First day of classes

Today was my first day of classes.  I am in a group with six other students.  We will be studying together for the duration of the program.  Our group name is "Tomsk".  Today we had grammar, phonetics, and conversation classes.  After lunch, a local political scientist gave a lecture on democracy in Russia and its particularities.  In particular, he explained the deficiencies of the democratic system and how it differs from the concept of liberalism (at least, that is what I understood!).  Now I am sitting in the "Cultural Center" of TGU and taking advantage of the free WI-FI.  Unfortunately, there is absolutely no adapter for American plugs in Tomsk, and thus I am limited to using my laptop's battery.  One of the members of the group has an adapter, and I have been borrowing it on occasion.   

My grandmother recently sent me a number of questions.  I will answer them here:

Was the church decorated with birch greens today for Troitsa? 

Yes.  There were plants everywhere in the church.  Before the service started, an old lady walked around dropping big bunches of leaves on the floor.  I tried to not get in the way (unsuccessfully, of course:)).

Can you swim in the Tom?

I recently asked my host family this question.  In theory, it is possible.  However, it is not very clean.  My family is planning to take me to a lake this weekend, where it is possible to swim.

How many other group members are with you in Tomsk? 

In total, there are 20 students in Tomsk with the program.  After an initial test yesterday, we were divided into three groups : "Russia", "Siberia", and "Tomsk" based on the test scores.  They did not tell us which groups corresponed to which level, but I think I am in the middle group.  In my opinion, this is the best place to be in most situations in life.  

What excatly are you taking at the university? 

I am studying Russian language at TGU.  We have approximately 3.5 hours of class everyday morning, followed by some sort of cultural outing in the afternoon.  For instance, yesterday after our tests we had an excursion around the city.  It was somewhat strange.  First, we visited a museum dedicated to wooden houses.  Our tour guide told us that the circular etchings in the wood represented the sun, and a symbol, which appeared to me to be a stick figure, actually represented mother-earth.  Then we headed off to the local Lutheran church of Tomsk.  Upon finding it closed, we stopped by the Russian-German cultural center.  Our third stop was the local Catholic church.  All along the way our tour guide pointed out the places where the German chancellor Angela Merkel visited during a recent summit in Tomsk.  I think he is used to tour groups from Germany.  In any event, the excursion provided much unintended humor, which I thoroughly  enjoyed.  But I digress...

Can you understand the family's Russian, or is there an accent problem?

I can, for the most part, understand my Russian family.  Unlike spoken Arabic, or English for that matter, Russian is an extraordinarily standardized language.  Of course regional variations exist, but not to the extent of many other languages.  I am given to understand this is a legacy of the Soviet Union. 

What is the bathroom like?

My bathroom is just fine.  It flushes and is relatively clean.  What more could one ask for?

As I end this message, a group of students are screetching "Mnogaya leta" in the neighboring hallway.  I guess it is someone's birthday.  

Hope all is well on the other side of the pond!