Cold, play.

---

Minus 10 degrees walking to school this morning. I looked at the digital thermometer on ulitsa Svobody with the same disbelief as I did during the first snow. There was no wind blowing into my face, so it was just extremely cold rather than cold and painful. The snow has frozen into white ice which is slippery to walk on.

When I got to Yartek the first thing I did was give my passport photos to Valentina Ivanovna. I'm a good boy for remembering them, but she told me off for not wearing a hat: "It's minus 10 outside, you will turn into an ice-cream... you're wearing red today - very handsome". Russians have an obsession with clothes, particularly when you're wearing too many or not enough.

The cold weather is making her even more talkative, and when you're in a conversation and she wants to talk to you she will poke your elbow until you look round.

On fridays we have different teachers for all four lessons. Natasha - who is directing 'Daughter's Lesson' - took us for 'television' and we watched the news. The newsreaders talk so fast that we understand very little. Then we talked about student families with Viktor. After lunch Lena taught us more grammar and we translated an Observer article about Stonehenge with Anya. It was our last day of classes before a week off and everyone is looking forward to going away. Moscow seems close compared to Ekaterinburg, which is more than a day's journey by train.

It's our last rehearsal tonight before the spektakl tomorrow evening. I'm not too nervous but it will be a strange feeling performing in such a small room with a lot of people inside. It's a dress rehearsal but I still don't have any black trousers to go with my butler's jacket, or any of the props (mirror, brush, monacle...) that I need.

---

Photos

Chiara.
When it's cold, always wear a hat. The sillier the hat, the warmer you will be.