Oh, Canada 🇨🇦

So, Sonia and I went out yesterday, late in the afternoon. We went to the office supply store and got a few things for school. Then we ran into Dmitri and talked to him for awhile before we met Anna and Ravil for pizza. We went to a place we like callled “Under the Roof”. As the name implies, it’s on the top floor of a building and has a spectacular view of the pedestrian zone. We had lots of fun. Anna showed of pictures of places she’s been to that Sonia and I want to visit. One of them is REALLY way out there. I can imagine it would be the equivalent of a Russian visiting the US and thinking that everything looks like New York City and then going to Bismarck, North Dakota. These places may give us some culture shock. Today was a big news day in school. One student dropped out of my class so we took the next child on the waiting list. He’s an English-speaking Canadian!!! How great is that! Now my Russian-speakers will be forced to use their English when they talk to him. His dad is a hockey player on our local professional team. He has been a pro for 8 years and played all over the NHL. Now I can’t wait to go to a hockey game again! We started our dinosaur unit today. I’ve got one kid who knows the name of every dinosaur. I’m glad he does. That means I don’t have to look them all up. It was chilly today when we went outside and some of the kids didn’t have hats. How unusual for Russian parents not to have enough layers for their kids. I got home and cooked supper and then remembered that I had wanted to go to the post office. It was about 5:15 and I thought it might close at 6 so I hopped on my bike and took off. When I looked at the sign on the door, it said the post office was open until 8. I don’t think we get those kind of opening hours in the States! In any case, the place was packed but I only had to wait 14 minutes to get called up to the window. My Russian was very, very good and the lady understood exactly what I wanted. I even knew how to tell her that I did not want certified mail. Tomorrow will be the first bike lesson. Parents have already brought bikes in and parked them at our new bike racks. I hope this will go well and everyone will have a lot of fun. So now I’m going to correct a colleague’s English speech for her and then get my dishes done.