Something to say.

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Another quiet, and perhaps slow, day.

Tuuli and Jonathan became Oksana and Aleksei for the first lesson. We sat at the front of the classroom in our roles as pretend television researchers and asked the class our questions. In fact I have been thinking about looking for a job somewhere in the Moscow media when I return to Russia.

At lunchtime the unknown woman was still listening in, as I talked to Natalia from the obshezhitie reception phone. She said "allo?" a few times again - didn't answer me as I said "allo" back - then there were some loud clicks as she tried to make a phone call of her own.

So much for spring arriving and buying a lighter coat. The temperature has fallen to minus 9 and the wind blowing down ulitsa Trekhsvyatskaya is bitterly cold. The snow that melted to become water on the street has now frozen again into puddles of invisible ice. You can't walk ten metres without slipping. I went out with Liisa in the evening to celebrate us finishing our translations. It was a very Russian café experience; drinking Nevskoe beer out of plastic cups with the radio playing in the background.

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