Bored in Russian Class Already

Меня зовут Катерина, Как Вас зовут?

Russian 101: First Class

Nervous all day, I fled work as soon as my shift ended despite the fact that I could have pulled some overtime, easy.  Got home, grabbed my books from the Jeep (brought to work in case I somehow hadn't had time to run home before class), my husband warmed me up some dinner and then I got ready again - this time for school.

Call Me Nervous

During my visit to campus, I purchased the "books" that I would need for class.  The main text book is in all actuality just a huge print out with a three hole punch and loosely brought together with one pin.  This book cost about $42.00.  The workbook is about half to a quarter of the size and cost about half that.  So naturally, a student has to go to an office supply store (the bookstore didn't have what I was looking for - I like the flexible kind) to purchase more items - three ring binders and some inserts.  Heavy duty "books."  All this and I still need to find my Air Force shoulder bag that my aunt got me years ago so I can have something to put all these bags in and not look ridiculous.

Red Tape

After one aborted visited - we were ready to go, but then checked the hours and the bookstore and offices were closed, we finally went on Wednesday.  This time my husband made me drive.  While I have to cross the bridge to the other side of down, it's a bridge I don't mind, and the route he showed me is simple.  Campus, however is not.  When my husband announced we'd be parking in the "free" spots this time, I went "what?!"  When I went to school I didn't have to pay to park at a community college.  Now, I never went to this particular one, but still.  Rip off.

First Campus Visit

School starts in three weeks.  Last week I logged into the site to see if the teacher had posted an official list of which books we would need to purchase for the class.  Also, just to see if she had added any material, anything to personalize the site, anything at all, really.

Second Chances

So, my dad always called America the land of second chances.  If you didn't like what happened the first go around, then try, try again.  In the States (especially in the good times) you can apply for another job quite easily, and often get it.  If you don't like your career as a construction worker, you can become a technical support analyst with the right skills and interview personality.  You can go from a cashier to Inside Sales for a professional basketball team. But mostly he called America the land of second chances because of college.  Americans can always go back.  In Czech, it's pretty much decided from an early age if you're going to be going to higher education, and then once you're finished with that window of opportunity, you're done - exit stage left.  And me, I would have been beyond redeemable.

Homesick

So this summer rolls around, but it's not really summer.  No sun, no warm weather, and for a girl (well, 30 year old woman) with a serious need for sun, that gets hard sometimes.  To top if off, I'm getting homesick...again.  This happens about once a few months or so.  I'm still living in my home state, but I'm homesick for the place I lived - Czech.  A European, Slavic speaking country.  A country in which I lived during my teens, a country whose language I once spoke and love, and whose language I am quickly forgetting.

Background

My story starts in 1999:

I was not a typical teen, but I was a fairly typical college freshman.  Basically fresh out of high school, on to college.  Went to the local community college my first year, held down a part time job, and got highly involved with the speech and debate team.  Also got some pretty decent marks in my classes, maybe one C in there, somewhere.