Kickin' back, relaxing

…is a fairly apt way of describing the past 10 days for most Russians here in Tver. This past week has been a national week off, with hardly anyone working (except for those who really have the capitalistic spirit, I guess). For sure, the major sector that has remained open is the retail stores: grocery stores, cell phone shops, clothing spots, and the like. Offices are at the other end of the spectrum. For example, in the building where my language school is (which has continued on through the break), it weird to walk onto the 4th floor, where my classroom is, and have to turn on the lights, because nobody will be in for the day.

On the other hand, one of the joys that I had at the language school last week was this pervading sense of calm and quiet. Maybe it was because there was really nothing to do, no perspective language students, or just the holiday feeling, but it was really quite nice. In fact, usually during our breaks (which for me are a chance to let my overheated brain cool down) we just sit around and talk. Last week, however, I taught my teacher and some of the others at the school the game Sequence, which had been given them a few years back, but had never been played (they never took the time to learn it, even though enough of them speak English really well, so that they could have understood the directions). It was an enjoyable variation of our normal routine.