Grammar and other joys

Good times were had in Moscow yesterday; I met up with Veronika and we went to the Tretyakov Gallery. Being in Russia, we thought it only right to try to cheat the system and get in with the much cheaper tickets for Russian citizens. We almost pulled it off until one of the grouchy old ladies asked Aaron point-blank what he had come to see. I guess his answer wasn't in good-enough Russian, because she sent us back downstairs to get new tickets. We still refused to pay the price for foreigners and finally made it in with student tickets. It was a great afternoon with all the old Repin, Vereschagin, and Surikov friends, and a new favorite, Roerich. As the train pulled away from the platform on the way home, it looked as if Eric and Nicole had missed it. But an instant later the train stopped for just a moment, and then resumed. A minute later, our friends came through the door. Yes, they'd stopped the train by pounding on the window.

In other news, I do want to talk about teaching. I taught a practice grammar lesson this morning: the difference between the simple past and the present perfect. It was aimed at level ZII, or second-semester beginner. I was slightly nervous, but I really got into the whole language-grading-speaking-really-slowly-in-small-words thing. I like getting into the role - as if pretending to be a good teacher will actually make me one. I was reliant on facial expressions and gestures, and it was fun to really put so much into every utterance to make it meaningful. Of course, I went way over my time limit, and proabably could have left the whiteboard a little cleaner, but overall, I am stoked. This is going to be fun.