5-7-07

5-7-07

Less than a week left. That’s pretty crazy to think about, so I try to avoid it. I mean, it’s a pretty constant thing that we’re all inserting into our conversations. Things like, “Less than a week, that’s crazy!” But as to actually thinking about the finality of leaving? Pretty bizarre.

So I now have 3 1/2 finals out of the way. On Saturday I presented my Civilization paper. It was “Genius!” In my opinion, it was “Lame!” But she seemed to like it. Today I had my Fonetika and Literature finals. Fonetika was kind of intimidating. It consisted of three parts: 1) A dictation where she would read 20 words and we would have to spell them correctly (Harder than it sounds), 2) Reading a text that we prepared for at home, and 3) Reading a text that we received at the beginning of class. She recorded the second two. In the recording of the text we hadn’t prepared, I read a question with a completely flat intonation (which is wrong), and I’m pretty sure when she listens to the tape she’ll be able to hear me say, “Damnit! Oops.” It went well, though. She told Cadence and Michelle that no one would be getting lower than a B, and I’m pretty sure I did better than a B.

After lunch we had our Literature exam. Last week we each chose an author out of those we had covered, and then we each had to basically know everything about him or her. I chose Evgeny Zamyatin, author the novel We, which I love. I can tell you basically anything about him, but most of it’s not that interesting. However, you have no idea what she’s going to ask you. For instance, I knew that when he finished high school he received a “Gold Medal.” I have no idea what exactly that means, but it was in my notes. I was lucky it was, because she asked me about it. She also asked me a couple of questions about other authors: “What was Bulgakov’s most famous work?” “Name one of Bulgakov’s satires.” “Who was older, Zamyatin or Bulgakov?” “What’s Mayakovsky’s most famous work?” I got a 5, which is the US equivalent of an A.

That means I’ve got my Grammar (LAMELAMELAME) final on Thursday, along with my oral Conversation final, and then on Friday, my Gazeta final. I won’t get into the stupidity that is my Grammar class; suffice to say that I learned more grammar in my other classes. I have never written a bad evaluation of a teacher before, honestly. One lukewarm one freshman year, but that was it. Her evaluation, well, I’ve probably been writing it in my head since the second week of that class. It just got more interesting last week. “I’ll be collecting all of your homework for the semester the day of the final.” “You mean the assignments that you never indicated would be seen, and are therefore written in like six different notebooks and on the worksheets themselves, many of which have been lost or thrown away? Those assignments?”

But this is not the place to complain about classes. Not at all. So moving on.

I think the weirdly long days are affecting my dreams. It doesn’t get dark until 11:15ish, and it’s light really early in the morning. The other night I dreamt of killing a baby. Accidentally, of course, but I woke up and was horrified and grossed out. Then last night I dreamt about Emily’s wedding, except it was taking place in Judge Haynes, my old elementary school. It was about 12:30, the ceremony wasn’t supposed to start til 3, and I realized I had forgotten my dress at home. Dad freaked out, but home’s only like 2 minutes away from school, so I didn’t think it was a big deal. I got back and a ton of my friends were there already with wedding gifts. I told them they weren’t invited, and even if they were, it was too early. They asked me why I wasn’t ready yet. I woke up at 5:00 and had no idea where I was for a second.

Let’s get this entry back on some kind of track. Saturday, after classes, a bunch of us went up to the Lider pool hall one last time for some bowling and pool. I didn’t bowl very well, but I probably played the best game of pool I’ve played in this country, which was very satisfying. Then Sunday I ran a couple of errands and mostly just strolled around, which is satisfying in a different way. That night I went out to Café Tblis, the great Georgian restaurant, with Kate, Ryan, Brandon, and Nohemi. None of the Area Studies program kids wanted to come because they were all studying for their huge history test today.

It doesn’t feel like a Monday at all, this is most definitely a Tuesday kind of day. Tomorrow, which is actually Tuesday, we’re going to the post office after classes to ship stuff home. I’m shipping three parcels: One with books (There’s a cheaper rate for just books), an awesome Russian Post Office box with heavy things, and a bag with my winter coat and two pairs of boots in it. Basically, I’m sending things home that woul make packing tough space- or weight-wise. I’m probably going to pack one of my suitcases Thursday night, just to get it out of the way and make sure there’s no crisis of size or weight at the last minute. That, and making room for souvenirs. Not like I’ve got a crate or something, but you know what I mean.

Fortunately, CIEE provides transportation to the airport for us. Where originally I thought there were five of us on the flight to London Sunday night, it turns out that three of those people are actually on that flight Saturday night. So it’s just Lael and I on Sunday, which will be nice to have someone as a travel buddy. It feels like the past 5 weeks or so just flew by and now time is crawling, which is both a blessing and a curse. I just want to get finals out of the way, but once finals are done, then that’s it. I’ve got all day Saturday here, though. I’ll probably use that time to sell my cell phone, take some pictures of my neighborhood, and pack up.

Wednesday’s the big trip to Peterhoff, then fireworks. Then a lame-o Thursday because of the Grammar final. Friday’ll be packed, because we have a “closing ceremony” and then our cruise and then the party and I’m pretty sure I’ve written about all of that a million times so I’m just going to stop now. I’m not sure when I’ll post this, probably Thursday, by which point I should’ve written about Peterhoff, too. I suppose I could write one more and post it on Saturday during my free time. So that’s two more entries to write while here. I figure I’ll have to write some big reflections thing once I’m home and my head has cleared. I’m not sure though. I think this experience, like any truly meaningful experience, doesn’t reveal how important it was for a while, when you’ve really had time to reflect. I guess I’ll just do my best.