What holidays should be like.

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Back to school this morning, but it was a day I was looking forward to.

All of Viktor's class was taken up talking about what everyone had done in their vacation -especially the fun parts. 'Old' Chris shared a train carriage to Naberezhnyi Cholnyi with a man who (by mid-day) had polished off a 2 litre bottle of beer and a 2 litre bottle of vodka. He then tucked into some meat and bread from a rucksack, with a big knife before falling asleep. Not wanting to be alone in a compartment with a large drunk stranger with a weapon, Chris carefully confiscated it from him and put it under his own seat. In the morning the man woke up, and when they left the train he told Chris not to forget his knife! It can only have been funnier still in real life, Chris is the perfect British gentleman; polite and excellently spoken but not at all posh.

Ellie, Clare and Chiara went to Novgorod, where they were serenaded with western pop songs by a man in a restaurant with an electric piano. Bhav went with the other girls to Ekaterinburg, where after 26 hours on the train they arrived to find every hotel in the city was fully-booked. They found two luxury rooms somewhere on the second day and spent the night jumping on the beds. And the boys flew to Sochi in the south, where they swam in the sea in newly bought flourescent speedos.

I didn't concentrate very well in Olga's class. We translated an article about a Russian academic which was very definitely 'not for the likes of me'. It came from the 2000 edition of the Exeter University Russian department journal, 'Krasnoe Slovo' (which I wrote an article for this spring). As the lesson went on I read the other pages, especially enjoying the interviews with two of my teachers. When Olga asked me what I was giggling for I wasn't sure what to say; I couldn't say "Dr Adlam and Dr Hodgson's favourite jokes"!

Tamara Aleksandrovna broke her record for most second helpings offered before getting the hint that I was full:

T.A: Do you want some more potatoes?

Me: No thankyou.

T.A: Shall I give you more potatoes?

Me: No, I haven't changed my mind.

T.A: Ok, I will let you eat. (Leaves room for 30 seconds) You should eat potatoes, it's cold outside.

Me: Really, no.

T.A: Ok, drink your coffee. Drink your coffee with biscuits, mind!

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Photos

Ekaterinburg.
An entire day away from Yaroslavl, but with the same distinctive Russian Churches and buildings.