Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Blistery Tuesday

Today (Tuesday) was my first real day of work. True, classes do not begin until September 5th, but we have a lot of work to do in order to prepare ourselves for the teaching year ahead. In the morning we had a group Russian lesson for an hour. (Group lessons are for the week. After classes begin, we will receive three hours of individual intensive Russian language study each week. This is the same amount of time our ESL students spend in class at the school in a week, only we have individual instruction.) I have Russian homework to do, although unfortunately it involves interviewing Nina M. I would do it, but after I got out of the shower, she hopped off to go somewhere to do something (I must admit I was not really paying attention!), and I am starting to feel rather a bit like going to bed! It would not look good to leave my first homework assignment undone, but it is looking like that very well may happen. After the Russian lesson, we had a bit of a break, followed by lunch, and after lunch we delved into the Z1 and Z2 levels. These are the lowest levels of courses taught at the AH, for students who know no English whatsoever. It was essentially a very simple overview of the levels of the students and how to structure the class, although it was very informative. Tomorrow we will be discussing the next level up from Z2.

After seminar on Z1/Z2 classes, K, B, and I walked to the train station. We are going on a day trip to Moscow on Saturday (at least this time I will be able to see something of the city aside from the airport), and we leave from the train station at 7:00am. As such, we all have to know how to find the place. On our way to the train station, we saw numerous homeless cats (not feral, as they were all very friendly), and it was so hard not to bring them all home. One tortishell looked almost exactly like my cat back home, and there was also a calico kitten that was playing with a bottle cap that was so adorable... but not everyone reacts as calmly to my bringing home stray cats as my mother. Besides, there are so many strays that there is no way I could make an impact. Of course, I think many Russians make an effort to feed the strays. (I know this happened in St. Petersburg), and while most of these cats look pretty ratty, they are obviously not starving. Perhaps there are a lot of rodents? Then, of course, there is Gosha, the AH cat, who is essentially in charge of the place, and who serves as a good way for me to relieve my lack of cat frustrations. (And he bites! Like my cat! Love bites! Well, sort of, sometimes.) Anyhow, we walked to the train station and then back to the AH, which was a pretty lengthy walk. By the time we returned to the AH, my feet were hurting. Shortly before I left the US, I bought a pair of shoes (from Payless, as usual), and today was my first day wearing them. It seems common with Payless shoes to have a rather blistery breaking in period. I do not mind, as I like getting cheap Payless shoes, but by the time I returned home today I could barely walk. Luckily, I have Band-Aids and Neosporin.

Alas, this is not the most interesting of posts. I am tired, and need to do my Russian homework. But, as Nina M has not yet returned, I may simply go to bed. I am really getting old. It is only 9:30! I really need to be reading about English grammar tenses, but I know that as soon as I pick up that book I will be sound asleep!

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