Here Comes the Square Dancer

I was introduced to my first square dancing experience tonight. (Square dance, for those not familiar, has come to be regarded as the U.S. traditional dance and is the official dance in many U.S. states.) Funnily enough, for some reason, square dancing happens quite often in my program, or at least people always seem to mention it in passing. The dancing was fun, but the best part came during one particular dance when you had to find a partner and say to him/her in Russian: "Саша, Саша, раз-два-три." (Translation: "Sasha, Sasha, one-two-three.") And repeat that twice, while also pointing and shaking your finger at your partner (and then do some dance steps). You can just imagine about 75 of us (with a predominant number of Americans) walking around a huge room, finding a partner and then saying "Саша, Саша, раз-два-три" with the finger pointing, and then just carry on dancing. I just burst out laughing. I have no idea who ever thought of that addition to the dance, but it had most people who spoke/could understand Russian in fits, and the rest of the people struggling to remember and pronounce the words. All in all, the evening was a very "cultural" experience for all involved.