Teaching the Russians and spring time

I am not a stay at home dad totally. In recent months, I have taken to doing some teaching for hard, dirty cash. I had my own school in Slovakia and taught Slovak adults for six happy years. Mostly, they were a joy to teach, they had a great sense of humor and were forgiving of an inexperienced English teacher. I still keep in contact with many and miss Slovakia a lot. I must be honest, I was afraid to begin teaching here and I was afraid to teach Russians. I know you can't and shouldn't generalize about a nation, or a people, but I had heard they were hard and rather serious as students. This has turned out to be accurate information. The ones that I have taught so far, have had excellent English, some even sound English. Russians are highly educated, cultured and well read. I have found them so far to be serious a a bit humorless. Some are almost like machines. Teaching these types of people is not a picnic and I often dread going to the classes. They seem unforgiving and uptight. Perhaps this is what you can expect from people in a big city?

Despite this, I am happy to get out the flat and to mix with people and adults and its has done me a lot of good. Its a bit self destructive to stay locked up at home 24/7, although I am lucky to be able to raise my child in his early years. I am sure the teaching will be more fun in the future and perhaps I have been unlucky with the students that I have been given.Fingers crossed, it will improve.

Spring time, is a time when a young males thoughts turn to finding a mate or at least a shag. Girls peel off the layers of winter clothing and reveal pink flesh, rabbits dream of cavorting in the fields and making millions of other rabbits cavorting in the fields, new flower buds break through the hard ground and yield their petals as a gift to us all. Romantic ideals aside, all I wish for is that spring would arrive, my balls are frozen. At first, I was worried if any winter would ever come at all from what we are spoon fed about climate change but now its here, its been relentless, endless depressing. Snow, cold winds and icy streets and roads. "Muscovite's" are wrapped up from head to toe in all kinds of dead animals, while stupid British men like me, wear just a coat, no hat, no gloves, then wonder why we get colds and frost bitten ears.

Getting up in the mornings is hard when its still dark, its like leaving the womb, you have to, but don't want to. Light, please give me light. I plan to take up running, if I can get up early, to lose some of my excess winter whale fat. There is a small strip of green near me, they call it a "garden ring". These are small strips of green ring parks all around the city of Moscow that have been given the definition of  "parks"! Its really a long strip of dirt with a bit of grass and some trees, narrow and long. Dirty traffic shoots by on either side. I will go running when I can get up and if I can tear my body from the sanctity of my warm, comfortable, soft bed. Although I long for spring, warm weather and lighter mornings, I am told its baking hot here in the summer. Lets hope not, but I'll let you know dear reader.