So yeah. Today was a hard day. I woke up to go to the bathroom around 2:30 and never really went back to sleep. Then it was the first real day of school. Classes were pretty much The Suck. I'm definitely in the dumb kid group, but that's cool. I guess I'd rather be at the top of the dumb kid class than the bottom of the smart kid one. I hate being the only one to not understand things. And actually, my first two classes went pretty well. I felt like I understood 90-95% of what the professors said, and I knew what was going on. I misspoke plenty, but that's cool. I could follow along, at least.
The last class was a bitch and a half. I signed up for this linguistic-culture class, which sounds super cool. We look at fairy tales, poetry, music, tv programs, etc. and look at the way that culture influences language and vice versa. Unfortunately, Claire (remember the obnoxious chick?) is also taking the class. And not only was the class fucking hard, she had to comment on every single fucking thing and know exactly what was going on. I'm not sure what made me more mad: not being able to understand what was going on, or the fact that she did and I didn't. So. After sitting through one class, I decided that there's just no fucking way I'm going to be able to make it through the semester without shooting her or myself. Or maybe both.
I talked to Meg after class and explained the situation, and it seems like it should be cool if I switch to another class. Which isn't ideal because I really want to take the class I'm signed up for, but if I have to sit there with Claire, even if it's only for three hours a week, I'll kill her. What made everything even worse was that she kept looking at me like she wanted to be friends. Which just made me want to scoot my chair away in the other direction.
Why is it so hard to be nice to other people? Or rather, why have I not yet adopted the Russian mentality of being outright mean to people I don't like?
I hung out with Meg during her "office hours" and then she took me to the supermarket so that I could buy things like a trash can and lunch stuff. Eating at restaurants every day gets expensive really fast. And is also a good way to get food poisoning. Yay Russia! Meg also introduced me to her friend Jenna, who is still living in Petersburg after finishing her Fullbright. I liked her a lot--she's nerdy and dorky in the same way that most Reedies are and is totally into doing her own thing. She seems like a good contact to have, and I need to meet some people outside this group.
I was going to write more about today and all the stuff that I hate about Russia so far (culture shock, anyone?), like mineral water and people that walk slow, but I'll save my tirades for a day when I have more energy.
The last class was a bitch and a half. I signed up for this linguistic-culture class, which sounds super cool. We look at fairy tales, poetry, music, tv programs, etc. and look at the way that culture influences language and vice versa. Unfortunately, Claire (remember the obnoxious chick?) is also taking the class. And not only was the class fucking hard, she had to comment on every single fucking thing and know exactly what was going on. I'm not sure what made me more mad: not being able to understand what was going on, or the fact that she did and I didn't. So. After sitting through one class, I decided that there's just no fucking way I'm going to be able to make it through the semester without shooting her or myself. Or maybe both.
I talked to Meg after class and explained the situation, and it seems like it should be cool if I switch to another class. Which isn't ideal because I really want to take the class I'm signed up for, but if I have to sit there with Claire, even if it's only for three hours a week, I'll kill her. What made everything even worse was that she kept looking at me like she wanted to be friends. Which just made me want to scoot my chair away in the other direction.
Why is it so hard to be nice to other people? Or rather, why have I not yet adopted the Russian mentality of being outright mean to people I don't like?
I hung out with Meg during her "office hours" and then she took me to the supermarket so that I could buy things like a trash can and lunch stuff. Eating at restaurants every day gets expensive really fast. And is also a good way to get food poisoning. Yay Russia! Meg also introduced me to her friend Jenna, who is still living in Petersburg after finishing her Fullbright. I liked her a lot--she's nerdy and dorky in the same way that most Reedies are and is totally into doing her own thing. She seems like a good contact to have, and I need to meet some people outside this group.
I was going to write more about today and all the stuff that I hate about Russia so far (culture shock, anyone?), like mineral water and people that walk slow, but I'll save my tirades for a day when I have more energy.
posted by hillary at 7:50 AM
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