From Russia With Love

Yesterday I did something that I did not imagine I'd ever do (ok so I had never really thought about it). I went to a Honey Festival in Moscow! Ha I don't even really eat much honey but they have all these booths set up and you just walk around and taste all the different kinds of honey from honey farmers (is there a name for them?) from all around Russia.

After the festival, a couple of us went to the park which looked like something out of a Jane Austin novel (Miller, of course I thought of you and I even said "this looks like Pemberley," even though I've never watched or read P&P but I was just guessing. You would have been proud.). It was full of people and we walked by the fountain and through the ruins of a palace there. We sat under a tree and ate some snacks and watched Russian girls posing for pictures. When they pose they pose like they are models in a magazine but it's for real and not as a joke like we would do it. And of course when they weren't looking I took pictures of them posing.

Tomorrow is our first day of school! I'm a little nervous but I'm really excited to meet my students. Did I already say that I am also teaching 7th Grade Language Arts? Well I am. And I'm really excited about that, too. Obviously they will be very different but good experiences in both grades.

There's this other American teacher named Adam that is helping me with all of the 7th grade stuff (he teaches 8th and 9th I think) and I asked him what I should have the students call me. He told me how the students call Russian teachers their proper first name and then their patronymic. Which is their dad's first name but then they make it all Russian (I mean, I guess their dads' names are already Russian but we had to figure mine out). They could just call me Ms. Dumey but if I wanted to do it the Russian way my name would be Leah Davidovna. Cool, huh?

Well I've got to go finish up some lesson planning stuff. Think of me tomorrow on my first day!