my dog ate my homework

it's sunday night and i haven't touched my homework for my russian class. although, my teacher should forgive me since i spent all weekend immersed in various activities which russian friends. ok, i did have friday night off but was busy with cleaning, cooking and running errands.

saturday afternoon - i met up with p and m to play billards. the place we went to was a seaside pool hall. it was much nicer than most of the haunts i remember playing during my youth. p and i played the western variety of 8 ball, while his wife m chatted with us. there's a russian variety of billards also involving large white balls with smaller pockets, it didn't look like 'snooker', but i'll have to research it and see how it's played. p said he didn't like to play it, so i didn't press further. after several matches with an aggressive tie-breaker, we finished playing and headed out to get something to eat. first stop was pizza land, but unfortunately it was closed so we went to our 2nd choice, pizza m. i have no idea where the 'm' in pizza m comes into play. my friends told me it's not as good as pizza land, but it hit the spot all the same.

p complimented me during the night on my improved russian, which shocked me since i know i'm still in the infant stages of learning. i accepted the positive remarks gracefully. i've been making some break throughs in using the verb cases correctly when talking about myself, someone else or if it's happening now, in the past, or in the future. after 5 months i guess i'm not doing to bad. i have a goal of where i'd like to be with speaking and reading after a year.

sunday afternoon - i joined g for a dance concert. she had been away for 3 weeks so i was looking forward to seeing her holiday photos from her trip to china. we met up early, purchased our tickets and then found a spot to chat and talk about her trip. her stops included shanghai, beijing and some smaller cities. included in the photos were pics of her sister and her family living in china. it was interesting to talk to someone from vladivostok that enjoyed exploring other countries. with vladivostok being so close to the border with china, i've run into many russians that take advantage of the short distance for a holiday. g was glad to be back though, as we all are at the end of a vacation, but she said it was good to see family and explore china for the first time.

the concert was getting ready to start so we made our way to our seats. the hall had every seat filled from what i could see. g told me the dance troupe traveled to other countries often. the dancers ranged in ages from very young to what i believe where young men and women in late teens. i found 2 hours flew by as i watched the diverse range of dancing being performed. while the dancing included local russian music it also borrowed from other popular music include american jazz, pop and rock. the troupe did a fantastic job and i could see they're enjoyment in all their performances. the audience recipicated their appreciation with applause that always trailed off into a steady unified clapping as the next dance act made their appearance. i was definitely impressed by the level of experience all the members of the group seemed to bring to the stage.

so another nice weekend, but now it's time to get back to my homework.

Comments

[Marilyn S.]

Hey Dan, I like your little car. Guess who, lol