The end of the English

Well, today's the last day of orientation.  So far, we've done all the health and safety tips and took a bus tour.  That was kinda fun - roaming the city on a tour bus with the excursion coordinator narrating (she's also a professional tour guide in St. Petersburg and her English is excellent).  Then it was back to the hotel to dine and get Russian cellphones.


Two things about that cellphone.


First, they were telling us horror stories during orientation to drill it into our heads that there are professional pickpockets here in Russia.  So they told us about a student getting robbed on the metro.  Funny thing was, the pickpocket returned to give the girl her phone back.  These things are cheap plastic, and not even the pickpockets want them.


Hell if some upshot pickpocket's stealing my iPhone.


The second thing was that to buy this cheap piece of plastic I needed roubles.  So I put my American bills into the money exchange thing and got a hell of a lot of money back.  According to the machine, the exchange rate is now 34.75 roubles to the dollar.  Problem was, the machine gave me a 5000 rouble note.  Turns out the cellphone guys don't give out change, so I had to scramble to find a way to break it.  One of the guys helping out with the program - Sasha - acted as my interpreter to ask first a security guard, then a bank teller, if there was a way for me to break my 5000 rouble note.  To which, the answer was no.  We were in the Russian equivalent of Walmart (Lenta), so Sasha took me through and I grabbed a candy bar.


In retrospect, I should've grabbed something Russian.  Instead I grabbed an American candy bar.  Way to go, Caitie.


It broke the note and I got my little plastic phone.  Hopefully I won't have to reload money on it for a long while, if ever.


Today orientation finishes.  And then I meet my host mother.  Dun dun dun.  I'm supposed to be with a woman and her husband and a cat.  I highly doubt they know any English.  Tomorrow, I take my language placement exam.  And then Tuesday, classes begin.  Completely in Russian.


Here goes nothing.