Yesterday, I received an e-mail - 3 copies of the same e-mail, actually - from Artem Galustyan, one of the Moscow State University students participating in our program. We were pen pals as part of a class assignment I had last quarter, which may have been why he sent me a letter so soon, and so enthusiastically.
Among other things, Artem wanted to know what ideas we had for the paper, and how we wanted to spend our free time. It was on this second point – the free time - that the realities of the trip really dawned on me.
This is happening, and its happening soon. And we’re the people in charge. The success of the publication we create on this trip hinges upon our ability to develop a plan well before the fact. This is something I am not good at.
Put a gun to my head and set an egg-timer, I can write or plan a layout, easy. But never in my life have I given forethought to even the simplest school assignments more than a day before the due date. It drives my editors at The Ledger crazy, but its served me well for many years.
Obviously, it won’t here.
So what to do? What to do about this trip, which is only four weeks away?
One week from now, the Russian Federation will have held its presidential election, naming Putin’s successor. It’s obviously going to be Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev in what amounts to he and Putin trading jobs. But insofar as newspaper themes go, with an American election looming, the changing of executive power seems top rate to me.
However, looking back at past issues of the Zhurnalist confuses me. Each one seems to focus on articles Russian students write based on their time in Tacoma. How much of the paper is actually going to be done in Russia? Some of it? All of it?
Since thinking about the upcoming work on the trip is giving me a headache, I should focus on the play aspects. How do I find a polite way of saying to Artem, “I want to be introduced to as many potential brides as is possible in a one-week frame of time.”?
But in all seriousness, I have no idea what they do for fun in Moscow. My hope is that they have some good dance clubs, or maybe a Russian-only theater to see what kinds of movies they have to offer.
I’m sure it will be fun no matter what, I just don’t want to decide on the fun of my potential fun-ness offerings before I have a feel for the funnest fun being offered for fun.
No Comments Yet
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
