Egg-celent!

Well, when you bring your culture with you, not all things are understood. How many eggs do we usually buy in America? 12, a dozen. So, how many eggs do I usually ask for when I go to the store- 12. It seems simple enough…right? But alas, not so. You see, 12 and 19 sound very similar. Actually the first time I asked for twelve (in Russian) then the guy said back to me- ten (in English) so I figured close enough, and I said yes. Well, I left with twenty eggs! After that, I went to asking for numbers not sounding like 10, 12, or 20, and asked for 6 or 8. After some time, I figured my Russian had improved and I could once again try for 12 eggs. So I went to the store one day and asked for 12, I actually practiced saying it to people who were in the house and they confirmed that I was saying 12. Well, at the store, I asked for 12 eggs, and when the lady repeated the number, I said yes (though, it is difficult to hear what number a native Russian speaker says when they speak fast and low). I watched as she was putting the eggs into the bag and when she got to about what looked like 12 and continued to put more in the bag, I knew there had been a miscommunication. So once again, I left with about 19 or 20 eggs! I have since found out, that here, they do not usually ask for 12, but rather 10; and there is a special word for asking for ten of something (like asking for a dozen). Yup. I have not practiced it yet, after eating eggs so often, it will be a while before I go back to buy some more!