I think that my pizza had mayonnaise on it
So far the whole living abroad experience has been pretty interesting. My homestay is great. She does not overfeed me like everyone else and actually cooks quite well. I told her early on that I don't like fish or mayonnaise and she doesn't either! Horay! She makes lots of potatoes and cooks with lots of oil, but I couldn't expect her to be totally not Russian, right? She loves to run around the house in her little bathrobe and dances when she gets excited. We always eat dinner in front of the television, in order to watch her favorite reality show. Last night we had a bonding moment, when I asked her how one ought to dress for the cold Siberian winters and what shoes to wear. She bluntly told me that everything I have is just not right and I will freeze. She then jumped up and started pulling down her daughter's old shoes (which fit me perfectly) and insisted that I wear them once it gets cold.
A word on Russian fashion: There seems to be a general understanding that the longer your toes look, the more attractive you are to the opposite sex. This rule applies to both men and women. The girls all walk at neck-breaking heights in tight pants. The males are pretty nondescript, but I have seen many a jacket like the one that Eric used to wear. I guess he was right.
The classes thus far have been pretty boring. I was put in the top level for foreign students. The Mezhfak, where we have classes is just like high school. The students are not serious at all and just walking around the halls is like being in a high school setting again. On top of that, the teachers think that we are idiots (which may be true), so they dumb down the material to the point of boredom. Add on top of that the fact that there is about 70% understanding going on.
Now a note on the people I am traveling with. The guys from Bowdoin and Williams are cool. There is a girl here from Oberlin, who I cannot stand. She thinks that she speaks better Russian than all of us combined and laughs at us pretentiously when we make mistakes. There is another weird guy here from Wisconsin, who thought it was a good idea to bring an excessive number of knives with him and seemed surprised when the Russian police stopped him at customs to question him. He also can't speak a word of Russian.
A word on Russian fashion: There seems to be a general understanding that the longer your toes look, the more attractive you are to the opposite sex. This rule applies to both men and women. The girls all walk at neck-breaking heights in tight pants. The males are pretty nondescript, but I have seen many a jacket like the one that Eric used to wear. I guess he was right.
The classes thus far have been pretty boring. I was put in the top level for foreign students. The Mezhfak, where we have classes is just like high school. The students are not serious at all and just walking around the halls is like being in a high school setting again. On top of that, the teachers think that we are idiots (which may be true), so they dumb down the material to the point of boredom. Add on top of that the fact that there is about 70% understanding going on.
Now a note on the people I am traveling with. The guys from Bowdoin and Williams are cool. There is a girl here from Oberlin, who I cannot stand. She thinks that she speaks better Russian than all of us combined and laughs at us pretentiously when we make mistakes. There is another weird guy here from Wisconsin, who thought it was a good idea to bring an excessive number of knives with him and seemed surprised when the Russian police stopped him at customs to question him. He also can't speak a word of Russian.