Culture learning part 1

Today's lessons.

1. How to turn on the water heater under the kitchen sink:

The landlady (a kindly grandmother who's managing her daughter's apartment--between her English and Kitty's Russian we communicate pretty well) showed us the switch.

2. How to operate the washing machine. Landlady Boxar was just a baffled as we are--new brand, new technology for her. We discovered that it's not automatic and won't spin until a button is pushed.

By the way--how awesome that we have a washing machine, even if it's different from what we're used to.

3. How to read handwritten numbers:

When there's a new writing system, you have to learn capital letters, lowercase letters, fancy fonts, handwriting of various types--and numbers too!

4.

At the supermarket, don't just take your produce (this is a carrot, by the way) up to the front checker. It must be weighed and labeled by the produce person (in the same way that American supermarkets do meat and deli items).