Russian Dudez

Here is a good picture that was taken in the dorm yesterday. I thought I'd describe some of the Russian friends I've made while being here.




(Far Left) это я, меня зовут кевин.

(Second from Left) My roommate Anatolli. He's been a really good roommate so far, when I was sick for a few days he gave me tea and jam to help me get better. He works nights 3-4 times a week to pay for school, so I really appreciated the sacrifice necessary in his generosity. Russian culture is much more generous than our own, and also much more willing to endure suffering.

Funny story about learning English as well: John B's roommate is trying to learn English but he tried to figure out the word "roommate" by translating "room" and "mate" seperately. I think he was freaked out for a day or two.

(Third from Left) Constantine! This guy is excellent at explaining things non-verbally. We called him "Charade's guy" for almost the entire first month until we figured out his name. He's explained the process for diluting household chemicals for cleaning, taught us multi-step, multi-ingredient recipes, and explained a story about eating chocolate in the forest for military training with no words at all. He's good.

(Far Right) Evgeny. This guy wins the award for most improved English. At first if one of us international students would come into the kitchen he would immediately become self-concious and leave. Now he often tests his English skills on us and translates simple phrases for some of his friends who speak zero English. One day he asked Brennon what "duke" meant and we attempted to explain the entirety of British Monarchy. After we were almost finished and it appeared we weren't communicating clearly he made things simpler by saying, "like Duke Nukem?" Everything then made sense.

Here are also some people going to the Opera:

Slightly less Russian.