Not actively studying Russian, I found that even though I understood people, I was having a lot of trouble speaking Russian (because of anxiety and also because I have speech problems in general). I like talking to people here, so that sucked. To help, I found a few lists of "the best Russian poetry" and started reading/looking up words. I really ( Read more... )

Okay, so I decided that the best way to handle all the stress was to get rid of as much as possible, so I pulled myself together and wrote up my final paper for "Contemporary Russian Life", even though it isn't due until Sunday. I feel _much_ better. To celebrate that and the nice weather, I went out skating for a little bit. I have very little ( Read more... )

So, I'm sitting with some girls from Vietnam who are in my literature class in the "Victory in WW2"-themed talent show, and the girl next to me asks me how old I am. I say 40. She doesn't believe me and asks for my student card to see. I take it out, but it doesn't have my birthdate, so I dig out a copy of my passport. Everyone is shocked to ( Read more... )

Hmm.... Not too much new. Goin' along. Doin' homework. I'm way more stable than last week, as I have been eating my peanuts and fruit like a good girl. I talked to the head of our program about us staying for another semester. I'll get the details on Monday. After that, I may try to enter the technical university. It really depends if I can ( Read more... )

I've already got enough breakfasts in the queue, but I want to make this one for the week after next ( Read more... )

Today was exhausting but very satisfying. I basically spent almost the entire morning and afternoon helping Cas get her finances in order (although, she really did have quite a good handle on it), set up a bank account and do some grocery shopping. I was exhausted when we were done, and I hadn't just worked the night shift. Needless to say, she ( Read more... )

My professor for the electronics class emailed me the book for soldering, and I found the kit I'm supposed to use to learn (it was labeled for a different section). So, now I'm all ready to start learning to solder tonight ( Read more... )

To balance out having made progress on the sewing front, I now discover that I should have already learned to solder in my course. I have a soldering iron, but nothing to practice on and no instructions. As is my way, I have sent stressed emails to my instructor. If there is a big delay, I guess I can use it as an excuse later to petition them ( Read more... )

People often ask how school is going, since I don't post about it too often anymore. The answer is that so far I love it. Right now, I'm working on building simple circuits and testing them with a multimeter (which is basically a device to test voltage, current and resistance). I'm a bit nervous around it, as if you try to measure resistance ( Read more... )

So, the box full of stuff for my first batch of practical exercises still hasn't arrived. Supposedly, it has until tomorrow. If it doesn't show, I'll need to contact the school and see what they can do. The box for the second practical arrived a few days ago (the first went via the post office, I think, and the second via UPS). I finally got ( Read more... )