It's Saturday at four p.m. I'm sitting in the lobby of Richard's hotel, smoking. My daughter Vera, sitting next to me, is reading a book. She's got a camera. Taking pictures is Vera's hobby. She wants to take some pictures today. Richard often sits here and waits for me, but today we're waiting for him. There he is! He's coming out of the elevator. Sometimes we walk to the office from the hotel. But we aren't walking to the office now. We're walking to the metro station.
Richard often asks me about myself. Now he's asking me about my family. How big is it? How old are they? What are their jobs? What are their hobbies? I have a large family and I show him our family tree.
Family tree:
Andrew F.
Helen M. Kuznetsov
Michael S. Basov
Nina L. Basov
born 1920
born Jan. 1, '29
born Feb. 23, '28
born Mar. 2, '31
died 1987
doctor
retired
army officer retired
housewife
knitting
gardening
Cooking
reading
Nick A. Kuznetsov
Victor A. Kuznetsov
Lucy M. Kuznetsov
Mary M. Sokolov
born Apr. 3
born May 11, '49
born June 10, '51
born July 12, '61
single
divorced
taxi driver
engineer
teacher
salesclerk
girls
traveling
foreign
swimming
billiards
volleyball
languages
Alex Kuznetsov
Vera Kuznetsov
Boris
born Aug. 20, '72
student
born Sep. 31, '75 high school student
born Oct. 7, '84
music
music
martial arts
photography
computer games
We get to our house and take the elevator to the fifth floor. Richard keeps asking us questions. How much is the rent? Who owns our apartment? How many people share it? His last question is: do they speak English?