True story from one of my speaking exams:
Me: What other countries would you like to visit?
Student: America! America is wonderful country! Georgians love America, because America loves Georgia!
Me: Yeah, I've noticed.
Student: You are from America, yes?
Me: Actually, no, I'm Canadian.
Student: ...Oh. Canada is very nice country, too.
Me: [...]
Can I blame him, though? The last time Canada and Georgia had meaningful relations was when we killed one of their sons.
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The program organized a trip to Kakheti this weekend, a major wine-producing region and the place I was supposed to move to in August. I picked and stomped grapes, watched bread and khinkali being made by hand, personally made chuchkella (even though I didn't get to personally eat it - Georgia Wish List, I failed you!), and danced to the "police hymn" (the kids' version of that video, by the way, is the cutest thing YOU HAVE EVER SEEN OR WILL EVER SEE).
The photos of my day trip are here in a facebook album. Here's a taste:
I was also interviewed on Georgian TV. I'll post that video once it's online.
* * *
My 14-month-old host sister spends most of her time laughing, but when she cries I've noticed she looks like Patton Oswalt.
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Speaking of Canada's popularity with foreigners, I'm going to engage in a little self-promotion (it's my blog, dammit!) and post a link to "Canada's Immigration Policy: A Focus on Human Capital", a brief I wrote for my former employer, the Migration Policy Institute.
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