I wasn't trying to be adventurous, maybe anything but, yet I managed to be a passenger in a drive down what I discovered is one of the "18 Most Dangerous Highways in the World." Was it because it was so steep? Or, because it was down the flank of a volcano? I was invited to fly through the second highest mountain range in the world, to eat fish soup for lunch. I lived on a sovkhoz one winter and drank more tea in a week, than in my entire lifetime. I've been party to starting a university. Yes, really, and today, accredited. My friends always feed me food, and then ask ..."Do you know what it is, Victoria?" My grandmother always told me, "Try it; you can always spit it out."

I probably made some surprised faces, but I only ever really couldn't finish warm noodle and milk soup--which makes people laugh, because I had already drunk fermented camel and mares' milk, without a hitch (except maybe the initial shock that a horse's milk could taste like soda!) "Try it; you can always spit it out" is probably, underneath it all, my philosophy.

In teaching, it's what I bring to my students. That, and "Try again," -- it's the only thing sure to take away the taste of failure.

In order of proficiency:

*English
*Spanish
*German
. ASL
*Russian (oh so basic)

*Family languages