A
friend of mine left his teaching job in England to work in a university in a small
town not far from Moscow in Russia. I got a letter
from him last week. This is what he said: Dear
Alan, I've been here in Russia for six months now. Although
I enjoy a lot of things, it isn't always easy to live here. My
salary of about $40 (4,000 yen) a week is a lot more than the average Russian
earns. The people are very friendly and the students
are intelligent and hardworking. They all want to
learn English so they can get jobs in foreign companies - they pay a lot more
money than Russian companies or the government. Russians
don't go out to restaurants or pubs very much. They
like inviting their friends to their very small apartments and sitting around
the kitchen table, drinking vodka. Shopping takes
a long time because you have to queue in a lot of different shops to buy things. They
eat a lot of sausages and macaroni here. I'm going to stay here for another year
so I hope you will be able to visit me. With best
wishes, Adrian |