David-cp1

From Russia with Lang
On Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting my Russian conversation partner. The events that surrounded our meeting where kind of humorous and I think worth retelling. I decided that Sunday mid afternoon would be a good time to get in touch with my conversation partner so we could select a meeting time that would work for both of us every week. The conversation quickly progressed to the fact that she was at the mall and was available to meet anywhere in the next three hours. I relayed this to my wife and she said "Why not??". Upon arriving at the mall I parked my scooter and called Alena (I do not have the right characters to type her name properly) to see where in the mall she was. When she didn't answer I decided that I would walk to the Starbucks and see if I noticed anybody that stuck out. Within 90 seconds of entering the mall I was reasonably sure that I had found her sitting at the Starbucks with a back pack asking somebody to write something down on a pad. Not wanting to be a creep I decided (to do what I now consider in retrospect the creepier option) to get my coffee and sit about three tables away. I then sent her a text message, which she in turn responded to with a phone call. As it turned out my creepy people watching skills had payed off and an awkward "I didn't realize that you were sitting so close" sort of conversation ensued. She thought it was pretty humorous that we were next right next to each other and didn't know it.....she didn't know it.

When we finally sat down I greeted her and introduced myself in Russian to which she was taken completely aback by and greeting me back in her native tongue. I have always enjoyed when I am able to greet somebody in their own language when they are abroad in America. It typically shocks them to hear their own language when abroad and it also gets things going on a really good friendly note. We sat there in the mall for about an hour and a half talking about a wide range of topics including our family lives, work, and hobbies. I was able to share with her what my aspirations for life, why I was taking the T.E.F.L class, and about my various trips across Europe especially the one that involved Russia. I also listened to her much of the time learning about her two kids that she left with her husband in Russia to study English here, about her college career in Moscow, and about her photography business. All in all when our conversation ended I felt like old friends and as I commonly feel when talking to foreigners, that we are not that different. We all have likes, dislikes, families, jobs, and neighbors; and the only thing that keeps us apart from sharing all these wonderful experiences with each other is language.