What's not to understand?

The temperature began dipping early this month. The days of warm 80deg sun cooled into days of a crisp 60. Cooled, but by no means cold. So you can imagine my surprise to see women busting out the fur-lined parkas, boots, and hats. Surely, these Russian folks are aware that it's only fall-- that there's a long winter yet to come. Surely, it's silly to be wearing full winter gear for a slight autumn chill.

Last weekend, it began to rain-- a nice, dreary October rain. The Friday night korean food crew bundled into a city bus to 1-ая речка (first river) per the usual... just as the rain began to crystalize into little pockets of slurpee-like goodness. We feasted on galbi-jim, pa jun, and fried chicken to celebrate one of the girls' birthdays... until the power went out. Entirely. Once we finished our impromptu candle/cellphone light dinner, we scurried outside to find the cosmic 7-11 machine gone absolutely beserk, spitting ice and snow with alarming ferocity. Back in the dormitory, the power had, of course, gone out too. So Vladivostok sat in the dark and waited to see what the morning would bring.

Saturday, the snow swirled down in a heavy flurries, uncertain of which way to fall. Sunday morning, it finally settled down like a white sheet neatly covering every street and hill. Up in the hills, the snow sat at least a foot or two thick. On the way up the hills to church, we saw little kids gleefully sledding down snowy slopes on plastic trays and a few snowmen in the making. On the way back down the hills, a warm burst of sunshine had already washed away the snow entirely.

By Monday, the green slopes and golden leaves and 60deg days were back. And the wise Russian women continued walking up and down the streets of Vlad in their fur-lined parkas, boots, and hats.

The weekend weather seemed to set the crazy and unpredictable pace for the week that followed. Up until last week, my schedule had been far from full-- my sole task was to teach 5 hour and a half English classes a week and hold one office hour. All at once, I've become responsible for three hours of morning Russian lessons on days when I don't teach, three more English classes in the evenings, a number of lectures and presentations at the American Corner, and putting a rather pricey gym membership to good use. Throw in the craziness of daily life in Russia-- e.g. being stopped and harassed by the police for being Asian, being stopped and harassed by student teachers for being American, unannounced schedule changes, pickpocketers on the bus, inexplicable traffic on the streets, random power outages, and the freakish inconsistency of weather-- and, believe me, it was ALL thrown in this week-- and you have my first real Russian meltdown. The effects were thankfully mitigated by all the goodness of daily life in Russia, no doubt-- the comforting tea and chocolate chats, some super enthusiastic students, and the general kindness and generosity and support from colleagues, hallmates, and friends all around.

During all of this, I had exclaimed to a Chinese friend here that I just don't get this weather. She laughed, patted me on the back, and repeated a sentiment I've come hear over and over in the past few months: "Что ты не понимаешь, Ира? Ето Россия." ("What don't you understand, Irene? This is Russia.")