In Which Lunch is Eaten, Russian-Style

I feel a hell of a lot better, today. My roommate NOT snoring last night might've helped that. Still a little out of sorts -- The pressure in my head is off. But other than that I'm feeling fine.

Classes went halfway fine today. I suppose. I realised that I am taking way too much on, though -- 18 credit hours. I need to either drop my Central Asia course, or take my Human Rights class for audit. I'd rather drop my Central Asia course, because I would still need to do PART of the work for Human Rights, and I'd rather put my all into it. I sent an e-mail to my professor last night... Apparently it was entirely illegible because the email converted the cyrillic to a bunch of ?'s. But, my professor sent a reply in ENGLISH, meaning he speaks ENGLISH, which is GOOD. In many ways. One, I can ask him questions in English. Two, he's been speaking entirely in Russian, probably because he understands I need to learn the RUSSIAN LANGUAGE. This is good.

I had lunch with Pavel and a couple of his friends, today. I'm glad that even Russians think he's fucking crazy. And eating with Russians was neat. So, apparently, Russians like to say "Приятного аппетита" (priyatnogo appetita; bon appetite, basically) whenever someone around them is having a full meal. So as people kept stopping by the table, even if they were just talking to someone else, they said this to me, and I got thoroughly confused. Pavel later explained this custom to me. Bizarre. I've also noticed that Russian guys always shake hands when greeting eachother, even in passing. ALWAYS THE SHAKING OF THE HANDS.

I went to the Philological Faculty bookstore today to buy a textbook -- Системая история международных отношений (Systematic history of international relations) and it was exciting because it only cost 370 rubles, which would be about 14.50 dollars, for a book that would cost AT LEAST 50 dollars in the U.S. if not more.

I also keep eating a lot of German chocolate. And I need to stop. Because it's semi-expensive and making me sick. But it's so good... so... good.

I don't have classes tomorrow, so I get to screw around and just rest and recover, tonight. And do work. Of course.

I'm really excited for moving in to my homestay. Forming stronger ties with Russian acquaintences (Pavel, Asya, other random people I've met) and the possibility of absorbing some Russian culture is making me much happier.

Слово Дня - так или иначе (tak ili inachye) - Whatever.

Yeah, so it's a phrase, but it's a phrase I need to memorise because I use it so damned often. I also learned "nevermind," today, which is "не важно" (ne vazhno; literally - not important).