.)
10. Learn Russian!! Seeing as that's the reason I came here in the first place. I can't take lessons yet, but I need to make an effort to watch Russian movies, read Russian newspapers or books, work in my grammar book, etc. I am organizing a Russian conversation group for this weekend, so I suppose I am working on it, but not nearly enough.
In case you are wondering, the groundhog would not have seen his shadow today in Moscow. Somehow I don't think that means spring is just around the corner, though.
28 December 2009
It's (almost) 4 in the morning, the end of December...
Sorry I haven't posted in quite awhile-- the past couple of weeks have been super hectic, what with the holidays and Ian visiting. I've also got two new classes, which effectively doubles my hours, and my commute to one of the classes is insane. The good news is I am officially now on holiday, and Ian and I will be off to the airport in an hour. I'm really looking forward to going home, seeing family & friends, having a proper Christmas, and eating some freaking tacos. Also not teaching! I'll hopefully have some free time to just sit around and relax, and I'll try to spend some of that time writing/posting pictures.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
03 December 2009
Address
Oh and also-- send love & letters to:
Starovagankovsky Pereulok, d. 15 kv. 3
Moscow, 119019
Russia
Starovagankovsky Pereulok, d. 15 kv. 3
Moscow, 119019
Russia
December showed up anyway
Not a whole lot to report on. I've been here over 6 weeks now-- isn't that crazy? Things are starting to become routine, but unfortunately I haven't been able to do a lot of sightseeing yet. I imagine I will do more of that once Ian comes to visit (in only 2 weeks, hurrah!).
Last weekend was kind of crazy. I spent a lot of time with my friends, including all Friday night when we were dancing at a club until the metro opened again in the morning (it's closed from 1am to 6 am)!! I figure if I'm not doing the tourist thing, at least I am getting the authentic Moscow experience. The club we usually go to has decent music (mostly British post-punk and pop from the last couple decades, but there is some variety, and there's usually a couple hours where the music's live) and has a large amount of expats there. We almost always run into other teachers that we know that we didn't show up with!
This weekend I'm looking forward to having things be much more low-key. Saturday we're having our late Thanksgiving here. I am really excited to be able to show everyone a real American Thanksgiving. We're going to have quite a mix: three Americans, two Brits, a South African, a Russian, and we're seeing about a partridge in a pear tree. I hope there are not any huge culinary disasters. We are rather limited on cooking utensils and pans, and there is no thermometer on our gas stove. We're doing a shopping run to the big grocery store (Ashan) for some last minute ingredients, as well as to IKEA for meat thermometers, pie plates, etc.
The weather here is not that cold, but it's pretty miserable. The sun is setting at 4 about now. But that isn't even the main thing-- the most depressing thing is that even when it's light out, you don't see the sun. The sky is just white. No blue, no discernible clouds, just white. One of my students said that living in Moscow is like living in a glass of milk, and I am inclined to agree. I'm hoping to maybe get a plant light while I'm at IKEA, because my cilantro plant is not doing so well, and it could perhaps double as a happy-people-light.
Tomorrow is my formal observation for my adult class-- wish me luck!!
Last weekend was kind of crazy. I spent a lot of time with my friends, including all Friday night when we were dancing at a club until the metro opened again in the morning (it's closed from 1am to 6 am)!! I figure if I'm not doing the tourist thing, at least I am getting the authentic Moscow experience. The club we usually go to has decent music (mostly British post-punk and pop from the last couple decades, but there is some variety, and there's usually a couple hours where the music's live) and has a large amount of expats there. We almost always run into other teachers that we know that we didn't show up with!
This weekend I'm looking forward to having things be much more low-key. Saturday we're having our late Thanksgiving here. I am really excited to be able to show everyone a real American Thanksgiving. We're going to have quite a mix: three Americans, two Brits, a South African, a Russian, and we're seeing about a partridge in a pear tree. I hope there are not any huge culinary disasters. We are rather limited on cooking utensils and pans, and there is no thermometer on our gas stove. We're doing a shopping run to the big grocery store (Ashan) for some last minute ingredients, as well as to IKEA for meat thermometers, pie plates, etc.
The weather here is not that cold, but it's pretty miserable. The sun is setting at 4 about now. But that isn't even the main thing-- the most depressing thing is that even when it's light out, you don't see the sun. The sky is just white. No blue, no discernible clouds, just white. One of my students said that living in Moscow is like living in a glass of milk, and I am inclined to agree. I'm hoping to maybe get a plant light while I'm at IKEA, because my cilantro plant is not doing so well, and it could perhaps double as a happy-people-light.
Tomorrow is my formal observation for my adult class-- wish me luck!!
25 November 2009
Great day!
Today was a really great day. Firstly, I found out that my new roommate is moving to a flat closer to her school, which means either I get the place to myself or my old roommates will crash here again for awhile (and I miss my old roomies). Secondly, I had my formal observation today and it went great! I haven't had my formal debriefing yet (that will be Friday), but my mentor said after the class that it went really well. She'd observed the class once before (with another teacher), and she said they were much more under control this time. However, I did cheat a bit-- I knew from talking to my old roommate what things she in particular liked and I tried to include them. I also know that she really didn't like any Russian at all to be used in the classroom, so I made a big show of having the kids repeat the English word for a lot of the Russian they used.
I did have a spot of bad news-- I found out that I'll have to have an observation for an adult class as well (Which is annoying, but makes sense. At least my adult group seems to like me.) , and I found out that my 2-to-1 class want another teacher. No word on why. Which is really what irritates me about it-- I mean, they are paying an arm and a leg for semi-private classes, they deserve to have a teacher they really hit it off with. But there's no way I can learn from it, or find out what they wanted, if no one gives me any reasons.
But back to the good-- I went to the expensive grocery store near here and found cornmeal and a decent sized turkey! The turkey was pretty expensive though-- 700 rubles for a 3 kg bird (which is about $24 for 6.6 lbs of turkey in real people units), but whatever, it's Thanksgiving. I just need to find a pie pan and sweet potatoes and I think we'll have everything we need for the meal!
I did have a spot of bad news-- I found out that I'll have to have an observation for an adult class as well (Which is annoying, but makes sense. At least my adult group seems to like me.) , and I found out that my 2-to-1 class want another teacher. No word on why. Which is really what irritates me about it-- I mean, they are paying an arm and a leg for semi-private classes, they deserve to have a teacher they really hit it off with. But there's no way I can learn from it, or find out what they wanted, if no one gives me any reasons.
But back to the good-- I went to the expensive grocery store near here and found cornmeal and a decent sized turkey! The turkey was pretty expensive though-- 700 rubles for a 3 kg bird (which is about $24 for 6.6 lbs of turkey in real people units), but whatever, it's Thanksgiving. I just need to find a pie pan and sweet potatoes and I think we'll have everything we need for the meal!
22 November 2009
Had a fairly good week, even though the latter part of it was almost completely without internet. (The people I was stealing from wised up, but I managed to get an internet card so I can access the city-wide Beeline wifi. Unfortunately, it's super slow. Still trying to get my own real internet!) A friend of mine had a birthday on Thursday, so we went out and had a rather late night, which involved getting sushi at 3 am. All-night sushi places are a brilliant invention. There were about 7 of us-- I am meeting more and more teachers, but I seem to be mostly hanging out with a kind of core group consisting of my orientation friends plus a couple others occasionally. They're really great people and we have fun. I guess what I'm saying is that I feel like I have actual friends here.
Wednesday my new roommate came. She's nice, and we get along okay, but I don't think we have too much in common. Plus, I miss my former roommates. But I will be seeing them for Thanksgiving (and my orientation friends will be coming too-- I'm really excited! Hopefully we can find all the things we need).
Friday there was a bit of an adventure because our door broke. By broke I mean it was impossible to open, and I was on the outside and needed things that were on the inside. So I had to teach a class without my lesson plan. The accommodations manager sent the repairmen by, but of course they didn't look at the door at all until I came home from class. I think they assumed all they needed to do was show the stupid American how to open a door. But of course they couldn't open it either, and so they went ahead and tried to pry it open with a screwdriver. That didn't work, so they got a power drill. But of course there was no outlet in the hallway, so they attached wires to the prongs on the plug and attached the other ends into the fuse box thingy. Oh Russians, you're so crazy.
Finally took some pictures of my apartment & uploaded my fall leaves pictures, but I'm having some problems uploading them to blogger. In the meantime, you can see my pictures at my flickr.
Wednesday my new roommate came. She's nice, and we get along okay, but I don't think we have too much in common. Plus, I miss my former roommates. But I will be seeing them for Thanksgiving (and my orientation friends will be coming too-- I'm really excited! Hopefully we can find all the things we need).
Friday there was a bit of an adventure because our door broke. By broke I mean it was impossible to open, and I was on the outside and needed things that were on the inside. So I had to teach a class without my lesson plan. The accommodations manager sent the repairmen by, but of course they didn't look at the door at all until I came home from class. I think they assumed all they needed to do was show the stupid American how to open a door. But of course they couldn't open it either, and so they went ahead and tried to pry it open with a screwdriver. That didn't work, so they got a power drill. But of course there was no outlet in the hallway, so they attached wires to the prongs on the plug and attached the other ends into the fuse box thingy. Oh Russians, you're so crazy.
Finally took some pictures of my apartment & uploaded my fall leaves pictures, but I'm having some problems uploading them to blogger. In the meantime, you can see my pictures at my flickr.
14 November 2009
An open letter to Moscow
Dear Moscow,
It's been going really great for us the past month or so. I think we've been getting along very well and I'm enjoying getting to know you. I haven't really even had much culture shock. So I kind of thought that by now I knew what I was getting into, and there wouldn't be any more surprises.
That is, until I woke up this morning with no hot water. I mean, I needed a shower so I was a little peeved. But hey, you're Russia. I did expect a little more from you, being Moscow, but I wasn't overly surprised. I was, however, surprised and appalled when the water came back on and it was brown and rather smelly. I expect such things from Vladimir, Moscow, but not from you. You're the capitol city! First world! I liked knowing that in a pinch, I could drink water right out of the faucet and not get giardia. But now there is no way in hell I am drinking anything that comes out of that faucet without filtering and boiling the crap out of it first. You have betrayed my trust. And I warn you, you pull anything else like this and we are through.
...Moscow? Where are you going? Oh, come on baby, you know I didn't mean it. You just make me so angry sometimes, and you know how I say things when I'm angry. I'll never leave you.
...At least not until my contract's up.
love, Erica
It's been going really great for us the past month or so. I think we've been getting along very well and I'm enjoying getting to know you. I haven't really even had much culture shock. So I kind of thought that by now I knew what I was getting into, and there wouldn't be any more surprises.
That is, until I woke up this morning with no hot water. I mean, I needed a shower so I was a little peeved. But hey, you're Russia. I did expect a little more from you, being Moscow, but I wasn't overly surprised. I was, however, surprised and appalled when the water came back on and it was brown and rather smelly. I expect such things from Vladimir, Moscow, but not from you. You're the capitol city! First world! I liked knowing that in a pinch, I could drink water right out of the faucet and not get giardia. But now there is no way in hell I am drinking anything that comes out of that faucet without filtering and boiling the crap out of it first. You have betrayed my trust. And I warn you, you pull anything else like this and we are through.
...Moscow? Where are you going? Oh, come on baby, you know I didn't mean it. You just make me so angry sometimes, and you know how I say things when I'm angry. I'll never leave you.
...At least not until my contract's up.
love, Erica
08 November 2009
Swine flu and other fun times
So, there is a huge (and I mean huge) flu outbreak in Moscow right now (probably swine flu, but of course the news articles I've seen are all either totally scare mongering or else saying it's "Acute Respiratory Infection" and not even a proper flu, so who really knows). Dozens of kids were sick at camp. They actually ran out of some medicines. They shone their crazy "disinfecting" light all over the camp building. They've shut down the Moscow school systems and some universities. The city of Kiev is quarantining people. When you go on the metro there's people in face masks everywhere. It's really crazy.
So basically, what I'm saying is, the reason I haven't posted in awhile is because I am also sick. (Of course I am, because I have a crappy immune system and crappier luck.) I was really, really sick last week at camp-- I had a fever of 101.5 F at one point and couldn't sleep due to my sore throat and hot flashes/chills. I think it may have been swine flu? I haven't worked since last Thursday (that night was my bad fever), though I'm thinking I may go back tomorrow. Monday the company doctor came to look at me. He said that I probably had the flu before, but by that point I was over the flu and had bronchitis instead (which I often get after a bad flu or cold, so that makes total sense). It was a little weird to have a house visit from a doctor, because he wasn't wearing a lab coat, just this kitschy Caribbean tourist T-shirt, and just examined me in my kitchen so it felt a bit sketchy. He prescribed a couple medicines to "make [my] phlegm more liquid" and also this Vietnamese Balm stuff that is basically like Tiger Balm and Vick's Vap-o-rub had an AMAZING baby. I add it to hot water and breathe it in. And it comes in this cute little tin! Everybody is getting this stuff for a stocking stuffer this year because I am a huge fan. Yesterday I started feeling better but my head is all stopped up and I have a constant mild nosebleed that won't heal because I keep blowing my nose. Today I was woozy and nauseous in the morning (well, I say "morning" but I didn't wake up until 5 and nobody is allowed to give me shit for it because I am really sick, dammit!) but I feel a lot better now.
Although I've spent a lot of the last week either asleep or just sitting and staring off into space while feeling miserable, I did feel well enough to do a little shopping yesterday. I lost my hat at camp (and it was a really nice hat, too, so I'm kinda pissed) and left my gloves on a bus so I needed to buy new ones pretty quickly. I was able to find a hat I like alright even though it's not as nice as my original one. If the camp director doesn't find it this week I might buy the same one again, if I can find it. I mean I live in Moscow, I think it's okay to have two hats. I also went to a farmer's market, or rynok, which was awesome. They had fresh eggs, and real pumpkins (generally here you get butternut squash, which is called the same word), and a guy selling spices even had cumin!! It was so expensive though-- 300 rubles, or $10, for a little more than half the amount you generally get in the supermarket. I'm definitely bringing some back after New Year's break because this will not last me long at all. I also got a bunch of apples and the lady selling them let me try the different kinds to see which I liked best! The ones I got taste like Honeycrisp, but they're really red, so it's probably a hybrid. I also visited the ritzy supermarket near here and got pesto and marmalade (anything made with oranges in a Russian brand is very weak/watered down, so imports are the way to go on that front) and real lettuce! They also had a lot of pre-made salads, as well as aspic. (So if you want to try it, come visit me and I'll get you some! :p) Anyway, I made some onion jam (which is delicious, and you can get the recipe here -- it sounds weird, but try it, really) and had awesome apple/lettuce/cheese/onion jam sandwiches. This weekend's culinary adventure will, of course, be tacos.
Anyway, back to camp. Even though I was really sick, I really enjoyed it. I want to work there for the spring session if possible, and definitely over the summer. The counselors were really awesome-- they're generally college kids, mostly from Vladimir (where I studied last time), who need a bit of cash and do not have the biological imperative for sleep. Most of them don't know English (or at least not much), so it was a really good way to practice my Russian in a very low-key, low-pressure environment. (I always get a bit nervous when using Russian at the grocery store or something because I feel like I'm inconveniencing people with my crappy Russian skills.) I was really proud of myself that I was able to hold an actual conversation with the music teacher, and actually talk about topics I was interested in, like movies and music. The only problem I really ran into was when I was trying to explain the concept of "hyperliterate lyrics" but apparently when I described it, it sounded like a bad thing. I was kind of standing up for American music, so clearly for next time I need to practice the guitar and learn some good hyperliterate music to show that my country's music is more than Britney Spears and that ilk. (In related news, I plan on buying a super cheap, crappy guitar to use for the next year and then sell to another teacher who may want a crappy guitar while they're in Russia.) Anyway, it was really great meeting and hanging out with Russians, and a couple of them offered to do a language practice exchange type thing with me if I come back in the spring/summer. Oh, and speaking of language practice, one of the other teachers has a Moldovan roommate who apparently is a shopaholic and therefore always needs money, so I may have found a way to get Romanian lessons!!
There's much more about camp (as well as crazy Russian medical practices) but I feel this is a bit long already, so... more later, perhaps?
So basically, what I'm saying is, the reason I haven't posted in awhile is because I am also sick. (Of course I am, because I have a crappy immune system and crappier luck.) I was really, really sick last week at camp-- I had a fever of 101.5 F at one point and couldn't sleep due to my sore throat and hot flashes/chills. I think it may have been swine flu? I haven't worked since last Thursday (that night was my bad fever), though I'm thinking I may go back tomorrow. Monday the company doctor came to look at me. He said that I probably had the flu before, but by that point I was over the flu and had bronchitis instead (which I often get after a bad flu or cold, so that makes total sense). It was a little weird to have a house visit from a doctor, because he wasn't wearing a lab coat, just this kitschy Caribbean tourist T-shirt, and just examined me in my kitchen so it felt a bit sketchy. He prescribed a couple medicines to "make [my] phlegm more liquid" and also this Vietnamese Balm stuff that is basically like Tiger Balm and Vick's Vap-o-rub had an AMAZING baby. I add it to hot water and breathe it in. And it comes in this cute little tin! Everybody is getting this stuff for a stocking stuffer this year because I am a huge fan. Yesterday I started feeling better but my head is all stopped up and I have a constant mild nosebleed that won't heal because I keep blowing my nose. Today I was woozy and nauseous in the morning (well, I say "morning" but I didn't wake up until 5 and nobody is allowed to give me shit for it because I am really sick, dammit!) but I feel a lot better now.
Although I've spent a lot of the last week either asleep or just sitting and staring off into space while feeling miserable, I did feel well enough to do a little shopping yesterday. I lost my hat at camp (and it was a really nice hat, too, so I'm kinda pissed) and left my gloves on a bus so I needed to buy new ones pretty quickly. I was able to find a hat I like alright even though it's not as nice as my original one. If the camp director doesn't find it this week I might buy the same one again, if I can find it. I mean I live in Moscow, I think it's okay to have two hats. I also went to a farmer's market, or rynok, which was awesome. They had fresh eggs, and real pumpkins (generally here you get butternut squash, which is called the same word), and a guy selling spices even had cumin!! It was so expensive though-- 300 rubles, or $10, for a little more than half the amount you generally get in the supermarket. I'm definitely bringing some back after New Year's break because this will not last me long at all. I also got a bunch of apples and the lady selling them let me try the different kinds to see which I liked best! The ones I got taste like Honeycrisp, but they're really red, so it's probably a hybrid. I also visited the ritzy supermarket near here and got pesto and marmalade (anything made with oranges in a Russian brand is very weak/watered down, so imports are the way to go on that front) and real lettuce! They also had a lot of pre-made salads, as well as aspic. (So if you want to try it, come visit me and I'll get you some! :p) Anyway, I made some onion jam (which is delicious, and you can get the recipe here -- it sounds weird, but try it, really) and had awesome apple/lettuce/cheese/onion jam sandwiches. This weekend's culinary adventure will, of course, be tacos.
Anyway, back to camp. Even though I was really sick, I really enjoyed it. I want to work there for the spring session if possible, and definitely over the summer. The counselors were really awesome-- they're generally college kids, mostly from Vladimir (where I studied last time), who need a bit of cash and do not have the biological imperative for sleep. Most of them don't know English (or at least not much), so it was a really good way to practice my Russian in a very low-key, low-pressure environment. (I always get a bit nervous when using Russian at the grocery store or something because I feel like I'm inconveniencing people with my crappy Russian skills.) I was really proud of myself that I was able to hold an actual conversation with the music teacher, and actually talk about topics I was interested in, like movies and music. The only problem I really ran into was when I was trying to explain the concept of "hyperliterate lyrics" but apparently when I described it, it sounded like a bad thing. I was kind of standing up for American music, so clearly for next time I need to practice the guitar and learn some good hyperliterate music to show that my country's music is more than Britney Spears and that ilk. (In related news, I plan on buying a super cheap, crappy guitar to use for the next year and then sell to another teacher who may want a crappy guitar while they're in Russia.) Anyway, it was really great meeting and hanging out with Russians, and a couple of them offered to do a language practice exchange type thing with me if I come back in the spring/summer. Oh, and speaking of language practice, one of the other teachers has a Moldovan roommate who apparently is a shopaholic and therefore always needs money, so I may have found a way to get Romanian lessons!!
There's much more about camp (as well as crazy Russian medical practices) but I feel this is a bit long already, so... more later, perhaps?
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