[ it's such a nice thing to do - what with the delay in his own formal education he can certainly appreciate that russian is a difficult language, and it's not as though there's much personal benefit to be had from learning russian in america. flora's very caring for someone from a capitalist country, with a lot more focus on the greater good, on the wellbeing of others, than her peers. some of it undoubtedly has to do with having been homeless — such things tend to require a dependence on the collective most americans do not experience, from what he's observed over the past year. ]

[ as he steps back and motions for her to sit on the understuffed curbside futon: ] I would help but am told that I "speak like old man." [ vasiliy says it with humor, but it's true. probably because he's from the same generation as some of russia's oldest elderly. or at least in that range, seeing as he'd be 119 this year, not 33, had he survived. ]

I can however teach you profanity. Some things, they do not change. Russians hate bad driver.