Thanksgiving

No turkey for me on Thanksgiving, but all in all a good day. First, I met one of my students, Natasha, for lunch. Natasha is a very strong English speaker and took 3rd place in the English Olympiad for all of Siberia last year. We had sushi and hot chocolate with ice cream and she gave me a crash course in Russian football (soccer)! After, I met up with Dimitry at a cafe called Chocolandia. It looked about as delicious as it sounds, but I was still full from lunch so I didn't try anything and I can't wait to go back. Next, I had my regular Thursday evening class - with one of my favorite and most entertaining groups. I brought treats and we played bingo, courtesy of Liz, an ETA in Tolyatti. I was going to meet Grunya for a movie at a film festival, but unfortunately my class overlapped, so instead I went home and relaxed before Skyping my family around 2am! I am really happy I got to talk to my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, but I realllly missed turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie of course.

Friday I taught another Thanksgiving lesson and my evening lessons were canceled, so instead I spent most of the day relaxing and scouring Black Friday deals and Christmas shopping!

In addition to teaching a few Thanksgiving lessons, I did sort of celebrate yesterday. I went to a meeting at the American Corner. Only about 6 people came to the meeting and I talked a little about the history of Thanksgiving and about traditions in my family. One patron even brought APPLE PIE! Wooo! Next up on my agenda is getting really involved with the American Corner and I will be working with the coordinator, Katya, to arrange a calendar of events!