From Russia With Love

If you ever want to empathize with illiterate adults or learning disabled children, move to Russia. This is how everything looks to me:

Заканчивая тему исследования «Здоровый образ жизни», студенты 4 класса «Зайцево» приняли активное участие в Дне здоровья. Утро началось с витаминного завтрака. Дети в фартуках и колпаках готовили овощи и фрукты к витаминному столу. «Мы готовили завтрак и дарили его другим классам». (Саша Парфёнова) «Мы рассказывали малышам, какими витаминами богаты овощи и фрукты». (Полина Комиссарова) «Мне больше всего понравилось сервировать стол». (Стас Цикалюк) Витаминов получилось очень много, хватило не только на завтрак, но и на обед.

And I have absolutely no idea what that says. I copied and pasted. It takes a really long time to do anything (i.e. buying the right size shoe) and to figure anything out (i.e. how long and at what temperature to cook something in the oven). The language barrier may perhaps be the single most frustrating thing about being here. You learn a lot about nonverbal communication and body language, though. And you learn how to be creative in using hand motions. Ordering food is always interesting, too. There's a lot of pointing involved. And most times I just eat something and hope that it tastes ok. Like yesterday at snacktime with the kindergarteners, they served us pasta with this white sort of sauce on it. So of course I'm expecting a pasta type of meal. Oh it was sweet. Like there was sugar in it. I couldn't finish it because it was buttery, sugary noodles. Oh and they put sweet condensed milk on cakes and pancakes and things as a topping...