If I weren't who's to say

So...I've been a bit busy with work lately. As a result, there's not much going on in my life except my continuing nail polish acquisitions and experiements. I should use the drying-time to update my blog, but I'm not exaggerating when I say there's nothing to write about.

So far this year we've had some new teachers and some new students. So, nothing new. One of the teachers was telling me that she thinks TEFL attracts weirdos. At first I was wondering what gave her that idea, but then I remembered this from earlier that day:
D: You should be careful with that.
B: It's okay, I'm pretty sure I'm going to die young.
C: Yeah, I'm definitely going to get some kind of cancer.
[they go on like this]
A: I'm not planning on getting any type of cancer, but if I do I'm on the first plane to Japan.
B: What?
A: Well, there's this fish and if you eat it and they prepared it wrong you can die. So right now I'm not going to eat it because it's dangerous. But if they told me I had cancer I'd be all, "oh hellz yeah! I'm going to get me some fugu."
D: What is WRONG with you people?!

So I think the real question is not "what gave her that idea?" but "why tell me?"


And then there's the fact that two of my students this year really, really dislike each other. If they were in the same class, this would be a nightmare, but they are not, so it is pretty funny.

Even funnier is the fact that they're both planning the same vacation. Not as in, they're both going to the same country. As in, they're both planning almost the exact same elaborate road trip. My project is to try and get them to go together. They'd spend half the money on fuel, reduce their carbon footprints (you know how important this is to Russians*), increase potential time spent driving, and it is a lot safer than going alone. Also, they'd come back and either they'd get along better, and I'd have done a good deed or it'd be all Rashomon-like with each one telling a completely different story and I'd be entertained.


And Putin came to visit our town on Friday. I didn't see him, though.


* I am being sarcastic, but I forgot that a lot of the people reading this wouldn't know that.

This blog is not off to the best start. I am super busy right now, and I might be going away for the weekend. In the meantime, here is a comic.

It kind of makes me want to read Anne Bronte. Not that I have time for that. But, you know, if I did.

Welcome!

Hi everybody! Welcome to my new personal blog, the blog of miscellany. This is where I write about whatever strikes my fancy. But first, let me explain...

Why did you change blogs?
My Blog About Russia was less about Russia and more about whatever happened to be on my mind at the time of writing. Before long, it stopped being related to Russia entirely. I feel that this blog's title is far more appropriate.

So what happened to the old blog?
The old posts are still up on the old blog, but, from now on, my blog about Russia will actually be a blog about Russia. It will be the place for photos, travels, observations, and information about history, language, and culture.

Where will the horrifying student conversations go?
Good question! I think they will go here because, after all, language mistakes are not unique to Russia.
I haven't worked everything out but, when in doubt, I will post here, as it is the main blog.

When are you going to write about Egypt/Costa Rica/Siberia?
I still have a lot of photos and things to write about these places, but I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to travel entries. This means that I end up waiting until looooooong after they are out of date, and then I don't bother because they're no longer relevant.
My solution to this was to create five regional blogs and update those on my own time.

Do you really expect me to check six blogs?
No. As I said, the travel blogs won't be updated as often. Check this blog. Check my sidebar for updates to the other blogs in the network.

So what are these five regional blogs? And have you really travelled to all those places?
My Blog About Russia - Of course I could write an entire blog about Moscow, which is where I live. But I have a number of other Russian cities to write about, as well.
My Blog About Eurasia (except Russia) - This covers travels in Europe and Asia outside of Russia. For me that means a number of countries in Europe, and China. I started with Turkey because that is the site of a Europe-Asia border, and the source of the banner photo.
My Blog About (the) America(s) - This blog will mostly be about visits to my home country, the USA, but it also covers any of my travel to South and Central America (which, to date, means Costa Rica).
My Blog About Africa and the Middle East - To date, this just means Egypt.
My Blog About Australasia (and maybe Antarctica) - Kind of a tough region for me to get to. This is a placeholder for now, but I'm an optimist.

Interesting! When can I expect updates?
Officially, this blog doesn't exist yet (shh!). Expect regular updating to start in August.