Welcome Back Rachel!

With Jason's first Russian class having gone well, I (Rachel) wasn't as nervous to start again yesterday (Friday). As I walked over to the university for my first class I tried hard to remember the different forms of the various words that mean 'to study or learn,' which was the last thing we had worked on last semester. I was prepared to admit that I hadn't studied as much as I should have, but confident that this class would not be very difficult.

I climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and spotted our teacher, Irina, in the hallway. She saw me and handed me the key to a room on the first floor and a then pulled out a stapled document. "Here is your exam," she said. "Read the questions and circle the correct answer. You have 40 minutes. Do you understand?" I nodded and she walked away.

I didn't bother to look at the exam, but headed straight away for the first floor. Five of my 40 minutes were wasted trying to get the door unlocked (Russian locks can be tricky). When I finally got in - thanks to some lady who happened to be walking by and took pity on the poor American who couldn't get the door open - I sat down and began my exam.

The exam consisted of 61 questions, all in Russian, all dealing with Russian grammar. "How hard could this be?" I wondered. Multiple choice tests were always my favorite in America. But then, those where always in English.... Needless to say, I found out how hard it is to answer a question you don't understand with an answer you don't understand. When Irina arrived, 40 minutes later, I had completed 28 of the 61 questions, only about 5 of which I was sure I had understood correctly.

Thankfully I wasn't graded, and Irina is a pretty gracious teacher. All in all I learned a few new words (which, I suppose, is the main goal anyway), and actually got 6 of the questions right! The rest of the exam I get to complete for next week....