so at first i was seriously nervous about taking russian this semester. any class that meets 6 times a week should freak you out at least a little. what was it that finally calmed me down? the nice professor telling me it would be okay? the support of my friends? or was it viktor? it turns out my text comes with the required beginning language videos, and as i was studying from my book, i discovered a list of the characters we would be meeting, the last of whom was "viktor, a hustling young entrepreneur of the post-soviet era, who always seems to know how to provide hard-to-find goods and services." it's time to get my thug on, because how could a class whose video intro-to-language-drama includes a russian wannabe mafioso not be awesome??