adventure is out there

It is another beautiful day in Akademgorodok. The weather is starting to cool down. Jeans and sweater weather is fine weather for me. The leaves are changing color. Walking down the street, surrounded by nature, is a pleasure I have rarely taken the time to enjoy.

I taught my first English class this week. I have some adjustments to make, but I was expecting that. Going in, I had no idea what to plan. What I did plan was a tad optimistic, but it was still enjoyable and (hopefully) a learning experience for all involved. Apparently, Elvis is more popular in Russia than Sinatra. We listened to both and read through song lyrics, discussing meanings of words and plays on words. I look forward to next week.

I use the Google Translate app (and pictures on packaging) when I go shopping to attempt to know what I am buying. I thought I bought ground beef yesterday, but it was actually a kind of sausage similar to bologna. Cooking is an adventure!

One of my Russian homework assignments this week was to find a specific store by asking people where to find it. The first person I asked pointed in a general direction and rattled off many Russian words that I do not yet know while the second person made very specific hand gestures and told me, in English "Second door." Turns out that was not the place my teacher had in mind, but it was a good experience.

Right now, we are watching "Hang 'Em High" starring Clint Eastwood. It's easy to get bogged down with responsibility and studies, so I enjoy moments like these.

-AJ

I added photos and videos to my iCloud photo sharing page from the Novosibirsk Zoopark! I also changed up the blog's design and added a link on the hotbar to the right.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0dJtdOXmzTSRy

no James Bond movie title from me today

Today is Friday. I arrived in Russia on Monday. It’s amazing how much can be crammed into half a week. I suppose since I left on a Saturday night it’s almost been a week and there were plenty of experiences to be had on the journey. I got my first stamp on my passport, I watched Tommy Boy and Gladiator while waiting for flights, and I got to tell the Russian lady asking me to explain the information on her boarding pass, “I do not understand much Russian.” As she apologized and walked away, I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself.

So Monday. I moved my meager possessions into my room and Tanner gave me a tour of everything we can walk to in our little niche in Akademgorodok and for dinner we stopped and had some booz, a kind of spiced meat encased in a noodle with hot juices. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

On Tuesday, Tanner, Christian, and I went to a language hangout, where native speakers of many languages could mingle with people wanting to practice that language. Since I don’t speak much Russian, I planned to sit at the English table all night and make awkward small talk, but when I got up for a beer my seat was immediately filled, so I went to the German table and gave them some practice speaking slowly and telling me what word I meant to say. When I went to another English table, I felt like a celebrity with all the Russians asking me about America or my experience in Russia so far. I even got to rant about politics during my fifteen minutes of fame.

On Wednesday, I got to observe the beginner and advanced ESL classes. This coming week I will begin teaching the intermediate level, which I’ve been told is kind of a grab bag from both. Three or four people came up to me to introduce themselves and tell me they’ll be in the intermediate, so it’s easy to get excited.

On Thursday, I had my first actual Russian lesson. Three hours is a long time to be so focused on one task, but I love learning languages and I really want to be able to the grocery store without having to use Google Translate to pick out food and without being afraid of answering a simple question incorrectly. Actually, that happened to me on Wednesday. I stopped for a bite and I had answered the questions I was expecting to come up, but then the lady asked me another question. All I could think to say was, “I’m a foreigner,” and by her laughter I assume she already knew that. Turns out she was just asking if I wanted a napkin. I now have an irrational hatred of napkins.

Today, we took apart some furniture and added some stuff to our humble abode. I heard a couple times that my teacher thinks I’m a good student and stuff, so, whatever. That’s cool. I got some Kinder chocolate at the store. Someone left a guitar at the apartment, so I’ve been playing that almost every day in my downtime.

This turned out a bit longer than I was expecting, but this Zits comic sums up my feelings about editing:

In any case, that’s all I have. If you have questions, comments, well-wishes, or any sort of message, you can email me at ajkriegz@gmail.com or chat with me on google hangouts or text me at google voice. Thanks for reading!

AJ

PS Tanner just brought me Russian ice cream. What a guy.

Also, I have a blog? I haven't updated it in six years so I don't know what's on here. I don't really even like the band the title is from any more.

does laziness count as a writer's block?

So, I have an idea for a book. It's not so much a book as a list of guidelines for living in high school. I've been kinda tossing the idea around in my head for a while, and I think it was brought into a more realistic light by the movie Zombieland (which has NOTHING to do with high school at all) because the protagonist constantly remembers rules he thought up to survive in the United States of Zombieland.

So it would be a list of some things I learned in high school to be passed onto the next generation of students, possibly freshmen that could use advice (which would be pretty much all of them, haha) or even sophomores or juniors that could still take those pearls of wisdom to heart. I don't know everything about high school; in fact, I'm sure I'm very ignorant.

But! My idea is that the book doesn't end where I leave off. It's a continuous project, with things being added by the owner of the book out of experiences from their lives. The problem I see happening is that too many guidelines can be added, making the behavior pattern described in the book too specific and possibly changing the reader into being something they're not because of a situation that went sour for one person but may not always be a bad thing for another.

It's still an idea, but I'm hoping to start writing things so anything I've learned can be handed down to the next generation so they can learn from mistakes and successes I've witnessed firsthand. Wish me luck...

oh, look who's back

Hey, everyone! (Actually, it might work better to say, "Hey, one!") It's been a while since I last blogged. Since then, I went to two homecoming dances, didn't go to two proms, laughed, cried, got my Paladin to level 68. I was a DJ, joined and quit track, got into Call of Duty, saw Good News (the play this year at MLS), and found love in the most unlikely places.

... Well, not the last one. But there's been a lot of stuff that's happened to me in the five or so months I've been gone. And... that might be all I have to say for now. But! I'm back, for better or for worse.

bored right out of my skull.

Concert Choir sang two weeks ago. I thought it could have been better (knowing where I heard myself or others mess up), but the people I talked to that went said it sounded pretty awesome. We sing again next week in Monroe. Can't wait! It's an experience. I'm just surprised I'm not nervous about singing in front of so many people. The first time we sang, I was surprisingly calm.

In other news about me, my intramural soccer team seems to be pretty good. We won our first game 6-0. Still workin out kinks, but I think I know how it's gonna work.

Kinda bored of my blog. It's not something I'm really into anymore. Oh well. Maybe more later.

nothing important

There was a man who was driving along the road one day with a priest sitting shotgun when he saw three lawyers crossing the road at the next intersection. This guy HATED lawyers with a passion, but what could he do with a priest in his car? He decided, okay, I'm going to just close my eyes, and maybe I'll hit them. He closed his eyes and stepped on the gas. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and asked the priest, "Did I hit anyone?" The priest said, "No, but I got one with the car door."