Здравствуйте, меня зовуст Джон! I work for a market research firm, Ive had extensive travel around Europe and Asia and have been exposed to many cultures and languages. Ich spreche mit einegen fließend deutsch, and when a project at work came around that required some Russian language skills, I was "volunteered," because according to my employers, Germany and Russia are "sort of close to each other." Lol... So I took a short online course that was accompanied by a book, learned the азбука and helped with the data processing for the job. Learning the language also means learning so much about the culture, and I have a few dollars set aside for an international vacation this year. Im having a short trip to Moscow at the end of March. I feel like I know enough to be able to navigate public transit effectively, but I like to avoid the "American Traveler" stereotype as much as possible and I'd like to have some interaction with native speakers before leaving.