Language Learning Goals

Today I filled out a Mid-Program Evaluation for the Critical Languages Scholarship program that I am participating in here in Ufa.  As part of the evaluation we were asked to list our language learning goals for the second half of the program.  I thought I would list my goals here in order to remind myself, perhaps create some accountability (that means you should ask me how I'm doing with my goals) and just to let you all know a little more about what I'm up to this summer.  So here they are: 

My Language Learning Goals for the remainder of the summer:

     1. Grammar - I will improve my Russian grammar by spending 45 minutes

         per day working through Shaum's Russian Grammar book.

     2. Writing - I will improve my Russian writing by keeping a journal in Russian.  

         I will write 5-10 sentences every day.

     3. Vocabulary - I will improve my Russian vocabulary by making 10-15 

         flashcards per day from words heard/read 

         throughout the day. Review 25-50 flashcards twice a day (or more).

     4. Comprehension - I will improve my Russian comprehension by 

         listening/watching at least 15 minutes of Russian audio/video (radio, 

         TV, movie, news) per day.

     5. Reading - I will improve my Russian reading by reading for 15 minutes 

         per day from a Russian book, website, newspaper, etc.

So those are my goals for the summer.  What are yours?

Home sweet home..

So today I thought I'd post a picture blog of my apartment.  I'm feel pretty spoiled here in Ufa.  I live with a great family (pictures of them coming soon) and I live in a pretty incredible apartment.  A bonus on top of my family and the apartment is that I live close enough to everything I need to just walk everywhere.  Enjoy the photos.

This is the kitchen/dining room/living room area.  The kitchen is directly across from the couch.

There are many chandeliers, pretty much one per room, 

except for maybe the bathroom.

  

And here is the bathroom.  

This towel rack is pretty cool.  

Hot water runs through it, so the 

towels are warm when you take 

them off the rack.  Genius! 

Why don't we have this set-up back home?!

I had a couple of requests to see the medication that I needed for my bout with pink eye, so here are the boxes that the drops and ointment came in along with the original prescription.

My copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in Russian!

And my bedroom.  Nice huh?!

Complete with the sweet old movie border.
Notice the near mirror reflectivness of the ceiling.

And some more classics..

And finally my own personal chandelier.

Plans Change... often.

The Aksakova Museum

Everywhere you go plans change, but in Russia, they change approximately every 30 seconds.  Or so it seems anyway.  This evening (Wednesday) we were supposed to go to Музей им. Аксакова (The Aksakova Museum) to see an art exhibition and to meet with some local poets.  I actually just had to look at my planner to see what the original plan was because there have been so many revisions that I couldn't remember what had initially been planned.


At some point yesterday afternoon, the excursion was cancelled.  An hour or so later, the excursion for Thursday evening was moved to Wednesday evening.  Not too long after than there were additions to the plan.  Later... the time was changed.  And so on.  Just about a half an hour ago as I was about to head out to catch the трамвай (the streetcar- which conveniently runs in front of my building just like in Portland!) when I got a text saying that the event had been cancelled.  So after all of that, no excursion.

In the two and a half weeks that I have been here I have pretty much come to expect that very few things will go according to plans.  With all of the changes, one nice thing is that everyone here expects it.  No one melts down or gets angry, they just roll with it.  Any of you who have known me very long, know that my motto while traveling is: expect the unexpected. This mindset is definitely helpful in the midst of unfamiliarity and changes and everything else that is thrown my way.  I have been very thankful that my fellow students are all pretty laid back and able to roll with the punches as well.  We just kind of laugh and ask what the new plan is knowing full well that it probably won't be the final plan.

Look we were on the news!!

Hello all!

Well, I’m getting a late start on the whole blogging thing, but as ever, better late than never right?  We are two weeks into the program already!  Hard to believe.  The time has been flying.

For all of you who didn't see this video on Facebook, I'll post it here.  During our first week of class our program director ran into our Russian Lexicology class and basically said, "there are cameras coming act natural."  This statement seems to always have the opposite of the intended effect.  And it is pretty hard to act completely natural when there is a video camera about six inches from you face while you are trying to read a text full of new vocabulary out loud.  

If you watch carefully you will see me once in the classroom and once out in front of the university.  The day after this aired I had a lady tell me that she had seen the news program about our group.  This is the second year that CLS has been in Ufa and it is a economic boost for the city.  Hence the interest of the general public and the news-worthiness.

The Cross-town Chronicles

Given that I'm not able to take two months off of work to travel the world this summer I am embarking on a different sort of endeavor. Some adventure loving friends and I are embarking on a journey that we have dubbed "The Cross-town Chronicles". Ever seeking a story to tell, we will set out to see Portland through the lens of the TriMet transit system (http://trimet.org/). Armed only with a bus pass, a video camera & a desire to further our knowledge of this great city (and have a lot of fun along the way) we will eventually ride every mile of each and every bus, train & trolley line that serve the Portland-metro area.

Why you ask? This is a question I am well acquainted with. It is a frequent response to my (random) ideas. My constant answer (and perhaps even my motto) is "Why not?!" Beyond that though, I can tell you a bit about how the idea came life.

I am a proud mass-transit commuter. I don't own a car and am lucky to live in a city that makes not owning a car a viable option. As I find myself on bus lines that I haven't ridden before I often see parts of town that I am less familiar with and find all sort new restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores and random other places that I would not ever have found otherwise. This in mind I decided that I should on occasion take different routes to some of my regular haunts just to see what I could see. The more I did this, the more great things I discovered. This then morphed into a challenge (as many things do for me, I am always seeking the next great challenge). Why not see everything? Ride all of the bus lines, MAX lines (Portland's light rail train) and trolley lines.

That was all it took. I was off and running with the idea. Luckily I have some friends who are at least close to as crazy and random as I am. They jumped at the idea to join me in this undertaking. As we have been playing around with a bit of film making (or at least the concept thereof, we haven't actually filmed anything yet) we decided that this project needs to be documented. So I will be keeping up the blog here with the latest and hopefully, eventually, there will be some videos posted here as well.

It's hard to say what this will all look like in the end, but I'm excited at the prospect of a project to be working on. So if any of you are in town and are up for a bit of an adventure come join us. You don't have to commit to the whole project, just come check it out if you like. I'll be posting our plans (the logistics of where we're meeting, when, etc.) as we make them. Otherwise keep checking back for new installments of "The Cross-town Chronicles".

Return from hiatus

Here I find myself again six months after my last post. I had grand ambitions for this little blogspot, even post-travels. But alas the hands of the clock and even the pages of the calendar seem to change more quickly than I can keep track of. I have of late been encouraged to start writing again (yes, I mean you Grandpa & Krys). So after a long break I am going to give it a shot once again. Look for further posts coming soon...

Home again...

Well, hello all. Yes, I'm quite aware of how long it has taken me to get this post trip post up. A lot has happened since I last wrote. Elizabeth and I are in fact home, in our respective cities. Settling back into work and both of us into new housing situations. I am settling into a new job as well which has kept me quite busy.

Our trip home was good, fairly uneventful. A direct flight from Beijing to L.A. We got on the plane and all of a sudden we were home, or so it seemed. We arrived in L.A. 11 hours before we left Beijing. Craziness.

As I am typing here I am uploading pictures from the trip and I will leave the link here for any of you who are interested in checking them out.

I will continue to post on the blog on occasion as things of note come up in my life. Seems like a good way to keep in touch with folks I don't get to talk to all that often. I definitely won't be posting as often as I was this summer (my real life isn't nearly as exciting as my travels were), but as there are changes or random other noteworthy events going on I will try to keep you all posted.

And here is the link to the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/kdfrance/TransSiberianTrip