7 March 2009

Yesterday I met with a girl who sent me a message looking for an English tutor. I told her rather than paying me, I would prefer if we just reached an agreement where for every hour I help her with her conversational English, she helps me with my conversational Russian. She agreed. She seemed very nice and her English is very good, but kind of strange. She is studying journalism, and while she can read and write fluently and even teaches English to adults interested in learning, she has had almost no conversational practice and therefore listening to her speak is like reading a bank contract. She speaks very formally and matter-of-factly.
This week I went to the woman who does scheduling for the department, and I dropped the culture class and my conversation class. Aside from the fact that the class seems to be a watered down version of the class I took with Dr. Lehrman last semester, when I start teaching it will be the same night and I don’t really want to have 9 consecutive hours of class every Monday. I added a phonetics class in place of my conversation class. The girl in front of me in line to speak with the woman who does scheduling is in my group, and she made the same change. The woman asked me why everyone was dropping the class and what the problem was. I didn’t want to tell her that the class is a waste of time (its called ‘Conversation’ but really she goes around the room and asks each person to tell the class one interesting thing we’ve done since the last class, and then she turns on a cartoon and narrates) so I just told her I didn’t like the format. She asked what that meant and if I would prefer just having a different professor, and I said that I can get conversational practice in all my other classes, on the street, in the dorm, in a lot of other settings- I don’t need a class for it, especially if we aren’t actually conversing, and phonetics is something that is important to me that I specifically want to study. So starting this week I’m with a different group on Thursdays.
Today I slept in until about 11 (I really needed it) and then decided to go out exploring again. I found a great old used bookstore not too far from the university. I wish I had thought to check used bookstores when I first got here, because the first week I was in the city I went to Дом Книги (the Russian equivalent of Barnes and Noble) and bought a Russian dictionary for about 30$. Today I was able to buy a book with everything that’s been published by Lermontov, a book with all of Pushkin’s poetry, and a Russian entomology dictionary of foreign words incorporated into the language…for a combined total of about 3$. I paid more than that for a bowl of soup yesterday.
I was walking down the street and passed a grille cart, and decided to try the Russian interpretation of street burgers and hot dogs. The burger, which was about the size of a silver dollar, was maybe the worst quality beef I’ve ever eaten and had a very strange sweet taste, like they added sugar to the meat…but I guess I shouldn’t really complain considering it cost about 80 cents. The hot-dog was another story altogether. I took one bite and threw it out. It was the worst thing I’ve ever tasted. It was basically a sausage casing filled with some kind of meat-paste (still in paste form, it had not solidified on the grill)…I know it’s a different take on the food, but I would think it would at least taste somewhat like a hot dog...
Tomorrow I’m going to a Purim festival at the Hillel. Irina offered me a free ticket, and asked if I would help out cooking schwarma. I told her I have no idea how to make it, and that I’ve never even eaten it, but she said it’s easy and they will teach me when I get there. It should be a good time. I’ve also been invited to a Purim party Monday night, which I think I will go to.
I was walking around today, and started to think about how I’m the only one in the family missing the first Bat Mitzvah of the next generation, and started to get a little homesick for the first time since I got here… Its strange, but until today, I haven’t missed home at all. I’ve missed people, but at no point have I felt homesick. I guess its natural, and it will pass as soon as long as I keep finding ways to stay busy.