A Russian Birthday

Author's Note: I had a few people comment on the way I wrote my last post and so I thought I would write part of this one in the same vein.

The alarm went of and like every other morning she counted the beeps the watch made. She got a different number every day. Today it was 45. When the watch had finished doing its thing she rolled over and went back to sleep for another ten minutes. Just like every other morning.

When she opened her eyes what seemed like only a few minutes later, she knew there was something wrong. There was too much light coming in the window. She rolled over, and looked at her clock. 7:20 the digital numbers taunted. She hissed a soft Chort! She was supposed to catch a bus in ten minutes. Just as she put her feet on the floor her host mom's voice cut through the stillness of the apartment.

"Abigail?"

"Yeah, I know," She replied. She grabbed her contacts and dashed toward the bathroom. Knowing all the while that she had known she was going to over sleep one day, but did it have to be today? Actually...She decided while frantically scrubbing her teeth, she would've liked to sleep in and not go to school. It was her birthday after all.

Her mission in the bathroom completed, she sprinted back to her room and threw on her school clothes, for once not mentally complaining about the fact she had to wear something akin to a uniform. It made deciding what to wear a whole lot easier.

Back home she would've just skipped breakfast but she knew her Russian mother wouldn't hear of it, so she reluctantly headed towards the kitchen and pour her frosted flakes equivalent into a bowl. She was working on getting her morning started with the most important meal and she wasn't really paying attention to what was on the TV. Just the news, like usual. "THE STATE OF OHIO..." She paused with the spoon halfway to her mouth, the cereal dripping back into the bowl. Why would they anounce something about her state here? She watched the news report without understanding a word, and that frustrated her. Her host mom, seeing her confusion explained that there had been a school shooting. Well, that was interesting. She would have to e-mail her parents about it later.

Finishing her cereal she ran for the bus, though in all honesty as soon as she got out the door she slowed down some. It honestly didn't matter to her whether she was late or not. She tried not to make a habit out of it, but if she was late, the school wouldn't care. It was another average morning on the bus. She disliked the bus because it was usually crowded and the people here were so pushy. But she dealt with it because she didn't want to have to get up for school any earlier than neccesary.

She reached the school with two minutes to spare, inside she changed into her dress shoes and headed to the second floor where her first class was located. The classroom reminded her of one of those disappearance stories. There were bags, and books, but not a single student. That was very unusual. But being the naive person she is, she figured they'd all show up eventually so she started to unpack her stuff.

She had only begun when two of her classmates showed up. The literature teacher appeared and muttered something about another classroom and a birthday, so the classmates took her by the hand and dragged her through the halls.

They arrived at the english room, went inside and there the whole class waited to wish her happy birthday and present her with a few gifts. She was extremely touched and felt herself tearing up. So what if her English teacher had arranged it, it was still a very cool thing.


The rest of her day went smoothly and her spirits were soaring high as she headed home. She and her host mom had arranged for a party to celebrate and she was looking forward to it more than she'd like to admit. She bound up the steps, the stairwell was back to smelling like cigarettes, and opened the door. She removed her coat and scarf and stopped upon entering her room, there waiting for her was a huge bouquet of white lilies and a card from her host mom. She couldn't stop grinning.

The guests began to arrive at 5:30. In the span of an hour she had amassed enough stuff to fill a suitcase. She hadn't expected that people who she'd only known a month and a half to be so kind to her. Each gift was special and unique and she appreciated the thought that went into each one, and knew that it would find a place with her when she went back to America. She loved all her gifts, but her pride and joy was from the Rotary Club.

At dinner the Club president made a speech. They had known that she wanted to learn to play the national instrument. So they helped her out and got her a khomus. A simple piece of metal that could speak worlds. She adored it.

Toasts were made some she understood and some she didn't, all of them wishing her life, luck, and happiness. Somehow she knew they meant every word of it too. There was food. So much good food, though she was distracted and only ate a little. People kept coming and going, and she had to greet them, or thank them yet again, she was getting tired, but she was enjoying every minute of it.

A game of twister later, she was sitting with a group of friends trying to figure out how many USAs would fit into Russia. It reminded her of an old SCTV sketch and that made her smile. The phone rang, but she paid no mind to it. Probably one of her host mom's friends. Yet a few moments later her host mom entered the room and held the phone out to her. "Who is it?" She asked.

"Papa" came the reply. She took the phone hesitantly because surely it was some random Russian on the other end of the phone. Surely it wasn't her father calling. The voice on the other end of the phone confirmed that it was. She spoke with them for a half an hour, her flesh and blood parents, and felt slightly bad that she did most of the talking, and honestly couldn't remember what she even talked about, and she enjoyed talking with them, she really did. But when she got off the phone and joined the party at the table once more she had a sudden shock. She realized that though she loved her real parents and missed them, they were part of a different life, and she loved hearing their voices and telling them about what she was doing, and hearing about home, but she realized as she sat at that table, listening to the Russian fly past her that she felt like she belonged here. And that feeling was bittersweet.



Not to kill the mood, but as you can tell my birthday was awesome. Better than I expected, though I wasn't expecting too much so as not to be disappointed. For those of you who do not know what a khomus is, look it up on wikipedia and I'll play it for you when I get home. The instrument is kind of a big deal here, it seems like almost everyone learns to play at least a little on one, and you can do some cool stuff with it. I was really excited that the Rotary Club was kind enough to get one for me. I just wanted to share a few interesting thoguhts and observations with you in first person.

First of all, I'm proud of my language skills. No, they're not "madd skillz" yet, but I'm working on it. Yesterday I was walking from school with two friends, and one asked me about the weather in my state right now, so I was explaining about how it's cooler and rainy, and then I decided to explain that it was beautiful because the trees were all colors, so I go "But It's so pretty because the..." I suddenly realize I don't know the word for "tree" just the word for "Forest" so I'm like "Because the...forest only one...is gold." My friend figured out what I meant and told me the word for tree. Which I promptly forgot again. I don't know why it takes me so long to remember some words and not long at all to remember others. I do best though when I can hear the word, see what it looks like, and then write it down. Usually I'll remember it then. Sometimes I have to reapeat it a lot in my head.

In liturature class I sit next to a guy, and infront of two more guys. This makes literature class a very interesting experience. Especially today when they were practicing their English. I'm sitting there, trying to pay attention in Literature, but slowly drifting off into a day dream when all of a sudden the guy next to me whispers to the guys behind me "I want to F*** animals" Naturally this makes me suddenly sit up and give them a funny look before busting up laughing. I think they forgot that I can understand English the looks on their faces was priceless.

The main reason I recounted this story for you is because of this. When school let out, I was walking with my friend Nina and I was able to recount this story to her. In Russian (In a cleaned up version.) I was so proud of myself. You have no idea.

Let me see, what other news can I tell you...Oh! I know! So I had asked Raisa about my second host family. Not because I am unhappy here, but because I was just curious. She told me that she didn't know and to ask the Rotary club. So I asked the Rotary Club president and she didn't know either. So at my party we had a little private chat and this is what I understood.

I might not have another family. I might just stay here. In fact that's what will probably happen and here's why. The rotary club here is small. There aren't a ton of people in it. There is one family that has kids, but they have a baby who's like three months old so they can't take me. Basically what this means is that since there is a shortage of good families, I'll probably just stay here with Raisa. I was actually more pleased than I thought I would be to hear this. Raisa is awesome, and the apartment is nice, and I've got a routine established. Besides, I like the fact that I can kind of do my thing. This is what I told the president. If they find another family. Fine, and if not, that's okay with me too. So as far as I know this is going to be my place of residence during the rest of my stay here. And while at first I wanted host brothers or sisters, I'm now okay with the fact that my two host sisters are far away. Mostly because my social life has picked up, and I actually have friends. Whoo hoo! Go friends!

The only other news I can think of at the moment is that the district governor is coming here from Alaska. I think on November first. I think I'm supposed to play the Khomus for him when he comes. hee hee hee.

They Were the Best Potato Chips She'd Ever Eaten: A Personal Narrative in the Third Person

Authors note: Sometimes I feel that I write better in the third person than first person. I've been thinking about doing something like this for a couple of weeks and finally decided it was time. I guess the real purpose of it is to give you more of an inside look at what my everyday life is like here. Hope you enjoy it.

The time and temperature sign on the top of the Sakha Telecom building read -3 when she was walking home from school. Negative three degress and she was eating ice cream. She didn't feel odd about it. She wasn't the only one enjoying the treat. She licked at the cone fiercely holding it first with one hand and then the other, as they alternately numbed and then warmed when she stuck them in her pocket. She was irritated. Irritated with the buracracy in this country. What kind of country makes you register before allowing you to enter a library? She frowned as she walked. Hoping that when she returned in a few days they would accept her American passport. Probably not.

Her face brightened slightly as she hit the carmel center of her cone. It was her favorite part. She strolled toward the largest supermarket in town, she thought it was the best because it usually had the most variety, but it was a good ways away from her apartment so she rarely went there. As she strolled she thought about how much she'd changed in these six weeks.

Lost in her thoughts, she no longer noticed the dirt covering the soviet era cars, and the bits of broken beer bottles lying around. It was just part of the landscape. She reached the store and went inside, rejoyicing in the relative variety. She strolled through the aisles and picked out what she wanted, noticing that there were only three brands of pop this time, while there were about five different types of colgate toothpaste. On her way to the checkout, she walked down the chip aisle. What she desperately wanted was potato chips. Potato chips that weren't bacon, onion, cheese or crab flavored. Just plain potato chips. She didn't see any and was turning away when her eye caught a yellow package. Joy of Joys! The package said "Naturalnye" and they were lays! She could hardly contain her excitement. Then her eye fell on the price. Fifty two rubles. She groaned inwardly. Fifty two rubles why that was a week's worth of bus money! She gazed longingly at the package, debating inwardly for a few minutes. Finally she reached out and plucked the package from the shelf. She hadn't had regular potato chips in a long time. It was worth it.

She paid and as soon as she left the store she opened the chips, the cellophane was music in her ears. She grabbed one crispy chip and popped it into her mouth. It was the best potato chip she'd ever eaten. Even the chips in the states couldn't compare to original russian lays. There was something almost more natural about it. Even the grease that was left behind on her fingers seemed more natural somehow.

Heading home, she munched her chips all the way, enjoying every last bite and resolving to save some for later if there were any left by the time she got home. There weren't. It was getting dark by the time she reached her building. She checked her cell. 5:15pm She keyed open the outside door to the apartment building. The first thing she noticed as she began to climb to the fourth floor was that the hallway smelled like beer instead of cigarettes. Well that was an interesting change. When she reached the door that lead to her apartment, she stuck her skeleton key in the lock without hesitation. She coaxed the key like a stray kitten and obligingly the door swung outward. She popped her second key into the door that led to the apartment itself and without furthur delay stepped onto the small swatch of carpet right inside the door. She took of her scarf, hat, and coat and hung them up. Glad that it was still warm enough to wear her shorter jacket, or kourtka, while at the same time looking forward to the weather that would force her to wear her warmer coat.

Looking for something to do, she plopped down at the computer hoping to hear a word from her family and friends. If she didn't she wasn't going to stress about it. She knew they were just as busy as she.

A Dog, A Coat And A Near-Death Experience

This is a picture of Sully. Actually the dog's name is more like sally but pronounced S-AH-lly if I write sally you'll mentally pronounce it sally so I'm going to spell it Sully. Sully is the dog. Why haven't I mentioned Sully before? Because he/she/it (I'm not sure which I think she but I'm just going to say he for the sake of clarity) has only recently come to live with us (I guess this is a regular event)He was with my Russian grandparents up until a day or two ago. The reason that Sully is even worth mentioning is because I dislike him. The first day he was here, I came home from lunch and he followed me around the house. Literally. Also the whole time I was eating lunch he sat and stared at me. No lie. I found out later it's because he's used to getting bits of meat from the table, but still how would you feel if you are trying to relax and eat lunch and a little grey poodle is just sitting there staring at you. I think he's planning something. Seriously. I think he's going to overthrow the Yakutian government or something.

Sully is Raisa's dog. He literally waits all day for her to come home and then he follows her around the house. When I'm here with him alone, he makes me nervous. Mostly because he follows me around the house and every few seconds he sits up and listens to see if Raisa is unlocking the door. Honestly I think the thing needs a tranquilizer, or maybe a chew toy or something. Other than his nervous temperament, I dislike the fact that you can't pet him. When Raisa brought him home, I leaned over to have him sniff my hand and then maybe pet him and Raisa goes "Don't! He'll eat you!" And made a biting motion on her finger. Great a dog that's not only planning world domination, but also planning on treating me like Hansel and Gretel. That makes me feel Real great.

We went to the "market" today, again. Market is in "" because the one we went to yesterday to try on coats, and today to buy a coat is actually more like a mall. I'm planning on going back and heading for the fourth floor because the food court on the fourth floor is the only place in town I know of that you can get a hamburger and fries. Oh I miss McDonald's! Yakutsk is too small to have one. That's what Raisa told me once, that the bigger cities like Vladivostock have McDonald's but not Yakutsk. Anyway, we went to Akvarium which is the name of the "market" and we bought a winter coat for me. Actually I bought a winter coat for me. It was on sale too! Only six thousand rubles! Now that might sound like a lot and it is, even in Rubles, but when you think about how the Shubi which are the nice fur coats that people sometimes wear in winter run upwards of 20 000 rubles, 6000 isn't so bad. Not really. Anyway, I love my new coat. It's light blue and has some fur like stuff around the hood but not enough that it's going to irritate me. I had Raisa help me take a picture so I could show it too you.

After Akvarium, we went to the Chinese market because I'd heard that stuff there was cheaper. It was, but the whole place was overwhelming because if you try to just look at stuff the chinese people attack you and try to get you to buy. Plus, some of them don't speak Russian real well so that makes it difficult.

We were really tired so we looked at the market and then headed home. On the way, Raisa said that she needed to get gas for the car. I was like okay. So Raisa gets out and I'm sitting in the car jamming to the radio and...wait...the radio? Yes, All of a sudden I realize that the radio is still on. "Oh my word! Did she leave the car on? I think so. Should I turn it off? No, she already has the gas cap open." I reached out and put my hand on the dash in front of me and velt vibration. "Chort! she did leave the car on" It was then that I started praying for all I was worth. "Oh please, oh please oh please don't let me die right here. Please, please please" Was going through my head as I tried not to think of the whole SUV exploding in a fiery ball of death. What would they tell my parents? That line from zoolander kept popping into my head for some reason. The one about the tragic gasoline fight accident.

It felt like Raisa was pumping that gas for eternity. And I thought about how in America they have those little warnings on the gas pumps and the first one is "Turn off Car," They even put that one before "no smoking." Finally after I'd sat there praying my heart out, Raisa gets back in the car. I'm expecting her to reach for the ignition to turn the car on and realize she'd forgotten to turn it off, but when she gets in the car she reaches right for the gear shift. SHE LEFT IT ON ON PURPOSE. Now that really freaked me out!

A Night at the Opera

Okay, techinically it was a night at the ballet but that didn't have nearly the ring to it that "a night at the opera" did. Besides there was opera involved. Yesterday afternoon, I came home for lunch after school and then I went back to school to recite a poem for Teachers day. Personally I thought teacher's day was awesome and I think we should have it in America. See, basically in Russia October 5th is day of teachers. This means that the students give cards, flowers, and candy to their teachers to show their appreciation. Our school also had an assembly where the different classes did different things to show their appreciation of the teachers at our school. That's where I recited the poem. The poem I chose to recite was by Robert Frost. The title? The Road Not Taken It goes as follows:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler long I stood
And looked down one as far I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps a better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh I saved the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Someday ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wook and I
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.


It was funny because I went up to the mike and said hello in Russian and everyone clapped for me. It made me smile. When I was finished, everyone cheered which made me feel really good about myself.

after the program, Raisa picked me up and we went to see the famous ballerina Anastasia Verochkova. She's danced in Moscow which is really cool. I was surprised because there was no rule or announcement about not taking pictures during the performance. So I did. Unfortunately most of the pictures turned out badly. Stupid camera.



My favorite dance was where Volochkova danced with a guy, but he was all stiff, kind of like he wasn't there. Then at the end you find out that he'd been killed. It's hard to explain, but I really enjoyed the story the dance told.

In between ballet sets were opera singers. Naturally they were really good. Probably the best I've heard, though I haven't seen a ton of opera so I'm not really an expert.

That's basically it I guess. The ballet was awesome, the night went well. That kind of thing. I'm tired right now as I've been going at a constant pace all week. It's funny because whenever I don't have anything planned, Raisa tells me to call someone to hang out. I tried to get a hold of a few people but they're all busy. Good. Maybe I'll take a walk by myself. There's a CD I've been wanting to buy and I've also been wanting to hit the Pushkin library, I just haven't had a chance.

By the way, it's been snowing all day. Again. People have started telling me that winter's begun. Actually I'm enjoying the weather as even though it's pretty cold here it doesn't feel nearly as cold as home. I finally figured out why. There hasn't been an icy winds. I hope it stays that way!

Guessing Game

Okay, now it's time to play a little game I've put together. There is a picture at the top of this post. Do all of you see it? Good. Now here's the game. Can any of you guess the place where this picture was taken?
(No peeking to the rest of this post)
-
-
-
If you said Yakutsk, give yourself a point.
If you just said Russia, you need to learn the name of my city and you only get half a point.
Now, Can you guess when this was taken?
-
-
-
-
If you said this morning, you automatically lose. No. Actually you just lose a point.
The correct answer is yesterday. If you said yesterday, go you! you get another point. Now, do you know what the date was yesterday?

October 3rd.

Yeah, that's right. I got up yesterday morning and was doing my thing and Raisa says "It's the first snow!" and I was like "What?" She goes "You didn't see it?" uh...no. So I look out the window and sure enough, there's snow on the ground. When I went outside to walk to the bus stop I found out it was a decent covering of snow. It stayed most of yesterday before melting into muck. This morning when I woke up, there was no snow on the ground. I went outside to go to the bus stop and guess what? It was snowing. Hard. It snowed all day. Basically. It stopped snowing around three and all the snow melted into muck. But all day it snowed. And snowed and snowed. It was like midwinter Ohio, only less cold. It was snowing hard enough that if this were Ohio they probably would've cancelled school. Here they cancel school when there's no heat in the building. Or when it's too foggy. My guess is that it's probably going to snow tomorrow. Let the Yakutian winter begin!

In other news, I'm doing much better here for those of you who don't know. Things got better my fourth week here, and I'm enjoying myself a lot. I feel like I'm integrating better with my classmates, and I can understand spoken Russian better. Sometimes I can understand better than people think I can. I'm proud of myself because I can have conversations outside of just the basic small talk. Sure, I have horrible grammer, and sometimes I pantomime a lot, and I really need a thesaurus to improve my vocabulary, but at least I can do it. Last night I was telling Raisa about a poem I read for literature, that I didn't understand and what the teacher said it was about, and then I told her a little about Bunin. Today I sat and talked to a girl from school for about twenty mintues. Some of it basics and some of it not. Oh and I recounted my Great Bus Adventure in Russian. Twice.

And now for your enjoyment
THE GREAT BUS ADVENTURE!

Here's how it went down. There is one bus that stops at the station nearest the apartment complex where I live. That bus is number 17. When I first started riding the bus in the mornings, Nadia, my classmate, said that I had to be careful to not get on the wrong bus because there are two bus 17s and one goes to the wrong side of the city. So today guess which bus I got on?

Yup, the wrong one. Personally I handled it very well. I remained calm, and honestly it didn't really matter to me that I was going to be late for school. The school doesn't really care if your late and I don't know, I just have this really lax attitude about school while I'm here. I'm on the wrong bus and I'm like. "Okay, it's an exchange adventure." and with that I rode the bus. I had it all planned out when I was going to get off, and then the bus driver goes "It's the end of the line, everyone off!" or the Russian equivalent so I gave him my money and got off. Do you want to know where I was? I was at the opposite end of the city. No joke. I was seriously on the opposite side of the city from where I started. In some was, the school was closer to where I lived than I was. I didn't have a ton of money with me to get back on the bus so I started heading towards the general direction I thought the school was. Did I mention it was snowing...Hard? Yeah so by the time I got to school I looked like the abominable snowman. I was only about ten minutes late. I looked at the schedule, realized that our first lesson was math, not literature like I had previously thought and promptly decided that I wasn't going to math.

I don't skip classes. Seriously, it's not a habit I have. I accidentally skipped gym class once here, and on Wednesdays sometimes I skip, but that's technically not skipping because I go to the Rotary meetings. It was just. I was tired from walking across the city, and hot because I'd been wearing my coat and my sweater and so I'm roasting and decided that I couldn't take sitting through math class. So I didn't. I sat and talked to a girl from one of the other 11th grade classes and you know what? I think I got more out of that than if I'd sat in on Math because it gave me a chance to practice my Russian.

This is kind of off topic, but what amuses me is when I start thinking in my head the way Russians speak English. I don't talk to native english speakers here. Why? Because there aren't any. Well except for Judith that one time, but she's in Vladivostock now. Anyway, so when I hear English I hear English the way Russians speak it. (Except for Leilia because she speaks English with a German accent because she just came back from Germany but that's another story.) So today I was walking to the city center and I was thinking about something, and I thought about how tomorrow is "the day of teachers" That's seriously the way the words were in my head. Not teacher's day like a good native english speaker, but day of teachers. It made me smile. I did it yesterday too. I said something about "In Sakha Republic" the Russian speakers tend to leave out the "the" in The Sakha Republic". It's just something interesting.

Okay this is a really long post, but just wanted to give you all a thorough update on my life while I have the chance. To end with here are some entertaining mistakes I've made the past few days that either I've caught or the native speakers have.

Me: "Yeah, the restaurant is in the old year"
--In Russian the word for year is "god" (long o) and the word for city is "gorod" I was speaking quickly and accidentally said "god"

me: *pointing to the crosswalk signal for go" The alien is my friend!
--Leilia laughed at this one. The crosswalk signal for go is a green colored person that looks like they're walking. So I said "The green person is my friend" or "the green man is my friend" I found out after I said it that "green man" (In Russian zelonii chelovek) is basically the phrase for Aliens (UFO not aliens from another country)

This Ain't Carnival Cruise Lines or How I Spent Another Yakutian Weekend.

*Note this post is excerpted from Dnevnik: The Paper Journal of Abigail Faust All rights reserved.

28th September [Friday]
I love how plans change in [Yakutsk] and I'm not being sarcastic. It seriously Amuses me. Here's what I was planning on doing this weekend: Tomorrow not much of anything except possibly some shopping. Sunday I was going to do a bunch of running around. Here's what I'm actually doing this weekend: Taking a two day boat cruise to see the Lena Pillars with some random person who teaches english who I've never met. It's okay though, Rotary prepared me for hanging out and spending time with and even sharing a room and bed with someone I don't really know so it's all good.

Later 21:24
So I came home after Russian, had tea and then Raisa and I left for the port. K...I forget her name, the teacher, said she'd meet us at the port. (*Note* At the end of the trip I remembered her name was Kunai so In the rest of this post, she will be referred to by her name.)We came to the ship after a short drive. Raisa helped me get the key to my room and set my stuff in the room and then we stood around with some of Raisa's co-workers and some worker guy waiting for Kunai...The ship pulled out at about 7 I think. Basically I got aquainted with my "friend" for the trip and we sat around looking at pictures of Yakutsk and Yakutia in books and talked before dinner. Dinner itself wasn't spectacular but it was decent enough. I liked the main entree, didn't care for the salad. Now I'm enjoying some alone time. I think in about half an hour there might be a movie in the кинозал (movie hall) but I'm not entirely sure. What I really want is to go to the top deck and see if I can see the stars. I haven't seen them in so long!

29 September
...The Pillars are outside my window. We are passing them as I write. I didn't realize that they go on for what seems like miles. I sat on the middle deck watching them go by for the longest time, but I finally caved to the cold and came into my warm room.

So there I was, sitting there watching these huge franite formations go by, aching from the raw beauty of it, wishing I could share it with the people back home, but as mom reminded me we are all alone inside ourselves, and I don't care what John Donne syas, she's right. [No offense]I would not trade the experiences I've had in this country for anything.

Yeah, it's a little depressing that pictures don't do this land justice and the only other thing I have is feeble words, but maybe that's okay.


I did some praying up on the deck, thanking God for stopping the rain this morning, tanking him a thousand times that I'm in this place and can see the beauty that his hands created. I mean the nature outside my window, yes. But I mean more than that too. I mean what I've seen so far of this country. I feel like dancing with joy...

Later 15:42
My idea of hell is one long staircase that you have to keep climbing and climbing for all eternity. Doesn't sound that bad? Try climbing a really long staircase. It's pretty bad. If you want the staircase to look like pie, try going down steep shale covered trails. You do that and you'll be like me saying лесница моя подруга! the staircase is my friend!

...I went with a group of Kunai's former students [To the top]. The boat docked and I went with this group of three girls and a guy onto the rocky beach...We walked around and took some pictures and then it was time to actually climb up one of the pillars which I was pretty excited about. Sasha, the guy, decided to go on a path that wasn't technically a path and we girls decided to follow the "real" path. It was seriously a lovely walk. At first. All pretty trees and rocks, and pillars of stone. Then we started the actual ascent. I think that in America if there was an ascent that steep, they'd put a slowly increasing zig-zag path. But do the Russians? Not really. There was basically this hugely long staircase that went straight up.

Okay so it wasn't vertical vertical, but it was pretty bad. I worked up a sweat on that one, let me tell you what. So we go through this grueling but preey climb and then we reach the top of the pillars and there's a beautiful iew of the river and other pillars. We walked around and took pictures in several different spots. Sasha met us at the top (we beat him). We stood and looked at the beauty of it and took loads more pictures. Then we decided to go back down, but not the way we had come. We decided to go down the way Sasha had come up. Now that was scary.

Other than exchange, it was probably the hardest thing I've done. I[t] was steep and covered with loose gravel and I kept loosing my footing. Very, very, scary. There was this one place that was particularly steep. I'm coming closer and closer to it and thinking "HOw am I ever going to make it over this?" And then came my life lesson. One of the girls, Anna, waited for me, took my hand, and led me over the particularly steep part. She basically was an anchor to keep me from falling or sliding. While she was helping me, I just kept thinking "God, it's pretty cool that even at a time like this, you're reminding me you're there."

The whole Lena pillars experience was awesome, like a lot of the experiences I have in this country...

The Russian Influence

First off I'd just like to say go me! I double checked the disconnect button and so I can now make my internet time stretch longer by disconnecting from online while I type. HUZZAH!

Have you ever thought- Really thought- about how much you are influenced by the everyday world around you? If you haven't then take a step back now and think about it. Like I never realized how much I was influenced by my friends back home until someone told me I sound like them, or I started using some of the same phrases they do. But that's not really the point of this post (Sorry to all my lovely Druzya.) The point of this post is that I didn't realize until today how much of an influence this city has made on me in only three short weeks.

Three weeks. Yup. Yesterday was the official start of my fourth week here. I didn't realize how much I'd been influenced by this new world around me until Judith walked into the picture. Judith is an American. She's an older lady who spends ten months at a time travelling around Russia's far east giving seminars on teaching English. This is here third or fourth time doing this. She is based in Vladivostock and travels to all different far east cities. Including Yakutsk.

She went with us to the zoopark (that's pronounced Zahpark in russian. I should have been excited at the prospect of getting to speak english to a native english speaker since that's one of the things I was complaining about in my paper journal. Honestly I prefered to stick with my limited Russian if I could.

Judith can't speak Russian therefore it kind of boosted my ego to know that I at least had an inkling of what Raisa, Masha, and Evgenia were talking about and in some instances I could sort of join in on the conversation.

I never thought I'd come to love this city. I'll never forget my thoughts as they drove me home from the airport. I thought this was the ugliest city in the world, yet as we drove past it on the way to the cafe where we ate lunch I wanted to proudly point out "That's our University!" Except I realized that Judith already knew this as she'd given seminars there the past two days.

I guess it just surprised me, to know that I've come to feel this way about the city, and the Russian people in only three weeks. No, I don't feel Russian (At least not yet) and I'm definitely not Yakutian, but it doesn't really feel like I'm quite American either. To be perfectly honest, it's not a bad feeling. It's like I'm neither one nor the other, but a little of both and that's okay with me.

Better

It's plus four degrees celcius. Vika, A girl I met today, told me that in december I'm going to miss the days of Plus four degress. Probably.

Today was a little better. Not school, but this afternoon. Raisa wants me to get out of the house more and I agree with her completely. I wanted to go do something. Anything, and even though most of the people on my phone list I didn't really want to hang out with. So Raisa called up another one of Sakhayana's friends, Vika. I met her and a girl named Tanya at Lenin square. We went and got drinks at a cafe and sat around talking for a while until their friend (The third) Natasha met us, for clarity's sake we call her Nataha. Anyway so we went cafe hopping. I guess that's what people do here. Although we'd do the same thing in canton with Starbucks and Steak and Shake, so it's really not all that different. After the first cafe we went to the Cafe at the Lena theater. I met a whole bunch of people who knew Vika and that group, most of whom I don't remember. We walked and talked, were joined by some guys which was nice. (I've been missing guys, not in a BOYS! way, but just their personalities. I've had limited guy contact since I've been here.) We talked about slang and stuff in Russian and English, and the girls thought my demonstration of the word "emo" was hilarious. It was a really awesome time. And it made me feel better about being here. Made me feel like I can make it.

I'm only just know realizing it, but I think that this exchange is probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I didn't realize it going in. I should have. I'd heard hints about it, and Madame warned me straight out, but did I listen? No, I thought "nah, I was meant for exchange, that won't happen to me, I won't get homesick, I won't have any problems" and I haven't had any major problems, it's just that this whole experience itself is tough. I mean, it doesn't sound difficult when you lay it out in front of you

"s an exchange student you will spend ten months in a foreign country going to school, learning the language, the culture, and trying to integrate yourself while promoting world peace. " I mean going to school? It honestly doesn't sound that hard does it? But it is! Sometimes I don't appear stressed and even don't feel stressed, but I am. I mean I have to be kind and polite all the time. I have to try to remember faces that all look the same (Especially here in Yakutsk where practically every one is Yakutian and so they all have that Asian look) I have to make small talk with random people I've just met who I'm supposed to hang out with again and again even though I might think they are immature, or stupid, or whatever. I have to sit and listen to conversations that take place around me. I have to try to participate in them. I have to smile (but not too much), do my school work, get out of the house and do things, be myself, but be myself in a different way because the Russian way of thinking and acting and being me might not be the same as the American me. It's all very confusing actually.

okay enoguh of that. I'm not sure whether it was complaining, philosophy, or observation. Here's an observation. I've decided that the Russian language is basically just a collection of Root words that you combine with about a thousand prefixes and suffixes to create new words and variations on those words. You probably are thinking that since I've discovered this it's accelerated my learning of Russian. You're wrong. Honestly it's still just as hard because I never know which prefixes and suffixes I need to use to try to express what I'm trying to say. Which is really really frustrating. Not to mention my horrible grammer. I try not to giggle at the odd things my classmates say in English class because I know I sound just as bad, if not worse when I speak Russian.

Honestly

There's nothing really exciting going on here. Seriously. I know that you're thinking "But you're in Russia! How can nothing be going on?" Okay so stuff goes on, just not stuff that's worth writing about. actually I do have some essays I intened to put on this blog (Essays about life here and such) but I can type them up while not connected to the internet and then publish them. Right now I'm actually connected and I'm afraid to press the disconnect button (Yes I know which one is the disconnect button now. Hooray for the dictionary!) because I'm afraid of killing the internet connection again. So I'll type some up maybe tomorrow and post whenever I can.

I think this weekend we're going to the "zoopark" which as you might guess is the zoo. I'm like "okay, sounds cool to me." I think Raisa thinks I should get out of the house more. I seriously need to make the effort to get in touch with people I've met here. which I seriously am going to start doing. Seriously. Because Anna Nicholaevna, my tutor, told me that I should speak as much as possible with native speakers. So since I'm here I've decided that school work takes second place. Yes I try in school. I special assignments in Literature, Obshest, History, and English. I do my work for French. I copy problems from the board to my notebook in Physics and Math. Yes, I know that's bad, but here's the thing. I'm here to learn Russian. The math they are doing in math class I don't understand in English so I definitely don't understand in Russian. They move really fast too. So while I do make an effort to do stuff in class, and try the problems and all, I honestly don't make that much effort outside of class. My priority here is learning Russian, not the functions of x and the integral of s. Sorry guys, but that's the way it is.

Anyway, since I have nothing of interest here's a music video for you. It's my favorite Russian song right now. I think I might buy the CD that has this song on it. It's pretty popular here right now. It's by MakSim.

Day Trip

This is Russia's far east. Isn't it absolutely beautiful? The photograph doesn't do it justice. Honestly. Whoever thought that this part of the world wasn't beautiful was high or on crack or something (Yeah, I know, it was me. I said they were sending me to the ugliest place on earth, well I lied so there.) Sudnday I spent the day with my host mom, My host cousins Masha and Lavrik and Anna who was translating for me. We drove all through the countryside, took a long ferry ride across the Lena River, Drove a long ways more over very bumpy dirt roads and then we came to the Druzhba center. It is an outdoor museum full of information about life in early Yakutsk and the Yakut people. I had a really good time.

On the ferry ride to the museum I learned how to play Four card Durak. It's a card game that kind of reminds me of uno. I enjoyed it a lot. I loved getting to hang out with Masha, Lavik and Anna. I learned about the rich history of Yakutsk. I learned that if you drive through the countryside, take a roll of toilet paper, no rest areas here. I learned that this part of the world is beautiful in it's own way. I learned about the First church in yakutsk, about the first school and how the teacher lived in the front part and taught in the back. Yup, Sunday was definitely a very good day.

One interesting thing. I figured out why even though it's the size of Akron, Yakutsk feels smaller than Alliance. See, with alliance if you're looking for something to do, you just drive to canton or akron, and find it. (momentary flashback to summer) Here, it's Yakutsk. That's about it. When the city ends it's backwoods Russia. Literally. I mean, there are farms, but not a whole ton. It's like when the city ends so does civilization. But I love the rugged beauty. Oh and the farms. They don't fence in the animals. I can see why. Why waste money on fences when there's no place for the animals to wander off too. I mean, they just go graze and do there thing and come back at night. IF you're driving on the roads near dusk you do have to be careful that you don't hit the animals.

They're smart though, both the cows, and the dogs that roam the city. I've seen them wait to cross the road until it was safe. Just like the people. It's very impressive if you ask me.

Well I hope for those of you who were hoping I would give a more substantial post, here it is, enjoy it.

Oh and there were some "complaints" about my use of the word "random" All I can say is that it's a good word to use when describing random events (yup there it is again) No, seriously it's all in good fun.

I appreciate all the e-mails from everyone after my second Russia update, I'm sorry I don't always reply, but I appreciate it, I really do.

hope everything is going well for everyone!

WARNING

Do not click on computer buttons when you can't understand what they say.

Ever.

It's a bad idea.

A very bad idea.

Bad things might happen.

You might just break your host family's internet connection.

If you do happen to click a button, make sure you don't try to fix the problem by clicking more buttons that you can't read.

More bad things might happen

Like you locking your host family out of their computer

Like your host mom having to call her nephew to come and fix it.

Learn your lesson and leave well enough alone.

Chalk this one up to embarrassing moments on exchange.



Okay that was going to be all I was going to say, but life has been alternately boring and interesting here in Yakutsk so I thought I'd let you all know what's going down here. It's not that anything particularly exciting is going on, it's just little things that build up after a while. I had a foray into the guy culture in this country and realized that the phrase "Boys will be boys" is completely true. I've been learning more of the language. I feel like I'm not learning much culture, but maybe I'm just not noticing it. I'm liking it better here. I'm more used to the outside being rather chilly and all the buildings being burning hot inside. I'm making some friends. I don't know how close or tight they'll become, but it's better than having no one. I still miss my posse though.

I've been here fourteen days and my dictionary is falling apart.

I'm becoming more involved with school. I have projects to do for three teachers, and homework to do for two more. My weekend is booked up with social stuff. I'm basically doing well here, and enjoying life.

Russia Update #2

Hello all!

Hope everyone is doing well, both back home in America and anywhere else you all might happen to be. I have just completed my first week in Russia and it's been a trip so far, let me tell you what.

Arrival
I arrived Here in good old Yakutsk last Saturday morning at about 11 am. The trip over was pretty unsuccessful except for some slight freak outage in the Moscow airport (try getting my bags searched twice, having to pay overage charges, and only having two hours to get there get my stuff, get through security and get on the plane.)

I was a little overwhelmed when I first got here. I kept thinking "What am I doing? Why did I come to this country? Why am I in this city? Ten months!?!? I must be crazy!" Sleep helped though. I went to bed about 2pm and woke up Sunday morning at about 6. Sunday morning my host mom, Raisa, took me on a tour of the city. She showed me some of the main features of the city and we bought me some school supplies. When we got done with our little tour we went and got the car, picked up my host grandparents and drove them out to the Dacha. I was expecting the dacha to be a house on an isolated piece of Siberian wilderness. In all actuality it's a group of buildings surrounded by a wall, surrounded by all these other dachi (Pl. of dacha), It rather reminded me of a campground only with permanent buildings.

We came back and I met Natasha. She is the good friend of my host sister who's in America. We took a walk around the city, hung out at a cafe, and went and saw a movie. It was an interesting time.

School
I started school on monday. The first day I only went to two classes because I had to get registered with the city. I have school Monday through Saturday from about 8am to about 1:30 pm. I usually have about four classes a day. What I have everyday changes, and as far as I know doesn't stay the same from week to week either. You have to look at a schedule that is posted everyday to find out what classes you have the next day, and therefore, what books to bring to school. At the moment, I dislike school. Mostly because I have to concentrate to understand stuff, and even then I don't usually get a lot out of the lessons. It makes me tired.

Food
If you've read my blog, you know how I feel about the food here. Honestly, most everything I eat I like. There have been some random things that I've eaten, but like I said, it's good. My favorite thing is Borcht. It's so greasy and so good. I drink chai (tea) with almost every meal. In the states I would usually drink it with sugar, but here I drink it plain. I suppose you could say black, but since not all the tea I drink is black tea, I'm not sure if that applies.

Misc.
I've noticed a lot of things here. Sometimes I notice them and forget to write them in my paper journal and I'll remember them later, and forget to write it down again. It's rather frustrating.

I'm really allergic to the mosquitos here. I know that sounds random, but it's the truth. There aren't a ton of them, but I have been bitten several times and the skin around it swells up really bad, worse than in America. Don't know why, but it does.

I've been practicing my "russian face" This is the very serious face I put on when I'm walking down the street. Russians smile when they're around friends, but they don't randomly smile at people in the street.

Lines exist as either clumps of people, or when there's an actual line, I've seen people get out of line to go check on something, or have a smoke, and when they come back, they take up their old spot. My guess is that this dates back to soviet times when people had to stand in long lines to get goods.

Pictures
I forgot to mention this in my introductory e-mail. I don't have a laptop here, but I do have a card reader. This means that I plug the reader into the computer, pop in my memory card with all my pictures, and bam, I upload them to the internet. Isn't technology great? All the pictures I upload can be found at one location. Flickr. I encourage you all to go check them out. I upload whenever I have some interesting pictures, and whenever I feel like it. You can find my photo collection at
www.flickr.com/arfaust

Questions:
The following are questions people have asked. If you have a question about my life here, or just in general, e-mail it and I'll answer it and put the question and answer in my next newsletter.

Q.Are the random bright colors on the buildings/playground typical of the city?
A. Yes. a lot of the buildings in the city are painted interesting colors. The outside of my school is yellow, the post office is bright blue. A lot of the buildings are pink, or blue, or other random colors.

Q.Are you cold?
A. Yeah, sometimes. The average temperature here during the day has been in the high forties, low fifties farenhight. That's pretty chilly. Cold enough that I wear a jacket.

Q. What time is it there?
A. Actually this question usually comes up when I'm talking with people online, but I thought it's a good question. Yakutsk it fourteen hours ahead of Ohio. (sorry for all of you inbounds who are in other countries, if you want to know you'll have to figure it out.) Basically, when you guys are getting ready for bed, it's early afternoon of the next day for me. When I'm getting ready for bed, you guys are saying good morning to the day I just finished. It's a little weird to think about isn't it?

Q. What is a univermag?
A. A univermag as far as I can tell is like a supermarket. They basically have just about anything you might want. The word Univermag comes from the russian words for Universal, and store.

Language Status
Let's just say that I can't carry on any philosopical discussions. I am able to make myself somewhat understood. I get by. Some phrases that I use often, I can say fairly quickly. If I'm put on the spot, and have to speak randomly without thinking about it first, I speak horribly. I speak horribly anyway but if I don't have a chance to think about it, I completely butcher what I'm trying to say. If I have a chance to think about what I'm going to say, I can usually say it fairly quickly. I mess up case, verb endings, and pronunciation. A lot.

What I Miss
Not that anyone really cares, just thought you might be interested to hear what I miss about the states.
-Clothes dryers
-fabric softener
-chinese food
-macaroni and cheese
-pringles
-being the right temperature
-being stupid with my friends
-my parents

Now don't think you have to box up and send macaroni and cheese or anything. Honestly I'm hoping to find something similar to it at the univermag.

The City's Birthday
This weekend was the city's 375th birthday. Needless to say there were lots of events going on. Concerts, people in traditional clothing, native dances, singing, and last night there were fireworks. It was a pretty interesting time. What I saw of it, I enjoyed.

Shout Outs and Closing
Well that about wraps it up, just wanted to give a few quick shout outs.

Mom: Sorry haven't written back, Raisa was trying to figure out the fax machine, I'll talk to her about it again tonight.

Aleta: Hey devushka! I miss you! hope your senior year is going well! I'm doing alright here, haven't met the Russian of my dreams yet though. lol

Dad: loved your comments on my pictures, esp. The one about the squirrel burgur. Mostly because 375 rubles is about fifteen dollars. it cracked me up.

Kara: Love ya babe, remeber who's number one and keep hanging in there!

Benjamin: Mom told me about Thanksgiving. Very very cool! Sorry I'm gonna miss it.

Church Brothers and Sisters: I miss you guys so much. Please continue to pray for me.

Alliance Rotary Club: I haven't started working on the business cards yet, but I will as soon as I learn the language a little better.

Okay, thanks for bearing with that if you weren't on my shout-outs list. Anyway, I encourage all of you to check out my photos at the link above, and my blog at the link below. Like I mentioned in my first e-mail, I update my blog more than I send out e-mails so you often get juicy news and details on there. for those of you who don't feel like scrolling all the way down my blog is located at
http://learnspeak.blogspot.com

Once again, I love hearing from all of you guys, so please feel free to drop me a line at this e-mail address or leave a comment on my blog. Even if it's just to say hi, I'll read it, and probably reply.

Okay, I'm seriously done now.

Paka for now!

--
Abigail Faust
Якутск, Республика Саха (Якутия) Россия
Yakutsk, Sakha Republic (Yakutia) Russia
Website: http://learnspeak.blogspot.com
E-Mail:
languagelove@gmail.com
arfaust@hotmail.com (Rotary)
AIM: InterpretedSigns

Photos

Yeah, so if you want to see them, I've got them in one central location. That location being Flickr

SEE PICTURES OF YAKUTSK!!

I update them whenever I feel like it and have taken more pictures. I will probably update more of them this afternoon as I'm going to the city celebrations. Anyway, I'm not going to post everytime I update the pictures because that's a waste of space. But I will put a link on the left hand side when I get a chance. You just have to keep checking in on it.

*EDIT* For those of you who were trying to get to flickr using the link, the problem of it being broken has been fixed, so it should work now, sorry about the inconvenience.

Moving in Mysterious Ways

it's true that God does. I didn't pay attention in school today. It's been a long week and I'm tired of people talking over me, and not being able to join in. I'm tired of not hearing jokes, not acting stupid with my friends. When I dream, it's about the friends I left behind in America. I was depressed because I felt like I wasn't going to make any lasting friendships here in this lonely Siberian city. I made sure I sat by classmates in every class, and not at a desk alone. We were getting down to the end of the day. The only thing left was two blocks of physics, and this one girl who was in the group I hung out with when French was cancelled, came and sat by me.

We basically spent the whole two blocks being stupid and it felt so good! We passed notes, she wrote in English and I wrote in Russian. We talked about how we dislike physics and the teacher is evil, and it was a really good time. Very refreshing. Right now, I'm waiting for Natasha to call, we're going to go eat at a cafe, and I'm going to tell her that I need to buy some things and I want to take pictures. This weekend, Raisa is on a business trip, but I'm keeping busy. The city is celebrating it's 375th birthday and so Today and tomorrow I'm doing stuff with Natasha, and Sunday I'm going out with some classmates. I think it's going to be a good weekend.

On Food

Okay. So here's what I've got about food. First of all, whatever it is I've been eating here is pretty good for the most part. Yesterday with dinner we had Ikra which is caviar. I'd never had caviar before and it was pretty good, kind of tangy and fishy and whatnot.

Yesterday night after I was all ready for bed, Raisa brough me in some Kefir to drink. It was kind of like drinking yogurt. But not quite. It was different. It had that kind of sour yogurt taste, but it also tasted like regular milk. I'm not sure how to describe it exactly. Sprite here tastes different. Not bad necesarily, but just different. Sweeter I think is the best way to describe it. I decided I like borcht. It's greasy and tasty. I tried Bliny at lunch today. Bliny are basically crepes, but for some reason I like them and I didn't like the crepes that I had when we were in France. But yeah, I ate them with honey which tasted different from home too. Richer.

Also at lunch I had a drink that I think was Kvass. Which is cool that I got to taste it if it was, but I don't really like it. Whether it was kvass or something else, it was definitely fermented so I tasted it and drank a teeny tenny tiny bit during the toasts. It was definitely something I wouldn't have chosen for myself. By the way, it tasted like fermented water if that's even possible. lol.

Basically my philosophy regarding food is just try everything they give you no matter what it is, and if you don't know what it is, fine. Actually I'm wondering what kind of meat I had in my rice at lunch to be perfectly honest. It looked like chicken but it wasn't. It was tougher like beef, and it had a different taste. Maybe it was horse or reindeer. And I'm being entirely serious. Unfortunately I have no idea what it was.

The picture attached to this post is my breakfast cereal. Yup, coco puffs! It amazes me sometimes how similar this place is to where I came from in some ways.

Квартера

Okay so here's how it goes down. The apartment where I'm living is three floors up, in a decent neighborhood in Yakutsk. There is a large outer door, a small hallway then an inner door. When you open the inner door, Vot! there's the apartment. Anyway so my host mom was kind enough to give me a set of keys. Let me just say that I hate Soviet Era locks. HATE THEM!

Raisa dropped me off after school today. There I am in this dark little hallway in a scary looking soviet era block apartment (though actually I feel quite safe despite the appearance of it.) and I'm trying to open this big, wooden outer door. Plus I'm carrying a backpack full of books, a bag with my school shoes, and an англо-русский словарь (Russian English Dictionary) I've got my little skeleton key out and I'm trying to get the door open. I must have been out there for twenty minutes. Finally to get in I basically had to pick the lock.

Stupid Soviet Era locks.

I think I'm going to go practice opening and closing the door from the outside...

She Lives!

yup. I'm alive and doing better. See when I first got here, I was tired and stressed, and a little overwhelmed. I kept thinking. What am I doing? ten months is a long time! Too long! Why did I come to this forsaken piece of dirt in the middle of Siberia?

But it's all good. Sleep helps, journaling helps, keeping busy helps. Remember that kids!

Anyway, Sorry but this post won't be long, I've been on the computer for a while and I basically have carpal tunnel from writing some uber long e-mails. The upshot is that Even though this city kind of scares me in some ways. I like it so far.

I went to school today. I didn't know that they dress up so I was the only one wearing jeans. Oops. I wasn't self-conscious though. I'm not really sure why. Wenesday I'm going to a rotary meeting. I've been working my legs by walking back and forth across the city. I don't think I'm losing weight though because My host mom feeds me so well. She's really nice. So are my classmates.

Sometimes I feel like I'm two years old, because I don't know anything. I did have a decent conversation with a classmate this afternoon though while we were shopping for a white blouse. I didn't get shoes so I'll probably just wear my heeled sandals tomorrow.

I've been making a lot of observations that I'll get to eventually here, but right now I'm tired.

Oh, and I hate doing this, but...
Zach and Kara, if you happen to read this, I found the pirate McDonalds! Forgot to mention it to you...

Anyway, for all of you in america and elsewhere, signing off for now!

Leaving

So, today was my last day in the states for ten months. My typing has gone who knows where because it's 1:40am and in twelve hours I will be leaving for Russia. I will officially be on my way. Today wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Today was my last night at Church (obviously) and they had an ice cream sundae thing because I was leaving. Everyone was hugging me goodbye and some people were crying or about to cry and I felt a little bad that I didn't cry with them.

After church I went out with friends one more time. After I said my goodbyes I drove home feeling...empty. When I got home, I'm not going to lie, I cried a little. But it wasn't nearly as much or as long as I thought it would be. It's the first time I've cried when thinking about leaving. It's because I'm ready. That's why I haven't cried before. Yes, I'm going to miss my friends, but there is a grand adventure waiting for me out there and I'm ready to grab it and go.

See ya on the other side!

Summer's End

Yup, it's here.Everyone started school today whether college or high school, or both. I hung out with some close church friends last night. For once I didn't think about the fact that I'm leaving soon. It always puts a damper on the evening when I do. Yet my friend Kara was thinking about it. We were talking about it when we all got home. About how that's probably the last time we'll hang out like that for ten months, and even when we get back together it'll be different. So I'm wound up, trying not to laugh hysterically, or cry, at one in the morning sitting at my computer and the urge to write comes over me. The urge where if I don't get it on paper, I'm going to explode. The following is the poem that resulted. I didn't like it when I first wrote it, but it's grown on me. I'm proud of it because it rhymes, and because I feel I've finally accurately said with words, what I've been feeling these last few weeks.

On Parting
Daylight hides,
What I feel inside.
I can't decide,
How it is.

Paths I take,
Are my choice to make.
It just feels fake,
To be here.

Tears I cry,
Aren't a complete lie.
Yet I'm flying high.
Don't you see?

Ways are made,
And all time, it fades.
Love, don't be afraid,
I'll return.

©2007 Abigail Faust

Goodbyes

Our town has a college where two close friends are going. I've spent so much time at the campus these last two weeks, that I feel comfortable there. Actually it really isn't that much time, because I don't have a whole lot of time.

Here's something I've noticed....Every morning I wake up and I have this weird experience. It's a very self aware moment, almost like stepping outside your body and seeing yourself as just a person. That's the best way I can describe it. Anyway I have this moment and I think "Word! in [Insert number here] days I'll be in Russia." Every morning without fail. I don't know why. It's not like I plan it. It just happens. Three and a half days and I'm out of here. I'm loving it and dreading it.

Loving it because how many people actually get to see Siberia? Loving it because I"m going to meet new people. Loving the fact that I'm going to know Russian really well when I get back. Loving that my host mom doesn't speak english.

Dreading the flight over. Dreading the mistakes I'm going to make. Dreading that my host mom doesn't speak english. Dreading the first day of school.

It seems rather contradictory doesn't it? But it's not really, I promise. It all makes sense in my head.

Rotary Meeting, Host mom e-mail

I went to my last full Rotary meeting yesterday. I say that because I will probably stop in next wednesday to pick up some business cards, but I probably won't stay the whole time because it'll be my last day in the states. It was fun. I really do enjoy the rotary meetings and everyone is really friendly and whatnot.

I told my Russian host mom my flight schedule. What time I arrive in Moscow and stuff. She said she was going to try to get someone to meet me in Moscow and help me get where I need to be. In my last e-mail I had asked her if there was anything else I needed to know before coming, and she said. "Pack warm clothes. other things are not so important." Very Russian, and she's very right. It's going to be cold in Yakutsk. I hope I have enough warm clothes.

Went out again last night, said more goodbyes. My social life is going to slow down. Everyone is starting college at the end of the week.

Ten months seems like a long time today.

Package

I got a package from Fed Ex today. Inside was an envelope. In that envelope was an assortment of stuff. Tickets, Passport, a Visa in Russian.

9 days.

Preparing

I was laying in bed last night and realized that I'm beginning my last full week in the states. It was the oddest sensation...

I sent my itinerary to my host mom. I'm just waiting for them to tell me if I have to contact someone about meeting me in Moscow, I think it's going to work out that they get someone to meet me at the airport and help me get on my flight to Yakutsk. It would be nice if they did. It would make life a lot less stressful for me, but if they don't I'll manage. I might freakout a bit, but I'd handle it.

In a couple of minutes Dad is going to help me straighten out my power point, which I need organizational help with. He's good at that kind of thing.

Time is even more precious now. I went out with some friends last night to Steak and Shake.



As you can tell it was a really good time.


This afternoon I went and saw my friend's dorm and we went and got a drink at Sheetz. I promised my cousin this morning that we would get dinner somewhere before I leave. I intended to make good on that promise. Before I was just kind of cruising along. Now I can feel time slipping away. Yet at the same time I am completely excited for the adventure that awaits!

Nostalgic

The other day mom said the following to me:
"If there's any food that you haven't had in a while, let me know and I'll make it for you."

My friend Zach said:
"Now that you have a date, what is one thing you want to do?"

And Kara said:
"You have a date, let's call up a friend from the mission trip and see if he wants to hang out before you leave."

I guess I really am leaving.

I finished my journal last night. The paper one I keep. It's the end of a series of journals I've been keeping since my Freshman year of high school. I will still paper journal. I've got the new one all ready to go. But it's different because I'm closing one chapter in my life and opening another. It's not bad, it's just different. Just real.

I'm about to go to a goodbye party for Joe, who leaves for Taiwan on Sunday. Everyone is moving on, and now, so am I. I think I'm ready to let go and get moving, but sometimes I wonder....

Here's a picture for you, I found it on Google Earth. It's a picture of Yakutsk. One of the prettier ones I've seen.

Itinerary

This is in case anyone cares that I will be living on various airplanes for two days.

Leave from Cleveland August 30th.
New York
Zurich
Moscow
Yakutsk

I arrive in my new city on the morning of September first. What really blows my mind if I think about it is that it'll be the first in Yakutsk, but it will still be the 31st here in Ohio because of the 14 hour time difference. How's that for Mind-blowing?

Letters From Russia #1

Rotarians, Fellow Outbounds, Classmates, Family, Brothers, Sisters, Friends, Romans and fellow Countrymen lend me your ears. (Heh heh heh)

Seriously though, If you are receiving this e-mail it is because you have expressed interest in knowing all about my Siberian Adventure. For those of you who may not know I will give you some background information.

I decided that I want to travel and that I love the Russian language. So when I applied for Rotary Youth Exchange, Russia was my first choice, even though it's not a country my home district (6650) usually exchanges with. I am ever grateful to all of the Rotarians who helped me in this journey. I know it's your job, but I appreciate it so much. Anyway, I will be spending the next ten months in the city of Yakutsk, Russia. I will be leaving on August 30th, from Cleveland. I will be flying Cleveland, New York, Zurich, Moscow, Yakutsk and will be arriving in the city that will be my new home early on September 1st.

In Yakutsk, I will be attending the university and in general, learning all I can and assimilating to the Russian Culture and way of life. It's the opportunity of a lifetime, one that I've been looking forward to for over a year.

There are a few other things that you need to know.

-I do not know how often this e-mail will come out. I'm thinking right now, that once I get there and get settled it'll be about once a month, but I'm not promising anything because I don't know how it'll go once I get there. You might receive it more or less often. Sorry, but since this is such a great experience I want to experience it and not spend all my time writing e-mails.

-At the bottom of this e-mail, is some information. It includes my name (In English) the city where I'm going to be (In Russian and English) and then several other things. The website listed is a web log that I will also be updating while I'm in Russia. Hopefully. Chances are it will be updated more often than this newsletter though again, I make no guarantees. You are welcome to check the Blog and leave comments.

- If you would like to contact me whilst I am away you are welcome to e-mail me at this address. This is my personal address and so please feel free to let me know what's going on with you (especially all of you getting ready to head to college) as well as ask questions, send your thoughts, and comments. If you ask a questions, I will do my best to answer it and will probably put it in a newsletter in case other people are wondering something similar.

-Rotarians, and Outbounds you are welcome to e-mail me at my rotary address, and anything related (or un) to my exchange, and rotary can be addressed there. Also for the Youth Exchange Committee people, if there are any potential outbounds who are interested in Russia, or interested in just finding out more about exchange feel free to give them my hotmail address. I would love to chat with them.

-I have also included my screen name for AOL instant messenger. If you would like to chat with me live online sometime, I have included it, but I make no promises because I don't know if I will have access to it, or how the 14 hour time difference is going to affect that. If you have MSN messenger you can chat with me at arfaust@hotmail.com

-Already several people have requested that I send/bring them stuff back. If you have something that you would like me to bring/send to you, please e-mail a request to this address and I will talk with you. I am going to tell you all right now that I cannot bring/send stuff to everyone for two reasons. One, I am only allowed 2 suitcases at 50lbs each and two it is expensive to ship things from Russia all the time. If it's something you really must have, e-mail a request to me and we'll talk about it.

-Finally, if there is anyone you know that you think would like to be on this e-mail list, or should be and I haven't put them on, have them e-mail me with a request to be on it, or e-mail me yourself with their name and e-mail address. I will be happy to add them.

Well I think that does it for now. You probably won't see another e-mail from me until I get over to Yakutsk which will be two weeks from today (Goodness) Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I make this journey.

Oh and I almost forgot. If for some reason you happen to miss an e-mail check out the blog where I will be posting a copy of the e-mails I send for posterity's sake.

Paka for now!
--
Abigail Faust
Якутск, Республика Саха (Якутия) Россия
Yakutsk, Sakha Republic (Yakutia) Russia
Website: http://learnspeak.blogspot.com
E-Mail:
languagelove@gmail.com
arfaust@hotmail.com (Rotary)
AIM: InterpretedSigns

Departure

I got back home this morning and checked my e-mail. This is something I've been doing everyday. Well I do it almost everyday anyway, because I'm addicted to the internet like that, but I've been especially careful to check it since the travel company told me that I should be getting information soon. Sure enough there was a lovely e-mail from bokoff-kaplan that said something like this:

Hi Abigail,
I just tracked the return envelope from the Russian Consulate and it looks like I should be receiving this today. Please let me know if the 30th of August is okay for you to depart. If this date works for you then I will go ahead and send you a travel itinerary for your trip to Yakutz.
Thanks,
Theresa

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm pretty excited. Naturally I e-mailed her back and said that the 30th would be great, and I asked for an estimate on when I'd be receiving my itinerary. Oh my goodness! I have so so much to do and suddenly I have two weeks (From tomorrow) in which to do it! Can you say major freakoutness!!!

Leaving is Like Dying

okay I know that sounds morbid, but it's the strangest thing. I've had the oddest feeling lately. I think it's because I'm just waiting. It's like as I look at my life, my future, I can't see anything past a certain point. I think. Okay, I'll probably be leaving in the next couple of weeks. Yet it's like when I try to think about what's coming my mind draws a complete blank. It's like my life just stops after two weeks. Thank goodness that people haven't stopped talking about future events around me. Then I really would feel like I'm dying.

I think that's maybe my problem. I sit and talk with people, and my Rotary friends are all like 'Yes, I'm leaving in X days, I can't wait!" and my friends from school are going "Wow, move-in day is in ten days, I can't believe we're in college now" and my friends from church are all getting ready to go back to high school and college and what am I doing? I'm getting ready for Russia, but it's like I don't have any real plans, because I don't know when I'm leaving or anything. It's like I'm caught in some sort of suspended time. It's like life keeps flowing all around me and I'm just staying stationary. I don't even know if I can describe it accurately enough in words, maybe some of you have felt this way and know what I'm talking about. In that case you understand exactly what I mean when I say that it's kind of like dying.

People say "So what are you doing?" and I say "I'm going to Russia." And that's all I know. The question I've hated for a while now is "When are you leaving?" I hate that question so much. Yet at the same time, my attitude is kind of reflected in the way I answer. At first it was "The end of August!" And I would say it with such enthusiasm, now my answer is "I wish I knew" Said with some irritation and frustration and disappointment. It's not that I have a bad attitude about going, I'm just eager to go, and it's hard hearing everyone else's plans and not knowing my own. I don't like being suspended in and above time like this.

Essential Phrases Important to Survival in Russia

One of the things I bought when I went to town to get a few things was a Russian phrasebook. I have a dictionary but wanted a phrasebook because, well because I'm
lazy and if I get lost in the airport I can find the phrase I need without pulling out my dictionary and looking up one word at a time and then putting it in the correct grammatical format. Why do that when Lonely Planet does it for me? So as I was reading through the phrasebook yesterday, I found some interesting phrases that I thought were essential to survival in Russia. Here they are for your view pleasure, who knows, maybe they'll come in Handy if you ever visit the motherland...


Ввоз в Российскую Федератсию компакт-дисков Джастина Тимберлейка строго воцпрещается
vos v ra-si-sku-yu fi-di-rat-sih-yu kom-pakt-dis-kav dzha-sti-na tim-bir-ley-ka stro-ga vas-pri-sha-yit-sa
The importation of Justin Timberlake CDs into the Russian Federation is strictly Prohibited

Я поддерживаю путина
ya pad-yer-zhih-va-yu pu-ti-na
I support Putin

Я под кайфом
ya pat key-fam
I'm high

ты выйдешь за меня
tih vih-dish' za min-ya
Will you marry me?

Я обуза
ya a-bu-za
I am a waste of space

это лекарство для личного пользования
e-ta li-karst-va dlya lich-na-va pol'-za-va-ni-ya
This drug is for personal use


Well that's all I've got for right now. Hope you've enjoyed.

Reflections

So I feel rather alone. All of my exchange friends are gone or getting ready to go. I don't even have a departure date yet. I'm hoping to have my visa by the 17th. Hopefully earlier. I'm just waiting on word from the travel company. The waiting is hard, and it's depressing watching everybody else pack up and go. No, that sounds awkward, it sounds like I"m just sitting here twiddling my thumbs, which I'm not. I've started packing, am working on my power point presentation. I went shopping yesterday and bought some last minute things. I'm trying to figure out what I don't need because my suitcases are tiny. It's just the endless waiting that's hard. For the most part I'm enjoying the last few weeks here. I've been eating breakfast with my mom and grandparents a lot. It's funny but whereas last summer, I might prefer to stay home and sleep rather than go to breakfast, this summer, I find it hard to just roll over and go back to sleep. Because I knew in a few weeks I'll be eating breakfast thousands of miles away and a year is both long and short.

That sounds like an oxymoron, I know but it's the truth. A year can be both long and short.In the grand scheme of things a year really isn't that much time. Compared to like five years or ten years or whatever. Yet at the same time a year is a long time. A lot can happen in a year. Things can change dramatically in a year. That kind of scares me.

Travel Company

So as far as I can tell, from the e-mail my dad got, the travel company received the documents I sent them. They mentioned that they would now be working on getting my visa and after that I'll get my tickets and know when I'm leaving. I have a feeling that I'll be finding out when I leave just before I actually board the plane. I don't really know how I'm feeling about it right now. Part of me is depressed about the year I'm going to lose here. There are some people I am really going to miss. Yet At the same time, I know that this grand adventure is a once in a lifetime experience.

Russia's Government

I went to the post office today and mailed off my stuff. I sent my invitation letter and one copy of my guarantee form to the travel agency. The other copy of the guarantee form and a letter went to my exchange coordinator. I didn't overnight the stuff to the travel agency. I went with priority. Maybe I should have gone with overnight. I'm having regrets but it's too late now. It should get there Tuesday or Wednesday.

I became a little nervous after reading This article that my dad sent me. I've decided that it's definitely good that I'm not going to be spending the year in western Russia, Even though I'm far away from Moscow, it still makes me nervous, yet at the same time, I'm intrigued by the obviously changing political climate in Russia. I've been telling mom and dad for months that the way Russia is heading they're going to close up again. So maybe it's a good thing that I'm going. You never know what the future might bring.

It's here!!!

Was sitting at the table reading Harry Potter part VII when a truck with the word up in the plural pulled into the drive. Being still in my pajamas, I ran and hid upstairs while mom answered the door but I know exactly what had arrived. It was what I'd been waiting for since my host family told me they were ready...My official stuff from Russia. Whooo! That's right. I got my guarantee form in the mail! As well as my very spiffy looking thingy from the russian government that says I can enter the country and stay for ten months. This means that I can overnight the stuff to the travel agency and get my visa started! YAY!!!

Rotary Meeting

I went to a Rotary meeting yesterday, it's the club that's sponsoring me. Anyway, It wasn't nearly as boring as I thought it would be. It was actually kind of interesting. The district governor spoke. I found out that this particular Rotary club is going to help put in a skate park in the city. That's a pretty cool thing. I met a bunch of people whose name's I won't remember, but everyone was really friendly and wished me good luck. I got about five banners to take to take to some clubs in Russia. (And I probably get Russian banners to bring back) I think I'm going to try to go back another time or two before I leave.

I hope my guarantee forms come soon. My host sister said they were going to send it on the 20th. I can't wait, because I want my visa. I know I have to have my visa to get into the country, but the reason I really want it is because once I get it, I'll know when I'm shipping out. I have things that I need to plan, but It's hard when I don't know when I'm leaving. Besides, once I have a date people will stop asking when I'm leaving. The same people will stop asking when I'm leaving.

Абигель Рено Фауст

Абигель Рено Фауст
Абигель Рено Фауст
Абигель Рено Фауст
Абигель Рено Фауст

Oh, my goodness, oh my goodnesss AHHHH AHHHH AHHHH!!!! I'M GOING TO RUSSIA!!!! I'M GOING TO RUSSIA! EEEEKKKKKKK! AHHHHHH! *JUMPS UP AND DOWN SCREAMING* WHO'S GOING TO RUSSIA? I AM! I AM!

*breathes deeply*

okay, okay I think I'm good now. See I had a really exciting moment right now. Basically I got an e-mail from my host sister. Another one. Included with it was a copy of my letter of invitation, my official documents and my rotary guarantee form. School starts september first. The Cyrillic that's in the title of my post and is repeated about four times above is how the Russian government decided to spell my name. Now that the ball is rolling I really feel like Russia is coming! I'm actually going!

I found out a little more about where I'll be. I'll be living in an apartment with my host mom. who is an economist and works for some diamond company. They have a poodle. I like dogs, they're nice de-stressers. My host sister said that she would be sending me pictures soon.

Now I just have to send them my address here and they will send me the actual documents. When I get them I can send them to the travel agency and get my visa! whoo hoo! One thing my host sister said I wasn't sure about. I'm not sure if I'll be studying at the university or not because on my guarantee form the seal from the school is from a high school and my hos sister said that they'd decided that I would study in school but then she said I'd be in a humanities program where I'd do lots of Russian. So I'm not really sure where I'm studying. I guess I'll figure it out when I get there. Oh my word I cannot wait!!!!

First Contact

My Russian host sister finally e-mailed me back. Even though her message was short, I learned quite a bit. I found out first of all that my letter of invitation is done and they are going to send it out on the 20th. That's a good thing because I need it to get my visa. The only thing is I don't know if they're sending it here or to my rotary district or directly to the travel agent. I guess I'll figure it out eventually.

The second thing I learned was about my school. The wording was something like this: "As we understood you will be learning in our university, what faculty have you chosen?"

That is about the coolest thing ever. I am going to be studying at the university in Yakutsk. It won't count, but it's still really cool. I think they're putting me in the university because of my age. Most of the Russian students graduate from high school at like 17 and then start university. So that's probably why they're going to have me study there. The answer to her question about the faculty (Which is kind of like a major) is "It's news to me, I have no idea."

Dream

The other night I had a dream. It was so real that at one point in it I stopped and went "wait is this a dream?" I dreamed that I was living with one of my Russian host families. Two parents, three daughters and me. They were speaking Russian and I couldn't understand a lot of what was going on. I spent a lot of time in my room reading Russian magazines. Some times I would talk to my youngest host sister (Who was just adorable). I can't figure out if the Russian being spoken was real Russian or not. It sure sounded like real Russian. I finally realized that it must be a dream because I couldn't remember my last few weeks at home and I couldn't remember the plane ride over.

Everything I do now seems to be centered around Russia in some way. I was at the movies last night with some good friends and I realized as I watched the previews that I won't be here when most of the advertised movies are released. I'm understanding that I won't see my friends for almost a year and that when I get back They'll be different people and so will I. I'm realizing that they are going to do things and have things happen that I won't know about because I'll be in Russia. But then it's the same for me. This time next year I'll be back home, getting ready for college, I wonder how I'll see things. Will it be surreal, coming back home? Probably. I guess I'll find out when I get back.

Behind

but then can you blame me? I just got back home. I spent two weeks in France, one on a mission trip and one visiting my brother in Minnesota. I wanted to see him before Russia. Russia, it's looming closer, but first, France.

If you ever have a chance to travel, do it. If you ever have a chance to live with a family in a foreign country, even for a short time, do it. I spent one week traveling all over France, and one week living with a family in St. Cyr which is near Versaiiles. I had a love/hate relationship with the exchange part of the trip. One thing it did do, was it taught me a lot about what Russia's going to be like. I know that doesn't seem like it makes sense, but it does. In France A lot of the time I had no idea what was going on. I understood more than they thought I did sometimes, but they treated me like I was stupid. Not all the time, but sometimes. I learned about homesickness, I learned about the way people view each other, and it was really interesting to see the cultural differences. I learned a lot about language. Not just French, but my own native language. I came to the conclusion that all my life, I've been ethonocentric and never realized it until I spent that week with a family in France.

Six weeks.
That's all that's left.
I can't believe the thing that I've been waiting months for is almost upon me. I'm not going to lie. I'm scared. I'm leaving everyone and everything behind to go live in a strange country for a year. I was sitting down with my mom, cousin, and grandparents for a lunch in a restaurant today and I thought "Soon I'll be doing this in Russia. I'm comfortable knowing how to order and the customs heres, but soon it'll be different, so much different..." It was a sobering thought.

Six weeks.
I'm starting to feel time pressure. Yeah, I started saying my goodbyes months ago, but now it's different. Now it seems real. My friends from Rotary, the other outbounds are getting ready to leave. Some of them leave in less than a month. I pray their years go well.

Six weeks.
When I was in France and going to and from St. Paul I practiced reading the flight information boards. But I don't know what to do because when I get off the plane in Moscow or St. Petersburg, everything will be in Russian. What if I can't read it?

That reminds me. The travel agent said they're sending me through Europe, not Asia which means it's going to probably take forever to get to Yakutsk. I hate airplanes. It's not that I'm afraid of flying, it's just so uncomfortable. Airports are my favorite though. I love watching all the people coming and going, heading home and on vacation, listening to languages and jet-lagged kids and I'm not being sarcastic either.

France

So I know I haven't really mentioned it because I've been preoccupied with Russia, but I'm gonna be in France the next two weeks. I'm pretty excited. I'll let you all know how it went when I get back.