The trip to Seattle was short but it was good to see the family and finally experience a non-traditional ‘designer’s’ wedding. Great food, great people, but no cake. I had to make a speech at the wedding in honor of my brother and, as most of you know, speaking in public (or even just speaking) is not one of my strengths. Thank goodness for the non-traditional quick and dirty wedding speeches. The meat of my speech was a story that was very near to my heart and talked about diarrhea and vomiting (there was a point to the story). I was very nervous coming up to the wedding as I knew this is not a normal, and encouraged, topic to discuss at a wedding (especially since I had not had the chance to meet anyone that was going to be attending the wedding, beyond my family). As with most weddings the speeches take place after the meal so I thought I’d probably offend some people but wouldn’t ruin anyone’s appetite. I found out 10 minutes before making the speech that I was wrong and my speech was going to happen right before the food was served. I was all of a sudden in a position to take the reception down right off the bat. It worked out though and the audience was able to get through the rough bits, enjoy the humour, and see the point of the speech. The point was that Dawn, my brother’s wife, was very kind and caring and that mike just another kruzeniski asshole. I think it worked.
Now I am back in Russia and the temperature is slowly going down and snow is starting to cover the streets. I’m already missing the new orleans weather and will soon be in the middle of the winters I’d grown up in. The problem with this city during winter is that they’ve created all the sidewalks with tile and bricks. Once the snow falls it turns all walking areas into virtual skating rinks. I know I still have to get used to winter again but this is at a level I’ve never experience in Canada. Everyone is always on the verge of losing their grip and going down hard. I cringe as I watch the elderly walk at a pace of one step every 2 minutes while holding the wall of a nearby building in an attempt to fight off their next replacement. The women have it figured out though, they all wear upwards of 17″ high heels that dig into the ground and make it impossible to slip. I watch in amazement as they run down the street with these death spikes anchoring them in the ice until I lose focus and hit the ground. I’m debating going half-tranny and sporting some of these heels so I can make it home from work.
I’ve put up a few pictures of the apartment so you can see the unique look it has to offer. The landlord has been helpful with the move into his apartment but the problem with moving into someone’s personal apartment is that he is always showing up randomly to work on some of the things he hasn’t quite finished yet. The usual 24hr heads up I was used to in North America is really followed here. It’s not really a problem but he always likes to chat for a while and seems to forget everytime that I don’t speak Russian. He’ll ask me something in Russian and after I shake my head showing that I have no idea what he’s saying he goes into a longer explanation in Russia to try and clear things up. I usually have to throw my hands and remind him that I don’t speak Russian. A few more Russian sentences later and I think he figures it out, until next time.
The person who helped me find my apartment is also an english teacher and has a class of University aged students who are interested in learning the language. She told me when I first arrived that they like to meet people who speak english so they can practice. Yesterday, she asked if it was alright with me if she gave my phone number to some of the girls in the class who wanted to meet me. well……ok. i guess that would alright.’ One of the students called me today and it looks like a few of us are going to meet up later for dinner. There had better not be any funny business when I meet up with them. If they’re not there to learn then I’m leaving.
poka!
p.s. thanks for all the replies/comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment