Vodka Wars, Part Deux

A teaser for the title of today's post:  Two years ago Jim participated in a Russian tradition with the head of the Trans-Siberian Railway.  Once the bottle of vodka is opened, it must be finished.  He refers to the episode as "Vodka Wars."

In the morning Gala takes me to the Foreign Language Department, where I've not been previously, but understand Karen Troupis spent every school day there on the trip two years ago.  After some tea with faculty members, the class starts with about 20 second year students.  I've stolen a page from Jim's lesson plans and require each to stand, give a self-introduction and tell something about the US.  The discussion is lively and I'm sure I learn as much as they do.  At the end of the 80 minutes, I give each a Sharky's postcard and a fossilized shark's tooth explaining about the postcards that Mike Pachota is a businessman and looks one everyone as a potential customer.  One of the faculty remarks, accurately, that he must be an optimist!
After a fifteen minute break, the fourth year students come in.  The routine is the same, but the quality of English is more sophisticated.  All the more impressive considering Chinese is these students' "first" language and English "second."  Several students stay after class, including one desperate for information about work in the US for this summer.  I give her a Sharky's postcard, circle the phone number and write my name and Mike Pachota's name.  So Mike, if someone with a Russian accent calls Sharky's . . .
Finally lunch at 2PM as usual and Jim decides he cannot accompany us to the ophthalmology clinic as he is showing Anatomy of a Murder and he wants to see which students are there.  We tell Jim we'll be back in just over an hour.  Gala and I ride across the river to the modern looking clinic and are introduced to the director.  He directs one of the other doctors, "Doctor Natalia", to give us a tour.  They do 55 eye surgeries daily in this clinic in addition to various laser surgeries.  The equipment is modern and sophisticated and the layout is efficient.  People are walking around with eye patches.  After the tour the director invites us into his private office along with Doctor Natalia and the secretary, "Helen", whot tells me she has been to Ocean City, Maryland.  There are plates of cheese, meat, pastries and unopened bottles of liquor.  Tea is serverd, then a large bottle of Teacher's whisky is opened.  It is not vodka, but the tradition is the same.  Doctor Natalia is driving so she is drinking only tea.  Helen prefers Hennessey's so she is not sharing in the whisky.  Gala drinks some, but the director and I have the majority of the bottle.  Two-thirds of the way through the bottle, after the director says he has been to Carnegie Hall to see his brother play the piano, he invites us down the hall through an unmarked door where he takes the cover off a baby grand piano.  Soon we're all singing Beatles' songs and others to his skilled piano playing.  Then back to his office to finish the whisky.  We go back to see Jim tipsy and happy, and 3 hours late.