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[quote=Anonymous][quote]Pitt Russian BA poster here. Small world. I fudged the dates a bit in my post. I graduated from Pitt in '92, so it looks like we overlapped. It was '89 when I did the summer Russian. It was held at Chatham College that year.

I knew many of the Russian majors/studiers ahead of me but only one '93 grad (who also did summer Russian in '89 -- only I was taking 2nd year and they were in 1st year). From the details you've given, I don't think I know who you are.

I attended Russian club outings (sometimes helping to organize). I remember going to see Boris Godunov at the Pittsburgh Opera, many Russian/Soviet movies, meeting with several speakers on campus. I remember volunteering when the Chataqua Conference was on campus.

I get the occasional mass email from the Russian department. I haven't kept contact with any of the professors since my career shift away from Russian stuff. Nancy Condee is still there. Padunov passed away a few years ago. Birnbaum retired a few years ago I believe. Nina Kossman, my first Russian teacher, has led a fascinating life (search if interested).[/quote]

Small world, indeed!  I was a few steps behind you (transferred to Pitt fall of '90) and hit the ground running with Nina Kossman for first year Russian- ay yi yi what a life she has had since those Pitt days!  So glad Condee is still there, and I adored Padunov.  Birnbaum was perfect for syntax.  SLI was held in the Cathedral the year I participated (summer of '91) and I was at MGU Jan-June of '92- right after the coup and truly, there was real optimism in the air.  Tons of joint ventures happening, and a boatload of foreign investment.  My poor kids are dying to visit my old haunts, too, and I can't wait to go back there.

The Russian passengers I had on my subsequent Delta flights were rambunctious and rowdy.  A common tactic to deal with the long (10 hr +) flight with NO Russian movies to watch was to snip the ends off the free earphones and use them as a giant straw for the bottle of vodka hidden under your seat.  People would get absolutely plastered by the time I discovered the clandestine booze.  I also had to manhandle Russian astronauts who wouldn't take their seats during bad turbulence. 
See what you can do with a Russian studies major?  But I regret nothing.[/quote]

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