A Challenge for You

Hello, all!

Today in class, we talked about how to deal with controversial topics that will inevitably come up whilst we're teaching social studies. It was really interesting and valuable information. Sometimes I'm in a good mood for debate, but others I'm just feel to exhausted to argue or I feel like it's futile. Today was a mix of both, so I kept silent for most of the discussion, only adding a comment when it was fully formed. I like debates like that because you always seem like you're the smartest, haha.

After lunch, we were free all day. I have been feeling pretty tired the past week, so I stayed in and finished my current book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was a pretty good read, but I prefer the original version. It also convinced me to start reading the lesser known Jane Austen novels.

At about 5:30, Julie and I went to look for the post office, but didn't find it. We did find a supermarket, however, so we got fixin's to make stir-fry and fried rice. It was delicious!

After dinner, we played some cards with Andre. He taught us a new game that involved holding a matchstick in between your teeth. It was fun! We also played Fool, of course.

Sadly, I haven't heard back from Mikhail since his first response, and our time is winding down here in St. Petersburg (2 days only!), so I'm afraid we won't get to see him again.

We met a young girl, Guli (Yoo-lee), staying in our hostel. She was so excited to know we were from America, and she wants to study English there. She said that she doesn't like Russia, because everyone here is so grumpy and everyone in America is so polite and friendly. That's a pretty big opinion to live up to, but I think you guys are up to the challenge. :)