Heatwave!

The Moscow Times reported on Friday that Moscow's in the grip of a 'heatwave'. Thursday was the hottest December 7th in recorded history - the high of 7.5 degrees Celsius comfortably breaking the old record of 6.6 degrees set way back in 1896. This makes me think that the electronic thermometers around town which regularly display temps up to 9 degrees are all wildly inaccurate, but still - point is that it's unseasonably warm here. Local wisdom has it that if the snow hasn't come to stay by December, then February will be really cold, but I've got my fingers crossed that blessed Global Warming is here to stay. Last winter, so the folks tell me, it hit 40 degrees below zero. Which would be about 50 degrees lower than what we'd term a really cold day back home. For the moment, though, I'm regularly too hot running around town even in my short coat, so viva the destruction of the environment!

What is not as pleasant is the fact that it's been a month since I've seen the sun (yes, I've been here a month tomorrow - bizarre!). There were wild rumours floating about one of the teachers' rooms the other day that Mr. Sun had in fact been briefly sighted at midday, but I wasn't one of those fortunate enough to verify that with me own peepers. Last Saturday night we did see the moon though, which caused wild jubilation. Look at all my photos of Moscow for an accurate picture of the grey gloom we endure night and day.

Some random things I've been meaning to blog about - Melani originally thought my name was 'Jar' when we met. I thought this was highly bizarre until I introduced myself to a Canadian girl who instantly went, "Oh, hi Jar" (very accepting, that).

I showed Melani the Halloween photos of myself, which I was worried would lead her to condemn me to the fires of Hell, but she actually laughed and made the comment, "But you always dress so conservatively! Even your pyjamas are conservative!". Leaving aside the disturbing matter of what she expects me to wear to bed (a see-through negligee?) this proves that (up until that point) she hadn't seen me out of boring teacher mode. As you'll no doubt remember, I learned my lesson about low-cut tops and the classroom not mixing, so I'm the original straight-laced schoolmarm in the week and mostly dressed down on the weekend.

Well, that's all of 'interest' I have to say. And that wasn't even particularly interesting.
Oh, wait, went to the movies on Friday - starved of English-language entertainment, I tells you. Everything on Russian TV is dubbed - often badly dubbed, so if you watch an American sitcom and concentrate really hard you can hear some of the dialogue underneath the Russian dubbing ('cause they don't remove the original soundtrack). This, however, is not particularly conducive to relaxation. I also watch the sports channel sometimes, since obviously I can get it without understanding the Russian. Last night was the third time I've seen Biathlon (cross-country skiing and target shooting) featured on TV. The third time in Russia, I mean. Weird. They do show some of the English premiereship matches, however. Anyway, I digress. We went to see The Holiday which was mucho cheesy, and the tickets were about as expensive as you pay at home, but still - sometimes you just want to see something in English, right?

Saturday went to this party at someone's place. Entertaining enough. Drank too much, stayed on the floor (stupid metro closes at 1 am) then staggered home on Sunday (after taking in a few Simpsons episodes on my host's laptop) to spend the rest of the day in bed.

Woke up this morning feeling particularly lethargic, which my kids' class last hour did nothing to shake. Plus the local organiser came in at the begininng and asked me in this annoying way to 'please check the kids' homework'. I said I did check it, but I don't think she believed me. One of the parents apparently complained that there is no sign of checking... One of the parents previously complained that I don't give enough homework. Ah, I hate this job!