School seems to be going better now that I'm in the faster class. I still understand what's going on, and I feel like I'm actually learning things. Not that I wasn't before, but the pace feels much more comfortable, and I'm not bored. I'm not crazy about being in class with Kristin, but it's not like I have to listen to her talk all that much in class. It's the outside of class that you have to watch out for. The only thing that I don't like so much (other than Kristin—soon there will be pictures so that you can all see and appreciate my annoyance more fully) is the new professors. I really liked all the profs that I had before, and it's definitely a trade down for razgovornia praktica. She seems totally nice outside of class, but she's a little bitchy and just not very good at doing the synonym thing, and she looks at you funny sometimes if you have to ask. She's also severely anorexic. Like whoa. Actually, she looks like Julia Roberts, only minus about 50 lbs. It's gross. She has M.C. Hammer pants, and that's because they don't make any pants skinny enough to fit her. And frankly, I'd rather not see that her legs are as big around as my hand.

We had a test today that I probably totally bombed. This is only the second test that I've had here, and the other one was grammar and was open book, open note. This was in class, and we'd only had about two classes on the material. It's really good to know how to go on the metro and other kinds of transport, but it was a lot of vocab to learn all at once. But apparently it doesn't matter how you do on the tests because it's only the final that matters. Way to freak you out...

Monday Meeting was the usual, but we're going to have a couple Halloween parties. Yay Halloween. On the back of the handout Meg gave us were a bunch of costume ideas. But where do you buy things like burlap or paint? Not that I'm creative, but it'd be cool to have a costume. Whatever. I probably won't end up going anyway. It's too much work to figure all that shit out just to stand around with a bunch of assholes you don't want to hang out with anyway.

I hung out until it was time to go to Discussion Club at the ygol. I'm not sure why, because I was cranky and really didn't want to go. Maybe because I feel bad for Meg or something, and it is sort of a reflection on her, albeit indirectly, if not very many of her students show up for this thing. Anyway, the theme was pop culture, and it was way less painful than the last time I went. I didn't have to try to describe a beaver or anything.

Afterward, on the way to the metro with Meg, a new country was born to take its rightful place among the many "stans" of the world. While you may not have heard of Kazakstan, or Tatarstan, everybody's heard of Crazybitchistan. And everybody knows somebody from there. This new country is Whackistan, and is a close, close neighbor of Crazybitchistan. Every country has its own parables, although the only parables from Crazybitchistan that I remember have to do with either Lurline or Noah Depper. Go figure. Anyway, Meg said that I should write the first parable for Whackistan, "The Whack Bitch from Whackistan." However, I'm all out of fresh ideas about whack bitches and their whack adventures—my life is whack enough. So, a smuggle-able into the country bottle of absinthe goes to the best parable. Remember to sign your work, kids.