Yeah, and you thought it was spring (evil cackle)….
Well, “I” knew was entering the far north for a spring semester. And I could recall crazy cold days in early May, so I only brought the “one” super-warm, most-everything-resistant coat. These other kids-the all-American optimists, brought lighter coats for when they could put away the heavy ones. The sweet little things… So, we got a cold snap (or an end to the warm wave-it wasn’t a heat wave…) and some snow. I had finally made a trip to the gulf to see the ice before it broke up and then the weather changed and there’s no impending thaw…
But it’s still nice out (er, tolerable). So nice, in fact, that I was invited to go swimming (in an indoor, Olympic-size, municipal pool). Yeah, you thought those were scary in the States. Ha. What was I thinking. But I survived. I was complimented on my skill. I was identified as a Finn and an Estonian and English-I know my Russian is accented, but I also know I don’t have “those” particular accents… Then I swam away and dressed out… While a bit expensive ($5 for two hours), it was something mildly exercising-it was free-swim, so building up speed was pointless cuz some kids were playing in the center of each lane---Ai! But I’ll have to wait and see if I swallowed too much water, or get swimmer’s ear, or if anything’s sore tomorrow… ;)
So, I printed seven rolls of film. Odd how it only cost twice as much as developing two rolls of double-prints. Oh, wait, no it’s not. Russian film-developers provide a courtesy-they screen your film and only print the pics you obviously “meant” to take-like the first of a series of three similar pics, and not ones of rooms, odds and ends, dark museums… Ai! Ugh! er.
I received a ticket from my hostess to see a concert for free with a friend (she was busy that night and had received it free from a friend). So I grabbed a girl and headed out. I’ve been to this hall before, but this was weird: it was like entering a rock concert! But it was all old people-few if any less than middle-age (besides me and friend). So coat-check was crazy, and then getting through ticket-control all-but required crowd surfing! The funny thing with these “free tickets” is you aren’t assigned a seat. But they still sell-out the hall if possible, regardless of the amount of free-tickets floating around. So, we nab a chair, but it’s ticket-holder arrives, so we try to ‘move-on’-except that the place, and aisles, and seats are all plumb full! So we just stand in the aisle. And listen to a speech, and another, and a third (I’ve never heard a curtain speech there before either). And then they recognize some (apparently) very popular people in the audience, and play a song from a movie (Russian). And proceed to alternated speeches with movie-scores. I thought I was going to Beethoven…We notice the high quantity of people standing in the aisles and along the walls (Did the USSR ever create the job of Fire Inspector, to recommend audience capacity? They certainly created a job for everyone, but not this one…) So we decide to leave early-hoping to avoid a repeat of the entry-madhouse….But when I went to this same hall the very next night, it was almost normal again. And I heard the European Union’s Youth Orchestra (college-aged aspiring musicians). Wow. Rachmaninoff’s Symph 2 and Concert 3. Wow. And I really think one of the Double-bass players looked like Trout. ;)
Otherwise, nothing really cool. I was told to cease planning a heritage day for the institute (a prof had asked me to organize an American day, cuz they were having a Chinese and a Russian day)-because the Consulate recommends we keep as low a profile as possible… This had been nagging me the whole time, but I took it as a challenge to create a day that wasn’t so much “Go USA” as ‘little known facts about the 48 states outside of LA and NYC”…. Oh well, less stress for me (cuz the whole thing was to be recited in Russian!)
And if no one’s otherwise occupied next Saturday (Friday night, your time) think about a really good piece of English grammar or a profound examination of current political events, and maybe it’ll reach me while I’m taking the Foreign Service Exam…. What was a thinking… ; p
But it’s still nice out (er, tolerable). So nice, in fact, that I was invited to go swimming (in an indoor, Olympic-size, municipal pool). Yeah, you thought those were scary in the States. Ha. What was I thinking. But I survived. I was complimented on my skill. I was identified as a Finn and an Estonian and English-I know my Russian is accented, but I also know I don’t have “those” particular accents… Then I swam away and dressed out… While a bit expensive ($5 for two hours), it was something mildly exercising-it was free-swim, so building up speed was pointless cuz some kids were playing in the center of each lane---Ai! But I’ll have to wait and see if I swallowed too much water, or get swimmer’s ear, or if anything’s sore tomorrow… ;)
So, I printed seven rolls of film. Odd how it only cost twice as much as developing two rolls of double-prints. Oh, wait, no it’s not. Russian film-developers provide a courtesy-they screen your film and only print the pics you obviously “meant” to take-like the first of a series of three similar pics, and not ones of rooms, odds and ends, dark museums… Ai! Ugh! er.
I received a ticket from my hostess to see a concert for free with a friend (she was busy that night and had received it free from a friend). So I grabbed a girl and headed out. I’ve been to this hall before, but this was weird: it was like entering a rock concert! But it was all old people-few if any less than middle-age (besides me and friend). So coat-check was crazy, and then getting through ticket-control all-but required crowd surfing! The funny thing with these “free tickets” is you aren’t assigned a seat. But they still sell-out the hall if possible, regardless of the amount of free-tickets floating around. So, we nab a chair, but it’s ticket-holder arrives, so we try to ‘move-on’-except that the place, and aisles, and seats are all plumb full! So we just stand in the aisle. And listen to a speech, and another, and a third (I’ve never heard a curtain speech there before either). And then they recognize some (apparently) very popular people in the audience, and play a song from a movie (Russian). And proceed to alternated speeches with movie-scores. I thought I was going to Beethoven…We notice the high quantity of people standing in the aisles and along the walls (Did the USSR ever create the job of Fire Inspector, to recommend audience capacity? They certainly created a job for everyone, but not this one…) So we decide to leave early-hoping to avoid a repeat of the entry-madhouse….But when I went to this same hall the very next night, it was almost normal again. And I heard the European Union’s Youth Orchestra (college-aged aspiring musicians). Wow. Rachmaninoff’s Symph 2 and Concert 3. Wow. And I really think one of the Double-bass players looked like Trout. ;)
Otherwise, nothing really cool. I was told to cease planning a heritage day for the institute (a prof had asked me to organize an American day, cuz they were having a Chinese and a Russian day)-because the Consulate recommends we keep as low a profile as possible… This had been nagging me the whole time, but I took it as a challenge to create a day that wasn’t so much “Go USA” as ‘little known facts about the 48 states outside of LA and NYC”…. Oh well, less stress for me (cuz the whole thing was to be recited in Russian!)
And if no one’s otherwise occupied next Saturday (Friday night, your time) think about a really good piece of English grammar or a profound examination of current political events, and maybe it’ll reach me while I’m taking the Foreign Service Exam…. What was a thinking… ; p