The good thing about Kazan winters

I guess the best thing about Kazan winters is that the dog turds on the sidewalks freeze instantly and you don’t have to worry about scraping crap off your boots later. Nobody picks up after his dog and they dump right on the middle of the sidewalks. Gross buckets.

And I finally fell on my butt on the ice. We were walking so slowly and being so careful but my left foot just hit a patch of ice and down I went. My backpack cushioned the fall a bit and no damage was done, but it was just disconcerting.

Yesterday Sonia, Fouad,, Rabil and I went to the Ak Bars ice hockey game. It is the local professional team and they are good. It’s a very, very popular sport here in Russia in general. What’s great about this game was that it was really hockey, and well-played hockey at that. No gratuitous fighting, no trying to decapitate the opponents with a hockey stick, just real sport. Plus, it was a great game and we won. We found a bus from the arena that takes us right to my front door. It was wonderful not to have to walk 15 minutes from the bus stop to the apartment.

Tomorrow is landlady meter-reading day. I’ve started a 1000-piece puzzle of Amsterdam on my bedroom floor and I refuse to pick it up until I’ve finished it. So I just swept and mopped around it. I can’t wait to hear if this is something she will object to.

Tomorrow is also our little holiday play for the parents. The music teacher has written a script in English. Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer, the Snow Maiden and Father Frost will all come while we sing songs. Of course, we’ll have to change the kids into their good clothes before we go to the auditorium so the moms will think their kids don’t get dirty when they play. And Father Frost will have presents for the kids. They kids also made presents for the moms. We filled white socks with rice and decorated them to make snowmen. The kids loved it.

Then my TA goes on vacation from Friday until Tuesday so I will be on my own for those days. The kids will have to understand me whether they like it or not.  Sunday will be the school’s holiday bash at a nice restaurant. The 25th after work, I’m going to the department head’s for a traditional  Christmas dinner, and on the 26th, the boss is planning on having a party for my birthday. So I will be busy right up until I leave on the 27th and will have a lot to report later.