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but at that time I could not have done what they did.  In such ways, I suppose, one's ego is cut down to size.  Once they gave a party, wearing these costumes.  I noted that they brought an attitude almost of reverence to the family samovars, always of beautiful, well-polished brass.  They sang, translating for me, and told ne about their homes and villages.  Although they had left Russia, their love of the homeland remained and it was boundless.  I hope I may have learned from them a little about the often-discussed Russian Soul.

Certainly, they made a better American out of me.

These were the plusses in the work.  There were a number of minuses.  I went to Hellman House three times a week, leaving the campus around four o'clock and returning at ten.  The streetcar and ferry boat ride from Berkeley to South San Francisco took something over an hour.  It was difficult to study, especially on the ferry, because my eyes continually slipped off the page and drifted out across the water.  So I had to work harder to maintain my grades.