The pecularities of internship in Volgodonsk, Russia.

The education process is only as good as the people involved in it - which applies to both sides of the barricade. Even the best teacher won't make an indifferent boulder talk, a poor lecturer will barely shape the future Mendeleyev. What score have my students achieved on this scale? As an alien in Russia I could absolutely rely on one thing - that everyone will try to take advantage of my 'foreign exclusiveness' to the maximum. My acquaintances will borrow money from me, for I'm a rich European. Other will want to discuss social matters of Russia and Europe. The owner of a concert venue will push me into interpretation during two Scottish bands' soundcheck. My employer will go telling all the potential students that I'm an English native speaker and by these means attract people to the expensive language courses. Furthermore - to already enrolled students they will offer conversation lessons with me. Would you like to have a lesson with Tomas? - Who is th

More than once in your life you will find yourself standing at the confluence of two river beams, having to decide whether to set off along the already familiar bank, or you'd better explore the rather crooked stream - and instead of booking a flight ticket on the route Rostov - Tbilisi you will reserve a seat in a marshrutka. Armenian transport company has a quite precisely designed website for the post-soviet world, I click on a date in the calendar and I am announced, that I have successfully reserved a place, however, I don't get any confirmation mail, no one asks money in advance - I feel like I should somehow seal the deal. The next day I call Armenia and ask - are counting on me for sure? Yes, yes, come to Rostov to the old bus station, the driver will call you the day before departure. The driver actually reaches me on the very day of departure when I'm already on my way the platform, firstly he orders me to pay for my ticket at the cash desk on the

Perhaps in every country you could find one occupation, that has special spirit in this particular part of the world - let's say a rikshaw driver in India or gondolier in Venezia. In Russia you definitely must fall for taxi drivers and conductors.  I walk down the stairs and come out of the second entrance on Kurchatova 8, the taxi is waiting in front of the third one -  when it comes to addresses  in Russia, the determining information is the number of the house, then the number of the entrance, followed by the number of the flat. The system of numbering is chaotic, therefore a non-local will find it hard to navigate around the hood. The taxi driver got the order of the entrances incorrectly, I walk a few metres towards him, I get in, I intend to fasten my seatbelt, however, there is none. On the contrary, the taxometer represented by a cellphone app is flashing on the dashboard. In Volgodonsk taxis are such an affordable option of transport, that they can pretty much re

As I have managed to learn, in Russia you can't rely on any rules and customs which for you go without saying. The environment is very dynamic and in case of unclear situations there is the universal answer to everything - this is Russia. My task is: give English lessons to children, the young and adults from about eight to fifty years. To make it clear whom, where and when to teach, I have the timetable. On Wednesday I was awarded a  break perfectly suited for lunch in the cafeteria on the ground floor, or possibly for a quick drop-by at home. The pancake on the table is two bites shorter and all of a sudden I get a call from our 'administrator': Tomas, where are you? 'Don't you dare to ask for anything during my only free time today', stormed through my mind, but before this thought got to my speech apparatus, my tone has become kinder. 'n th' c'f't'ria' - the food in my mouth is preventing me from pronouncing vowels. Your stud