So all week I’ve been thinking of good things to write about on my blog, but now that I’ve stopped being too lazy to write I can’t remember what they were! I guess the most exciting news is that the Siberian winter has arrived! It appropriately showed its true colors on the first day of December when the temperature dropped down to -20 celsius. The rest of the week it remained below 15 until it warmed up again this weekend. Walking around outside in -27 celsius was quite an adventure. I’ve never experienced such biting cold on my face before. I swear I felt my snot freeze in my nose! Weird… But the last few days have been right around freezing with light fluffy snow, which is quite pretty.
On Saturday I went ice-skating with a few of my students. We went to the central outdoor skating rink which is Enourmous and packed full of people. It’s been quite a while since I skated, but I got the hang of it quite quickly and soon enough I was busting out the backwards skate. I must say that ice skating in Russia is a bit more treacherous for the lack of zambonie-peticured ice and crazy teenagers attempting to jump over stacks of old car tires!
Last weekend I witnessed a strange thing on the metro… My friend and I were riding along, minding our business, when two guys got on the train and started tossing a tennis ball back and forth. Then one of them motioned to me, and I, not being one to shy away from a good game of catch the tennis ball, joined in their little game. Then they got another guy involved, and then this middle-aged lady, and pretty soon there were about 7 people on the train playing catch and laughing. The guys got off at the next stop and we rode on…
So I’m sure there were other things I wanted to write about but I don’t remember… typical…
December 9, 2008 at 4:49 pm |
You could say the weather in Siberia is polar, as opposed to Oklahoma, where it is bi-polar. ;>) Yesterday it was 72 degrees. Today snow flurries are forecast.
December 10, 2008 at 6:50 am |
I also tried out a Russian skating rink, and yes they could really use some zambonies. And yes, Russians skate like they drive, completely recklessly. They skate in every direction, try out fancy tricks, stops, and falls, right in front of you. I was lucky I never fell.