7 February 2009

I had my first three classes this week. First days are tough, because I didn’t know what they were talking about when they went over homework or referenced previous classes. I think I was ok though. I particularly liked my literary language class (yesterday). We talked about Solzhenitsyn and read a short story he wrote. It reminded me of the classes I took at Delaware. My conversation class was ok, but not quite what I was expecting. She turned on a “Ну Пагоди!" cartoon (basically the Soviet “Tom and Jerry” and paused it every few seconds for us to provide commentary. It was fun, but very difficult. We went through two or three episodes.
As I said in my last entry, I’ve realized that I need to hear a lot more Russian Russian. I like talking with other students, but I need to hear more of the native tongue so I can get better at understanding what I’m hearing. Thus, I went with Valentin to the grocery store the other night (I didn’t need anything, but was really bored. However, I was very tempted to buy a bottle of champagne I found that cost the equivalent of about $1.10) and after he was done we went into the little movie store they had. They had movies that were still in theatres when I left the US. The kid working there was probably about 16 or 17, and kind of dumb. At one point when he was helping us find movies, he suggested ‘Tropic Thunder.’ I asked if it was good, and he said it was a really great movie, but he didn’t like it because the DVD was really bad quality… obviously he is quite the businessman. At one point, Valentin asked him a question, and he walked out from behind the register and across into the main store, leaving the drawer of the cash register open. When he came back, we told him and he didn’t seem like it was a big deal. He also didn’t notice when two little kids came in and stole DVDs, so Valentin told him and he took off after the mother. We each bought movies though, because it was incredibly cheap. I also bought a road map with a small map of the subway system thinking it would be useful to carry with me, but when I got home and opened it up (it had been sealed in plastic) I realized that one side is a map of the entire oblast, and the other is the city, and completely unfolded is about 3’x4’…way to big to open walking down the street.
Last night, on Valentin’s suggestion, the three of us had dinner all together. An made white rice and a potato dish, Valentin made fish, and I made pelmeni. Of course, we all ate with chopsticks. It was a good meal. Speaking of chopsticks, I’m fascinated watching An eat every night. The way he uses them is like an art. His fingers are so precise and nimble, and he uses them as if they were an extension of his hands.
While we were cleaning up, I heard music coming from outside, and An told me that every Friday night people sit in the stairwell and play music and sing. I was very interested (and I also want to make more Russian friends, particularly in the dorm where it gets very boring in the evenings) so I went outside to listen. There was one guy sitting with a guitar, and two girls. He was really good, and one of the girls sang along with him from time to time. When he finished a song, I said hello and introduced myself (their names were Maksim, Yulia, and Nastya). Maksim asked where I was from, and when I said America, he began to play and sing “This land is your land.” After that, he asked me about the Superbowl, went on to start playing some more American classics. When his phone rang and he had to run upstairs, Yulia sang Whitney Houston’s I will always love you. When she sang, she had almost no accent, but when she spoke it was really hard to understand her. I stayed with them for about a half hour, and then Maksim had to leave, and they invited me to join them for a cup of tea upstairs. I returned to the dorm room to clean the rest of my dishes, and then went up. It was a really interesting experience. Nastya and her roommate, Olya put out tea, cakes and chocolates and we all sat and talked until about one in the morning. As soon as I have internet access, I have to email Dr. Amert and Dr. Lehrman and tell them how much their classes helped me, and I used things I never thought I would need to know. Olya asked me if I’ve ever read any Russian poetry, and every time I started reciting one she finished it with me (just like Dr. Lehrman said). Later we started talking about politics, and thanks to Dr. Amert’s 401 course I was able to answer their questions about American government and explain the primary system to them. We talked about everything- literature, music, politics (Russian and American), languages (Nastya is a Belorussian studying French and English and Olya is a Ukrainian studying English and Italian) and I was even able to hear both of them recite poetry in their own languages.
I was really surprised at how well I was able to follow the conversation. From time to time Nastya asked me if I understood what was going on, and only two or three times the whole night I had to ask to have something explained to me. Unfortunately, as it started getting late, I became tired and I started becoming more difficult to understand, and when I answered questions I could feel my grammar and pronunciation slipping. They were getting tired too, so we all said goodnight. It was fun, and I hope to spend more time with them, and with Maksim as well.
I didn’t end up going to the English Club at the Hillel Thursday night.. I got an email from Irina a few hours before saying that it had been cancelled because there weren’t enough people going (it is still between semesters for the normal students, so there is hardly anyone here). I emailed her back and said that if she still wanted to get together, to give me a call. She didn’t call me until 7pm though, and I was in the grocery store with Valentin so I told her it was too late, because by the time I got back and figured out how to get there, it would be close to 9pm and I had class the next day. I emailed her later and told her that if she was free we could meet up sometime before Thursday. I haven’t checked my email since, but she hasn’t called either. Yulia Burmistrova called me as well and asked to meet up this Sunday around 4pm. I’m not sure what she has in mind, but she’s recently been licensed as a tour guide, so it should be interesting. As for today, I hope I can figure out something to do because I don’t want to spend my entire Saturday just sitting around.