Добро пожаловать в Россию: Greta Goes to Russia: First Week of Classes

Let me start off by saying that the first day of classes went by smoothly. I am really excited by the prospect of improving my Russian through the three separate language classes that I must take: grammar, conversation, and phonetics. It turns out that I will also be taking a vocabulary course, which is tied in with grammar, and something called СMИ (SMI). I am not sure what the latter is, I heard it may have something to do with mass media, but it is tied in with my conversation class. In addition, I will be taking courses in 20th Century Russian Literature and Russian Mentality. Today, in class, I became really excited because I realized I did not have to translate every single word into English to be able to understand what was being said. It makes me smile. Although, I do feel as if I need to build up my food vocabulary and review verbs of motion, since, at least right now, those are the two topics most often discussed in my homestay: what would you like to eat? Where are you going? When will you be back? How did you get there? How long did it take?

I am not used to a long commute to get to school, so that is something I am going to have to get used to. The more I do it, the less of a trek it seems, and anyway, it is a way to get to know the city. Walking a lot is probably not such a bad idea in regards to how much I am being fed at my homestay. The method with which I commute between home and school varies, sometimes by a marshrutka, which is a shared cab, usually by metro, which is like being transported back to the Soviet Union, and by foot. Walking is pleasant, especially through Tvaricheskiy Gardens:

On a separate note:

Today, while sitting in the student lounge, I was reminded how much I love Yuri Norshteyn's "Hedgehog in the Fog" (Russian: Ёжик в тумане, Yozhik v tumane)(1975). I first saw it in a Russian cinema course and I just enjoyed the strangeness of it and how it made me feel at peace. It is hard to describe, but I recommend it: