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Showing posts from March, 2012

Out for a Stroll

When asking Russian students what  they  like to do in their free time, you get some general responses, watch movies, listen to music, hang out with friends, but also, walking.  Walking? There are Russian verbs  ходить  or  идти  which connote a certain direction or goal in traveling by foot, but there is also a Russian verb,  гулять,  which means simply to take a walk – without a certain direction or goal, but just to promenade, to go for a stroll, generally with the company of friends or family. In fact, kids here don't come over and ask if their friends can come out and play, they ask if their friends can come out for a walk. It took me a while to get used to  гулять ing. Hiking in Colorado, even though I go for the company and experience, often my companions and I have some sort of goal: get to the top of such and such a mountain, see a particular waterfall or other beautiful sight, get to the end of a certain trail. When my friend, Masha, called and invited me to go for a wa