Fun with the Assistants

We have all continued to hang out and enjoy each other a lot. Usually during the day we don’t see other too much, but try to go to lunch together at the school’s cafeteria; we eat in the professors’ section of the cafeteria, and it’s a bit more comfortable to go with another assistant! We haven’t all gone out together yet, but have enjoyed just staying at our place at night, hanging out, talking, drinking, etc. The Russian’s first night did end up being pretty fun; we didn’t know him too well at that point since he had just arrived, but he walked into the kitchen after dinner and put a bottle of vodka on the table. Then he proceeded to cut up a huge bowl of pickles and bread, and also made a big glass of pickle juice. Then he said he would teach us how to drink vodka properly … basically just take a shot and then follow it with a cup of pickle juice or a pickle, to mask the flavor. We ended up each doing 4 or 5 shots, with each person toasting to one of them. Quality bonding, for sure J
I also found out that the Chilean assistant plays soccer and both of us brought cleats & stuff, so hopefully we can play sometime!The other night the school hosted a small champagne reception to welcome us, introduce us to the language staff, etc. It was really nice AND allowed us a chance to talk to the principal about a few concerns we have with our housing; they were really receptive to our little list of requests and said they would look into them. This includes: potentially buying us a washer & dryer (!!), fixing the stove so that we have more than the microwave for cooking, maybe turning on some heat, and trying to figure out how we can get internet here. So we’ll see what may come of that … J After the reception we went to a Breton creperie and then to a bar downtown.