Author: Rauf Aliev

January 10 2016, 22:53

I don’t know how accurate things are in American schools, but I will definitely check and write about it. Until then, I’m publishing someone else’s text, it’s just too brilliantly written 🙂

http://gradus.org/life/ребенок-и-американская-средняя-школа/

January 10 2016, 22:02

Today, I visited the Maryland side of Potomac. I was the first idiot to walk the most challenging trail in the area (Billy Goat Section A) in flip-flops. Had nothing else—got a nasty blister from a run in new sneakers. But I finished it, although not quickly, in two hours. Even managed to keep my feet dry. The weather finally improved—it’s almost 59 degrees Fahrenheit, good for wearing just a T-shirt again. Visiting the national park costs $10 per car, $5 for cyclists and pedestrians.

My phone shows I walked 17 kilometers today. There’s no other way to offset the local food. I’ve learned to ask for “half a portion” at restaurants. For instance, if you order soup at P.F. Chang’s, they bring a pot full of soup (literally) and a small plate—see the attached photo. Such soup costs $8.25.

Also went to the new Star Wars in a huge IMAX today. Interestingly, the tickets are sold without assigned seats, there’s no advertising before the movie, people clap in the theater before and after the film, and all 500 seats were filled. The cost of one IMAX ticket is $15.

By now, since the beginning of last year, I’ve visited about 10 US national parks. And here’s a common trait—they are all beautiful, but you hardly see any wildlife. Birds, squirrels, deer, and other creatures, if they appear, it’s never when I’m there. However, as soon as you drive a bit away from the park, there they all are.

In between all this, there was also a piano concert, but there’s not much to tell—just a regular concert. Except that it too was fully booked.

January 09 2016, 22:56

This is how I watch a series on three devices:) on the left – video in English, on the right – a dictionary at hand, and on my knees – a subtitle player, which I periodically find convenient to glance into if something sounded unclear. When that happens – I pause the video with the spacebar, read what was in the subtitles, and if needed, I dive into the dictionary.

January 09 2016, 18:57

By the way, just for laughs, Paypal advised me to set up a new email and create a new account in the States because using a Russian one here isn’t possible. Russian and American Paypal are like two different systems with different databases, capabilities, etc. So, migrating the account isn’t possible, nor is switching. You can only start a new one, which I did.

January 09 2016, 18:28

The Potomac River flows just 15 minutes away from home. Went to check it out. Also took an 8 km hike through the forest. There’s a beautiful waterfall there, great views, and a real forest – photos attached) The weather is only gray and ugly now, but comparatively warm – 10 degrees Celsius.

On the way to the river, there’s a local “Rublevka” with homes priced around $10-15 million. (http://goo.gl/xM2j0Q). An interesting feature – no matter how “fancy” the house, it never has a fence. That is, there’s no solid fence – maybe a small waist-high or a bit taller one for aesthetics. On the other hand, here you can shoot someone who enters your property and presents a threat.

By the way, Bank of America sent a credit card in the mail the second day after visiting their office. Set up my “home accounting” on MINT.com – it can connect to the bank and automatically pull transactions and other useful things. So far, it correctly identifies all purchases by categories based on the bank statement. That is, if I spent money today at Silver Diner, it knows it’s “Restaurants,” and Sunoco is “Gas.”