Got up later than I had planned on and was expecting to be running behind from the very beginning of my day... but then I remembered this is Russia. Took my time getting ready and eating breakfast, gave Katya a call to let her know I was running behind, and SURPRISE! No big deal, it meant she got to spend more time at home in the morning. Maybe it's just in my chosen profession, but I love how laid back this country is. Got to her station about 45 minutes later than expected and she picked me up in a truck that I didn't recognize. There are lots of manufacturers here that people in the US would recognize, but they apparently sell models in other countries that they don't sell in the US... and there are a few that are pretty awesome.
Anyways, that's not important. Got to her flat expecting to tutor her son, and ended up working with Katya for about 2 hours. After we got done she gave me a ride to the metro because she was headed to teach a student as well, so we took the train a few stops together and I left her when I got to Leninskiy Prospekt. I headed to the University and had lunch (frozen meal I bought a few days ago and left in the freezer at the lab.. very different from American frozen meals, very tasty) and then headed to Sasha's flat to meet with him about 2.30. Ran into Лёша in the street and chatted for a minute and ended up spending about 2.5 hours with Sasha. When you visit someone's house in Russia you're obviously considered a guest; in Russia, being a guest in a house means that they are supposed to offer you tea or coffee and some kind of bread and jam or something else small to eat apparently. While really awesome, as a tutor it gets tiring sometimes being offered food multiple times a day, and I often feel like I should be paying them, not the other way around.
Still, despite spending longer than anticipated at Sasha's I didn't have plans for a few hours, so I went ahead and headed home after I got done. I managed to get a bit of sleep before Petr arrived and announced we were expecting visitors in 15 and I got up and helped prepare the table. We were expecting 3 ladies and so we set about slicing enough bread and cheese for all of us, a bowl of dates, plates and wine glasses, extended the table and got out some additional chairs. We had an awesome evening with Petr playing the accordion and singing again, and then I wrapped up with a few English tunes they weren't familiar with that went over rather well. Apparently it's not unheard of to hear English singing, but it's rare to hear it without a Russian accent and Petr said it sounded much better than anything they'd heard before. Hard not to be the best if you're the only one, but I'll take the compliment)))
Maybe it's just me, but the name Olga conjures images in my mind of an overweight elderly German woman with rosy cheeks for some reason.... Dear God was I wrong on that one. Apparently it's the most common name in Russia... I went into a grocery today that had like 15 employees and the only one that wasn't named Olga was the security guard who was of course a man. I guess it makes it easier on the manager to remember the employees' names?
Speaking of groceries... I think most Americans would freak out about this but it needs to be pointed out. I don't know whether to attribute it to Russians being laid back, or Russians trying to save money, or to Americans just being too picky... but the food sanitation is incredibly lax here. Every day I see people do things here that would make an American cringe. For instance, when you go into the grocery there is a "refrigerated room" that is admittedly colder than the rest of the store, but that doesn't make the room a refrigerator. Milk isn't kept in coolers or in cold display cases but on a wooden shelf in the middle of the room and when you get it home you need to chill it before drinking. The eggs are handled the same way ... most of the food is in fact. The only food I have seen that is actually kept cold is food that literally needs to be frozen, like frozen meals or meats. So the milk comes in either 3% or 3.2% or 3.5% and is sweeter than American milk, which I attribute not only to the higher fat content, but also to the fact that most of it is in fact powdered milk shipped in from China that the Russian companies just add water to and package.
The eggs are what most Americans would considered spoiled and throw out; hard to crack from sitting on a shelf in a slightly chilled room, and a dark yellow shade that I know my mother wouldn't have served me for risk of food poisoning. That being said, there are plenty of Russian in the world, so it must not be killing enough of them to frighten them, so I eat them anyways, and I'm just fine, so maybe Americans are just stricter than is necessary about food handling regulations.
All of the Olga's were wearing cute green uniforms that showed off their haircuts which weren't covered with hairnets, and occasionally you need to pull a hair out of something, and they don't use gloves. As per the usual way of things, this is Russia; something is going to kill you sooner or later because that's the way it is in Russia, so they only really worry about the really big stuff... like nuclear reactors exploding... or at least I hope they worry about that since there's one near my house. It has admittedly taken me a few days of having to adjust to the food and water, but I'm more or less doing alright now. However, I'm trying my hardest to keep my diet as basic as possible for the most part.
Also, in most restaurants you don't see an option of sodas but an option of teas and beers, and it's not uncommon to see people drinking around town or staggering around town in the evenings. I guess this is Russia after all, and you need to drink to get by sometimes.
Also, a Магазин (Magazine) is the label put on anywhere that sells products of any type... is basically just means store. So it's easily the most common sign here, and you have to check for a description of which products are sold there. Apparently the entire country is broken and it seems that everything is always under construction, with the second most common sign being Ремонт (remont), which means repair and lists what they fix.
Regarding cigarettes; there are mens' cigarettes, and ladies' cigarettes. Mens' cigarettes are like American cigarettes, and ladies' cigarettes are about half the diameter.. crazy thin little things that it looks like it's nearly impossible to actually draw smoke through, and I suspect are even more dangerous from the fact that you're probably getting concentrated death from having to draw so hard on them. That being said, all cigarette packages have a sign that covers pretty much the entire package except the brand name that reads "КУРЕНИЕ УБИВАЕТ" which basically means "SMOKING IS KILLING YOU" in huge bold letters. Not a bad idea. Granted you still see people smoking of course, because this is Russia. If anything, smoking is your friend because it means that's a few less years you'll have to deal with living here.
I guess that about wraps it up for today. I'm spending tomorrow sleeping in and will probably knock out 2 lessons in the afternoon before meeting Ksana again, although the time and place of that have yet to be decided... or at least are unknown to me at this time. Hope everyone is having a great day!
Anyways, that's not important. Got to her flat expecting to tutor her son, and ended up working with Katya for about 2 hours. After we got done she gave me a ride to the metro because she was headed to teach a student as well, so we took the train a few stops together and I left her when I got to Leninskiy Prospekt. I headed to the University and had lunch (frozen meal I bought a few days ago and left in the freezer at the lab.. very different from American frozen meals, very tasty) and then headed to Sasha's flat to meet with him about 2.30. Ran into Лёша in the street and chatted for a minute and ended up spending about 2.5 hours with Sasha. When you visit someone's house in Russia you're obviously considered a guest; in Russia, being a guest in a house means that they are supposed to offer you tea or coffee and some kind of bread and jam or something else small to eat apparently. While really awesome, as a tutor it gets tiring sometimes being offered food multiple times a day, and I often feel like I should be paying them, not the other way around.
Still, despite spending longer than anticipated at Sasha's I didn't have plans for a few hours, so I went ahead and headed home after I got done. I managed to get a bit of sleep before Petr arrived and announced we were expecting visitors in 15 and I got up and helped prepare the table. We were expecting 3 ladies and so we set about slicing enough bread and cheese for all of us, a bowl of dates, plates and wine glasses, extended the table and got out some additional chairs. We had an awesome evening with Petr playing the accordion and singing again, and then I wrapped up with a few English tunes they weren't familiar with that went over rather well. Apparently it's not unheard of to hear English singing, but it's rare to hear it without a Russian accent and Petr said it sounded much better than anything they'd heard before. Hard not to be the best if you're the only one, but I'll take the compliment)))
Maybe it's just me, but the name Olga conjures images in my mind of an overweight elderly German woman with rosy cheeks for some reason.... Dear God was I wrong on that one. Apparently it's the most common name in Russia... I went into a grocery today that had like 15 employees and the only one that wasn't named Olga was the security guard who was of course a man. I guess it makes it easier on the manager to remember the employees' names?
Speaking of groceries... I think most Americans would freak out about this but it needs to be pointed out. I don't know whether to attribute it to Russians being laid back, or Russians trying to save money, or to Americans just being too picky... but the food sanitation is incredibly lax here. Every day I see people do things here that would make an American cringe. For instance, when you go into the grocery there is a "refrigerated room" that is admittedly colder than the rest of the store, but that doesn't make the room a refrigerator. Milk isn't kept in coolers or in cold display cases but on a wooden shelf in the middle of the room and when you get it home you need to chill it before drinking. The eggs are handled the same way ... most of the food is in fact. The only food I have seen that is actually kept cold is food that literally needs to be frozen, like frozen meals or meats. So the milk comes in either 3% or 3.2% or 3.5% and is sweeter than American milk, which I attribute not only to the higher fat content, but also to the fact that most of it is in fact powdered milk shipped in from China that the Russian companies just add water to and package.
The eggs are what most Americans would considered spoiled and throw out; hard to crack from sitting on a shelf in a slightly chilled room, and a dark yellow shade that I know my mother wouldn't have served me for risk of food poisoning. That being said, there are plenty of Russian in the world, so it must not be killing enough of them to frighten them, so I eat them anyways, and I'm just fine, so maybe Americans are just stricter than is necessary about food handling regulations.
All of the Olga's were wearing cute green uniforms that showed off their haircuts which weren't covered with hairnets, and occasionally you need to pull a hair out of something, and they don't use gloves. As per the usual way of things, this is Russia; something is going to kill you sooner or later because that's the way it is in Russia, so they only really worry about the really big stuff... like nuclear reactors exploding... or at least I hope they worry about that since there's one near my house. It has admittedly taken me a few days of having to adjust to the food and water, but I'm more or less doing alright now. However, I'm trying my hardest to keep my diet as basic as possible for the most part.
Also, in most restaurants you don't see an option of sodas but an option of teas and beers, and it's not uncommon to see people drinking around town or staggering around town in the evenings. I guess this is Russia after all, and you need to drink to get by sometimes.
Also, a Магазин (Magazine) is the label put on anywhere that sells products of any type... is basically just means store. So it's easily the most common sign here, and you have to check for a description of which products are sold there. Apparently the entire country is broken and it seems that everything is always under construction, with the second most common sign being Ремонт (remont), which means repair and lists what they fix.
Regarding cigarettes; there are mens' cigarettes, and ladies' cigarettes. Mens' cigarettes are like American cigarettes, and ladies' cigarettes are about half the diameter.. crazy thin little things that it looks like it's nearly impossible to actually draw smoke through, and I suspect are even more dangerous from the fact that you're probably getting concentrated death from having to draw so hard on them. That being said, all cigarette packages have a sign that covers pretty much the entire package except the brand name that reads "КУРЕНИЕ УБИВАЕТ" which basically means "SMOKING IS KILLING YOU" in huge bold letters. Not a bad idea. Granted you still see people smoking of course, because this is Russia. If anything, smoking is your friend because it means that's a few less years you'll have to deal with living here.
I guess that about wraps it up for today. I'm spending tomorrow sleeping in and will probably knock out 2 lessons in the afternoon before meeting Ksana again, although the time and place of that have yet to be decided... or at least are unknown to me at this time. Hope everyone is having a great day!
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