I had a bad day today. First, I thought that I was supposed to do my Rotary presentation because Maria told me last week that I would be doing my presentation about myself. So last night I double checked my power point, and I got my stuff all together and I even wore my Rotary jacket. And then we had different speakers and so I didn't get to give my presentation. And so by the time I got home, I was in a bad mood. I was in a bad mood because I didn't give my presentation, and I had to haul my stuff around, and the waitresses at the restaurant sniggered at my jacket, which looks much better than it did when I left by the way. And I was tired. Tired of slush and mud and wet puddles that are basically little lakes. And I was tired of having a bad accent when I speak, and my friend telling me not to say "Чё" Because it's not really a word. Even though basically everyone says it but her, and I was just irritated and tired in general. And restless again (But more about that in my second philosophy post)
So I got home, unloaded my stuff, changed and immediately decided that if I stayed in the house, I would die a slow and painful death of suffocation. Okay, not really, but that's how I felt. So I threw some stuff in my bag, called to Oksana that I was going to take a walk and headed outside.
The first thing I did was buy some ice cream. I love Russia. I can get a decent sized ice cream cone for like 6 roubles. What a great country! Anyway, so as soon as I started eating my ice cream cone, I started feeling better. Russian ice cream is amazing! I then made my way to Ploshad Pobedy which is Victory Square. I've decided it's a good place to be. I enjoy sitting there and just watching the people. Now that the weather's warmed up, it's pretty busy and so fun to be there. In some ways, it's more exciting than the other squares though I can't really explain why. So I'm walking along, eating my ice cream, and at the far end, there's these millitary guys all marching around, and I'm thinking that's cool, they're probably practicing for May 9th. May 9th for those of you who don't know is a big deal. It's "Den Pobedy" or "Victory Day" big millitary demonstrations and whatnot. Anyway so these young guys are marching around and I decide to watch them while I'm eating my ice cream.
Okay, I'm going to be perfectly honest. I was hoping to see some eye-candy. Mostly it was the fact that they were mostly ethnic Russians. When you see so many Yakutian people, you get a little desperate. So I'm standing there, eating my ice cream and watching the boys march past and I was rather depressed because they were all like 12. Fine, maybe a little older, but still too young. That was depressing, but it was fun to watch them march. I finished up my ice cream and wandered around a bit. By this time, the marchers had a break and they're all standing around having a smoke and chatting. There's space on this bench where an old guy's having a smoke, so I move toward it but and cut off by some twelve-year olds in unifom. This irritates me and so I wander around a bit more, feeling rather awkward when the old guy vacates his spot. I plot down own the bench next to the boys, pull out my paper journal, dig for my trusty pen and begin to vent my frustrations. I was writing away, only paying slight attention to the boys next to me, when all of a sudden I hear "Americans, English" The Russian word for "americans" is like a buzzword. Everytime I hear it, it catches my attention. So I look over at the boys, one of whom begins to act like and idiot and talk about all kinds of random stuff about america. I chuckle at their silliness, and give an ironic smile. After a few minutes, they went back to line up. On the way, the silly boy was like "I am Russian! I am Russian!" I thought about answering with "And I'm American!" But that would've involved screaming across the square and that would've been neither attractive nor appropriate. Probably would've offended people.
So I go back to my writing, feeling better about my day, when all of a sudden a column of boys marches over and stops right in front of me. It took me about ten seconds to realize that this column of boys contained the boys who'd just been sitting by me. Ah, the irony. I happened to make eye contact with the silly one from before, and that got them started. The silly one goes "America!" really loud and I look up, and go "yeah? and what?" in Russian. A moment later I hear in german "Do you speak german?" I don't know German, but this is one phrase I do no. So I look at them and in Russian I go "No, I speak English." Then, realizing that I'm speaking to them in Russian I add hastily "And russian." Well that got them started. It's like a rule in Russia that as soon as someone knows you speak English Natively, they start practicing all their english phrases with you. It's especially fun when you get a group of boys. Today, I got everything from "What's your name" to "Kiss me" I just laughed.
Then, I hear one kid talking to another and I didn't hear the whole conversation, but I think the one asked how they knew I spoke English. The second kid was saying something about me writing in English. Ah, that explained it. So them starting to talk about America wasn't a coincidence. The kid who wanted to know how they knew then gets out of line, comes over and glances at my journal quickly before returning to his place. I go "Hey, look, it's in English" and hold up a page. The silly guy asked me what I was writing about and I'm like "you guys." They then started asking me real questions. They wanted to know if I was British and I said that I was American. Then someone asked what I was doing in Yakutsk (Always a fun question) but before I could answer they got yelled at by a superior and went off marching again. I continued my journaling.
The next time they had a break, I was surrounded by basically the whole company since those who hadn't participated in the last conversation had at least heard it. They asked me a bunch of usual questions. What I thought of Bush, Why was I there, What was my name, Why did I come to Russia, How long would I be in the city. I asked why they were marching around (though I thought I already knew) and they told me because of May 9th. They also told me that they go to this Navy Training School thing and when they get done, they go on boats. I didn't quite understand it, but it sounds like a millitary school and then they just go right into it. One unusual question they asked was if in America our navy wore the same kind of uniform and how many stripes were on it. I said I was sorry, but I didn't know. One guy handed me this little pin that says "Yakutsk River Flot." I thought it was really cool and it found a special spot on my Rotary Jacket when I got home. After a little bit, they had to go back to marching. I finished up my journaling and by the time I did, they'd gone.
I guess the point of this story and all the details is that I felt really happy after this encounter. It's one of those stories that I'll keep close to my heart and is hard to tell when you get back because to be sitting there with your friends and go "One time in Russia I talked to these kids from the military school" Doesn't make much of a story. And really it's not that exciting of a story, but the reason I'm telling it here, and telling it with such detail is so that you all back home can understand. This is what it's like being an exchange student. It's having a completely crummy day, and then having something as small and insignificant as a 10 minute interaction with some boys, make your day 100% better.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Philosophy Part 1
I have to go to my Russian lesson in a bit, but I wanted to take a moment to reflect. My mother says we all have these feelings and as a writer, maybe I can take them and put them in some sort of order to make people stop and go "Yes, I understand, that's me too." Or something like that. I'm paraphrasing.
I think I'm an adult. I guess technically I became an adult when I turned 18. But I never felt like an adult. Not really. I think the fact that I've become an adult is something I've been aware of for a while. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I was chatting online with my brother today and I said "I'm an adult" and just like that I knew it was true. I'm not sure when it happened, exactly, but I know it's happened sometime in the last eight months. Maybe it was the day I got off the airport in Yakutsk? Maybe it happened when I spent a month running around various russian cities with friends? Or maybe it's just happened in the day to day stuff. I don't know, but what I do know is that part of what I've been feeling are the feelings of adulthood.
Sometimes it scares me. I'm going to be perfectly honest. Sometimes I sit on my bed and just want to cry. I want to cry for my childhood and the fact that it's gone. When I was little, they'd always tell me to enjoy my childhood because it's gone so fast. And I did enjoy my childhood. It was a happy one. But only now am I realizing how right they were.
Yet, at the same time I don't know what to do with myself. Feeling this way has got me all confused. It's like buying some new clothes that aren't my typical style but they make me look good. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this yet. Although, there's not much I can do about it. I don't think I'd be happy being a kid forever anyway. Because I can know use my powers of being an adult to influence people, and my life and that's a cool power. But how can I handle this? I'm 19 years old? I don't know anything about being an adult. I don't know much about tax forms and 401ks and work, and responsiblity. When I was a kid, I always thought that one day you just wake up and know all about these adult things and that's when you become an adult. I thought it was a magic process.
I do love the fact that because I'm 19 years old, my host families generally let me do as I please. I love the fact that I'm hanging out in a foreign country. I love the fact that I can go do things on my own, like see museums. But I'm scared. Terrified. When I go back next summer, I have to get ready for college. That in itself isn't scary. If I can handle a foreign country, I can handle a college dorm easy. I'm scared because as an adult, I now have to figure out how to pay for college, I have to get a job, I have to find a place to live, I have to feed myself, and determine what I do with my time. Which I do to some extent now, but college is different.
I guess there's no real point to this entry, really. Just thought I'd share my feelings on this with you all, not that you care. I'm also afraid because I feel like I've learned so much here. I don't mean just stuff about Russia. That's a given. But I feel like I've learned so much about life, and the nature of people, and how things work, and it's all in my head trying to get out, but I don't even know even how to begin to describe it. Which is really bad considering words are my specialty. I guess that I'll just have to keep working it out in my head, and when it straightens out, I'll write it down. For now though I need to go, or I'll be late....
I think I'm an adult. I guess technically I became an adult when I turned 18. But I never felt like an adult. Not really. I think the fact that I've become an adult is something I've been aware of for a while. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I was chatting online with my brother today and I said "I'm an adult" and just like that I knew it was true. I'm not sure when it happened, exactly, but I know it's happened sometime in the last eight months. Maybe it was the day I got off the airport in Yakutsk? Maybe it happened when I spent a month running around various russian cities with friends? Or maybe it's just happened in the day to day stuff. I don't know, but what I do know is that part of what I've been feeling are the feelings of adulthood.
Sometimes it scares me. I'm going to be perfectly honest. Sometimes I sit on my bed and just want to cry. I want to cry for my childhood and the fact that it's gone. When I was little, they'd always tell me to enjoy my childhood because it's gone so fast. And I did enjoy my childhood. It was a happy one. But only now am I realizing how right they were.
Yet, at the same time I don't know what to do with myself. Feeling this way has got me all confused. It's like buying some new clothes that aren't my typical style but they make me look good. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this yet. Although, there's not much I can do about it. I don't think I'd be happy being a kid forever anyway. Because I can know use my powers of being an adult to influence people, and my life and that's a cool power. But how can I handle this? I'm 19 years old? I don't know anything about being an adult. I don't know much about tax forms and 401ks and work, and responsiblity. When I was a kid, I always thought that one day you just wake up and know all about these adult things and that's when you become an adult. I thought it was a magic process.
I do love the fact that because I'm 19 years old, my host families generally let me do as I please. I love the fact that I'm hanging out in a foreign country. I love the fact that I can go do things on my own, like see museums. But I'm scared. Terrified. When I go back next summer, I have to get ready for college. That in itself isn't scary. If I can handle a foreign country, I can handle a college dorm easy. I'm scared because as an adult, I now have to figure out how to pay for college, I have to get a job, I have to find a place to live, I have to feed myself, and determine what I do with my time. Which I do to some extent now, but college is different.
I guess there's no real point to this entry, really. Just thought I'd share my feelings on this with you all, not that you care. I'm also afraid because I feel like I've learned so much here. I don't mean just stuff about Russia. That's a given. But I feel like I've learned so much about life, and the nature of people, and how things work, and it's all in my head trying to get out, but I don't even know even how to begin to describe it. Which is really bad considering words are my specialty. I guess that I'll just have to keep working it out in my head, and when it straightens out, I'll write it down. For now though I need to go, or I'll be late....
Monday, April 28, 2008
Easter
So, Yesterday we celebrated Easter here in good old mother Russia. As you may already be aware, the orthodox church still runs on the old calender. Hence the reason we're only now celebrating easter while all of you celebrated it weeks ago. Anyway, thought you all might like to know how it went down. I didn't go to my Baptist church because my host dad told me that we could go to the Orthodox church. My day started around nine with this random banging sound. I came out of my room to find the family all gathered around the door to one of the bathrooms. Misha was trying to fix the doorknob, and Dennis was banging a screwdriver on the floor. heh heh heh. It struck me as hilarious. I prepared for the day. i.e. Put in my contacts, got dressed and we sat down to breakfast. We had Pirozhki with potatos and some with egg in them which were interesting to try and not too bad. We had put these little plastic decoration cover thingies on hard boiled eggs the night before (no one had egg coloring). Apparently there's a tradition where you whack the end of your egg against someone else's. The one who's egg cracks, looses. Naturally, my little host brother Tolya had great fun with this.
After breakfast Misha said he'd take me to the Orthodox church. Tolya and Natasha came too. I was rather disappointed that we missed the service, but found out when service times are and so will hopefully be making a trip to actually see an orthodox service in the near future. We did look around the church a bit, light a few candles, and Misha was explaining some stuff about Orthodoxy too me, even though they aren't Orthodox. They aren't church people. While we were there though, Misha saw an aquaintance. He asked said aquaintance to explain to me the orthodox church. What followed was a twenty minute lecture on the history of sin (Could've done without that) a history of church in general (Also basic stuff I knew) and then when he finally got to the good stuff, I was having trouble concentrating. Even after almost eight months sometimes it takes a lot of concentration to listen and understand. I did learn that Orthodox Church here is based as much if not more on legend as it is the Bible. For example, the aquaintance told me this story of why the Orthodox Church uses Icons. Apparently, the first icon came about when Christ wiped his face on a towel (Possibly after his baptism? I don't remember.) and it left an image. Personally, I was reminded of "Forrest Gump" But I digress.
When we finished our expedition to the church, we returned home and prepared to go to the dacha where we were going to have shashlik. For those of you who don't know what Shahlik is, it's basically barbecue, but without the BBQ sauce. You could I suppose also translate it as shishkebob since the meat is cooked on skewers. I was in such a good mood while we were there. First, I helped carry stuff to the dacha (We've started opening it up so we can stay there in the summer), then I helped dust a bit, then Tolya, Natasha and I made snowpeople which was really fun. The only dowside is that by the time we were done, they'd already started to melt. I was very proud of mine because I carved out face, arms and her dress. I'll have to get some pictures up.
After a bit of a wait, we ate. By the end of it, I was absolutely stuffed, but it was so good. I love shashlik. With it we had little roasted potatos, pepper, tomatos, and this stuff that's like a tortilla but has a different name. So so good. For desert, we had cookies and traditional easter cake which I thought was rather dry.
After a couple hours and a nap, we headed back home. I hung out with my host siblings. Watched a movie, that sort of thing. All in all, I really enjoyed the day and was feeling good at the end of it.
After breakfast Misha said he'd take me to the Orthodox church. Tolya and Natasha came too. I was rather disappointed that we missed the service, but found out when service times are and so will hopefully be making a trip to actually see an orthodox service in the near future. We did look around the church a bit, light a few candles, and Misha was explaining some stuff about Orthodoxy too me, even though they aren't Orthodox. They aren't church people. While we were there though, Misha saw an aquaintance. He asked said aquaintance to explain to me the orthodox church. What followed was a twenty minute lecture on the history of sin (Could've done without that) a history of church in general (Also basic stuff I knew) and then when he finally got to the good stuff, I was having trouble concentrating. Even after almost eight months sometimes it takes a lot of concentration to listen and understand. I did learn that Orthodox Church here is based as much if not more on legend as it is the Bible. For example, the aquaintance told me this story of why the Orthodox Church uses Icons. Apparently, the first icon came about when Christ wiped his face on a towel (Possibly after his baptism? I don't remember.) and it left an image. Personally, I was reminded of "Forrest Gump" But I digress.
When we finished our expedition to the church, we returned home and prepared to go to the dacha where we were going to have shashlik. For those of you who don't know what Shahlik is, it's basically barbecue, but without the BBQ sauce. You could I suppose also translate it as shishkebob since the meat is cooked on skewers. I was in such a good mood while we were there. First, I helped carry stuff to the dacha (We've started opening it up so we can stay there in the summer), then I helped dust a bit, then Tolya, Natasha and I made snowpeople which was really fun. The only dowside is that by the time we were done, they'd already started to melt. I was very proud of mine because I carved out face, arms and her dress. I'll have to get some pictures up.
After a bit of a wait, we ate. By the end of it, I was absolutely stuffed, but it was so good. I love shashlik. With it we had little roasted potatos, pepper, tomatos, and this stuff that's like a tortilla but has a different name. So so good. For desert, we had cookies and traditional easter cake which I thought was rather dry.
After a couple hours and a nap, we headed back home. I hung out with my host siblings. Watched a movie, that sort of thing. All in all, I really enjoyed the day and was feeling good at the end of it.
Monday, April 21, 2008
New Family
Just a quick update. Can do more later as I know have better internet access at home. Anyway, for those of you who don't know, I have officially moved to my third family. I'm now living with Misha, Oksana and there three children. Natasha-14, Tolya-6 and Baby Dennis who I'm not sure how old he is. He's walking, not talking, has one tooth and is afraid of me. You can figure it out from there. heh heh. Anyway, they live in a large apartmen (Two bathrooms!) in the neighborhood where I lived at the beginning of exchange, but a different apartment block. I arrived here yesterday (sunday) and so far it's been interesting. I love my little brother Tolya even though he drives me crazy. He talks to me and I was wrestling around with him last night. Not that the rest of the family doesn't talk, just haven't ever gotten to have a little brother before. Or any little siblings for that matter. Oh by the way, this family is ethnic Russian so it's going to be interesting. Actually, I think it's going to be fun.
In other news, I was told expressly not to go to school today since the 11th graders were all taking a practice test for the state exam in Math. I was like "forget that" so instead, I spent the day walking (literally) all over the city and mostly buying souvenirs for some of you lovely people back home. Although I will admit I did buy a few things for myself, such as a new notebook for my paper journaling, a pin for my blazer, and a new khomus. Nothing huge. The gifts I bought for people back home, I think I'd better wait and just show you. Heh heh heh. Why did I buy a new khomus? Well, because I wanted one that sounded different from the one I have now. The one I bought is tiny. And honestly, that's about all I've got from the land of Sakha-Yakutia. Look for more updates soon as, like I said I can now access the internet from home. Now I've got to go write an essay for my tutor that I've put off too long.
In other news, I was told expressly not to go to school today since the 11th graders were all taking a practice test for the state exam in Math. I was like "forget that" so instead, I spent the day walking (literally) all over the city and mostly buying souvenirs for some of you lovely people back home. Although I will admit I did buy a few things for myself, such as a new notebook for my paper journaling, a pin for my blazer, and a new khomus. Nothing huge. The gifts I bought for people back home, I think I'd better wait and just show you. Heh heh heh. Why did I buy a new khomus? Well, because I wanted one that sounded different from the one I have now. The one I bought is tiny. And honestly, that's about all I've got from the land of Sakha-Yakutia. Look for more updates soon as, like I said I can now access the internet from home. Now I've got to go write an essay for my tutor that I've put off too long.
"Russian Idol" Reaction
Sorry guys, but this having a Russian theme, I just had to repost and comment. First of all, I want you to know that this wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. There were some things I found funny. I was worried about it because having lived for over seven months in Russian culture, I thought I would hate it and think it entirely sterotypical. So here's Abigail's analysis.
Have you watched the video? Good then what I'm saying will make sense. The first thing I'd like to say is that Robin Williams has a bad Russian accent. A really bad Russian accent. It got slightly better by the end of the sketch, but it was still pretty bad. Secondly, for those of you who want to know. Most of the song he's singing isn't in real Russian. He says something like "I only...you..I love you" and then the rest of the song is nonsense. I was sitting here listening to it and my ears were trying to make sense of it before I realized that it wasn't anything. What did I find funny? Well, the whole "so you think you can drink" Thing was pretty funny. Oh and I loved the fact that he pronounced "Hollywood" as "Gollywood." That's actually how the Russians say it. The song title "Babushka, use my woman now" was mildly amusing just because babushka means grandma. I found it interesting that the Beetles were mentioned, not because of the whole Lenin/Lennon thing but because the Beetles are actually pretty popular here. The Lennon song "Yesterday" in particular. I can see what would be amusing about the whole Lenin/Stalin thing to an American audience but I didn't find it funny. Nor did I really care for the whole women looking like men thing. Anyone who knows Russians knows that Russian women are known for dressing up. All the time. Even in Siberia. Oh and the gay thing. Didn't find it funny at all. Maybe because Russians are weird about gay people. Maybe because it added absolutely nothing to the point of the sketch. I'm not sure. Oh and for reference, if anyone cares. "Russian Idol" in Russian is Fabrika Zvyozd Which is like "The Making of a Star" or something to that effect.
Monday, April 14, 2008
The Trip Part 2
so before I continue on with my story, I thought I'd say a few things. First of all, they raised the price of our bus fare which made me rather irritated. I went to the center this morning to catch my bus, and realized it was two roubles more. Don't worry, I had enough money, but it was still irritating. 12 roubles. come on. Also, it snowed yesterday. A lot. and now we have calf-deep drifts all over the city. Which is funny considering everything previous to the snow had basically melted away.
Having said that, on with my story. It's kind of hard to sort everything out in my head. A lot happened, and I'm still working on sorting it out, but it was an amazing trip. I tried to relax and just enjoy myself. And I did. A lot. From getting right off a train at 5am and seeing Red Square in the early morning hours, to body mod in Vladivostok, the trip was interesting, awesome, scary, and sometimes depressing.
I'm going to share some pictures with you all on here, as the stupid school computer won't let me get on Flickr. Hopefully I won't be having this problem much longer as I'm supposed to be changing families at the end of the week and I'm hoping the new one has internet access at home.
Here's how the trip worked. We flew from Vladivostok to Moscow, then from Moscow we took a night train to St. Petersburg. We stayed in Peter for five days then took a night train back to Moscow where we spent four days. From Moscow, most of us flew back to Vladivostok and dispersed from there, with the exception of three or four. I think my favorite time was in Peter. Just because of the hanging out, and some of the stuff we saw.
I loved the way our program worked because we had excursions in the morning (But thankfully not to to early) which finished around three or four. We then had the rest of the day to explore and do stuff on our own. This meant shopping, exploring, and hanging out.
I should really give you the highlights since I keep talking about how awesome it was but haven't given you any details.
In St. Petersburg, we went to Tsarskoya Celo which is where this palace for Catherine the Great was. I saw was because it was pretty much destroyed in WWII. (Leningrad Blockade anyone?) Fortunately, a good portion of it has been replicated and you can see the how the palace would've looked Back in the Day. In all it's overdone splendor. Yeah, that's right. I personally thought that the palace was completely overdone. Too lavish for my tastes. Though the reconstruction of the Amber room was cool.
One of the best places I went in St. Petersburg was not on an official "excursion" a couple of the other kids and I decided that since we were in the west, we might as well take the opportunity to see some things that our guidebook (Yes, we all have the same one, go Lonely Planet for making a guidebook that includes Eastern Russia.) said were interesting, but that weren't on our official itinerary. So one day a group of us decided to go see the Memorial to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. If you ever get to Petersburg, this memorial is a must see. Not only is the outside moving. There's a statue and music playing and a huge oblesk, but the inside is moving as well, featuring Murals, little displays, lights that look like bombshells accompanied by the eerie sound of a metornome which is apparently all that the Leningraders heard on their radios during the war.
We were there for like an hour, just looking around and taking in the atmosphere. I haven't been that moved since the first time I went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. It was amazing. When we were done looking at the displays, one of which included a tiny piece of sawdust filled bread that was a ration for the Leningraders, the Babushkas played a short video for us. It was film clips from the war years, starting with young men going off to fight, covering the years of hardship and famine and ending with Liberation accompanied by music.
It was just amazing.
Peter itself was an interesting city. People here have told me it's like the Paris of Russia since Peter the Great wanted it to be a very Western city. Having been to Paris, going to St. Petersburg was an interesting experience. Because, yeah, I could see how some of the architechture resembled Frances, but at the same time it's its own city with a distinctly Russian flair.
One thing you should definitely know about Moscow and St. Petersburg. They are different cities. Not from each other. I mean that's obvious. What I mean is that they're really different from where I'm living. Different from Eastern Russia. As soon as we got to Moscow and Peter, I looked around me and said to myself. "This is a different world." because it is. McDonald's abound, (I ate Micky D's six or seven times during the course of the trip)
the buildings are different, the people are different. It's really hard to describe unless you've been to both Western and Eastern Russia, but it's like there's a different atmosphere surrounding Moscow and St. Petersburg. I wasn't sure I liked it.
One of the best parts was finding people who speak English. Not many people in Eastern Russia speak English. They're everywhere in Moscow and Peter because that's where all the tourists are. I'll never forget our first day in Peter. We were walking along, and we go past some people speaking english. One guy is like "Hey, Foreigners" and I was like "yeah." then it was like "wait, we're foreingers too." Funny how technically i'm a "foreigner" but i don't feel like one anymore. Yeah, I was being a tourist in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but I felt more like a Russian tourist than a real foreigner. Just like I felt more Russian than American when flying to Korea. I love those times.
I have so many stories, of my trip. Stories I don't have time to post here, some stories that probably aren't appropriate to post here, but I wanted to give you some hightlights, show you some pictures, and let you know that I had an awesome time.
When I got back to Yakutsk, I had a shock though. I got back and saw that the ice on the river has started to melt. I saw that the land itself is not nearly as frozen as it was. I found out that I have one month of school left, and realized I'm almost done with my exchange. Do you realize I now have less than three months? It's a scary thought. I've only now realized how comfortable I've become here, how much I'm enjoying myself, and how much I'm going to miss it when I have to get on a plane and don't know if I'll ever be back.
Having said that, on with my story. It's kind of hard to sort everything out in my head. A lot happened, and I'm still working on sorting it out, but it was an amazing trip. I tried to relax and just enjoy myself. And I did. A lot. From getting right off a train at 5am and seeing Red Square in the early morning hours, to body mod in Vladivostok, the trip was interesting, awesome, scary, and sometimes depressing.
I'm going to share some pictures with you all on here, as the stupid school computer won't let me get on Flickr. Hopefully I won't be having this problem much longer as I'm supposed to be changing families at the end of the week and I'm hoping the new one has internet access at home.Here's how the trip worked. We flew from Vladivostok to Moscow, then from Moscow we took a night train to St. Petersburg. We stayed in Peter for five days then took a night train back to Moscow where we spent four days. From Moscow, most of us flew back to Vladivostok and dispersed from there, with the exception of three or four. I think my favorite time was in Peter. Just because of the hanging out, and some of the stuff we saw.
I loved the way our program worked because we had excursions in the morning (But thankfully not to to early) which finished around three or four. We then had the rest of the day to explore and do stuff on our own. This meant shopping, exploring, and hanging out.
I should really give you the highlights since I keep talking about how awesome it was but haven't given you any details.
In St. Petersburg, we went to Tsarskoya Celo which is where this palace for Catherine the Great was. I saw was because it was pretty much destroyed in WWII. (Leningrad Blockade anyone?) Fortunately, a good portion of it has been replicated and you can see the how the palace would've looked Back in the Day. In all it's overdone splendor. Yeah, that's right. I personally thought that the palace was completely overdone. Too lavish for my tastes. Though the reconstruction of the Amber room was cool.
One of the best places I went in St. Petersburg was not on an official "excursion" a couple of the other kids and I decided that since we were in the west, we might as well take the opportunity to see some things that our guidebook (Yes, we all have the same one, go Lonely Planet for making a guidebook that includes Eastern Russia.) said were interesting, but that weren't on our official itinerary. So one day a group of us decided to go see the Memorial to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. If you ever get to Petersburg, this memorial is a must see. Not only is the outside moving. There's a statue and music playing and a huge oblesk, but the inside is moving as well, featuring Murals, little displays, lights that look like bombshells accompanied by the eerie sound of a metornome which is apparently all that the Leningraders heard on their radios during the war.
We were there for like an hour, just looking around and taking in the atmosphere. I haven't been that moved since the first time I went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. It was amazing. When we were done looking at the displays, one of which included a tiny piece of sawdust filled bread that was a ration for the Leningraders, the Babushkas played a short video for us. It was film clips from the war years, starting with young men going off to fight, covering the years of hardship and famine and ending with Liberation accompanied by music.
It was just amazing.
Peter itself was an interesting city. People here have told me it's like the Paris of Russia since Peter the Great wanted it to be a very Western city. Having been to Paris, going to St. Petersburg was an interesting experience. Because, yeah, I could see how some of the architechture resembled Frances, but at the same time it's its own city with a distinctly Russian flair.
One thing you should definitely know about Moscow and St. Petersburg. They are different cities. Not from each other. I mean that's obvious. What I mean is that they're really different from where I'm living. Different from Eastern Russia. As soon as we got to Moscow and Peter, I looked around me and said to myself. "This is a different world." because it is. McDonald's abound, (I ate Micky D's six or seven times during the course of the trip)
the buildings are different, the people are different. It's really hard to describe unless you've been to both Western and Eastern Russia, but it's like there's a different atmosphere surrounding Moscow and St. Petersburg. I wasn't sure I liked it.One of the best parts was finding people who speak English. Not many people in Eastern Russia speak English. They're everywhere in Moscow and Peter because that's where all the tourists are. I'll never forget our first day in Peter. We were walking along, and we go past some people speaking english. One guy is like "Hey, Foreigners" and I was like "yeah." then it was like "wait, we're foreingers too." Funny how technically i'm a "foreigner" but i don't feel like one anymore. Yeah, I was being a tourist in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but I felt more like a Russian tourist than a real foreigner. Just like I felt more Russian than American when flying to Korea. I love those times.
I have so many stories, of my trip. Stories I don't have time to post here, some stories that probably aren't appropriate to post here, but I wanted to give you some hightlights, show you some pictures, and let you know that I had an awesome time.
When I got back to Yakutsk, I had a shock though. I got back and saw that the ice on the river has started to melt. I saw that the land itself is not nearly as frozen as it was. I found out that I have one month of school left, and realized I'm almost done with my exchange. Do you realize I now have less than three months? It's a scary thought. I've only now realized how comfortable I've become here, how much I'm enjoying myself, and how much I'm going to miss it when I have to get on a plane and don't know if I'll ever be back.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
I'm Not Dead Yet
okay, so it might take a couple of entries to tell you all everything, but basically I left you guys in korea. The good news is that the rest of my time in Korea, which wasn't long went really well.
When I got back to Vladivostok, I hung out for three days before I finally finally got to meet some other inbounds. And it was a really interesting first impression too. I will never forget walking into a cafe and there's three inbounders and my host sister. I walk up to them and greet them in Russian "Hi Everyone!" As soon as the words leave my mouth, this blonde girl goes "Don't speak Russian, we don't speak it. If you speak it, we won't talk to you" How's that for a first impression. It completely blew my mind.
Thankfully though we were on an island, neutral territory for orientation and we all got past our first impressions. There were fourteen inbounders. Well fifteen originally. One girl we never met because she was getting sent home, and the kid from france didn't meet with us until Moscow. So there were thirteen of us on the island.
It was interesting. We spent the first few days just comparing our various experiences. It was amazing how similar our experiences are, even though we all are so far apart. Maybe it sounds weird to say that, but it's just that Russia's such a diverse country. Our shared experiences pulled us together, and started our friendships. It was a jumping off point.
And Now I must leave you all in suspense as I've been online a while, and am paying for it since I'm at the internet cafe. I will update more in the next couple of days.
When I got back to Vladivostok, I hung out for three days before I finally finally got to meet some other inbounds. And it was a really interesting first impression too. I will never forget walking into a cafe and there's three inbounders and my host sister. I walk up to them and greet them in Russian "Hi Everyone!" As soon as the words leave my mouth, this blonde girl goes "Don't speak Russian, we don't speak it. If you speak it, we won't talk to you" How's that for a first impression. It completely blew my mind.
Thankfully though we were on an island, neutral territory for orientation and we all got past our first impressions. There were fourteen inbounders. Well fifteen originally. One girl we never met because she was getting sent home, and the kid from france didn't meet with us until Moscow. So there were thirteen of us on the island.
It was interesting. We spent the first few days just comparing our various experiences. It was amazing how similar our experiences are, even though we all are so far apart. Maybe it sounds weird to say that, but it's just that Russia's such a diverse country. Our shared experiences pulled us together, and started our friendships. It was a jumping off point.
And Now I must leave you all in suspense as I've been online a while, and am paying for it since I'm at the internet cafe. I will update more in the next couple of days.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
South Korea
I am now sitting in my hotel in Seoul, using the free internet access in my hotel room. I'm not gonna lie, I was scared. First, I was worried that leaving Vladivostock, they would freak out about my registration (or lack thereof) and pack me straight back to the states. I need not have worried. When I went through passport control on the way out of Vladivostok the lady asked to see my passport, and my immigration card. She stamped both, and it was all good. No problems, no questions asked, and I didn't even have to pay anything like the lady at the travel agency told me. I got on and ready to fly, and breathed a sigh of relief for a bit. Getting out of the country was the first hurdle. I wanted a break before the next one which was landing and figuring out how to call my hotel to send a car to pick me up.
I would just like to say that God must have heard all of those prayers I was desperately praying on the way to the airport this morning because so far, he's done an awesome job of making this trip go smoothly. (slava tebye Gospod!) The flight itself was nice. I love Russian airlines because even when the flight is fairly short, they serve you "tea" which if you've read my other posts, you know that it's not just gonna be tea. It was great.
It's funny the way things work out. I didn't really talk to the russian girl sitting next to me, but as the plane landed she made a call on her cell and started jabbering away in Korean. Well, that's interesting. Once inside the airport, I had no idea where to go for customs and immigration and all. So I did the smart thing. I followed the girl. ha ha ha. I'm so proud of myself. Anyway, I made it through immigration without any hitch. Then I had to figure out where to go next. There was a big board in front of me, mostly in korean and I had no idea what it said. The girl showed me this number on her ticket stub and in Russian I'm like "I have no idea, I don't have baggage." She seemed rather taken aback. "You study Russian?" she asked. "yeah" I was very proud of myself. She probably thought I didn't know Russian because I had some slight understanding problems with the woman on the plane and the immigration cards. Anyway, the girl said she'd help me, and as we headed to the baggage claim, I explained that I was living in Russia in order to study russian. I found out that she is a student here in Korea and is studying korean. I explained that I had a room reserved at a hotel but that I had to find a way to call so they'd send a car. She very kindly let me use her cell phone.
After trying to talk to the girl at the hotel in English with limited success, I handed the phone to my "new friend" and she jabbered away in Korean for a few minutes. When she got off the phone she told me exactly where I needed to go. In russian. Which was very impressive to me. No english needed. Yeah, it's the international language, but it still helps to know one or two others. :)
After thanking the girl, I headed out on my own to try to find the taxi. (Third floor, exit number 10.) The first thing I saw as I came to the top of the escalator on the third floor was a clearly labeled English sign "BURGER KING" I loved this country already. If I hadn't had a taxi to meet, and had changed some money, I would've stopped. As it was, I didn't. I found the exit with no problem and then waited nervously for the taxi.
I never had any previous interest in learning Korean, or any other aisiatic language for that matter. Being here has changed that completely. Not because I particularly like Korean, but because if I new any korean at all, it would make things ten times easier. language, even basic is communication. Completely being unable to communicate with the people around you is a scary feeling.
Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long or look to hard for the taxi. It showed up with the words Hotel June across the side. The little Korean guy opened the door for me, I hopped in and off we went. When we got to the hotel, I hopped out and checked in. Thankfully, they accept plastic here so I just paid for my room with that. (Mom and dad, that's where part of the money's going)They gave me a key and I made my way to my room.
I'm not gonna lie. For $100 this is a nice room. I started freaking out as soon as I came in. There's a little entrace way with a couple of pairs of sandles. Everything I'd ever read about the exchange students in asian countries came back into my head. Being the culturally aware person that I am (ha) I took off my shoes and put on the sandles. I then explored my room.
It's pretty big. To turn on the main lights you have to put your key in this little slot. Your room speaks korean to you and then lights up. Gotta love these high-tech asian countries. There's a panel with buttons next to the bathroom which turn on various lights. There's a good sized TV. The best part is the bathroom. There's a really big tub with like jet sprays. On top of that you have the toilet. If you haven't heard about asian super toilets, now's the time. On a panel next to the toilet are a variety of buttons labeled in English. The lables include such things as "Massage" "Front cleansing" "Back cleansing" "Water temperature" "Seat Temperature" "Stop" and "water pressure." I fully intened to play with both the shower and the super toilet (Why not? I'm only here for one night and who knows if/when I'll be back) as soon as I finish eating my undeclared apple and writing this blog entry. Oh, incidentally, there's a separate pair of slippers for the bathroom.
I didn't go anywhere, which I feel slightly bad about, but I don't have any korean won (?) and I don't know where to change it and it felt kind of pointless to change money when I was going to be here less than 24-hrs. And now it's dark, and I don't dare go out alone in a strange foreign country at night. So maybe I wasted my time here, writing this blog entry and playing with the techno hotel room, but when you don't have a ton of time to begin with, what are you gonna do?
I'm so glad that these hurdles are overwith. Next step, getting back into Russia.
Oh and one more thing. It felt weird to be using english with the lady at the desk. Being here I feel more Russian than American, but maybe that has to do with the fact that I flew from Russia and am going back there. As well as the fact that I've been living there for a good seven months.
I would just like to say that God must have heard all of those prayers I was desperately praying on the way to the airport this morning because so far, he's done an awesome job of making this trip go smoothly. (slava tebye Gospod!) The flight itself was nice. I love Russian airlines because even when the flight is fairly short, they serve you "tea" which if you've read my other posts, you know that it's not just gonna be tea. It was great.
It's funny the way things work out. I didn't really talk to the russian girl sitting next to me, but as the plane landed she made a call on her cell and started jabbering away in Korean. Well, that's interesting. Once inside the airport, I had no idea where to go for customs and immigration and all. So I did the smart thing. I followed the girl. ha ha ha. I'm so proud of myself. Anyway, I made it through immigration without any hitch. Then I had to figure out where to go next. There was a big board in front of me, mostly in korean and I had no idea what it said. The girl showed me this number on her ticket stub and in Russian I'm like "I have no idea, I don't have baggage." She seemed rather taken aback. "You study Russian?" she asked. "yeah" I was very proud of myself. She probably thought I didn't know Russian because I had some slight understanding problems with the woman on the plane and the immigration cards. Anyway, the girl said she'd help me, and as we headed to the baggage claim, I explained that I was living in Russia in order to study russian. I found out that she is a student here in Korea and is studying korean. I explained that I had a room reserved at a hotel but that I had to find a way to call so they'd send a car. She very kindly let me use her cell phone.
After trying to talk to the girl at the hotel in English with limited success, I handed the phone to my "new friend" and she jabbered away in Korean for a few minutes. When she got off the phone she told me exactly where I needed to go. In russian. Which was very impressive to me. No english needed. Yeah, it's the international language, but it still helps to know one or two others. :)
After thanking the girl, I headed out on my own to try to find the taxi. (Third floor, exit number 10.) The first thing I saw as I came to the top of the escalator on the third floor was a clearly labeled English sign "BURGER KING" I loved this country already. If I hadn't had a taxi to meet, and had changed some money, I would've stopped. As it was, I didn't. I found the exit with no problem and then waited nervously for the taxi.
I never had any previous interest in learning Korean, or any other aisiatic language for that matter. Being here has changed that completely. Not because I particularly like Korean, but because if I new any korean at all, it would make things ten times easier. language, even basic is communication. Completely being unable to communicate with the people around you is a scary feeling.
Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long or look to hard for the taxi. It showed up with the words Hotel June across the side. The little Korean guy opened the door for me, I hopped in and off we went. When we got to the hotel, I hopped out and checked in. Thankfully, they accept plastic here so I just paid for my room with that. (Mom and dad, that's where part of the money's going)They gave me a key and I made my way to my room.
I'm not gonna lie. For $100 this is a nice room. I started freaking out as soon as I came in. There's a little entrace way with a couple of pairs of sandles. Everything I'd ever read about the exchange students in asian countries came back into my head. Being the culturally aware person that I am (ha) I took off my shoes and put on the sandles. I then explored my room.
It's pretty big. To turn on the main lights you have to put your key in this little slot. Your room speaks korean to you and then lights up. Gotta love these high-tech asian countries. There's a panel with buttons next to the bathroom which turn on various lights. There's a good sized TV. The best part is the bathroom. There's a really big tub with like jet sprays. On top of that you have the toilet. If you haven't heard about asian super toilets, now's the time. On a panel next to the toilet are a variety of buttons labeled in English. The lables include such things as "Massage" "Front cleansing" "Back cleansing" "Water temperature" "Seat Temperature" "Stop" and "water pressure." I fully intened to play with both the shower and the super toilet (Why not? I'm only here for one night and who knows if/when I'll be back) as soon as I finish eating my undeclared apple and writing this blog entry. Oh, incidentally, there's a separate pair of slippers for the bathroom.
I didn't go anywhere, which I feel slightly bad about, but I don't have any korean won (?) and I don't know where to change it and it felt kind of pointless to change money when I was going to be here less than 24-hrs. And now it's dark, and I don't dare go out alone in a strange foreign country at night. So maybe I wasted my time here, writing this blog entry and playing with the techno hotel room, but when you don't have a ton of time to begin with, what are you gonna do?
I'm so glad that these hurdles are overwith. Next step, getting back into Russia.
Oh and one more thing. It felt weird to be using english with the lady at the desk. Being here I feel more Russian than American, but maybe that has to do with the fact that I flew from Russia and am going back there. As well as the fact that I've been living there for a good seven months.
Friday, March 14, 2008
The Lord of the East
So, I'm chilling in Vladivostok. Actually, "chilling" isn't really the word. The temperature was 7 degrees celsius (And yes, that's positive) when I got off the plane yesterday. There was also wind. A lot of wind compared to what we have in Yaktusk. I stepped off the plane onto the tarmac and was like "Wow, it's so warm here!' ha ha ha. There's no snow.
I kind of like it here actually. The landscape is like San Francisco meets southern Ohio. Though I've never been to S.F. So I don't know how accurate that description is. There are lots of hills here, and the city is basically built on them. The hills slope down to the sea of Japan so that's pretty cool. The other landscape feature that's worth noting is that since it's not nearly as cold here as Yaktusk, there are full-sized trees. I didn't know how much I missed full sized trees until I saw them (all over the place) on the drive from the airport and I'm like "oh wow! trees! How cool is that!"
I got picked up from the airport by some random guy. We went to different places around the city so he could get groceries, then took me to an empty apartment, was like "you'll be living here" told me that Yulia, the apartment's inhabitant would be home later, after work, and then left. oooh, fun. ha ha ha. Naturally it was entertaining for me to stand there when this woman comes home from work and be like "uh...hi. I'm Abigail and I'll be living in your apartment for a while. " it was all good though. Basically, I ate dinner and went to bed because I was pretty wiped out. Even short plane rides have that effect on me. Plane rides= Abigail conking out during and after.
This morning I woke up about ten, looked out the window and was throughly depressed. There was a thick blanket of fog over the city and there was rain and a major wind going on (I opened the window.) I spent the day doing absolutely nothing and enjoyed myself immensely. I did not get dressed, and I did not even put in my contacts (gasp!) instead, I spent the day alternately drinking chai and flipping through the tv channels, some of which we don't have in Yaktusk. Not that you care, but I watched such mind stimulating programs as "Mythbusters", "Rugrats," "Woody Woodpecker" and "Scooby-doo". All dubbed into Russian of course. I was half-way through watching "smallville" which is one of those programs that I never watched in america, but I watch here, when Yulia came home. Slightly awkward feeling for me as the TV is located in her room, but she was like "It's okay, watch." So I did. It wasn't long after that when Raisa called from Yaktusk. The conversation went as follows:
"I called earlier why didn't you answer?"
"Did you call the sottovii (cell)?" while thinking Yeah, I'm gonna answer the phone in a near-stranger's house when I've been living here for 24 hours
"What about Korea?"
"Well, I'm not there yet, I'm still in Vladivostok" obviously, since you called me here.
"Did you meet with Eleonora yet?"
"Uh...no?"
"Why not? "
"Uh...."
"Call her. Right now, you need to call her and talk to her"
"Uh..okay..."
"I'll call you back tomorrow"
"Okay, bye."
I talked to Yulia about talking to Eleonora, and Yulia made a call. We then found out that Eleonora is sick in the bolnitsa (Hospital) and won't be out until next week at which time I'll meet with her. In the meantime I have no idea when I'm heading for the golden shores (?) of Korea. And so I'm relaxing here.
Yulia is a doctor. She does cardiograms and stuff. She has a daughter who's on exchange this year in Taiwan and who, like me, really missed home at first and is doing a lot better now. Yulia said that on the weekend, since she doesn't have to work, we'll go to the sea. NOt that it's warm enough to swim in or anything, but just seeing the sea (and maybe taking some pictures) would be cool.
As I mentioned, I like Vladivostok so far, but it was the weirdest thing yesterday, I was sitting at dinner and thinking about how it's like starting exchange over again, with a random family, but at least this time I know the language and more culture, and then all of a sudden I realized that I missed Yakutsk Yes, you read that correctly. I actually miss that Frozen, tiny, town stuck in the middle of nowhere. Maybe because it's familier, maybe because it's been home for seven months, or maybe because I really do like that city more than I realized. Whatever it is, last night for the first time I was homesick, not for home in Ohio, but for Yakutsk. Funny how that works.
I kind of like it here actually. The landscape is like San Francisco meets southern Ohio. Though I've never been to S.F. So I don't know how accurate that description is. There are lots of hills here, and the city is basically built on them. The hills slope down to the sea of Japan so that's pretty cool. The other landscape feature that's worth noting is that since it's not nearly as cold here as Yaktusk, there are full-sized trees. I didn't know how much I missed full sized trees until I saw them (all over the place) on the drive from the airport and I'm like "oh wow! trees! How cool is that!"
I got picked up from the airport by some random guy. We went to different places around the city so he could get groceries, then took me to an empty apartment, was like "you'll be living here" told me that Yulia, the apartment's inhabitant would be home later, after work, and then left. oooh, fun. ha ha ha. Naturally it was entertaining for me to stand there when this woman comes home from work and be like "uh...hi. I'm Abigail and I'll be living in your apartment for a while. " it was all good though. Basically, I ate dinner and went to bed because I was pretty wiped out. Even short plane rides have that effect on me. Plane rides= Abigail conking out during and after.
This morning I woke up about ten, looked out the window and was throughly depressed. There was a thick blanket of fog over the city and there was rain and a major wind going on (I opened the window.) I spent the day doing absolutely nothing and enjoyed myself immensely. I did not get dressed, and I did not even put in my contacts (gasp!) instead, I spent the day alternately drinking chai and flipping through the tv channels, some of which we don't have in Yaktusk. Not that you care, but I watched such mind stimulating programs as "Mythbusters", "Rugrats," "Woody Woodpecker" and "Scooby-doo". All dubbed into Russian of course. I was half-way through watching "smallville" which is one of those programs that I never watched in america, but I watch here, when Yulia came home. Slightly awkward feeling for me as the TV is located in her room, but she was like "It's okay, watch." So I did. It wasn't long after that when Raisa called from Yaktusk. The conversation went as follows:
"I called earlier why didn't you answer?"
"Did you call the sottovii (cell)?" while thinking Yeah, I'm gonna answer the phone in a near-stranger's house when I've been living here for 24 hours
"What about Korea?"
"Well, I'm not there yet, I'm still in Vladivostok" obviously, since you called me here.
"Did you meet with Eleonora yet?"
"Uh...no?"
"Why not? "
"Uh...."
"Call her. Right now, you need to call her and talk to her"
"Uh..okay..."
"I'll call you back tomorrow"
"Okay, bye."
I talked to Yulia about talking to Eleonora, and Yulia made a call. We then found out that Eleonora is sick in the bolnitsa (Hospital) and won't be out until next week at which time I'll meet with her. In the meantime I have no idea when I'm heading for the golden shores (?) of Korea. And so I'm relaxing here.
Yulia is a doctor. She does cardiograms and stuff. She has a daughter who's on exchange this year in Taiwan and who, like me, really missed home at first and is doing a lot better now. Yulia said that on the weekend, since she doesn't have to work, we'll go to the sea. NOt that it's warm enough to swim in or anything, but just seeing the sea (and maybe taking some pictures) would be cool.
As I mentioned, I like Vladivostok so far, but it was the weirdest thing yesterday, I was sitting at dinner and thinking about how it's like starting exchange over again, with a random family, but at least this time I know the language and more culture, and then all of a sudden I realized that I missed Yakutsk Yes, you read that correctly. I actually miss that Frozen, tiny, town stuck in the middle of nowhere. Maybe because it's familier, maybe because it's been home for seven months, or maybe because I really do like that city more than I realized. Whatever it is, last night for the first time I was homesick, not for home in Ohio, but for Yakutsk. Funny how that works.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Growing up, Weekend with the Baptists, and Travel
I hate growing up. Yet I wouldn't want to be Peter Pan either. It's just growing up can be such a pain sometimes. Especially lately, I've felt I had to be more of a grown up than a kid and it was really depressing. I don't always want to be a grown up. I like being able to act silly and have a good time, it's just who I am. But I understand that sometimes stuff happens, and when you're 19 years old and ten-thousand miles away from your parents, you have to deal with that stuff on your own. Mommy and Daddy can't just make it all go away, and make it all better. Sometimes I wish I was seven again so they could.
Having said that, the good news is that I did get to feel like a kid again this weekend. That made me feel better. We had a holiday on saturday, march 8th. It's called "international woman's day" which I can't figure out because they only celebrate it in Russia. They probably also celebrate it in other eastern european countries too, and that's where they get the "international" when stuff is "international" here that usually means that it's happening in the former soviet states as well as in Russia.
Anyway, I basically spent the weekend doing various church-related activities. Saturday night was the weekly youth meeting, which I went to and that was fun. One of the guys, Egor had a nice lesson on how God sees women, and what the bible said it. In honor of March 8th. It was also easier for me to follow since he had a nice power point with all the verses written out so I could read along as he read. Made understanding easier. hurrah! At the meeting, one of the girls, Sveta invited me to go to a girls youth meeting in Namtsy, a nearby (two-hour drive) town. Sunday after church. I was like "Okay, why not?" So directly after church, I ate lunch at Anya's (One of the preacher's daughters remember?) and then Her sister, Maria and I headed to meet the group going to Namtsy.
It was a long day, but fun. We got to Namtsy maybe about three and sat in on a women's meeting that was run by men. Which I couldn't quite figure out. The best part was that we sang songs not only in russian, but in Yakutian as well, which was fun for my tongue, but was interesting to practice reading Yaktuian, which is related to russian in alphabet with enough different/extra letters and different sounds to make it interesting. We were accompanied by accordian and guitar. After the meeting ended, Maria, Sveta and I went out side to strech our tired bottoms.yeah, try sitting jammed in a van for two hours and then sitting in a hard chair another hour and a half. Not fun. So we frolicked for a bit. Then, about six we had a meal. I love the way we eat communal meals in Russia. It's just so...communal. We had the ever present plov which is like the ultimate quickie, feed a lot of people dish here. Good thing I like it. It's usually rice, meat of some kind and carrots all fried up together. Awesome!
After the meal, we girls cleaned up i.e. Did the dishes. I find it odd that back home at church I always tried to avoid helping clean up,while here I don't mind. I find it odd because there's actually a lot more work to clean up here since we wash all the dishes (even the throw away type) while back home, we just throw it all away.
After the meal, we had our girls meeting. There were three girls from Namtsy and then our six or seven girls. we watched a video of a woman talking about purity which I found rather interesting. Afterwards we headed home.
Going was really good for me. Not just for the church thing but because I spent time with Maria and Sveta. Got to know them better and deepen some friendships. I also got to feel like less of an adult, which was a good feeling.
In other news, i'm leaving the day after tomorrow for Vladivostok. Since I've got issues with registration, The rotary club decided to send me to Eleonora, the woman who's the district coordinator for the exchange students in the Russian part of 5010. she is going to help me get out of the country, and back in so that I can renew my registration. Then, we have orientation and our trip to Moscow and Peter. I'm actually really looking forward to spending some time away from yaktusk. Not that i don't like it here, it's just going to be nice to have a sort of vacation and see some other places. i'm really looking forward to meeting and hanging out with the other inbounds. Yay!
I should be coming back to Yakutsk sometime around April third or fourth. i don't know what the internet situation is going to be like while I'm traveling and frankly, I'm not going to worry about it, so it's very possible that you won't hear anything from this end until I get back.
Wish me luck!
Having said that, the good news is that I did get to feel like a kid again this weekend. That made me feel better. We had a holiday on saturday, march 8th. It's called "international woman's day" which I can't figure out because they only celebrate it in Russia. They probably also celebrate it in other eastern european countries too, and that's where they get the "international" when stuff is "international" here that usually means that it's happening in the former soviet states as well as in Russia.
Anyway, I basically spent the weekend doing various church-related activities. Saturday night was the weekly youth meeting, which I went to and that was fun. One of the guys, Egor had a nice lesson on how God sees women, and what the bible said it. In honor of March 8th. It was also easier for me to follow since he had a nice power point with all the verses written out so I could read along as he read. Made understanding easier. hurrah! At the meeting, one of the girls, Sveta invited me to go to a girls youth meeting in Namtsy, a nearby (two-hour drive) town. Sunday after church. I was like "Okay, why not?" So directly after church, I ate lunch at Anya's (One of the preacher's daughters remember?) and then Her sister, Maria and I headed to meet the group going to Namtsy.
It was a long day, but fun. We got to Namtsy maybe about three and sat in on a women's meeting that was run by men. Which I couldn't quite figure out. The best part was that we sang songs not only in russian, but in Yakutian as well, which was fun for my tongue, but was interesting to practice reading Yaktuian, which is related to russian in alphabet with enough different/extra letters and different sounds to make it interesting. We were accompanied by accordian and guitar. After the meeting ended, Maria, Sveta and I went out side to strech our tired bottoms.yeah, try sitting jammed in a van for two hours and then sitting in a hard chair another hour and a half. Not fun. So we frolicked for a bit. Then, about six we had a meal. I love the way we eat communal meals in Russia. It's just so...communal. We had the ever present plov which is like the ultimate quickie, feed a lot of people dish here. Good thing I like it. It's usually rice, meat of some kind and carrots all fried up together. Awesome!
After the meal, we girls cleaned up i.e. Did the dishes. I find it odd that back home at church I always tried to avoid helping clean up,while here I don't mind. I find it odd because there's actually a lot more work to clean up here since we wash all the dishes (even the throw away type) while back home, we just throw it all away.
After the meal, we had our girls meeting. There were three girls from Namtsy and then our six or seven girls. we watched a video of a woman talking about purity which I found rather interesting. Afterwards we headed home.
Going was really good for me. Not just for the church thing but because I spent time with Maria and Sveta. Got to know them better and deepen some friendships. I also got to feel like less of an adult, which was a good feeling.
In other news, i'm leaving the day after tomorrow for Vladivostok. Since I've got issues with registration, The rotary club decided to send me to Eleonora, the woman who's the district coordinator for the exchange students in the Russian part of 5010. she is going to help me get out of the country, and back in so that I can renew my registration. Then, we have orientation and our trip to Moscow and Peter. I'm actually really looking forward to spending some time away from yaktusk. Not that i don't like it here, it's just going to be nice to have a sort of vacation and see some other places. i'm really looking forward to meeting and hanging out with the other inbounds. Yay!
I should be coming back to Yakutsk sometime around April third or fourth. i don't know what the internet situation is going to be like while I'm traveling and frankly, I'm not going to worry about it, so it's very possible that you won't hear anything from this end until I get back.
Wish me luck!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
What is Russia? Part 2
It's your friend telling you he's given up drinking every time he sees you/talks to you, it's the weather warming up and getting to start removing layers, it's spending a good part of the day walking, it's really tasty yogurt, and awesome juice. It's your dictionary falling apart, and not having english class because your teacher is in moscow again. It's having another american occasionally show up and you not feeling american. It's telling the woman at the kiosk you want a small sprite. It's drinks without ice, and fighting a loosing battle with the governmental beauraucracy. IT's listening to the Rotarians talk about everything from health fairs, to what they're going to do with you, and understanding. It's chewing gum that quickly loses its flavor and feeling good everytime you have personal contact with someone. It's forgetting that in russian nouns and adjectives have genders and making your tutor laugh. It's finding time to use the internet. It's laughing while your non-yakutian school mates speak yakutian even though you don't understand a word of it. It's your computer teacher randomly showing you pictures of her family and trip to paris and you actually enjoying the look into her personal life. It's the little kids staring at you as you type quickly in english and waiting for you to move so they can have the computer. It's feeling happy and at home in a country that didn't start out as your own.
Russia Update #5
Yeah, I know, I'm really behind. What can I say. Life here just kind of gets me involved and it's hard to find time to do these updates which take longer, and I have to think about more than my weekly blog entries.so I encourage all of you who want to know about my adventures in more detail to check out said blog at http://learnspeak.blogspot.com
That having been said, On to the rest of my letter.
A lot's been going on in the last couple of months. For those of you who are behind on the times, I changed host families right after new years. In Mid-January. It started out as a temporary family while my first host mom, Raisa, was on a business trip. I really liked the family, got along well with them, so I got to stay with Elena Ivanovna and her daughter, Sasha. I'll probably be staying with them until mid-april. I'm not sure if I'll have a third host family or not. I'd like to, but the last I heard, Raisa was talking about having me move in with her again. I don't know what's going to happen and at this point I'm not going to worry about. I've got other problems.
Some of said problems are little things that are no big deal, and just part of the every day stuff. Some of the problems are a little bigger. like the fact that my registration ran out on the 29th and so I'm living here illegally right now.
You may or may not remember that at the beginning of the year i had some slight problems with my visa. Actually, from what I found out, my visa is fine and is good until august of 2008. My problem is that the law here was changed in October. basically what happened is that you are only allowed to be registered in the city/country for 6 months. then you can't renew it anymore. in order to be able to remain in the country until July, I have to leave the country for at least 24 hours and then come back in. yet another adventure in Russian bureaucracy.
I don't sweat it though. I was really anti-wanting to go. I was completely freaking out about it. (you can ask my parents lol) and I finally figured out why. It's because I trust the Russians. Perhaps, those of you who don't know any better are laughing, but it's the truth. I've been living here so long (over seven months now) that i feel comfortable with the culture. Yeah, it's a crazy culture and I'll probably never understand completely or be able to figure some things out, but I've got a good hold on it. Enough so that I kind of know what to expect from Russians. They were talking about sending me to Korea. by myself. which scared me. and maybe you're thinking 'but abigail, you went to russia all by yourself," And maybe that's what scared me, because it would be like starting the exchange all over again. i'd be in the middle of a random country where I don't speak the language and don't know the culture. not that I'm a wuss, and wouldn't enjoy such an experience again under the right circumstances, it's just the fact that I'm kind of being forced into having to go. which isn't so cool. I sucked up my issues, and so I'll go, and it'll be alright. It's just another adventure that's part of the exchange.
Actually, the good news is that i'm really enjoying myself. The other day I was walking down the street thinking. Yeah, I could see myself living and working in Russia. Maybe not Yakutsk, but Russia in general. I'm comfortable enough with the language and with the culture that I could do it, and I would enjoy it.
As I'm writing this I have four months, and six days left. Four months and six days from now, I'll be crawling into my bed in Ohio. That kind of scares me too. just the fact that I'm going to have to leave. i have a friend here who spent some time working in america, and It's like each time I see him, his english is worse. nothing hugely major, like he hasn't completely forgotten it, but he is forgetting, and that scares me because I think "This is probably going to be me". I think that's my biggest fear. I'm terrified of forgetting. Forgetting not just how to speak, but forgetting this place and I'll I've seen and done here. Sometimes it's really hard for me to make an effort and get close to people because I think "You know the closer I get to people here, the more it's gonna hurt when I go home." Not that I never want to see home again, but it's just confusing. It's like i'm both looking forward to and dreading the day I go home.
And so I try not to think about it.
That's about all the philosophy I've got for right now. once again, if you're looking for something other than emotions, if you want the everyday stuff. check out my blog. The updates, have become more of an emotional journey, I think.
Anyway,
Until next time
Abigail
That having been said, On to the rest of my letter.
A lot's been going on in the last couple of months. For those of you who are behind on the times, I changed host families right after new years. In Mid-January. It started out as a temporary family while my first host mom, Raisa, was on a business trip. I really liked the family, got along well with them, so I got to stay with Elena Ivanovna and her daughter, Sasha. I'll probably be staying with them until mid-april. I'm not sure if I'll have a third host family or not. I'd like to, but the last I heard, Raisa was talking about having me move in with her again. I don't know what's going to happen and at this point I'm not going to worry about. I've got other problems.
Some of said problems are little things that are no big deal, and just part of the every day stuff. Some of the problems are a little bigger. like the fact that my registration ran out on the 29th and so I'm living here illegally right now.
You may or may not remember that at the beginning of the year i had some slight problems with my visa. Actually, from what I found out, my visa is fine and is good until august of 2008. My problem is that the law here was changed in October. basically what happened is that you are only allowed to be registered in the city/country for 6 months. then you can't renew it anymore. in order to be able to remain in the country until July, I have to leave the country for at least 24 hours and then come back in. yet another adventure in Russian bureaucracy.
I don't sweat it though. I was really anti-wanting to go. I was completely freaking out about it. (you can ask my parents lol) and I finally figured out why. It's because I trust the Russians. Perhaps, those of you who don't know any better are laughing, but it's the truth. I've been living here so long (over seven months now) that i feel comfortable with the culture. Yeah, it's a crazy culture and I'll probably never understand completely or be able to figure some things out, but I've got a good hold on it. Enough so that I kind of know what to expect from Russians. They were talking about sending me to Korea. by myself. which scared me. and maybe you're thinking 'but abigail, you went to russia all by yourself," And maybe that's what scared me, because it would be like starting the exchange all over again. i'd be in the middle of a random country where I don't speak the language and don't know the culture. not that I'm a wuss, and wouldn't enjoy such an experience again under the right circumstances, it's just the fact that I'm kind of being forced into having to go. which isn't so cool. I sucked up my issues, and so I'll go, and it'll be alright. It's just another adventure that's part of the exchange.
Actually, the good news is that i'm really enjoying myself. The other day I was walking down the street thinking. Yeah, I could see myself living and working in Russia. Maybe not Yakutsk, but Russia in general. I'm comfortable enough with the language and with the culture that I could do it, and I would enjoy it.
As I'm writing this I have four months, and six days left. Four months and six days from now, I'll be crawling into my bed in Ohio. That kind of scares me too. just the fact that I'm going to have to leave. i have a friend here who spent some time working in america, and It's like each time I see him, his english is worse. nothing hugely major, like he hasn't completely forgotten it, but he is forgetting, and that scares me because I think "This is probably going to be me". I think that's my biggest fear. I'm terrified of forgetting. Forgetting not just how to speak, but forgetting this place and I'll I've seen and done here. Sometimes it's really hard for me to make an effort and get close to people because I think "You know the closer I get to people here, the more it's gonna hurt when I go home." Not that I never want to see home again, but it's just confusing. It's like i'm both looking forward to and dreading the day I go home.
And so I try not to think about it.
That's about all the philosophy I've got for right now. once again, if you're looking for something other than emotions, if you want the everyday stuff. check out my blog. The updates, have become more of an emotional journey, I think.
Anyway,
Until next time
Abigail
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
February 23rd
February 23rd was a holiday. I can't remember the name in Russian but it's celebrating men. Here's how we celebrated at school.
we didn't have school on Saturday (the actual holiday) so we celebrated friday during last period. We moved desks to the front of the classroom and had our eight boys come in and sit. Then we had a series of games.
In the first, the boys had to sew a button on a piece of cloth. The best part was watching them thread the needle. In the second, the boys took turns peeling and chopping an onion. The object was to see who could do it the fastest. The last game, was the one all the girls were looking forward to as it involved the boys being blindfolded and feeding each other yogurt. Yeah, it was pretty funny.
After the contests, we ate cake and drank pop, and gave the boys their gifts (They each got a flash drive. Or as we say here in the motherland flashka) and cards. Then we cleaned up and went home.
Saturday being a holiday, we didn't have school and I basically didn't do anything all day, although i did get a call from Raisa and went and got basically all of my stuff which made me really happy. I also learned a new word. Посылка. It's the word for "package". Yeah, that's right. the package my parents sent me in December decided to finally show up. Hooray for pop-tarts, peanut butter, and good snickers bars!
Saturday night I tagged along with Elena Ivanovna and her class to the movie theater. The movie theaters here every weekend (Basically) show something called a "non-stop." you basically pay one price and then go watch three or four movies all night long at the theater. It's actually a really good deal. Payed two hundred roubles and saw four films. Two of the films were pretty good. The eye, and P.S. I love you. The others weren't so good. They were Meet the Spartans and Jumper. Actually the best part about watching Meet the Spartans was me sitting there being the only one laughing at the way certain american figures were being made fun of. Somethings you just can't translate.
The last couple of days have been pretty usual. Nothing too horribly exciting happening. I just keep plucking along. I do understand though now, why so many exchangers stop updating their blogs after a while. Because things that were strange and new become ordinary and it's hard sometimes to find things to write about. But have no fear faithful readers, I'm not planning on stopping this blog anytime soon. I like writing too much, and sharing what I'm learning with you all.
I should probably go now, as I'm skipping my second physics lesson in order to type up a scholarship essay. So, until next time.
we didn't have school on Saturday (the actual holiday) so we celebrated friday during last period. We moved desks to the front of the classroom and had our eight boys come in and sit. Then we had a series of games.
In the first, the boys had to sew a button on a piece of cloth. The best part was watching them thread the needle. In the second, the boys took turns peeling and chopping an onion. The object was to see who could do it the fastest. The last game, was the one all the girls were looking forward to as it involved the boys being blindfolded and feeding each other yogurt. Yeah, it was pretty funny.
After the contests, we ate cake and drank pop, and gave the boys their gifts (They each got a flash drive. Or as we say here in the motherland flashka) and cards. Then we cleaned up and went home.
Saturday being a holiday, we didn't have school and I basically didn't do anything all day, although i did get a call from Raisa and went and got basically all of my stuff which made me really happy. I also learned a new word. Посылка. It's the word for "package". Yeah, that's right. the package my parents sent me in December decided to finally show up. Hooray for pop-tarts, peanut butter, and good snickers bars!
Saturday night I tagged along with Elena Ivanovna and her class to the movie theater. The movie theaters here every weekend (Basically) show something called a "non-stop." you basically pay one price and then go watch three or four movies all night long at the theater. It's actually a really good deal. Payed two hundred roubles and saw four films. Two of the films were pretty good. The eye, and P.S. I love you. The others weren't so good. They were Meet the Spartans and Jumper. Actually the best part about watching Meet the Spartans was me sitting there being the only one laughing at the way certain american figures were being made fun of. Somethings you just can't translate.
The last couple of days have been pretty usual. Nothing too horribly exciting happening. I just keep plucking along. I do understand though now, why so many exchangers stop updating their blogs after a while. Because things that were strange and new become ordinary and it's hard sometimes to find things to write about. But have no fear faithful readers, I'm not planning on stopping this blog anytime soon. I like writing too much, and sharing what I'm learning with you all.
I should probably go now, as I'm skipping my second physics lesson in order to type up a scholarship essay. So, until next time.
Friday, February 22, 2008
What is Russia?
So I've been thinking about it for a while. What is exchange and Russia and Yakutsk in particular? Because I know that back when I was getting ready to go on exchange I thought exchange was going to be completely different than when I actually got here and started living. For those of you who don't know, exchange is not a ten month long vacation. Exchange is not about the trips, and the excursions, and the festivals. Russia is not about New Year, the trip to the west, or trips around the city. Yakutsk is not about Ysakh. Though these things do all come together as part of the exchange experience. So for those of you who'd like to know here's what exchange, Russia, and Yakutsk are.
It's eating ice cream in weather cold enough that the ice cream doesn't melt while you're eating it. It's flagging down your bus and pushing your way on. It's pushing your way off the bus at your stop. It's sitting through lectures you don't understand. It's getting up in the pictch dark to go to a school you're not getting grades in. It's watching the light come back day by day. It's feeling a part of your class while at the same time feeling alienated. It's reading a book in a language that's not your first. It's watching the kids bundled up from head to foot sliding and playing on ice.
It's wearing black and white to school everyday, eating fresh hot pierozhka, ducking under the drying laundry hanging across the apartment to get to the bathroom. It's crazy dogs, and walking to the bus stop after school with friends. It's singing childrens songs in English because you can and no one understands, it's cafe hopping, and bad english. It's walking down the street on sunny days and not so sunny days. It's laughing as your classmates cheat and think they do so subtly. It's juice and conversation with your host mom while she makes dinner. It's watching "nash geroi" Gena Bukin week-nights at 8. It's five flights of stairs and figuring out how keys work. It's sweet popcorn and assigned seats at the movies. It's walking in the cold, and rejoicing in unusually warm weather. It's sitting in front of a blank canvas six hours a week and a peppy blonde laughing everytime you open your mouth. It's still thinking of home fondly even after five months.
And I could go on from there, but I think you maybe understand now, what exchange is really like.
It's eating ice cream in weather cold enough that the ice cream doesn't melt while you're eating it. It's flagging down your bus and pushing your way on. It's pushing your way off the bus at your stop. It's sitting through lectures you don't understand. It's getting up in the pictch dark to go to a school you're not getting grades in. It's watching the light come back day by day. It's feeling a part of your class while at the same time feeling alienated. It's reading a book in a language that's not your first. It's watching the kids bundled up from head to foot sliding and playing on ice.
It's wearing black and white to school everyday, eating fresh hot pierozhka, ducking under the drying laundry hanging across the apartment to get to the bathroom. It's crazy dogs, and walking to the bus stop after school with friends. It's singing childrens songs in English because you can and no one understands, it's cafe hopping, and bad english. It's walking down the street on sunny days and not so sunny days. It's laughing as your classmates cheat and think they do so subtly. It's juice and conversation with your host mom while she makes dinner. It's watching "nash geroi" Gena Bukin week-nights at 8. It's five flights of stairs and figuring out how keys work. It's sweet popcorn and assigned seats at the movies. It's walking in the cold, and rejoicing in unusually warm weather. It's sitting in front of a blank canvas six hours a week and a peppy blonde laughing everytime you open your mouth. It's still thinking of home fondly even after five months.
And I could go on from there, but I think you maybe understand now, what exchange is really like.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Welcome To Russia and A Funny Phone Call
The welcome to Russia part of this entry is because once again I have had the pleasant experience of running into Russian Beauraucracy. Again. It's an epidemic here. Here's what happened. I had to pay for my art class as I hadn't paid for a couple of months and was therefore behind. I hadn't paid before, I'd given Raisa the money and she'd taken care of it. But it was no problem. I pulled out the money I needed and headed to the main office of the art institue. I figured I'd tell them that i needed to pay, give them the money and bam, it's all good and I'd be all paid up. There was just one problem. I forgot I'm now living in Russia. It would've been that simple if I'd been in America but I'm not, I'm here. The result it that i went in, said I need to pay, and the scary lady is like "Oh no, you don't pay here." I'm sorry...WHAT? "That's right, you have to go pay at a bank."
So I'm there, freaking out because I have no idea how to pay for this thing and I want to pay so the lady will stop telling me that I need to pay, and so on and so forth, and i was worried that i was going to have to get a hold of Raisa and figure out what i was doing. Thankfully there was a woman there who said she'd help me out, and sometimes, you just have to rely on good samaritans. She helped me fill out the form I needed, and then we headed to the bank.
two and a half hours and three banks later, we got my self paid and my little receipt stub to give to the scary lady today. you've gotta love Russia.
Probably the most interesting thing that happened this week (other than the amazingly warm weather we've been having) was that my parents called me. This in itself wouldn't normally be an event I would mention on here but it was what occured during said conversation that was interesting. First of all, came the answering of the phone. My parents are lucky because i almost didn't answer. but I did "Allo?" I asked in the traditional way we Russians answer the phone. A voice on the other end answered in broken russian "zdrastvii, abigail doma?" I knew at once it was my father and I was so excited that I automatically answered "Eto ya!" which means "it's me" as soon as the words left my mouth I thought "oops, they don't understand russian." So then I switched to english. except throughout the entire conversation I would have moments where I forgot english. I never thought messing up my native language would feel so good. At one point, Elena Ivanovna came home, and I paused in my conversation with mom to tell her that her tableclothes were back (long story) my mom remarked that my russian sounded more russian and that I was just blurting it out. heh. that made me feel good about myself.
It's true though. My Russian has gotten better the last month or so. It feels more natural now. I don't know if it's just being immersed for so long, or what. I think a part of it is the whole changing families thing. while I'm still not one to talk your ear off in Russian, I do talk more than I did at Raisa's. At least it feels like I do. I'm not saying I'm a native speaker, or nearly fluent, but I'm certainly more fluent than I was. And it feels pretty good.
So I'm there, freaking out because I have no idea how to pay for this thing and I want to pay so the lady will stop telling me that I need to pay, and so on and so forth, and i was worried that i was going to have to get a hold of Raisa and figure out what i was doing. Thankfully there was a woman there who said she'd help me out, and sometimes, you just have to rely on good samaritans. She helped me fill out the form I needed, and then we headed to the bank.
two and a half hours and three banks later, we got my self paid and my little receipt stub to give to the scary lady today. you've gotta love Russia.
Probably the most interesting thing that happened this week (other than the amazingly warm weather we've been having) was that my parents called me. This in itself wouldn't normally be an event I would mention on here but it was what occured during said conversation that was interesting. First of all, came the answering of the phone. My parents are lucky because i almost didn't answer. but I did "Allo?" I asked in the traditional way we Russians answer the phone. A voice on the other end answered in broken russian "zdrastvii, abigail doma?" I knew at once it was my father and I was so excited that I automatically answered "Eto ya!" which means "it's me" as soon as the words left my mouth I thought "oops, they don't understand russian." So then I switched to english. except throughout the entire conversation I would have moments where I forgot english. I never thought messing up my native language would feel so good. At one point, Elena Ivanovna came home, and I paused in my conversation with mom to tell her that her tableclothes were back (long story) my mom remarked that my russian sounded more russian and that I was just blurting it out. heh. that made me feel good about myself.
It's true though. My Russian has gotten better the last month or so. It feels more natural now. I don't know if it's just being immersed for so long, or what. I think a part of it is the whole changing families thing. while I'm still not one to talk your ear off in Russian, I do talk more than I did at Raisa's. At least it feels like I do. I'm not saying I'm a native speaker, or nearly fluent, but I'm certainly more fluent than I was. And it feels pretty good.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Жизнь Прекрасно!
Oh man, This past week has been absolutely awesome! It started with Olonho on Wednesday. Olonho, for the majority of you who don't know are epic yakutian stories. Or rather it's the all-emcompassing name given to the stories. From what I can tell, it's not just the stories, but the art form in which they are told as well. Anyway, on wednesday evening we had an invitation to go to the cultural center and watch a dance that told part of a story from the middle world section of the stories. see, in Yakutian legend there are three worlds. upper, lower and middle. we live in the middle. Anyway, I had no idea what we were going to see and was afraid that i wasn't going to be able to understand it. Fortunately, it was a dance with minimal speaking. Let me say it was pretty awesome too. The story was about this hunchback who through a little bit of magic becomes a great warrior and saves a beautiful maiden. unfortunately, we only saw part one which ended just before said warrior was going to go save the beautiful maiden from the evil demon. I want to go back and see the second part.
I really enjoyed the performance and typical of me, i got caught up in the story and didn't take any pictures. will try to remember if/when we go back. The dancing was awesome. it was like a combination of ballet and traditional yakutian dance. i learned that there's a difference between the way you dance a horse and the way you dance a reindeer. very cool.
Another good thing that happened this week was on Friday night we had a night of Poetry reading at school. This was pretty cool, and Olga Yurievna who's like one of the kind of in charge people at school had asked me to come and read something in english. I didn't read. I recited. The poem I chose was my typical performance poem. Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. I chose this piece because I have it memorized, and even though it has nonsense words, it's still a coherent story, one that's discriptive enough that i can act out.
So when my turn came, I threw myself into it. And the kids enjoyed it. I had a few people afterwards come up and tell me i did a really good job, and that they could follow the story well. Good, that was my point. What I admired were my classmates who got up and read poems they'd written themselves. That takes a lot of guts.
Continuing on in my week, the next good thing happened on Saturday. Saturday i skipped school completely. Instead, i went and visited Elena Ivanovna's class. Elena Ivanovna is a teacher and a lot of times teachers are kind of in charge of a group of students. I had met some of her students before but this was the first time I met them all together. It was an interesting experience as her class is mostly made up of boys. I gave my presentation about America, my first time giving it in russian. they class asked lots of questions and there was some general bantering and what not which was really fun. I enjoyed myself. Afterwards, I went to my khomus lesson, which was just awesome because i love playing the khomus.
Finally, the coolest thing ever happened on sunday. I took the phone call that I'd been dreading for over a week. The call that Raisa was home. Blin! I don't want to go back there! But fortunately She had some news that was good for me though not for her. First of all, she told me that our Orientation in Vladivostock is going to be on the 22-23 of March and that our trip to Moscow and Piter is going to be right after. That was pretty exciting. Then she told me that we should talk to elena Ivanovna about me staying with her. and I thought Oh yeah! unfortunately, Elena Ivanovna wasn't home when raisa called, so I had to wait. when Elena Ivanovna did get home I told her raisa called. She called back, and talked for a couple of minutes. When they got off the phone, Elena Ivanovna looked at me and goes 'so you're going to stay here?" and I asked "Can I?" And she said "Do you want to?"
'oh yes! very much so!" and she was like "Okay and gave me a big hug. SO i get to stay!
And that's basically my awesome week!
I really enjoyed the performance and typical of me, i got caught up in the story and didn't take any pictures. will try to remember if/when we go back. The dancing was awesome. it was like a combination of ballet and traditional yakutian dance. i learned that there's a difference between the way you dance a horse and the way you dance a reindeer. very cool.
Another good thing that happened this week was on Friday night we had a night of Poetry reading at school. This was pretty cool, and Olga Yurievna who's like one of the kind of in charge people at school had asked me to come and read something in english. I didn't read. I recited. The poem I chose was my typical performance poem. Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. I chose this piece because I have it memorized, and even though it has nonsense words, it's still a coherent story, one that's discriptive enough that i can act out.
So when my turn came, I threw myself into it. And the kids enjoyed it. I had a few people afterwards come up and tell me i did a really good job, and that they could follow the story well. Good, that was my point. What I admired were my classmates who got up and read poems they'd written themselves. That takes a lot of guts.
Continuing on in my week, the next good thing happened on Saturday. Saturday i skipped school completely. Instead, i went and visited Elena Ivanovna's class. Elena Ivanovna is a teacher and a lot of times teachers are kind of in charge of a group of students. I had met some of her students before but this was the first time I met them all together. It was an interesting experience as her class is mostly made up of boys. I gave my presentation about America, my first time giving it in russian. they class asked lots of questions and there was some general bantering and what not which was really fun. I enjoyed myself. Afterwards, I went to my khomus lesson, which was just awesome because i love playing the khomus.
Finally, the coolest thing ever happened on sunday. I took the phone call that I'd been dreading for over a week. The call that Raisa was home. Blin! I don't want to go back there! But fortunately She had some news that was good for me though not for her. First of all, she told me that our Orientation in Vladivostock is going to be on the 22-23 of March and that our trip to Moscow and Piter is going to be right after. That was pretty exciting. Then she told me that we should talk to elena Ivanovna about me staying with her. and I thought Oh yeah! unfortunately, Elena Ivanovna wasn't home when raisa called, so I had to wait. when Elena Ivanovna did get home I told her raisa called. She called back, and talked for a couple of minutes. When they got off the phone, Elena Ivanovna looked at me and goes 'so you're going to stay here?" and I asked "Can I?" And she said "Do you want to?"
'oh yes! very much so!" and she was like "Okay and gave me a big hug. SO i get to stay!
And that's basically my awesome week!
Monday, February 04, 2008
Sick and Almost half-way
So I got sick this last week, nothing major, just a cold. I'm doing better now. I didn't go to school on Friday or Saturday and I didn't go to church on Sunday. Like I said, I wasn't that sick, but they take even light sickness here very seriously. You know, it's nice to be able to stay home from school for two days and not have it matter. I was also given permission to show up late/go home early the next couple of days if I want. i'm thinking about taking advantage of that too. especially since I didn't sleep real well last night.
Anyway, in other news. Just general information but for those of you who contact me through facebook, sorry but I won't be able to get on there until furthur notice as the school computers have decided to block the site.
Okay and now on to the real stuff. For those of you who don't know I completed my fifth month here on february first. February 10th is my official halfway point. i.e. Half-way through my exchange. wow. back in september I never thought I would make it and here I am already.
Since my fifth month is here, I decided to set some goals for myself while starting this sixth(!) month. Goals for the rest of my exchange. 10 goals and they are as follows:
1. Read More in Russian
2. Speak More (To random people)
3. Be More Outgoing
4. Not Care What People Think of Me
5. Visit/Explore More Places in the City
6. Not Think About Home So Much
7. Enjoy the Freedom I Have Here.
8. Not Worry About the Future
9. Write More in Russian
10. Work Harder on Better Grammar
I'm becoming Russian. Okay so I'm like not a citizen of Russia or anything, but you spend so much time around a group of people and their attitudes, the way the talk and act start to rub off on you. This is most evident in the conversations I have with myself.
Yes. I talk to myself and I'm not bothered to admit it. It's just what I do. The other day I went to the store to pick up some things because I knew that Elena Ivanovna wouldn't be letting me out of the house for three days. In Russia, when you go to the grocery store, they don't automatically bag your stuff for you. You either bring your own bag or you ask for one, and pay for it. After I came back from the store I was having a glass of juice and thinking about the fact that here you have to buy the bags and wondering if it was going to freak me out when I got back to America that they automatically bag your stuff and then the two sides of my brain had the following conversation;
Side 1: Why do the bag our stuff for us in America anyway?
Side 2: So we can carry it home. Duh!
Side 1: Why don't we just use our own bag?
Side 2: ...
Later, I was thinking about this conversation and all of a sudden it hit me. The attitude I have about the shopping bags is Russian. And it just makes more sense to me to use my own bag in a store. Just like it makes perfect sense to have a Garderob where you hang your coat in a lot of places you go and just like the little cubbies you put your stuff in while you shop make perfect sense. Why don't we have this stuff in America?
Anyway, in other news. Just general information but for those of you who contact me through facebook, sorry but I won't be able to get on there until furthur notice as the school computers have decided to block the site.
Okay and now on to the real stuff. For those of you who don't know I completed my fifth month here on february first. February 10th is my official halfway point. i.e. Half-way through my exchange. wow. back in september I never thought I would make it and here I am already.
Since my fifth month is here, I decided to set some goals for myself while starting this sixth(!) month. Goals for the rest of my exchange. 10 goals and they are as follows:
2. Speak More (To random people)
3. Be More Outgoing
4. Not Care What People Think of Me
5. Visit/Explore More Places in the City
6. Not Think About Home So Much
7. Enjoy the Freedom I Have Here.
8. Not Worry About the Future
9. Write More in Russian
10. Work Harder on Better Grammar
I'm becoming Russian. Okay so I'm like not a citizen of Russia or anything, but you spend so much time around a group of people and their attitudes, the way the talk and act start to rub off on you. This is most evident in the conversations I have with myself.
Yes. I talk to myself and I'm not bothered to admit it. It's just what I do. The other day I went to the store to pick up some things because I knew that Elena Ivanovna wouldn't be letting me out of the house for three days. In Russia, when you go to the grocery store, they don't automatically bag your stuff for you. You either bring your own bag or you ask for one, and pay for it. After I came back from the store I was having a glass of juice and thinking about the fact that here you have to buy the bags and wondering if it was going to freak me out when I got back to America that they automatically bag your stuff and then the two sides of my brain had the following conversation;
Side 1: Why do the bag our stuff for us in America anyway?
Side 2: So we can carry it home. Duh!
Side 1: Why don't we just use our own bag?
Side 2: ...
Later, I was thinking about this conversation and all of a sudden it hit me. The attitude I have about the shopping bags is Russian. And it just makes more sense to me to use my own bag in a store. Just like it makes perfect sense to have a Garderob where you hang your coat in a lot of places you go and just like the little cubbies you put your stuff in while you shop make perfect sense. Why don't we have this stuff in America?
Monday, January 28, 2008
The Cold Part 2
So at the request of my mother, and because I've been meaning to do it for a while, here's a second installment about the cold here. So here you go. All teperatures are Celcius unless otherwise noted.
First off, from what I've heard, some of the other siberian cities such as Irkutsk, are experiencing record breaking cold with temperatures hitting -55. I would just like to say that here up north in Yakutsk, we're still experiencing a warm winter. From what I've heard, the coldest the temperature's been so far this winter is -48 which for Yakutsk is pretty warm.
There is a major temperature difference between the -30s and -40s. It's like somewhere between -35 and -45 it goes from being "Just really really cold" to being "oh my word it's so cold I can't stand it." When the temperature is in the latter you don't want to be outside. If you have to walk even short distances you can feel your nose going numb and your skin stings. And if there's any wind at all, you'd better pray.
I remeber there were times in Ohio where I'd be standing outside, waiting for the bus, or walking to russian class and I'd be freezing my butt off and be thinking "Oh man, it would be so much warmer if we didn't have this wind!" Thankfully, we don't get a lot of wind here in Yakutsk. But if you think the wind chill gets bad in Ohio, imagine how bad it is when it's -40 and there's wind. NOT FUN!
We have another interesting phenomenon here that I've probably mentioned before. You see when the temperature hits a certain point of coldness, snow can't fall. It's just too darn cold. But you still have moisture in the air. So what happens? Well you get this thing called туман the english word for it is fog. This ain't your momma's fog either. This is like really uber thick fog that hangs in the air you know that saying about "fog so thick you cut it with a knife?" Well this fog is thicker. And it doesn't really burn off when the sun comes up. Hence the reason why even when it's light out, it sometimes doesn't feel very light because it's foggy and the sun is hidden.
Speaking of which, As soon as the polar nights were over (Jan 20th if you remember) it started getting lighter, and I mean lighter. Over the winter, it wouldn't start getting light until after 9am. This morning I was walking from the bus stop to school, it was about 8am and already the sky was lightening. I was pretty excited because earlier when it was eight o'clock, it would still be pitch black.
I've had two people tell me that the worst of the cold is over, and I believe it. You see there's no difference in temperature, but there's a difference in the air, it's like the air isn't so sharply cold, I find myself being able to be outside with less layers on, though part of that might come from the fact that I've been living in a colder house and therefore it's easier to stand the cold outside. This morning there was a bit of a wind, but to my shock and amazment it wasn't freezing cold, in fact, it felt rather warm.
I'm not saying that we won't have a few more cold snaps, I'm just saying that I think spring is going to be showing up soon.
First off, from what I've heard, some of the other siberian cities such as Irkutsk, are experiencing record breaking cold with temperatures hitting -55. I would just like to say that here up north in Yakutsk, we're still experiencing a warm winter. From what I've heard, the coldest the temperature's been so far this winter is -48 which for Yakutsk is pretty warm.
There is a major temperature difference between the -30s and -40s. It's like somewhere between -35 and -45 it goes from being "Just really really cold" to being "oh my word it's so cold I can't stand it." When the temperature is in the latter you don't want to be outside. If you have to walk even short distances you can feel your nose going numb and your skin stings. And if there's any wind at all, you'd better pray.
I remeber there were times in Ohio where I'd be standing outside, waiting for the bus, or walking to russian class and I'd be freezing my butt off and be thinking "Oh man, it would be so much warmer if we didn't have this wind!" Thankfully, we don't get a lot of wind here in Yakutsk. But if you think the wind chill gets bad in Ohio, imagine how bad it is when it's -40 and there's wind. NOT FUN!
We have another interesting phenomenon here that I've probably mentioned before. You see when the temperature hits a certain point of coldness, snow can't fall. It's just too darn cold. But you still have moisture in the air. So what happens? Well you get this thing called туман the english word for it is fog. This ain't your momma's fog either. This is like really uber thick fog that hangs in the air you know that saying about "fog so thick you cut it with a knife?" Well this fog is thicker. And it doesn't really burn off when the sun comes up. Hence the reason why even when it's light out, it sometimes doesn't feel very light because it's foggy and the sun is hidden.
Speaking of which, As soon as the polar nights were over (Jan 20th if you remember) it started getting lighter, and I mean lighter. Over the winter, it wouldn't start getting light until after 9am. This morning I was walking from the bus stop to school, it was about 8am and already the sky was lightening. I was pretty excited because earlier when it was eight o'clock, it would still be pitch black.
I've had two people tell me that the worst of the cold is over, and I believe it. You see there's no difference in temperature, but there's a difference in the air, it's like the air isn't so sharply cold, I find myself being able to be outside with less layers on, though part of that might come from the fact that I've been living in a colder house and therefore it's easier to stand the cold outside. This morning there was a bit of a wind, but to my shock and amazment it wasn't freezing cold, in fact, it felt rather warm.
I'm not saying that we won't have a few more cold snaps, I'm just saying that I think spring is going to be showing up soon.
Monday, January 21, 2008
ATTENTION--ВНИМАНИЕ
For anyone who is interested in going to Russia I thought you might want to be aware of the following.
1. Visa Restrictions
Russia has recently changed it's visa restrictions and the types of visas you need to stay in country. for example a cultural visa (which I have) is only good for three months. If you are interested in coming to Russia, please double check with your travel agent/advisors about what type of visa you need/would be best for your type of travel.
2. Packages
It has come to my attention that certain Russian cities are restricted and you cannot send international packages to them (Yaktusk is one of these cities) if you are looking to send a package to Russia from another country, you might want to double check the city restrictions.
1. Visa Restrictions
Russia has recently changed it's visa restrictions and the types of visas you need to stay in country. for example a cultural visa (which I have) is only good for three months. If you are interested in coming to Russia, please double check with your travel agent/advisors about what type of visa you need/would be best for your type of travel.
2. Packages
It has come to my attention that certain Russian cities are restricted and you cannot send international packages to them (Yaktusk is one of these cities) if you are looking to send a package to Russia from another country, you might want to double check the city restrictions.
The Baptists
So I've titled this post "the baptists" because that's probably the most exciting thing that's happened to me this week. Well, other than the fact that I'm still loving where I'm living now, and Raisa called and said she'd most probably be gone a full month, which made me really excitied.
Anyway,the baptists. For those of you from Church who read this blog, I'm not sure if this post will make you feel better or worse about my religous life, or lack of it, here in Russia. But it went something like this.
I was sitting in Obshest and paying attention because it's basically my favorite class. We've started a unit on culture and the various aspects of it. One of the things we were talking about is Freedom and how freedom in your life is a good things. One of the things the teacher, Anastasia Simonovna, mentioned was Religous freedom. She said something like "You have the freedom to chose what religion you want, we have a lot of churches here, the orthodox, catholic, baptists..." and I didn't hear anything more after that, or the rest of the lesson for that matter because I was like "Oh my gosh, there's a baptist church here? seriously? Baptists are kind of close to Church of Christ, at least in America. I wonder if she knows where they meet" and on and on and on the rest of the lesson. It took me about thirty seconds to decide to ask about it after the lesson.
So I did. I said "Anastasia Simonovna, you mentioned the Baptists in your lessons, do you know where they meet?"
And she said "No, but I can find out, the move around, but I know who to ask and I'll try to let you know tomorrow."
That was friday.
Saturday at school, She told me that there is a girl here at school who's father is the pastor of the Baptist church. Anastasia Simonovna introduced me to Anya and we sat and talked and I explained that no, I wasn't baptist but my church sort of resembles a baptist church and Anya drew me a map and gave me information and so I basically had decided to attend the baptist church on Sunday.
Church started at 10am. I left the house at 9:30 and though I had a map and a vague idea of where I was going, I was afraid I was going to be late, mostly because when I got off the bus it was 10 til 10 and I still had a ways to walk. So I ran part of the way. Anyway, the good news is that when I walked in they hadn't started yet, in fact the pastor and his wife, Anya's parents had gotten there just before me. As soon as I walked in this guy goes "You must be our guest" and I was like "yeah, that's me." He introduced himself as Valintin, Anya's dad and pastor of the church. I was also introduced to his wife, but don't know her name. They were really welcoming and Anya's mom was like "you can sit with our family" which was really nice of her.
The church is located in a little wooden building across the pond (literally) from the university. The only thing that designates it as a church is a metal cross on the top of the building. The service itself was and wasn't like home. They used a piano, but it wasn't really that bad. Some of the songs they sang where the same, but in Russian such as Amazing grace and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. They also sang some really cool songs in like this minor key. it was awesome. The pastor gave a mini lesson where he talked about Jesus' baptism and a little bit later there was a longer lessons, which I had some difficulty following as I don't have good church vocabulary. What else? at one point, some lady got up and read something from the pulpit. she wasn't preaching, she was reading, but I didn't understand so I have no idea what. The song books have just words, no music notes.
We started a little after ten and finished around noon, and then I walked with Anya and another Anna and Anya invited me over on Saturday after school and then to the weekly youth group meeting they have where all the kids from the different Baptist churches here (yes, there's more than one. there's even a couple that preach exclusively in Yakutian) get together, so I'll most likely go to that.
I guess that what I have to say is that even though it wasn't like home, in some ways it was and I thouroughly enjoyed myself and felt like I was walking around surrounded by a ray of sunshine the rest of the day. After attending church, the day didn't seem so grey and cold.
When I got home, I ate lunch and then dozed on and off for about four hours. Thus discovering that concentrating on church makes me really tired.
What else can I tell you? Well, I lost my key to the apartment and felt really really bad about it, but Elena Ivanovna was awesome about it and told me it was no big deal, she'd get another one made.
I made some little girls' day by talking to them and answering their questions. They thought it was really cool. Today they were in the Garderobe at the same time I was and are like "Do you remember us?" and I go "Of course" and they were like "who are we" and I go "you're the girls who were asking me questions." They then asked me to translate a bit of a song for them, which thankfully wasn't too difficult. That made them happy.
Time has seemed to be going pretty fast lately. I don't know if it's because I'm living in a different place, or what. I think that's part of it. I find myself being more social and wanting to be more social when people aren't telling me I have to be. I love sitting and talking to Elena Ivanovna while she's making dinner and she's really good about tolerating my horrible russian grammar, and helping me speak. She also makes me feel like part of the family which makes me feel good.
So I guess that's what you need to know. I'm really really enjoying myself right now, and my time here. This place is absolutely awesome, and even though sometimes I forget how cool it is here because I get down, things always look up again, and each time I come through a bad patch, the good things look better, and I feel happier longer. Hurrah for adjustment!
Anyway,the baptists. For those of you from Church who read this blog, I'm not sure if this post will make you feel better or worse about my religous life, or lack of it, here in Russia. But it went something like this.
I was sitting in Obshest and paying attention because it's basically my favorite class. We've started a unit on culture and the various aspects of it. One of the things we were talking about is Freedom and how freedom in your life is a good things. One of the things the teacher, Anastasia Simonovna, mentioned was Religous freedom. She said something like "You have the freedom to chose what religion you want, we have a lot of churches here, the orthodox, catholic, baptists..." and I didn't hear anything more after that, or the rest of the lesson for that matter because I was like "Oh my gosh, there's a baptist church here? seriously? Baptists are kind of close to Church of Christ, at least in America. I wonder if she knows where they meet" and on and on and on the rest of the lesson. It took me about thirty seconds to decide to ask about it after the lesson.
So I did. I said "Anastasia Simonovna, you mentioned the Baptists in your lessons, do you know where they meet?"
And she said "No, but I can find out, the move around, but I know who to ask and I'll try to let you know tomorrow."
That was friday.
Saturday at school, She told me that there is a girl here at school who's father is the pastor of the Baptist church. Anastasia Simonovna introduced me to Anya and we sat and talked and I explained that no, I wasn't baptist but my church sort of resembles a baptist church and Anya drew me a map and gave me information and so I basically had decided to attend the baptist church on Sunday.
Church started at 10am. I left the house at 9:30 and though I had a map and a vague idea of where I was going, I was afraid I was going to be late, mostly because when I got off the bus it was 10 til 10 and I still had a ways to walk. So I ran part of the way. Anyway, the good news is that when I walked in they hadn't started yet, in fact the pastor and his wife, Anya's parents had gotten there just before me. As soon as I walked in this guy goes "You must be our guest" and I was like "yeah, that's me." He introduced himself as Valintin, Anya's dad and pastor of the church. I was also introduced to his wife, but don't know her name. They were really welcoming and Anya's mom was like "you can sit with our family" which was really nice of her.
The church is located in a little wooden building across the pond (literally) from the university. The only thing that designates it as a church is a metal cross on the top of the building. The service itself was and wasn't like home. They used a piano, but it wasn't really that bad. Some of the songs they sang where the same, but in Russian such as Amazing grace and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. They also sang some really cool songs in like this minor key. it was awesome. The pastor gave a mini lesson where he talked about Jesus' baptism and a little bit later there was a longer lessons, which I had some difficulty following as I don't have good church vocabulary. What else? at one point, some lady got up and read something from the pulpit. she wasn't preaching, she was reading, but I didn't understand so I have no idea what. The song books have just words, no music notes.
We started a little after ten and finished around noon, and then I walked with Anya and another Anna and Anya invited me over on Saturday after school and then to the weekly youth group meeting they have where all the kids from the different Baptist churches here (yes, there's more than one. there's even a couple that preach exclusively in Yakutian) get together, so I'll most likely go to that.
I guess that what I have to say is that even though it wasn't like home, in some ways it was and I thouroughly enjoyed myself and felt like I was walking around surrounded by a ray of sunshine the rest of the day. After attending church, the day didn't seem so grey and cold.
When I got home, I ate lunch and then dozed on and off for about four hours. Thus discovering that concentrating on church makes me really tired.
What else can I tell you? Well, I lost my key to the apartment and felt really really bad about it, but Elena Ivanovna was awesome about it and told me it was no big deal, she'd get another one made.
I made some little girls' day by talking to them and answering their questions. They thought it was really cool. Today they were in the Garderobe at the same time I was and are like "Do you remember us?" and I go "Of course" and they were like "who are we" and I go "you're the girls who were asking me questions." They then asked me to translate a bit of a song for them, which thankfully wasn't too difficult. That made them happy.
Time has seemed to be going pretty fast lately. I don't know if it's because I'm living in a different place, or what. I think that's part of it. I find myself being more social and wanting to be more social when people aren't telling me I have to be. I love sitting and talking to Elena Ivanovna while she's making dinner and she's really good about tolerating my horrible russian grammar, and helping me speak. She also makes me feel like part of the family which makes me feel good.
So I guess that's what you need to know. I'm really really enjoying myself right now, and my time here. This place is absolutely awesome, and even though sometimes I forget how cool it is here because I get down, things always look up again, and each time I come through a bad patch, the good things look better, and I feel happier longer. Hurrah for adjustment!
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