I have homework from here to there. Sometimes, I wish class would go faster, because my summer class at UCLA covered so much material already, that I am a bit bored that during individual lessons we are covering genders and possessive pronouns. So to counteract the doldrums, I try to be supportive of the other students. I also give my best effort into learning new vocab and composing complex sentences with the words (“slova”). My sister went over them today, correcting the grammar. I feel like I have learned a lot, but I still need this year to hone into the correct usage of the cases. So, I guess everyone during this exchange process will learn something new. I know, and I hope I will learn much.

After school, my sister and I took the trolleybus home. There, I had a hard time reaching for my wallet, so I asked my sister if she could cover the fare, until I sat down. The attendant overheard us, so she approached me and asked, “Excuse me, but are you from America?”. I was taken back a bit because her English was accent less for a woman of around 50 years, but more so, because most Russians weren’t as direct as she was. I answered affirmatively, and then she introduced herself as Galentina. She proceeded to tell me how she studied in an American institute to learn English. I really enjoyed listening to here, even though we only spoke for 10 mins. She inspires me to keep studying languages, so perhaps one day I will speak Russian/French as well as she spoke English.

At home, I helped with chores, like watering the plants and clothes. It’s a good thing, because I often find myself with too much free time. I shouldn’t go on the computer much, because I want to be immersed into more Russian than English. For the first time, I went to my sister’s room to look over homework, so I supposed I should do that more often. Some of the AFS students went to McDonalds after school, but I didn’t feel like going because my sister and I needed to look after our youngest sibling.