Brushing off the rust

Anyone who ever studies a language in school knows how much rust they accrue over summer break. Unfortunately, I have not done as much as I should have this summer to keep up with my now four semesters of Russian, despite getting off to a promising start in May. I should have read more and perhaps even kept a journal.  However, I just took my online placement exam for my classes in St. Petersburg, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I'm not as rusty as I anticipated.  Nevertheless, the exam was quite difficult and I ran out of time just barely short of the allotment on both sections.  Some of the questions I'm sure were meant to be nearly impossible, such as this example from the listening comprehension section, which I don't feel terrible about guessing on:

37. The liana’s behavior is best described as
	protection of genetic coding	CLEAR ANSWER
	elimination of natural enemies
	search for mineral nourishment
	positioning for photosynthesis

Taking the test was actually fun and reminded me of why I like studying Russian in the first place. It may also have motivated me to finish the last bit of translation work I'm doing.  For those of you who don't know, I'm working as an intern for a state senate campaign, and as it turns out there are a lot of Russians living in the district  who speak little-to-no English, so I'm translating the issues from the website.

That's all for now.  Here's to hoping everyone else on the program has forgotten as much Russian as I have come next week!

Hello

I've decided to start my blog a little bit early.  I ship off to DC in two weeks for my ACTR orientation, where I'll meet my fellow participants and learn more about the program itself. I don't know much about what my stay in St. Petersburg is going to be like, but today I at least learned that I'll be staying with Valeria Andreevna Iskanderova, a woman who lived through the siege of Leningrad! I've investigated the area around her apartment to little avail. I've found little so far besides the Volodarsky Bridge, named for a 20th century Russian revolutionary.  I'm pretty sure this is the bridge I will cross over the Neva River to get to the nearest metro station, Lomonosovskaya.  As it turns out, CMC student and former Russian classmate of mine Peter Jebsen stayed with the same host!  Small world.  I'll leave it here, since I still have little to say, but hopefully I will have some more information in the coming days!