We watch you through the window!

That quote comes from my first night of hanging out with a group of Russian students in Ekaterinburg. The night began when Defri [another foreign student from Indonesia] called me and Midore to see if we wanted to hang out on the other side of the dorm with a group of friends. We said, “sure, of course,” and happily went over to their kitchen. When we walked in, there were four girls sitting around the table and one boy standing in the corner with a guitar. As the girls introduced themselves, one—Aliya—turned to me and said “Oh yes, you’re the American who lives across the courtyard. We’ve seen you.” I responded by asking “On the street?” and she said “Oh no, we watch you in your room from the balcony. You’re always home!”. Russian honesty never ceases to amaze me…

Midore and I proceeded to spend a couple hours getting acquainted with the girls and then another hour listening to Artyem [the lone boy] play on the guitar while the girls sang along. It was beautiful and one of those classic moments when I remember just exactly why I traveled across the ocean and a continent to live on the western edge of Asia and Siberia.

Last Monday we all started classes. I didn’t realize just how much ACTR did to keep our program in Petersburg organized until I attempted to attend similar classes without the aid of Erin, our resident director. The class schedule changes at least one time a day. When I arrived at the university on Monday morning, there was a list on the wall, which was supposed to assign everyone to a language group/class. Everyone’s name was there except mine! I went to the dean, who explained that they didn’t know what to do with me and that I was just supposed to figure out what classes I needed. In the long run, it’s great to have that flexibility but this week it was somewhat overwhelming as I attempted to figure out what classes will be most helpful and what students are at my level. I’m going to give it another go next week and hopefully have my schedule set by then.

In the meantime, I have been hanging out a lot with Jen and Midore, whose acclimation to the Russian life and weather provides endless humor. She has a habit of screaming and grunting when she is excited…or scared…or upset…or happy…or cold...or tired... It is hilarious! After a bumpy start, her Russian is really coming along and we have all been helping her out, which usually leads to more humorous situations than I could ever even dream up. For example, this last week I somehow ended up doing some official English translations for the Japanese Ministry of Education, despite my best efforts to explain to our dean and Midore that I was not quite qualified for such tasks.

Since this seems to be the Midore-focused entry, I’ll point out that the picture is me and her in her dorm room. It was taken after the first day of classes [a rough day for everyone involved], after which we decided to take some photos displaying our national pride. It shows the “why Russia, why?????” sentiment that floats through our rooms a couple times a day. With that said, I must emphasize that I am having a blast and can’t imagine being anywhere but here right now. It is a strange combination of homesickness, culture shock, and pure fun—I don’t think ever in my laugh have I laughed as often or as hard as I have in the last week.

For now, that is all. It is the 17th of September and outside my window snow is starting to fall for the first time. Midore is screaming—both with joy at the sight of snow and out of fear of the next 9 months of snow. Somehow the sky is blue and though I am having trouble believing that it could already be this cold, it is beautiful. And freezing…
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P.S. I have posted a few pictures on the facebook and hope to put more up by the end of this week. For those of you who a) don’t have the facebook or b) are saying to yourself “the facebook?!”, make friends with a college student and kindly ask them to show you my profile.