Anyone who knows me knows that I like to be as absurdly prepared as possible, and I start panicking when I can't be as prepared as I think I should be. I buy my textbooks and start working out what kinds of supplies I'll need (and in what colors!) for the fall semester in July, as soon as the textbook info is available on the bookstore's website. So, of course you are all aware that I was seriously stewing over the fact that I wouldn't have my schedule until I actually got here. The page of the Stetson Abroad application where I was supposed to fill in the classes I would be taking is, in fact, most likely still blank, sitting in my file at school, because I had no way of knowing what those were until I arrived.
Well, I have the schedule now, and today after class Corinne and I walked from the foreign philology faculty (the department for foreign students learning Russian) to the филологический факултет (the department for Russian students learning foreign languages) to purchase the last of our textbooks, because the philology bookstore is housed there for what I'm sure are perfectly sensible reasons. Apparently, we can't keep the copies of one of the books we're using that Valentina Semyonovna borrowed from the library for us, and we need our own, because there is an audio CD involved. We found one copy of it at Dom Knigi yesterday, but thought we would be allowed to just use the library copies we'd been given because the second book that we needed is entirely listening exercises (thus we didn't realize the first one also had an audio component). I'm also pretty sure that she actually wrote all 3 of the books that we're using, unless I misheard her surname and/or she happens to have the same initials of her first name and patronymic as the textbook author. One book is called Слово, "word," and has writing exercises; another is called Слушать и слышать, "listen and hear," and has listening exercises; and the third has a long and complicated title but it's basically grammar.
Now I have all the books I need, in any case, so my primal need to have everything in order has been temporarily satisfied. That, plus having my visa paperwork in processing, means I have no further obligations other than homework and little domestic necessities (laundry, grocery shopping, etc). The fact that the culture class can only be reliably scheduled about a week in advance is something I'll just have to deal with; it's a young program in the first place (the SRAS as an organization isn't very old itself, maybe 10 years), and this year they're changing up the format, because apparently it is my destiny in life to be among the first batch of students in every new, experimental, or transitional stage of a program, ever. Maybe I should look for grad schools that have just revamped or are due to revamp their psychology doctorate programs. I'll be accepted on principle.
At least the coffee machine was working this morning; Corinne and I met up with Brenda in line for a cheap, tiny shot of caffeine, and then we progressed upstairs to class. Corinne finally got her mochaccino; the first time we encountered the coffee machine, she tried to get one, but for some reason the machine wouldn't accept 5-ruble coins and that was all she had (it cost 25p; she put in 20p in tens). I got another amaretto cappuccino, because them things is delicious. And later, during the break, I took my apple out of my bag to see that it had survived the trip this time! So, you know, bi-winning. There is a cafe on the third floor of the faculty; Corinne and I (and probably Brenda too) are going to go check it out tomorrow, because immediately after our language class, the culture class is meeting for an introduction/overview of the course and Russian culture. I have no idea how long that's going to go, or when I'll be able to eat next, and I don't presently have any food in the apartment that I can bring with me easily, other than my apples. And a few of those have started to go all weird, probably because they're being kept on a windowsill.
I need to do laundry but I don't know when I'm going to have time. We have a little washing machine in the kitchen, but no dryer, so I need to factor in the time it will take for my clothes to dry on the rack whenever I decide to wash them. Maybe I'll start that process Friday night and see where they are by Saturday afternoon, when we have another culture-class excursion (we're going to this lady's apartment to make cottage-cheese pancakes, which are really good according to Corinne--I wouldn't know).
In other news, it snowed today! The effect of the sun peeking through the clouds as the tiny flurries blew past us was really pretty; the snowflakes caught the light and sparkled like so much frigid glitter. The sun was in our faces for the last block or so of the walk to our university building, and the yellow light plus the flicker of snowflakes plus my fogged glasses gave the street a look reminiscent of a silent film. Everything was beige and brownish-looking, and there was the constant twinkling of the snowflakes catching the light of the sun. The image was almost enough to make the bitter cold less miserable. I'm sure I'll adjust soon enough, but in the meantime, I'll just have to suffer. On the plus side, come October when the temperature drops into the 50s for a few days, I'll be utterly unfazed and walk around in shorts and T-shirts, laughing at the Florida girls in their Uggs and useless sweaters complaining that omg it's like sooo cold!
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