Socially

One thing that surprised me about Russia is the hangouts. Young people walk around the streets, enjoy nature, the scenery and talk, but back at home, my friends and I rarely did this. Yes, California has better weather, however, we don't go on walks for fun. Instead, we sit around at a friend's house, cook, eat, watch TV, play games and talk. It's nice, warm and cozy. Or sometimes we go to a restaurant for dinner, walk about the mall, or hold short summer BBQ parties...but we're usually inside. For this strange phenomenon, I have no explanation. Perhaps, I just made friends with people who weren't so active.

Schools here seem to be one tall building rather than a campus with multiple two-storied complexes like from San Jose. I think that is due to the colder winters, students and teachers rather avoid the cold as much as possible. I remember that in Virginia, indoor halls were rather common too, while complexes were limited. The weather here has been rather nice, still nothing cold yet, but I imagine it will come within two months. And then, I will wonder how young people "hang out". Ice rinks, theaters and malls?

Malinki - small

My youngest sister's birthday party was yesterday, so from 6pm to 9pm, we played kiddie games and ate delicious food at Love Kafe. This was the same venue for my other sister's birthday, but this hosting room's theme was castles. I regret not bringing my camera, because the decor was fabulous. The wall was hand painted with Shrek characters, Russian 3 Heroes and Baba Yaga. There was a 3D cottage and castle.

Today, Pear, Tasha and I gave lyrics and MP3s of our respective national anthems to an English Teacher. It was the Day of International Dialog, so we had a small balloon ceremony with blue AFS balloons. I liked the small break from classes. The students from our region received an e-mail about upcoming AFS camp at the end of October to the beginning of November, so autumn camp is definitely something to which to look forward.

Internet v. Immersion

Due to the inability to express myself, I cried a bit when my parents suggested I use the Internet yet. Upon reflection, it sounds a bit ludicrous, but I suppose it was an instinct. I felt a bit overwhelmed, because a close friend at home pointed out that I did not have time to catch up with family and friends in America. It's mostly true, because there is a 11 hour time difference and obstacle from Skyping/chatting often. However, there was nothing to cry about. My parents were simply relaying a message from someone else, that families should limit the amount of online time of exchange students. They were concerned that the foreign students would lose precious immersion time in Russian, and not pick up the language. It's a good reason, I was just scared it was a personal criticism. I thought that I had two parties upset at me, but this wasn't the case. I do have an Internet addiction, but I'm sure I can find another form of cheap personal entertainment, and find time to communicate to my loved ones in America...I just need to try harder.

So for now, if I don't post as much as before, this is the reason. Sorry. I wish there were more hours in the day to get most things accomplished and talk to everyone I miss so much, but I have the greatest home that there will be time! Somewhere?

Oh, and in Russia, there are Crab and Bacon flavored Lays Potato chips.

A part of Home

It's a bit wild, but by immersing myself in Russian...I am also remembering my mother tongue Vietnamese and also my third language French at the same time. Last night, little words started popping up in my head in Vietnamese. Phrases which I thought I had forgotten and things I used to say as a child. It's been a month since I've been at home, or heard my family speak Vietnamese, but it's nice to know I still remember the language. I don't have the chance to speak the language in Russia, yet it's suprisingly here in my head.

Clothes Hangers

There are just a few words that we never will learn in the conventional foreign language class, yet they are the most basic, essential things that we often overlook. For example, clothes hangers. If you know the word "clothes hanger" off the top of your head in any language, I imagine that you must be pretty fluent in the language or had some memorable experience that will never permit you to forget it. I also assume we never learn this word in my past language classes, because it's something that is readily available in hotels and many homes. It's a word you learn from experience, which helps me understand why I'm here in Russia, rather than just sitting in a classroom again...but then, I digressed.

Back to the point, Pear and I looked for clothes hangers in one of the shopping centers ("togorvi centre") near School 41 before we had to head to music practice. It was a good learning experience in communication. The Thai-Russian dictionary failed to provide the word, so we gestured, then we whipped out Pear's drawing for a store assistant. (A note to that, she didn't know the word in English either, so she drew a clothes hanger to illustrate her point earlier at school.) Indeed, a picture might be a thousand words. By my description, it might sound like we had to put in a lot of effort to purchase clothes hangers, but it was actually enjoyable. It would have been a lot quicker to take out the picture, but we wanted to try out best speaking Russian first.

So, I guess the phrases "for clothing", "triangle", and verbs of necessity weren't good enough to demonstrate our need for clothes hangers, but one day we will have the words. Shopping is always fun. One distinction about Russia is the abundance of shopping centers, they are literally at every corner: supermarkets, pharmacies ("apteka"), news stations and more. Instead of walls that divide the shops like American malls, the division is just the booth register. It's different and cool. I can purchase a pastry for 7 rubles, then take a step to buy school stockings for 59 rubles. It's very convenient.

How it Goes

I have homework from here to there. Sometimes, I wish class would go faster, because my summer class at UCLA covered so much material already, that I am a bit bored that during individual lessons we are covering genders and possessive pronouns. So to counteract the doldrums, I try to be supportive of the other students. I also give my best effort into learning new vocab and composing complex sentences with the words ("slova"). My sister went over them today, correcting the grammar. I feel like I have learned a lot, but I still need this year to hone into the correct usage of the cases. So, I guess everyone during this exchange process will learn something new. I know, and I hope I will learn much.

After school, my sister and I took the trolleybus home. There, I had a hard time reaching for my wallet, so I asked my sister if she could cover the fare, until I sat down. The attendant overheard us, so she approached me and asked, "Excuse me, but are you from America?". I was taken back a bit because her English was accent less for a woman of around 50 years, but more so, because most Russians weren't as direct as she was. I answered affirmatively, and then she introduced herself as Galentina. She proceeded to tell me how she studied in an American institute to learn English. I really enjoyed listening to here, even though we only spoke for 10 mins. She inspires me to keep studying languages, so perhaps one day I will speak Russian/French as well as she spoke English.

At home, I helped with chores, like watering the plants and clothes. It's a good thing, because I often find myself with too much free time. I shouldn't go on the computer much, because I want to be immersed into more Russian than English. For the first time, I went to my sister's room to look over homework, so I supposed I should do that more often. Some of the AFS students went to McDonalds after school, but I didn't feel like going because my sister and I needed to look after our youngest sibling.

Saturday School

I miss having Saturday free. In Russia, we have a full day of school, where I am studying. Some other schools have half days, while others are not in session at all. So for the first time, I attended this class labeled as "Texnology". However, the class' name is rather misleading, because it was structured as an Home Economics class, despite sounding like their "Informatika" class, where students actually learn about computers. We prepped Salad Olivier with the 7th graders today, then sat down for tea and cookies.

Later that day, I came over Tasha and Nadia's apartment, where I chatted a bit with their nice mother. Then, we were a bit late in meeting others at the downtown McDonalds. We sat there for a good three hours, but I was more tempted to eat pizza nearby then fries or burgers. There was also a cute brown cat that sat between Paige and I that day. We named her Latte, and she had a comfortable nap on Paige's lap afterwards. There are many street cats in Russia, which are much more sociable and friendly than the cats in America. I can say the same with the pigeons here. They aren't afraid of humans here unlike in America; instead, they don't need to exert the energy to fly unless there is person chasing them, like this fun Thai friend we have here.

I came home late that night, perhaps around 8pm, when it was rather dark, because I believed no one was at home. There's a national curfew for minors at 10pm in Russia, but I really don't know if I will ever stay out that late. It would not be fun to be stuck at night, sledging through the snow, trying to get home.

Cookies, then 5th French

Tasha and I went to French during 5th period, where we were completing an exercise on self reflexive verbs today. (Funny that I blogged about it earlier) Even though it was 10th grade, this aspect of French grammar seemed harder than the passe-compose we studied with the 11th graders last Saturday. Still, I completed the exercises, and the students were surprised to discover than I knew French. I helped go over the answers today, then my ego expanded just a tiny bit. I gave the right answers, but I had trouble explaining French grammar in Russian. I need to know more words. One day, I think I will be better at that. During that period, we ate our great Alphen Gold chocolate strawberry cookies with great satisfaction. I will miss those pastries; they aren't sold as abundantly in America.

I saw an advertisement for the circus earlier this week, and thought of some events that might have been exciting to go. I haven't been to the circus since 8th grade, when my best friends snuck into the tent that day. Also, my sister and I have been speaking about ballet recently. It's our goal to see a ballet performance together!

Street Smarts

School has been busier, since I have homework nowadays. I spent more time with the other AFS exchange students, because we have a inter-scholastic concert on September 24th. We are singing Katuysha, a folk song about geese, and perhaps the Cheburashka Birthday song (as it is informally called). After practice, the girls and I sat at the playgrounds and caught up on each other's school and overall Russian experiences. Some older school girls approached us, because they were curious if we spoke Russian, and were absolutely delighted to chat. They were curious if we smoked and drank like they did, but I told them no. We wanted to respect our host family's wishes. They understood, and accepted our choices. They were nice about it!

As Tamara and I were walking to the bus stop after practice, we encountered a black-cladded group of teenage boys called goopniki, or the Russian hooligans. I asked Tamara to be quiet and inconspicuous for a moment, but we already made eye contact with the group. Already alert, I expected an obscene stare or a confrontation for being foreigners, but nothing bad really happened. Instead, one of the adolescents attempted to pickpocket my coat, but I simply smacked his hand away. It was one of my proud "Gotcha!" moments. I was a bit happy that I played it smart by not putting any valuables in my pockets; the most he would have gotten is my JetBlue sleeping mask. I keep it there for good memories and good luck. (In Russian, good luck would be "Udachi"!) Still, I was fortunate this time. It might have been bigger trouble if I had to face them alone. We went home safely without interruption after that incident!

However, the teenagers I have mentioned above are more of the exception than the rule. Most students I have met are very kind, curious and friendly. Friendly, that even during one day--when I flew into my friend's lap as the marshrutka halted--she did not mind. Talk about a funny experience....and Newton's laws.

Backtrack

In individualized lessons, we were instructed to read a short story about a boy named Fredya Ribkin who attempted to do his homework one winter day, but was distracted by the radio. It was slightly discouraging that the verbs (glagoli) were so challenging to read; there were many intimidating "ya-l-c-ya"s reflexive verbs, and so on...with plenty of unfamiliar vocabulary, but only through practice will our reading skills get better.

Through the day, we focused on the passage. It was a bit sad finding out last Friday, that we would sing only a small portion of Katuysha in Russian, because it's an amazing song in Russian, but at least all the AFS students will work on the performance together. We spend time together, and that's always a good thing. Also, who knows? Perhaps the song will be more fun when sung in different languages.

Back to today's events, we had an unexpected surprise in the English classes today. It was a flashback to 6th grade. Avril Lavinge's "Sk8ter Boi" played today, while the 8th graders analyzed the lyrics. I found it funny, because this was the song I wanted to originally sing during my 6th grade talent show, but the principal banned it because she believed it talked about teenage pregnancy...no comment on that. Anyhow, the 8th graders read their Oxford English textbook while an off-beat cover of the original song played. I found myself humming along.

Afterward, the 10th graders had their English class, where we spent a period just conversing in English. They were really friendly, although a bit shy. It's natural, I suppose, but the students speak English very well--better than they think they do.

However, my favorite part of the day was time with my sister Ira. In Russia, they have convenient electronic kiosks where you can pay for your internet, phone, TV, and misc bills. There was one located in a supermarket, and another in a bank. Ira helped me add money to my phone balance after school, and then we spent a good hour walking around the neighborhood. Sure, the skies were grey and it was cloudy, but we had a nice break from the recent rains.

All is good. I miss Grammar.

I have nothing to complain about. The food here is good, and it is not cold. Sixty degrees weather is good in my opinion (Fahrenheit, of course). My friend back at home says if the food is good, then I should be fine for the rest of the year. I guess that explains my priorities. No, but really, I am also happy about my progress with the Russian language. I am picking up new vocabulary despite not learning more about the grammar...for now at least!

Please, oh, please, let us get to the grammar rules! The cases are important, and I want more than at-home-review study time. So tomorrow or Monday, I will propose this idea to the teacher. The teachers at school are very accommodating to exchange students, who speak very little Russian already.

Very Cute Friends at School

I noticed that I spend a lot of time in the school library. Even though there are loud school children in there from time to time, there is just a simple piece of mind and peace when I can read a small Russian picture book or textbook from the library--"biblioteka" (similar word in Spanish apparently). The exchange students shared a good chocolate Alphen Gold snack there once with the librarian and a few "wkolniki" (elementary school children).

School has been pasting by more quickly now that we have more variety with our schedule. Also, we have also been to the computer labs a few times, but honestly, I do not do much in there besides try to listen to the Digital Information class, because I feel more comfortable using the Internet at home and my own laptop. It seems like a fun class. They were designing a Russian "Diplom" (Certificate) on Microsoft Word the other day, and I helped my sister figure out how to rotate the page into landscape.

In additional to AFS specific language instruction, we also sit with the 2nd graders to learn Russian handwriting. I am a bit anxious to start learning grammar and skip handwriting, but socially, it is fascinating to see the little children. They are very nice and well-behaved students. They take their class very seriously, raise their hand straightly and stand up to respond to questions. I love seeing their excited faces when they are called upon during class. During breaks between classes, they love to run about the second floor like little balls of energy.

I have made some nice friends with the second graders. I love them! They speak to me in Russian, because they have not learned much English, and I like speaking with them. They ask about America, my opinions on Cheboksary and the cutest things about speaking English. I am so happy that they talk to me, and are understanding/patient with my Russian. When we pass each other in the corridors, the little second graders wave hello. And today, on my way out of school, one of them hugged me! They are so friendly! I feel like I would learn more in a higher grade level of Russian language, but will the students be as nice?

Bonjour and Privet. Confetti and Les Bon-Bons

It feels pretty darn awesome when I don't need to use English. I want to rid myself of speaking English unless absolutely necessary, because I don't want to use English as a "fall-back" language or clutch onto it. Today, we spoke to the French teacher only in Russian and French. While I did relay some words to English to a friend, I liked that I used Russian as translating "middle" language when I spoke to the French teacher. It made me feel really proud about my knowledge in languages. I was also very comfortable speaking in those two languages, although I admit...I am beginning to forget French, while replacing the words with much more Russian nowadays. I haven't touched French since May during the IB examinations!

At home, I mainly speak with my host parents in Russian. While they are curious about how to say certain household items in English, our conversations are mostly basic Russian. I try to maintain good grammar when speaking in Russian, but when I don't have the right words to say, I don't mind breaking a few rules to communicate better. My family consists of amazing people: a mom, dad and two sisters--of 14 years and 7 years. They teach me new Russian words everyday, and make me feel comfortable in the house.

A Small Visit

Today we, the three AFS students from Gymnasium 1, visited School No. 46. We've accomplished a big feat by guiding ourselves through the public transportation by ourselves! We knew just enough Russian to get to our school to the next by marshrupka. It was a proud feeling that we did not become lost! It was an even better feeling to see the other Americans for a while. It's only been a week since we last saw each other, but it was nice to play catch up for a little bit. Their school is very nice, and I am a bit jealous that they have such wonderful, young volunteers there.

I lost my red jacket in the McDonalds nearby their school on Sunday, but now there's nothing much I can do. In addition, I left my yellow shirt near my laptop once at camp, but when I returned, the shirt disappeared. Sigh. I cannot be too upset about losing items; it just happens sometimes when I'm careless. I would just like to think someone else will be putting that item into good use. Anyhow, on a more exciting note, that particular McDonalds is famous! I saw that the regularly run commercial was filmed in that restaurant. I think the interior decor is gorgeous, hip and comfortable. It is less crowded than the two floor downtown McDonalds despite being smaller.

Don't Touch the Moonstones

Downtown Cheboksary is lovely. The buildings are so pretty, and there are also many shopping centers. One of them has a big cinema, where Ira, Tasha, Nadia and I watched Apollo 13 in Russian voice-dub. It was a funny experience that the Americans were "speaking in Russian" and complaining about Russian cosmonauts in space. Tasha and I found it very ironic when the Americans asked where the Russians were on the Moon, but maybe it's just a bad joke between us. We looked around . I gave her a funny look and whispered, "Well...they're right here. They're all around us/"

Surprisingly, it was very easy to sit through, and although the plot was rather sad and plain; the Russian was easy enough to understand. The ending where the ill-fated astronauts said "I am going home" in English was translated over to Russian "I am flying to you" = "Ya lechy tebe" instead, so not all of the film was direct or literal translation. The vocabulary was fairly simple: "moon"="luna", "Russian"="russki", "astronaut"="kosmonaut", etc.

Earlier in the day, the family and friends had a backyard barbecue when we came home from school. Sadly, the rain and "veter" (wind) hit us like Niagara Falls, even our little tent could not prevent us from the damp rain. We rescued the dishes and leftover meat, and evacuated to the garage to finish our meal. We were on a good laugh when I started eating one of the still-raw meat without even realizing it.

September 1st

The first day of school was a ceremony rather than class, so the foreign students shortly introduced ourselves, then gave flowers to teachers. I had a great time watching the dance and song performances of the grade school children; they were very well coordinated. Afterwards, I spent time with Tasha and Nadia. For lunch it was Pizza-Nitza--super crowded today afterschool.

After, we went to the shopping center across from downtown mega McDonalds to browse. Then, we walked to amusement park near the Volga River. The ride was slightly scary, but to everyone else, it was a child's show. We also bumped into Pear, our third AFS student in Gymnasium 1, there!

After grocery shopping, the family went to the sushi bar near the house. Of course, there was a great deal of mayonnaise in the rolls. I still find the love of mayo fascinating and strange to my taste buds, but never the less, I found myself very full off "Kalifornia Maki", "Kappa Maki" and "Filadelphia Maki". On the side note, "Smetana" means sour creme, and it is also very prominent as a condiment in Russian cuisine. Go dairy!

My host family drinks kefir sometimes, which is a bit like sour liquid yogurt, but they don't mind if I abstain. I've never liked it before. For everything else, I have eaten or drank. There is also a drink called "kampota" which is similar to watered down apple juice, where the fruits flavor the water. Still, the most popular drink is hands down "chai"--tea! Food and drink in Russia is 10 times better than I had expected, especially since my mother is a skilled/magnificent cook!

Return of the Breakfast Monster

I woke up at 6AM, early so I can add a quick post before my First Day of school. I hope it will be a fun day, although I probably cannot understand most of the Russian for today.

On a lighter note, I was reminded of camp during the last two breakfast meals. During camp, students had to dip their hands in soup to find a secret message, afterwards we cleaned our hands in a nearby stream. It was already uncomfortable, but then we had another food-related task.

We dug our hands into a bucket of brown rice, and after ate a handful of "kasha". Normally, I wouldn't mind grains, but I worried too much about sanitation. The fact that I had to put my hands into the bucket with other people's hands was very off-putting to me. I was over-thinking the task, and managed to gross myself out. Still, I finished.

However, breakfast was an entirely pleasant experience. Kasha was served on a plate with butter. I ate it, and it was delicious. I guess it was just my mind-set that told me that I felt sick. Brown rice is actually quite yummy.