In an as of yet unprecedented event, I’m writing here two consecutive days in a row. Don’t expect this to be the norm, unless news as cool as what I’m about to tell you happens everyday. If you find the blogs of previous year’s teachers, you’ll realize exactly how unlikely that is. I must warn you that what you’re about to hear from me will be repeated, albeit not verbatim, by every other teacher whose blog I link to.

But first, I should cover any news already covered in other blogs, I’ll run down the list of things that have happened thus far. Most recently, the restaurant next door partially burned down. Pictures are to be found on the blogs previously mentioned (found under Links at the top of this page). Good examples of our ‘typical day’ can be found there too. We went to Moscow on Saturday. Now that I’ve mentioned it, I promise to post my pictures within a week. The last thing possibly worth mentioning is ‘New Student Testing.’ This happens a few times a week and consists of asking potential students questions like “What did you do yesterday?” or “Where do you wish you could travel?” trying to elicit the most complicated grammar they know to place them in an appropriate difficulty level.

The main road through the center of town is under construction right now, so everyday I have to walk about a kilometer through the construction. It’s not that far, but it’s mostly through mud. This becomes a problem because, in general, Russians are very serious about keeping their very expensive shoes immaculately clean. Add to this their stereotype about Americans not caring about their grungy sneakers, and I stand out pretty bad no matter how much I scowl as I walk.

If the parents are reading this: Our group will be making a short video clip of our apartments on Sunday, they’ll get sent eventually. If I like the video, I might make my YouTube debut for everyone else.

You’re probably thinking “this isn’t an extrodinary blog entry. In fact, I’m getting kinda bored reading all this.” Well, you’re right. Until now. The following is news that I find extremely interesting and impacts my life for at least the next 4 months.

I will be teaching the second highest level groups at the AH. This is bad because I have to know lots of grammar passively, but is great because its more discussion based. I am also teaching a level 3 class (of 9 levels) which will help me focus at least on basic grammar. This may not seem like much to you, but knowing when I will be teaching (4-7:30 MTThF) and what the content is helps me focus a lot.

So, that was probably a terrible let down as far as cool news goes.  For that, I am sorry.  Although, you should be excited.  It is very exciting, trust me.  Thats really it for now. I can claim to have started the ‘class level’ blogs first, but I sure didn’t finish first. Go ahead and click around to see what the other teachers got for classes!