New Years Eve

So the night is only getting started, but we finished decorating the Tannebaum and cooking for the New Years Feast. All there is to do right now is wait until Babyshka and Dedyshka (grandparents) to come! Earlier today, sister, friends and I went ice skating in an open air rink. It was so much harder to skate there than at an indoors rink, but I think my ice skating skills are getting better now! Practice really helps. I feel more confident about skating since my friend Meike told me to just think of it as in-line skating. It feels good helping around the house today, and getting things done early. In a few days, Moscow camp will begin, so that's also something wonderful to look forward to!

Joyous Days of All School Days

Today was definitely a blog worthy day. I met people and had an amazing time every single hour, despite being slightly sick. The day started with sitting in Russian class with the 11th grade. After the lesson, we watched a puppet theater in the auditorium. It was very well conducted, and had lots of humor. Tasha, Pear and I were extremely sleepy and cold, sitting in the back of the room, but we noticed that most 3rd graders today wore costumes of princesses, ninjas and cowboys. The crowd resembled what could have been easily mistaken as a Halloween crowd instead. I suppose this is a "Novi God" (New Years) tradition in Russia. I definitely admire it. Proceeding the play, we congregated in the sports hall. The children paraded their exciting outfits, while mascots of Baba Yaga, Ded Moroz (their version of Santa), a Green Wood Nymph, Snegurushka and a cat led them. They also played their Russian version of the Hokey Pokey and "If You're Happy and You Know It" songs in the gym.

The girls and I left a bit early for lunch. It was 10:55 to be exact. Then afterwards, we did not have the usual 5 lessons that we do every Tuesday. Tasha went home to prepare for her piano recital later this night. Meanwhile, Pear and I headed to the Mega Mall to finish Christmas/New Years shopping for friends and host families. We were then later joined by Joe and Tamara. This mall has around 5 floors, and we spent 4 hours here. It's big, but not terribly exciting in my opinion...clothing in Russia is super expensive, so that rules out most of the fun that existed when my friends shopped in American malls. (In fact, it might be the second most expensive country to buy clothes in.)

But on the happier note, I met a 25-year old Russian woman. She finished university not too long ago, and has a Nepalese boyfriend. She's studied English for two years, but she speaks like she's known it much longer. But that's not what blows my mind...She's lived in Vietnam with her boyfriend, so she knows a bit of Vietnamese! During my stay in Russia, I never thought I would meet anyone who know even a glimpse of Vietnamese, but somehow this woman came into my life. She was working at the mall; we spoke in English at first, but she mentioned she lived in Vietnam for a while, and my instinct was to test her Vietnamese then I hugged her. We exchanged phone numbers too. I have so many questions to ask her about her years abroad; she seems very interesting!

I got home around 3. I ate, then napped for an hour, because the mall was a major energy drain. I needed rest anyhow, because I've got sinuses and a minor cough. Then later that night, I walked to school to watch Tasha's concert. There were adorable children playing the piano, accordion and even spoons. They sang as well. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience.

My night was perfect too, because my host family had made dinner. I came to the kitchen flabbergasted because I saw what resembled burritos. My host mother seemed very amused about my enthusiastic reaction about the rolls. I asked my sister and mother if it was burritos, and they chuckled, "You know Spanish too?" in Russian, because I tried to tell them that in California, I ate Mexican food, including Burritos, nearly every day. Oh, if only I could tell them that the food's name means little donkey too...that would have been great! I never thought in Russia
I would ever be able to eat Mexican food. Albeit, the burritos weren't spicy, they were quintessentially sufficient!

Life is so darn awesome now. Break begins this Saturday!...And I wish I could tell them about how pomegranates relate to Hades. I must improve my Russian!

Hey, hey

So things are going well in general. I'm sorry for the lack of posts. There hasn't been much going on for a while, but maybe later this week some friends and I will watch a Russian comedy called Elki 2. I don't have much to say, but I decided to post...because I don't want this blog to die out so early.

Always By Your Side - David Choi

I also forgot to mention a really cool thing about McDonalds. No, it's not that the fast food here is actually much tastier. And no, it's not that here you leave your trays on the table for attendants to clean up later. I don't really care for that, and would rather dispose of my own food wrappers and such.

Instead, it's something much more ordinary. They were playing the discography of David Choi. It blew my mind that his music arrived to Russia, since it's not mainstream, but if someone could get onto Youtube and tell him, I'd be really happy. I wonder who brought it up, and decided to play it in restaurant. I love this. It reminds me of home and makes me rather proud to be Asian-American. This is truly a cross-cultural moment.

Spitballs

Yesterday, the exchange students handled some documents for the upcoming Moscow camp. At school 41, not much happened, so there is little to say about that except that we're planned to leave town January 3rd and leave Moscow on the 9th. After the meeting, we sat at the cozier McDonalds near school 41. Despite being a quiet crowd, we had spitballs aimed at us from two tables down. I'm not sure why none of us talked to management about the issue or even talked to the offender, but all was well. We had good laughs about this act. We joked that the other people would run out of napkins for spitballs, so they'd be throwing larger objects like shoes and Iphones next. But really, if they threw a shoe, I'd just pick it up and never return it. They'd be at a greater lost going home with a missing shoe, while I'd have two on my feet and one extra.

It's been wet and slippery on the roads. This used to be a problem with ice, but not recently. For whatever peculiar reason, it rained two days here. It's extremely rare for rain to arrive during Winter, and being foreign to the whole concept of cold winters and snow...I wonder if this will mean January and February will be colder months to make up for December. I don't know how Mother Nature works, and I'm clueless how to read the signs through weather. 

On the sidenote, most students have to pass an end-of the year Russian test along with two other subjects (not including English). I think it would be in my best interest to take French and Geography, because the vocabulary would be rather simple. During February, the three exchange students from school will give a presentation about our stay in Russia, so those are a few things we have lined up in the later months. And it's been forever since I talked to relatives in California......I don't know why.

Desiring Freedom and Better Weather

I noticed that the blogs from past exchange students tend to die out around this season. I don't know the exact reason, but it might be the critical milestone where emotions heighten. I am not as homesick as I imagined I would be. Yes, I miss my friends, family and the good weather in California, but I feel rather confident I'll find them again when I return from Russia. However, what I crave most now is independence....freedom. There's no point of staying out late during Russian Winters, because the streets become so cold and dark quiet early, but I miss having the good company of friends like the past. I miss the traditional hang-outs in a friend's warm home, where we all cook and bond over silly movies and fun conversations. I've grown to really appreciate the friends here, and of course the life-long friends at home (those outside of America too), but of course, nothing is the same. I would be lying to say that all is going well right now, but overall, it is pretty good. I'm doing well in classes. I'm memorizing a few lines, because I'll play a brave rabbit with the little grade school children later this week.

Not long ago, I celebrated Thanksgiving with real American mashed potatoes—in all its butter-laden pleasure, texture and goodness. It was not the typical “kartofel pure” that they serve in the cafeteria. Then I'm also happy that I got to celebrate my friend's birthday here with the other students; so the festivities are here. I don't know what will happen around Christmas, but our Italian friend here has a birthday too! I hope it will turn out great.