Class; oddly enough, I can't remember what happened to the day here…. XD I know it was a late one… Don't know why…
(2-21-2010 Note: Obviously, I remembered as I was writing out this journal)
Oh, but I *do* remember having a discussion in Razvitie Rechi; well, two:
1. That a 100 dollar pair of boots, or jacket, here, is considered CHEAP. Which led to a round of Juan and I (at the very least) leading an impassioned rebuttal of, "Uh -- what?! In *America…!*"
I have never in my LIFE bought ANY pair of shoes for 100 bucks!!! (Save dance shoes, and those don't count… XD) -- To think that 100 is suddenly *cheap?* Uh-uh. I am more firmly resolved that I am going shopping when I get back to the States!!!!!!
I think that has been the only time that I've ever had an, "In *America*" moment; normally I don't have those -- I'm pretty good to "go with the flow" or do the whole "when in Rome…" bit. But this… Whew… Ha ha.
We had the same discussion in relation to coats too -- and started talking about the fur coats, too. I believe our teacher said that a good one of those can cost between 80 and 100 THOUSAND Rubles! (That's just about $2,666 and $3,333 USD, respectively.) She teased us all saying, "But you're Americans! You must be rich!" And when we said, "No, we're American *students!* We're *poor!*" She said, "Why don't you ask your parents, then?" And I said, "If I called my parents, asking, "Hey, do you want to give me 100,000 Rubles for a fur coat?" they would probably tell me, "K chortu!!!!"" (That means, "To the Devil" or "Go to Hell!" for those of you who don't speak Russian.) (Also, Mutti, Papa, no, I don't think you'd be *quite* so coarse with me, but I imagine the thought might cross your mind!!! =^_~=)
While on the topic of fur coats, one of the girls in our class was asking about what the most expensive kind of fur was, and then went to ask about how much a coat made of bear fur would cost… She asked:
"How much does a coat made of Medvedev cost?"
This basically became a JFK, "I am a Jelly Doughnut" moment -- because what she *said* meant:
"How much does a coat made of the President cost?" !!!!!!
For those of you who don't know:
1. Many Russian last names are derived from animals, occupations, places, etc. The Russian President's name is Dmitri Medvedev. His last name, Medvedev, is derived from the word for "bear" -- "medved'."
I suppose you could ask her question though, if you really didn't like the guy!!!
2. In JFK's famous, "Ich bein ein Berliner," speech -- he *actually* *did* say, "I am a [jelly] doughnut," when he meant to say, "I am a Berliner."
This is because in German, to say you are from somewhere, you don't use the article. With the article, on the other hand, "ein Berliner" referred to the name of a doughnut produced by a certain company. There's some US history for you!
(*** I've never been in a German class, but to the best of my knowledge, that's the reasoning behind the JFK story -- anyone who *has* had German experience/who may know the JFK story better, please, correct me if I have made a mistake anywhere in relating the story/the grammar.***)
It should also be mentioned that while that situation was *really* funny, and easily relatable in English, I *slaughtered* it, when I tried to convert the joke/situation to Russian. (I was trying to tell Olga, my host mum.) But, well, what do they say? You can't spell "slaughter" without "laughter?" (It's TRUE!) -- So at least I could laugh at myself about it.
(2-21-2010 - I remembered a 3rd conversational topic from Razvitie Rechi today: How our parents beat us when we were young. XD
I kid you not!!! I mentioned to Tamara Evgen'evna about the little girls who were fighting at the Maslenitsa celebration on Saturday; and how I'd been surprised that they hadn't been reprimanded at all, essentially. Anita then asked Tamara, what do Russian parents do if they are misbehaving, etc. As we'd just been learning the words for "to yell at/insult," "to praise," and "to hit/to beat" thanks to the discussion on the little girls, it was actually a pretty good topic for us.
So, Tamara went around and asked us what our parents would do if we were ever bad when we were little. *laughing* It seems that all of our parents believed in corporal punishment if we had it coming!! It was pretty funny.
(I was also laughing, because it reminded me of part of a Russell Peters comedic sketch, where he's explaining the difference between foreign kids, and white kids growing up -- namely that foreign kids' parents will beat them when they get in trouble (so they're typically better behaved/listen to their parents more), and white kids' parents today seem to have the, "It's bad to beat your children!" complex (so, many of them are less respectful these days.).
He related a story where a white friend of his told him, "Just tell them you'll call child services if they're going to hit you! It stops my parents every time!" Russell does so, and his father says, "Go on! Do it! -- But it takes them 15 minutes to get here!"
The moral of Russell's story? "So, White People, *please!* Beat your children!" -- So that they will stop giving bad advice to foreign kids on how to deal with their parents!! Great stuff. =^__^= ''
Given that half of our group has a non-white background, it was twice as funny to listen to how things were handled. -- And before anyone reads this and says, "The horror!!!" at my use of the word "to beat" -- obviously none of us are the worse for the wear or have really been *beaten* in our lives. )
In Russian Dance today, we started leering the "Russki Waltz" (Russian Waltz) -- which is a little bit like VW -- and is also like Kadril, in that it starts slow, and gets faster.
I *really* wish I could explain to our group the "open the door [for your partner]; your partner opens the door [for you]" secret for completing the rotation in Waltz with a partner….… Everyone has become a bunch of Danes, dancing around their Christmas trees…. XD (Bonus points if you know where that phrase comes from…)
Also today: just when you thought it was safe to get online….
…..My Internet is down!!!!! -- It appears that I've somehow managed to use all of the Internet that I bought for this month. So, in the evening, I went off to the John Donne - Pete wasn't there; his loss! XD
This is really where my night took a turn for the late, as it takes about 40 minutes to get there or back, and I was working for about two hours. As I'd gotten there about 10 PM, I knew I wanted to leave before 12, to make sure I got home -- but I wound up leaving *at* 12! -- For those of you who don't know, Moscow's Metro *closes* at 1 AM, and re-opens at 5:30 AM.
So, while I was on my way home, I learned what it is to be terrified of the phrase, "This train is going to ____, AND NO FURTHER."
When that happens, everyone has to get off of the train, and people actually come through and wake up the people who have fallen asleep, or the drunks who have zonked out, and kick them off the trains.
Luckily, another train did come, and I was not stuck in the Metro all night. =^_~=
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