17 Aug 2001, 5:53 a.m.

Finally

My mom and I finally lost patience with each other while I was practicing driving -- during rush hour today. I knew it had to happen sooner or later. Back to Berkeley tomorrow, the sooner …

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16 Aug 2001, 3:45 a.m.

We Don't Except Checks

"Gourmet soap" and "If you open it, you buy it. Don't get caught!" and "We Don't Except Checks": seen at Food King yesterday. Drove with Mom for the first time and second time yesterday. She …

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14 Aug 2001, 9:30 a.m.

Zhili Buili

Hindi film, steering, reading, writhing, and arithmetic. Title from the intro to most Russian fairy tales, "Once there was..." (mutatis mutandis for gender and number, of course). Lagaan. Today I finished watching Lagaan, also known …

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13 Aug 2001, 4:03 a.m.

S-Town, B-Rown

  Er, that is to say, I'm in Stockton for a few more days, and I'm brown. Trilingual hilarity from the Harihareswara household: "What is the Russian for [Kannada for 'are you full?']?""Why would they …

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12 Aug 2001, 8:56 a.m.

Wodehouse, Eco, party, transport, language, shopping

Congratulations, Windows 98, for crashing and erasing my eloquence. Funny, isn't it, that this almost never happened in Russia, and yet as soon as I have to use my father's machine....but never mind. My father …

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09 Aug 2001, 9:54 a.m.

Resocialization

Reverse culture shock feels a little harder than the culture shock of going to Russia. There were no orientations for the return. All the signs are in English. Everyone speaks English. Well, almost everyone. I …

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08 Aug 2001, 9:05 a.m.

Back in Berkeley

Hi there, all. I'm experiencing reverse culture shock here in the US. Everyone speaks English! (Well, not really.) The PA system folks at airports speak English as though they were native speakers! (Well, most of …

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07 Aug 2001, 11:42 a.m.

From Piter to Frankfurt to Here to SFO

I'm in D.C., and I'm about to leave for Minneapolis and subsequently SFO. I'll be glad to see the people who are meeting me at the gate -- right now, as far as I know, …

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05 Aug 2001, 4:35 a.m.

I can't believe I'm not staying

And yet, I Can't Stop Leaving St. Petersburg! I hit Frankfurt tonight, then leave there the next day and arrive in Washington, D.C. on Monday afternoon local time. Then I leave D.C. on Tuesday morning …

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04 Aug 2001, 10:16 a.m.

I'm Alive and Missing Russia Already

Today I went to Novgorod, basically an old city in Russia. It was founded more than a thousand years ago. And playing at the movie theater there: Moulin Rouge. Tomorrow I leave St. Petersburg and …

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