Experiencing the new

Again I am at the university writing from the computer lab. The past couple of days have been overwhelming, but it is also nice that everything is becoming just that bit more familiar wherever I go. I am still pretty homesick but soaking everything in as best I can.

School is going well, although confusing. the alphabet is completely different...and structure of the language is strange as well. They associate gender with every object (like french)...only they have he, she and it. Also, an adjective is pronounced differently with every noun it corresponds to depending on the gender and number of the noun...confusing!

The university is also a place for good times though. Two days ago the group was in for an aerobics workout, yesterday we crafted our very own Ukrainian wax dropped eggs (pictures later!), and today we are going to a concert (of which sort I am not sure)! We also are lucky enough to have field trips every so often...and next weekend (on my birthday! ) is our first one. So that should make for a wonderful experience... and birthday gift.

Also, yesterday after school a group of us found a supermarket comparable to a Canadian sized grocery store. One big difference is that here the alcohol takes up half the store. What I was really interested in, however, was fruit! I bought an orange, three bananas (fruit that I could peel just for you Joanne), a chocolate bar (even though the diet here is already loading the calories on me well enough), and a notebook for class. All of this cost me $2! I was impressed. I already ate my orange to make me feel somewhat healthier...and it was probably the the best orange-eating experience of my life.

Family life is going really well. Sacha, Luba, and Tanya are doing everything they can to make me feel welcome and I love them for it. Luba made a REALLY yummy meal yesterday. I was half hungry/half nauseous when I got home so I explained this to her. When I saw the food I really wasn't that interested but because she insisted I needed to eat, I tried some. It was halfway between a pancake and a crepe, and about the size of my palm.... served with a hot chocolate type drink. I enjoyed it a lot, and especially enjoyed the idea that today's breakfast would be sweet leftovers instead of salty leftovers from supper last night.

Host family communication is still rough but also going well. Though no one in my family speaks English at all, we have a charades type communcation which seems to suffice in the meantime. Every day Tanya sits with me and reviews my homework and what I tried to learn... helping me with pronunciation/spelling of words. Last night she even quized me on the objects in my room and I was pretty impressed with how far I have come already. Sacha also enjoyed teaching me all the body parts yesterday (many of which I have alreday forgotten... oops)

On a humourous note: the wood furniture here is shalacked to the point where it shines like a mirror. Yesterday, Sacha and Tanya were watching a movie from the computer in my room while I packed up my homework from the day into my backpack(which was on the floor beside the end of my bed). Well, as I bent down and saw my reflection in the wood at the end of the bed, I thought what I was really seeing was somebody else coming out form underneath the bed to attack me and I screamed. Of course I realized my mistake and started laughing...then had to explain to Sacha and Tanya why I was scared and laughing. And once it was finally communicated to them they started laughing with me too. It was probably my best laugh here so far.

Again that is all I will asy for now, but it is wonderful to read your comments and know that someone is actually paying attention to me still. I will try to find out my address soon, and look forward to hearing what you all have to say tomorrow!
Pa-pa!