What names belong to these Eastern Europeans? Getting to know my host family, ILP directors/employees, and students have let me come to know a few different Russian names. Some were definitely (and still are) hard to remember, but I've got a lot of them down. So here are a few... (with me spelling them as best I can!)
Sveta
Alla
Anton
Maxim
Alexandra
Tonya
Liza
Matvey
Motivey
Tyoma
Onya
Pretty interesting names, eh? I'm sure our English names are just as foreign as theirs are to us (some Russians had a hard time pronouncing a couple of the volunteers names.)
A lot of those names I listed belong to my students! Teaching is going alright. I am still getting into the hang of things. It's neat when my students spontaneously talk (without me guiding them or asking them to repeat what I say.) I am hoping that I can make an impact with their English, and I'm definitely looking forward to the day when I can see real progress.
Now...the weather! Some of you are probably wondering if I'm freezing my butt off yet or not. But if you pay attention to the pictures I have posted, you'll see I'm not wearing any heavy duty stuff yet!
When I first got here, it was actually quite warm outside! Lately it's been in the 60's, which still pretty okay. Today, on the other hand, the sun decided to hide behind the clouds, and it's been a bit chilly out! Sometimes it will be nippy in the early morning and at night as well. During those times I have to remind myself, a southern Utah native, that I need to man up..... "Your ears can deal with being cold!" "Just you wait till November!", "Seeing your breath can be fun!", I say to myself.
What's funny is that during that time, most people outside have a jacket on (and maybe a hat as well), but sometimes I will see people out in shorts! What!
Another thing some of us girls have thought about is that in the U.S. it is very popular in the crisp morning to have a hot drink as your leaving in the morning ("Starbucks" is very popular in the U.S., no?) Although here, in St Petersburg (the most northern city in the world with a population of over 1 million), we haven't noticed any hot drinks in the mornings! Instead, for example, after eating dinner with my host family or when I come over later at night, I am then offered coffee, tea, or something else of that sort. Also interesting is that when you have some sort of hot drink, you're always offered some small dessert or treat to accompany it.
Anyway. If you're interested in seeing the temperature of St Petersburg, you can check out the side panel in my blog (to the right of my posts) and it should be updated with the current weather!
Hope you're all doing well.
-Maegan
Sveta
Alla
Anton
Maxim
Alexandra
Tonya
Liza
Matvey
Motivey
Tyoma
Onya
Pretty interesting names, eh? I'm sure our English names are just as foreign as theirs are to us (some Russians had a hard time pronouncing a couple of the volunteers names.)
A lot of those names I listed belong to my students! Teaching is going alright. I am still getting into the hang of things. It's neat when my students spontaneously talk (without me guiding them or asking them to repeat what I say.) I am hoping that I can make an impact with their English, and I'm definitely looking forward to the day when I can see real progress.
Now...the weather! Some of you are probably wondering if I'm freezing my butt off yet or not. But if you pay attention to the pictures I have posted, you'll see I'm not wearing any heavy duty stuff yet!
When I first got here, it was actually quite warm outside! Lately it's been in the 60's, which still pretty okay. Today, on the other hand, the sun decided to hide behind the clouds, and it's been a bit chilly out! Sometimes it will be nippy in the early morning and at night as well. During those times I have to remind myself, a southern Utah native, that I need to man up..... "Your ears can deal with being cold!" "Just you wait till November!", "Seeing your breath can be fun!", I say to myself.
What's funny is that during that time, most people outside have a jacket on (and maybe a hat as well), but sometimes I will see people out in shorts! What!
Another thing some of us girls have thought about is that in the U.S. it is very popular in the crisp morning to have a hot drink as your leaving in the morning ("Starbucks" is very popular in the U.S., no?) Although here, in St Petersburg (the most northern city in the world with a population of over 1 million), we haven't noticed any hot drinks in the mornings! Instead, for example, after eating dinner with my host family or when I come over later at night, I am then offered coffee, tea, or something else of that sort. Also interesting is that when you have some sort of hot drink, you're always offered some small dessert or treat to accompany it.
Anyway. If you're interested in seeing the temperature of St Petersburg, you can check out the side panel in my blog (to the right of my posts) and it should be updated with the current weather!
Hope you're all doing well.
-Maegan
I can't wait to hear your posts when the weather gets cold there. Do you want me to send you some ear muffs or will you be covering your ears with something there? Love you girl!
ReplyDeleteI do have a few hats, so my ears should be good. Thanks :) Love you to.
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