Popivkers, TV and Kimmy’s first day in school, among other things…

The wife demands a rebuttal – the shirt did not turn the color of salmon, but rather a very pleasant pastel pink. I should still be a big hit in a gay neighborhood…

Sunday afternoon, Popivker family had to deal with an invasion of voracious Burlaks. This was the first time that our entire gang visited them, and Artusha took some time to warm to the invaders. We had great time. The food was excellent, the company most pleasant, and we were made exceptionally welcome by commentary along the lines of “На базаре всё так дорого”… Entertainment in the form of Тайна Третьей Планеты and Простоквашино appealed to both kids and adults. We should do it more often (Alex seriously intends to put a dent in our budget with a reciprocal visit, but his kids are too little, they don’t eat as much as ours 🙂 ).

The first family weekend in the foreign land ended, and today was the first day that Kimmy went to school. The whole procedure ended up being very simple: We came, we talked, we left, she stayed. The teacher and the kids were prepared that there would be a newcomer, and did their best to cheer for a Yankee girl. She even has a Russian-speaking girl in the class (who is actually either Lithuanian or Estonian, depending on which teacher you ask).

Kimmy was really excited afterwards, even at the prospect of wearing a uniform, which we promptly ponied up for (thankfully, in a public school, the uniforms are fairly simple and do not cost up the wazoo). During the dinner, she effortlessly demonstrated her mastery of the British accent, by saying the word fork as only a native can. It sounds so unbelievably funny coming out of her mouth, and incredible at the same time, given that she only spent half a day in school. I am sure that she’ll have the accent down in a matter of weeks.

“Mommy, this is not an eraser, it is called a rubber”, was another highlight…

Natasha had her first experience driving on the wrong side of the road today, and to her own surprise, was unimpressed. It is not that hard, it turns out. The biggest challenge was getting back into our driveway – the openings on both side of the crescent are quite narrow. She needed to parallel-park once – and nailed it.

Becky is simply having an impromptu vacation, greatly enhanced by a new television. We had bought one on Ebay and it was delivered to us yesterday. It came with a DVD player and surround sound system, which amazingly does not provide sound to the TV if connected directly through what they call a SCART connector. I have managed to set up only a couple of speakers by now, and Becky has her entertainment, since the DVDs she bought on the last day in the States play in this system. Ebay rulez!

There are still only five channels through the aerial antenna. I tried several times today to order satellite TV through Sky, but the website kept timing me out and the not-toll-free customer service line kept me on hold until I gave up. This is pretty ludicrous, how they try not to earn my business…

Among the stores on the nearest corner from us, there is a shop that sells aquarium supplies, including lots of fish and reptiles. Natasha and kids went as if on a tour. They say the fish is exquisite!

Another first was mailing a letter from the local post office. As I mentioned once, the post office is primarily just another convenience store/newsstand, which also happens to provide postal services. Those services are limited: They did not actually take the letter that we needed to send to the States, they only sold us the stamp, and Natasha then dropped the letter into a regular mailbox.

As for me – does it feel like I have now been upstaged by my ladies, as far as adventures are concerned? – my work is quickly becoming routine. The highlight – or rather lowlight – of the day came on the evening commute, when I barely squeezed myself into a packed train. The next train was in 30 minutes, so I had to disregard the feelings of my fellow commuters. The quicker commute is not always what it’s cracked up to be…

The dinner home compensated for all, though!