Here we are at the Russian Christmas party (Yolka). Don’t we look like we’re really into what’s being said? Since I understood less than 2% of what was actually said during the hour of the party, I know that I probably had no idea what was happening at the moment this photo was taken. We’ve honed our skills well.

Yesterday was the annual Yolka Party in the Russian section at FSI. About 3 weeks ago, the Russian students were called together and told about the party and the fact that we were all expected to participate. And that it was going to be the most fun we’d ever had in our lives. “Or else” seemed to be implied in that last statement. (Seriously, I was a little frightened.)

My class had already been preparing a poem in anticipation of the event, so I was set. Shawn, however, was forced to join the choir along with the other students that didn’t want to make a toast or perfom a pre-written skit. So as we left that meeting, all seemed well; it would be a party, it would maybe be a little fun…even though we were told all speaking at the party would be in Russian, so I knew I had no chance of knowing what was going on most of the time.

Then the rehearsals began. Many, many rehearsals. Apparently when Russians say “party,” they really mean “recital.” Not my idea of a super-fun time. But after 3 weeks of frustration, we all survived the event yesterday. It was okay….it wasn’t exactly fun, but I suppose it could have been worse. At least there was food after we all finished performing. And it did mark the end of Russian classes until January 2nd!

And in the other half of my life….customers have been absolutely crazy at the store. “Yes, sir, we’ve run out of most of our Christmas wrap. Why? Oh, that would be because it’s 3 days before Christmas! But don’t get upset at yourself for waiting this long, please, take it out on me because, well, that’s just easier to do now, isn’t it?” Yes, my shifts have become 5-hour long challenges of not letting smart-ass comments out of my mouth. Shawn now has the daily pleasure of hearing all of them when I get home.

But in just a few days it will all be over. Oh, the joy of Christmas!

Besides giving his vital stats, I managed to explain that he enjoys running and other sports. And at the end of my report, I was even able to say that he bought his first house last summer. All of this in Russian! Okay, so it took a little help and prompting from my instructor, but I think this is a great improvement over my report on Portland.

So that was the end of the first part of my day. In quite a shift of focus, I have spent the last 4 hours hand-making bows. For fake Christmas presents. To sit on shelves and in every conceivable nook and cranny you can find at The Container Store. That’s right, Christmas has arrived in Arlington. More specifically, “Gift Wrap Wonderland” has arrived at The Container Store. Nearly half of the first floor of the store is covered in garland, fake trees, gift boxes, and, of course, gift wrap. But do you know what the really sad thing is? I want it all. That’s right – I walked up and down the aisles this evening and found about at least 15 different gift wraps I want to buy. At $8.50 a roll, that’s not going to happen, but I think that it might be an indicator that my Christmas spirit has returned.

(For those of you that may not know this, I spent the past two Christmases working at Trinity Repertory Company, running wardrobe for their production of A Christmas Carol. It was….uh, let’s just say it was enough to beat the Christmas spirit right out of me.)

My only concern is how long my Christmas spirit can last once the they start pumping the carols into the store…

So in our language program, I’ve now moved past the easy, 5 hours of class a day, and into a more intense portion. We start at 7:30 in the morning and have 3 hours of conversation in a small group (1 teacher, 4 students). Then the middle part of my day is an hour of multi-media lab time, an hour of self-study, and an hour of lunch. Although we are encouraged to extend our self-study time and shorten our lunch time. Then it’s back to my small group for two hours of reading, which is really being used more for grammar lessons at this point.

I had my first real assignment yesterday. (As long as you don’t count memorizing table after table of grammar rules an assignment.) I wrote a killer essay on Portland, Oregon. In case you wondered: “Portland is in Oregon. Portland is in the USA. Portland is a big city. Portland is a very beautiful city. The weather in Portland is sometimes good and sometimes bad.” Yup. That pretty much sums it up. In English, I have a Bachelor’s degree. In Russian, I’m in the First Grade. My teacher did complement me on my beautiful handwriting, though. I’m hoping for a check-plus in Penmanship.

As you may know, Russian uses a Cyrillic alphabet. That means I have to train myself to associate specific sounds with characters that look like, among other things, a backwards, upside-down ‘h’ and a spider. Okay, the spider only has six legs, but seriously, take a look.

The Russian language department is really well-organized, so our 30 weeks of training are broken down into 4 phases. The first one, which actually only lasts for the next 8 weekdays, is the basis for everything to come. So by September 18th I should know the alphabet, be able to read Russian, carry on a basic conversation, and have a basic understanding of grammar concepts. My initial reaction when my instructor told me this today was “right…” But in five hours we covered an insane amount of material. I’m not yet sure how much of it will still be in my brain tomorrow, but I’m hoping for the best.