Victory in Teaching Day!

Today is a very special day. It is the day in which I learned my students LIKE me. They actually LIKE me! They aren’t just being nice to me so I will let them play Pictionary. How do I know? This is how it went down:

At the very end of my teen class, one of my students abruptly left the classroom, only to come right back. All the others were acting funny, and one of them was talking to me super fast—obviously trying to distract me from something. Then, they stood in a little semi-circle, told me they had something for me, and made me close my eyes and hold out my hands. (At first I thought they were going to put a hamster in my hand, as one of the students had her hamster with her today, oddly enough!) BUT, instead of a hamster, it was an adorable little bear knick-knack, and a GREAT card, on which they wrote me the most precious message in the whole world.

(In case you can't read it, it says, "From the moment you become our teacher, our lives changed for the better...we love you very much and want to be wish us forever."

Now, I am not one to cry over sentimental times, so no tears came, but it was pretty close. My heart was bursting, and I gave each of my darling girls a big hug. Now, the bad part was: I had just finished report cards for them to take home to their parents! So, I followed that brilliant display of affection with grades for their parents to see…OOPS!

Take THAT, discouragements of last week! :)

Anecdote from Afar

Today I haven’t enough energy for a big post, but I would like to share with you, my readers about my most treasured memory as of late:

Yesterday in class, I told my teenagers I miss them when they don’t come to class (this is ½ true, and ½ my evil plan to motivate them to come to class all the time…). Then one of my favies said, “I miss you too! Tonight at dinner I told my mother that I wanted to go to English class!” ahhhh. What a little cutie! (So, my students actually WANT to come to my classes...yessssss)

This little nicety came at a PERFECT time, because the previous day was a rough one! I have been getting really easily discouraged lately, about all sorts of things (but especially teaching!) So, it’s sooo nice to hear these little words of encouragement from my adorable little teens!

Well, that’s my cute Russian student story for tonight…

Goodnight, my darling internet friends!

It's Starbucks/Snow Time in the City!

Last Wednesday, my lovely flatmates and I headed to Starry Arbot, where they have TWO Starbucks, plus loads of cool shops and restaurants. We had a beautiful evening wandering around and looking at souvenirs. To cap it off, we headed inside this little beauty of a shop: Okay, yes, I call myself a Seattle-ite. BUT, I am not into the Starbucks in the U.S. I would choose almost any coffeeshop over going to Starbucks. HOWEVER, being at Starbucks was exactly the comforting environment that I needed. I may have actually said at one point, "this is my favorite place in Moscow..." EEEK. So much for experiencing the culture...BUT. Check out our awesome paper cups with our names in Russian...SO worth the $6 or $7 I paid for my vanilla latte...

Here you see Carolyn, me, and Jenny enjoying our lattes...what good times and delicious drinks!

On the bus ride home, Carolyn and I felt so tired plus brave that we hopped right up on the side of the Metro train. We did get some funny looks from Muscovites, but at least it made for a cute picture...On Friday, it snowed buckets on us. Carolyn and I thought it was so beautiful, so we went out for an evening walk. Here you see our little street lined with snow!

Well, that's it for today, my friends! Enjoy.

National Unity Day / Victory Day????

Well, Well. Two posts in one day. I make myself proud...

It's currently about noon, and I'm typing away at my little Ikea desk in my room in my flat. Here in Russia, it's a national holiday! What holiday? Well, it turns out that everyone I ask about it is confused, which is understandable. I just did a little websearch for November 4th, and apparently today is a mix between a celebration of the October Revolution and a celebration of all of the peoples of Russia uniting to preserve their country, without even needing a czar to help them. This holiday is new, as of 2005, and it is so confusing that they had to make a movie to show all of Russia what is being celebrated. *Phew*

Whatever. I get the day off, and that's all that really matters!

My flatmates and I are currently cleaning our rooms and studying Russian, to celebrate productivity on this national holiday! Later we are heading into the city to waltz around and meet up with some friends for sushi.

Things that have happened since I last posted:

• Halloween. We had a big party for our students, and I dressed as a politically-incorrect (in the U.S.) GYPSY -- a.k.a. цыганка (thank you Marion for the idea!). Here you see me with a few of my lovely teenage students! We also had a big teachers-extended-friends party in Mitishi, which was INTERESTING to say the least...

• Sarah's birthday.
  

Now, this was a big adventure in the center of Moscow. It included DELECTABLE Georgian food, AND the world's biggest ice cream sundae (a.k.a. the KITCHEN SINK). This little baby had TWELVE scoops of ice cream, and every delicious topping you could ask for! Chad and I thought it would make the PERFECT birthday treat, and I think it did the job well...

We acquired the fantastic dream-boat of a sundae at the VERY American Starlite Diner. We're going back this weekend for Sunday brunch (bring it on, pancakes and eggs!)

*Thank you Sarah for these lovely pictures. I apologize for not knowing how to make them look pretty on my post.

That's all the excitement for now, folks. Enjoy, and happy Unity Day!

Why I don’t blog regularly:

• Grey’s Anatomy (I just finished season 5—and nearly died of a panic attack doing so)
• Skype (mostly Micaella Verro and Daniel Kessler, who are available to me at the times I need them)
• Tea and cookies in the kitchen with Carolyn and Jenny
• Phone calls and G-chats with Sarah and Chad
• I’d rather read other people’s blogs instead (Micaella, Beth, Sarah, Tim, Liz, Brandon)
• It’s like when you don’t talk to a person in weeks or months, then feel like you have too much to catch up on and it will be so much work to do it, that you procrastinate, therefore building up more things to catch up on…

Therefore, I now feel fully justified in being a slacker.