Tongue-tied.

---

This morning in Lyudmila Giorgevna's lesson we gave our presentations of the essays we had written. Afterwards there was a leaving get-together in one of the classrooms, where myself Tamzin and Michael had a last chat with our teachers. Aleksandr Ivanovich, Zhanna, Elena, Lyudmila Giorgevna and Dimitrii Sergeevich the director drank coffee and ate biscuits with us and asked us about our plans for the summer. The sparkle in their eyes when I told them I was going to Kiev made me even more excited. Everyone, as ever, praised Michael for how well he spoke, told Tamzin how well she had done. And forgave me for not being a good student. They gave us each a certificate and a Tv.G.U key-ring and wished us luck for the future. Just as in Yaroslavl it was nice to receive such kind wishes but hurtful to again be given little credit. Nevertheless my Russian has improved, regardless of which side of the classroom door I learned things. Tver hasn't caught my imagination quite as much as Yaroslavl but all the same it has been a good place to spend an important three months.

Natasha invited Johani, Kaisa, Yenu, Alexandre and myself to a last gathering in the evening. When it became too cold to sit by the river Volga we moved to a café. We pushed three tables together and talked about everything from tennis to ice-cream. Everyone swapped email addresses and said 'we'll see each other again' but perhaps only because it sounded better than 'goodbye'. I've had fun with Natasha and Anya while I've been in Tver and they've been very good to me.

My suitcase is packed and my room is empty. My visa runs out at midnight on wednesday when my train will still be in Russia, so I will need to find a solution as soon as I get to Moscow.

---