Yesterday was an interesting day, for a rather wide range of reasons.
I spoke 5 different languages for a start. English, Kazakh, Russian, German, French and Japanese. Infact, every language that i know!
Most of the old people in the village speak a smattering of German (just like me really) so i had two brief conversations as i walked back from school. Then, for some reason, I was shouted at in French, not in anger, but rather surprising anyway. After getting over that, we then exchanged greatings etc (Which is all i know in French!). Finally, someone who lives near me has a videocamera that is only in Japanese (as far as i can tell), and needed the date and timezone changed, which i was able to do, after a bit of trial and error. A rather linguistic day!
Jason and I also managed to get a mini game of Ultimate Frisbee going in Beskol, which is nice as it will hopefully prove popular, and it is one of the easiest sports to both teach and coach. We were even talking about having a tournament next summer.
In the evening, I had one of the funniest, and strangest experiences so far. My host father had had the day off, and had spent it with his friends, drinking beer. He was very merry when he got home. After a small German conversation, "Ich liebe....liebe...Angliski" (I love English.. but using the Russian.. he doesnt know any English).... and then in Russian, he called me his son... and then he arm wrestled me, both arms, and won rather convincingly.
I cant say this is a normal day here, but it isnt as random as it might seem.
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