кое-что /or/ что-то

[david-us.livejournal.com]

In my studies (on an audio CD) I ran across the following sentence that I was required to translate into Russian.

(Woman speaking)

"I bought something."

I translated it as, "Я купила что-то."

Then the translation was provided as, "Я купила кое-что."

Was I wrong? Is there a difference between the two; кое-что/что-то? If not, which is more common?

Thanks!

David Emerling
Memphis, TN

Verbs of motion (which I hate)

[david-us.livejournal.com]

Again, on my audio CD, I was required to translate this sentence: "I drove myself to Moscow."

I translated it as: "Я сам ехал в Москву." (I considered that поехал might be more appropriate.)

I was surprised to discover that the correct translation was: "Я сам ездил в Москву."

The use of the verb ездить seems to contradict everything I've ever learned about verbs of motion.

Ездить is for repetitive/habitual activity or it would be used for a round trip, perhaps. Or it could be used when no particular direction is implied.

I don't see how it could be used in this sentence that is describing a one-way trip to a specific location that occurred only one time.

David Emerling
Memphis, TN

Building off of the last post.

[drivebyluna.livejournal.com]

What the difference between caм and себя?