English?

Yesterday, when walking to class, I ran into (not literally) Kate, a Russian girl. She asked for help with her English homework so later yesterday evening she came down. Apparently her homework was easy enough, so instead she told me to teach her American history. It's been awhile and there are large chunks of it (most of the 1800's except for the civil war and maybe a few things about Jackson and Clay) I don't remember. Oh, there's also Van Buren and the Van Buren Boys. You can't forget the Van Buren Boys. I started explaining the founding but that got complicated and eventually we wound up talking about the Iraq war and why the US invaded. Apparently in Russia, it was not just about the oil but about drugs, which made no sense to me. And, of course, we talked about oil and how Russia has a lot and is selling is and how the US isn't drilling. She thought that was a smart play. Erkal was in on all this, too. We went to the kitchen for tea and after a bit Eugene, Kate, Olga, Milan, and, well, a lot of people show up and it turns into a regular party. We were playing cards and drinking. It was a good time. I probably should've went to bed before 3, though. A 9 o'clock class isn't conducive to staying up late.

The card games I learned where interesting. The Russian girls tried to teach one that I can't even explain because I still have no idea why people were playing the cards. I do know you wanted to rid of your cards first. I just wish I knew how to get rid of them. I did when the first game, though. The next game we learned, Ozan taught us. It was like speed. You divided the deck in half. Both players lay down three cards very quickly and then, if there's a matching pair, they try to cover those cards with their half of the deck before the other player can. Again, the person to get rid of all the cards wins. The last game we played was called Kookoorikoo. That's just what it sounded like. You divide the cards evenly among the players and then each player goes around and lays down a card. If it's an Ace, you must be the first to slap the card and you take the pile. If it's a King and you're the first to salute the card, then you get the pile. Queens you must say Pardone Madame or however you say that in French and Jacks you must say Bonsieur Messier. The first to say the phrase gets the pile. When a ten pops up, be the first to yell Kookoorikoo to get the pile. The object is to get the whole deck.

After cards, Kate, Ozan and I went to Ozan's room and listened to music. Kate played some Russian "hard rock" which was really just ska. I played Rancid's "Time Bomb" and she was like, "Ah it's the same!" Or something to that effect.

And at two, I went to sleep.