Of Sandwiches and School

So, my savvy sentient scholars, seeking a substantive scoop on the situation in Siberia - here you are! And with that, I've officially exhausted my capacity for alliteration and now refuse to use another "s"-word for the duration of this post.

Well, honestly, it's not that exciting. As you may have come to expect, we continue to acquire culture and language. It's progressing, nothing too exciting but nothing too depressing either. Perhaps I'll post a thought or two on the topic of why T can frustrate at a later date. But for now, this:

One of my favorite deli items is a Reuben. Yeah, I know, it's not really that important, but I had by one manner or another come to want one about a month ago. No problem, except that to make a Reuben, you need a couple of things which aren't available here. The first of these is kraut.

No big deal, as it turns out. Cabbage is readily available, and we even managed to find ocean-sourced (no, that doesn't count as an "s"-word) chloride-containing curing chemicals here. No idea why that is available for purchase in T-land, but it is. A mere 3-week wait, and we had fresh homemade kraut, which I must comment beats the canned variety hands down (even if it is made in a bucket, which feels odd to me).

Next on the list was corned beef. It turns out that "corned" just means brined, and though this was a bit more complicated, homemade corned beef is mostly about patience. Fortunately, the timing for the beef and the kraut was about equal, meaning I could begin them both and just wait 3 weeks for them to be ready. The beef admittedly doesn't look as appetizing as it normally does, due to the absence of the ingredient which makes it reddish, but fortunately that ingredient is only used for appearance and makes no difference to the taste of the meat.

In the end, after 21 days - a Reuben! A bit too intense on the flavoring, perhaps, but when I fried up the meat a bit and tried again it was better. Certainly more effort than it's worth, but it was more about the process than the end result.

Well, while I've been engaged these last three weeks in the production of a hoagie's cousin, what have Bobbie and the boys been up to? I'm glad you asked, as I was tiring of talking about me and I'm positive you were tiring of reading it!

Well, the lovely Bobbie has been up to a few activities with our coworkers' English club, as well as giving a lecture on American culture down at the university. Her reception was good, but even better was that of the cookies Bobbie brought along to demonstrate what true American culture is about - eating junk food!

Also, Bobbie has been educating our two boys. They've been doing really well, and our oldest is actually reading pretty well (one word at a time, granted)! His linguistic progress has been a bit torpid, but he is making progress.

At least one young lad is proud of his ability to determine "little" from "big."

Of course, they've been going outside to play as well. It's been above freezing lately, meaning that everything is just beginning to melt. This is really the worst time of year to be outside; it's easier to deal with -40 than it is to walk through the mud and icy runoff. But once you've gotten to where you're going - it's glorious!


The boys have in one fashion or another (I blame their mother) gotten into the habit of waking me up by jumping on top of me. Then they always want to play the game of "cave" where they explore a cave made by me crossing my legs under the covers. There are always new and exciting things to find down by the end of the bed (dragons and bears both reside there regularly, apparently) if you have an imagination!

Future chefs. Or present chefs, I guess. I'm not really certain of the exact criterion for "chef" certification.

Our eldest giving his best Macaulay Culkin impersonation:

Anyway, I think that will do it for now. Hope you enjoy your week, and make certain you check in with us again next time!

Edit: I have added a video, because ... well, just because I can, mostly.