An American college junior with an avid interest in everything Russian goes to St. Petersburg to study abroad. Her roommate Nora often brings around her boyfriend, Oleg, a former Russian soldier, and he gets into many arguments with the narrator. Though she won't admit it, she is attracted to Oleg, but is inexperienced and therefor overlooked by most of the men. At a party where Russian and American students mingle, they tread lightly over discussion of the war. Later, Nora, Oleg, and the narrator are at dinner when Oleg starts to tell a story about his time as a soldier. He doesn't finish the story until later, where he tells the narrator, alone, about his entire career as a soldier and where it led him in life. She and Oleg share a brief moment. Eventually, the Americans have to go home. Oleg sells the narrator four bottles of vodka and kisses Nora goodbye. The narrator, once home in her off-campus apartment, goes to drink the vodka only to find that all four bottles are filled with water. Conned by Oleg, she is still unable to define her complex feelings for him.