I was a freshman in theatre school. Never trust a first year theatre student.
I was having one of those days. I just wanted to be left alone.
I needed clean clothes.
So I was sitting in the local laundromat, waiting for said clean clothes, reading and thinking about the first year language requisite I was taking – Russian, because by the time I’d gotten the call to tell me my audition had been successful, all the ‘normal’ language classes were full.
That’s when I noticed that the laundromat lady was a little crazy.
Okay, maybe ‘crazy’ is a bit harsh. The laundromat lady was… ‘special.’ And I didn’t feel like making small talk with her.
But sure enough, she was headed my way.
I can’t remember the icebreaker she used to start being my ‘friend’, but I do remember what I said. In a heavy Slavic accent, “So sorry…do not spik…Inglis…ya styudenka pa Rusky…”
Laundromat-lady’s face lit up like she’d just discovered diamonds in someone’s pockets. She nodded and smiled and left me alone. I buried my face back in my script.
A few minutes later, I heard her speaking to her replacement prey. “See that cute little girl over there? She’s from Russia!”
It hadn’t occurred to me that I was going to want to wash my clothes there for the rest of the school year. I became so good at the accent, I minored in Russian the following year.
The Ramblings and Rants of Drea M. 
You totally should have legally changed your name to Natasha Petrovsky.
And carried a bottle of vodka all over the place.
By the way, in Soviet Russia, blog updates YOU!!!
Haha, wait a minute, I thought you were Russian. Doesn’t Drea M. stand for Dreavonovich Mihailov?
Or a better joke still would be that I thought Nova Scotia was in Russia – but of course nobody would appreciate that, would they?
Haha, well, I’m glad your theater training has come in handy 😉
Otto: I would change my name to Natasha Petrovsky, but I already changed it recently to Zamboni (see https://andreamacmillan.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/the-blogger-formerly-known-as-drea-m/ ) and I’m now committed to that name. And once you’ve gotten to know me, you’ll realize I always carry vodka with me as well.
Chad: Nova Scotia IS in Russia. You’d love it. You should come visit. Today.