People have asked to see our "view" from our new apartment. This is it! We live in a region of town that's not as congested. And actually, our rent is about half of what it would be if we lived more in the center of town! We see kids playing outside a lot. In the back are "garages" for the people who have cars. Everyone tells us that we will eventually want a car. I don't believe it!! I LOVE not having a car! I think cars are stressful and expensive (especially in Russia). I feel like more time on public transportation keeps life from moving too fast. It gives us extra time to pray and to think. For this season, I'm enjoying being "carless".
Last night I was encouraged in my language. The Wickers had us and a Russian couple from church over for dinner, and the whole time was spent talking in Russian. Even though it is still effortful to compose sentences, I realized that my comprehension of the language has grown leaps and bounds! I found that I understood almost every conversation. This was especially encouraging after a difficult week in class (where I felt stupid 60% of the time). I feel like I'm more able to relate with people and understand their hearts. This helps so much.
Of course, we still have a ways to go. We heard a statistic that if a non-English speaker wants to learn English, it takes about 600 hours of study... but if a non-Russian speaker wants to learn Russian, it takes about 4,000 hours!!! I believe it! I've started reading Russian outloud because I heard that this is supposed to help. I feel kind of silly (and only started this week), but already I feel like it's helping some. Of course, the best way to learn is to talk with people.
2 comments:
i reallylike your view! the air looks good, like hm... clear and clean?
im so glad you're feeling encouraged in language. thats so fun to feel like you understand what people are saying! sometimes i chinese is so clear that it almost feels like they're speaking english. and of course other times its so complicated that i totally check out and feel like they're speaking... um.. russian :) or some other language i don't know a lick of !
Yea for a good language experience! That is so great! Definitely a reason to celebrate! Yeah, having a car in Russia is something that we dread too, but just wait 'til you have kids (especially more than one). Having to tote Joyelle around while pregnant is pretty crazy/stressful/exhausting (not to mention impossible when there are stairs and a stroller involved) and kills a lot motivation to go anywhere. We're going to get a car next year most likely, to avoid me being isolated (which for some reason is really easy to happen in our city for the moms), so we'll let you know how it goes. Yikes!
Post a Comment