A Walk in the Snow

Today did not go as planned.

For this whole school year, I've been leading an English club at a local university. It's always been on Wednesdays at 2:10. Last week, I got a text message on Monday night, asking me to come on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. It was from the professor responsible for English club, so it seemed legit to me. It worked out fine last week, and I had a great group of students.

This week, I got a text telling me which room to go to and what time to be there. I showed up, and the classroom was full of students who had no idea who I was and told me that they were waiting for their professor to show up and lecture. Awesome. I began tracking down different professors that I know and ended up talking with the chair of the Language Department. She was very annoyed. Apparently, the change from Wednesday to Tuesday was not made known to her, and it messed greatly with her schedule.

So, I ended up not teaching anything today. She said she'll send me a message when she gets it all sorted out. It was rather embarrassing and discouraging...

I headed to the bus stop to start the trek home. I waited at the bus stop for a long while. Bus after bus came by, but not a single one was going my direction. At long last, a bus headed towards my apartment came by...and when it did, I saw that the bus was literally bursting at the seams with people trying to cram in.

I decided to walk.

I didn't walk the entire way home (mostly because part of the way home is on an icy incline, and I didn't want to fall down the hill), but I walked halfway home and got a bus for the rest of the way. I spent the walk praying for the professors and students at the university. I tried to channel my frustration into something productive and loving; it helped change my perspective on my afternoon.

Even though I was slipping down the sidewalks, I could appreciate the new snow (we've gotten about 4 inches today), the falling snow, and the lack of wind. I took some pictures for you and everything!

The pretty snow!

The not pretty snow...this is the street. The black part that you see is actually ice. Not so fun.

Another street shot. Yikes!

P.S. On the bus home, I realized that I had a "lucky ticket" (счастливый билет). You have a "lucky ticket" when the 6 numbers on your ticket add up a certain way: the first three- when added together- equal the sum of the last three numbers. No sooner had I figured out that I had one than the guy standing in front of me realized that he did, too. It was funny to watch him wave it around in front of his buddy, saying "I got the lucky one and you didn't. Ha!"

My lucky ticket! 16 = 16