Russian

Breakfast at Sokolniki the morning after the music school's offer: Sam has signed for a year, until next April, and tells Galina Petrovna and Baba Valya he is looking for a room of his own.

Dima and Sam walk down the Arbat and Sam says what he is going to do all year: tune the school's pianos, play jazz in the evenings, somewhere he doesn't know yet, and speak only Russian.

Katya, Dima and Sam go through the room adverts on their phones: Sam needs a room near the Arbat, a piano nearby, quiet, a window, and, Dima says, a landlady who likes Americans.

In a side street off the Arbat, the landlady shows Sam the room: he may open the window and have friends over, he may play the piano but not after ten, smoking is not allowed, and he takes it.

In the hall at Sokolniki with a bag of jars, Galina Petrovna and Baba Valya see Sam off to his room: ring us every week, take the pickles and the jam, come on Sundays, eat properly, and don't forget to speak Russian.

Katya carries the last box up to Sam's new room off the Arbat and asks what he thinks: he likes the room, the window especially, not the noise but the music, someone's guitar in the street, and Moscow and its people.

An older neighbour on the landing wants to know why an American is in Moscow and why he bothers with Russian: because he tunes pianos, because he lives here and likes it, and he doesn't know why yet, which is why he is staying.

The grand at the studio is out of tune and Igor wants to know when: Sam will come tomorrow morning, tune it in three hours, play something afterwards and call when it's ready, and Igor will pay tomorrow.

Dima brings Sam to a basement jazz club off the Arbat in the empty afternoon, and Arkady, the owner, asks whether he wants to play on Friday: he does, very much, standards and one piece of his own, which they all want to hear.

On the club stage with a double bass and a piano, Kolya and Sam rehearse for Friday: first-name terms from the first word, from the top, slower, once more, a break after this one, and the ending again.

Friday at the club bar before Sam's first set, with Katya beside him: are you scared, a little, it's hot in here and loud, are you bored, no, it's fun with you, go, it's time, break a leg, and the one right answer.

The club after Sam's first set, with Arkady, Katya and Dima round the piano: well done, I'm glad I heard you, I'm glad too, glad you played your own piece, we're all glad, every Friday, gladly, glad you're with us, let's celebrate.

Sunday dinner at Sokolniki, where Baba Valya announces a trip: I was born near Suzdal, is it far from here, two hundred kilometres, it's beautiful there, I've never been there, let's go there in June, Mum, you're eighty-two, that's why I'm going, are you coming, I'm coming, we'll go there together.

The ticket office at the station, with Baba Valya at Sam's elbow: two tickets to Vladimir, for when, for Saturday morning, a train from Moscow at seven forty, and back from Vladimir on Tuesday, by the window please, two thousand four hundred rubles.

The hill in Vladimir, the white cathedral and the river below, Baba Valya and Sam: look, what a view, what a cathedral, white stone, how old it is, eight hundred years, what a river, what's it called, the Klyazma, how quiet it is here, what a day.

A honey stall at the Suzdal market, where Baba Valya bargains and Sam buys: how much is the honey, eight hundred a jar, expensive, a bit cheaper, seven hundred, fresher than in Moscow, your cucumbers are better, the best in Suzdal, two jars, which is sweeter, the dark one, take it.

A gate in the village near Suzdal, where Baba Zina meets Baba Valya after forty years and asks about Sam: is it you, it's me, forty years, who's this, your grandson, no, this is Sam, how old are you, I'm thirty, I'm eighty-three, Valya's eighty-two, you're the older one, come in.

A wooden tavern in Suzdal, Baba Valya and Sam ordering: what would you like, a bowl of cabbage soup and a glass of kvass, a plate of pancakes, with sour cream or with honey, with honey and a cup of tea, a small glass of mead, anything else, a bottle of water.

The river bank in Suzdal at evening, the bells ringing, Baba Valya and Sam: do you hear the bells, I hear them, tired but happy, did you like Suzdal, very much, what did you like most, the bells and the market, and Zina, I liked Zina, she laughs like you.

The platform in Moscow, where Katya meets Baba Valya and Sam off the Vladimir train: how was it, wonderful, when do you start at the hospital, on Monday, I'm working all summer, in August I have a holiday, come in July, in July I'll be at the dacha, and in August.

At the dacha gate in July Uncle Vova's car won't start again: what's wrong with it, it doesn't want to, it never starts, it starts in summer, push, we're pushing, try now, it's started, that's called luck.

Uncle Vova wakes Sam at four for the lake: we have to go, why so early, because the fish get up at four, what do I have to do, you have to be quiet, you don't have to talk, you have to wait, I've got one.

Uncle Vova takes Sam and Dima into the banya: with the birch twigs, won't it hurt, with twigs it's better, kvass on the stones, more steam, enough, I'm hot, after the banya you and I are on first-name terms, agreed, with pleasure, enjoy your steam.

In the birch wood Baba Valya teaches Sam to find mushrooms: do you know how, I don't, I can't see any, look under the birch, can you see it, I can see it, can I eat it, that one you can't, it's poisonous, this one you can, now I know how.

A thunderstorm breaks over the dacha kitchen while the jam is on the stove: close the window, it's closed, bring the jars from the veranda, which ones, all of them, help him, don't worry, it'll pass, don't talk, stir the jam, done, don't be afraid, we're here.

Katya's August holiday has begun and she and Sam walk down to the river: what do you love doing here, I love swimming in the morning, I love sleeping in the morning, I love sitting by the river, I love that too, what don't you love, mosquitoes and night shifts, let's go to the river.

Lena and Dima have come for the weekend and the veranda table asks Sam why he came to Russia: to tune one piano, and he stayed to play jazz, and to learn Russian, and to catch fish with me, that too, and I came to see Katya, only Katya?

Katya and Sam on the river bank under the stars: Sam, yes, you like it here, I like it here and I like you, you like me, very much, for a long time now, I like you too, then let's stay a little longer.

The dacha kitchen the morning after the river: you're happy today, yes, I'm happy, and Katya is happy, I'm old, not blind, does Galina Petrovna know, Galina Petrovna knows everything, are you pleased, I'm pleased, Katya is pleased, that's what matters, eat, happy people eat too.

The first of September on the Arbat, the school year starting: the school starts today, and the club on Friday, good luck, next summer I'll be here, let's go to Petersburg for the white nights, you and me, in a year you'll speak like a Russian, and in a year I'll be asking for lessons.