July 2010
3 posts
The Wind down
Tomorrow morning at approximately 4AM marks the moment I sometimes felt would never arrive, my swift departure from Russia. At the moment, to much surprise, I am sitting alone in my room and trying to do the best I can to take in what will be my last night in St. Petersburg.
In order to occupy my final moments in St. Petersberg as stereotypically as possible, I feel that it is important for me to...
From the Cosmos.
Today has just been another “Russia” day for me. I just woke up in a somewhat unpleasant mood and things only got worse as the day went on. I think the height of my frustration came at McDonald’s earlier this evening. Firstly, I had to eat there out of convenience/pure desperation because nothing else looked good or within my price range for the day. Secondly, all I wanted to do was order the...
Learning is a full-time job.
Every ounce of sweet enjoyment I experience here seems to be accompanied with a twinge of bitter enlightenment. I will admit that this fact is partially my own doing because I have an uncanny knack for picking the most depressing or socially inacceptable topic and just going for it. Granted, I have learned a lot of wonderful information that has come from the mouths of ACTUAL Russian, but it is...
June 2010
7 posts
The Gravity of it All.
I saw Swan Lake this evening at the Miikhailovsky Theater and it was pretty darn enjoyable. Come the end of the second act I was getting pretty tired though, being continuously excited for an hour and a half was just a little too much for me. I will admit that I was not blown away by the performances, but there were sections that were near the realm of “wow!” and, overall, the...
Falling Action.
So, I have officially pasted the half-way mark on my Study Abroad adventure. Granted, I may be just barely one full day past this mark, I am still very excited nonetheless. I am happy to say that my mood has been favorable these past few days and that I my desire to return home has not outweighed my love of being here. This fact was helped out greatly by the Scarlet Sails event that took place...
Novelty Lost.
Today was a terrible day filled with a disgusting amount of frustration. First and foremost, I cannot stand anymore of this St. Petersburg weather. I, lacking the apparently inherent “Russian foresight and fashion savvy,” do not possess the ability to seemingly ever dress appropriately for the weather. Hence, I have spent a great deal of my time outdoors being exceedingly uncomfortable. Whether it...
Thesaurus for Joy.
In retrospect, this past week has practically been a blur of sheer and utter awesomeness! I have seen so many wonderful structures and interiors and works of art that my optical nerves and pleasure center are surely going to burn out on me. Although, I think nearly everything I viewed this week was topped by the reconstructed rooms and artwork of the Winter Palace. Perhaps it is my life long love...
He Heard It Through the Grapevine.
I will work to keep this brief. I am in Russia, studying abroad for the first time ever, and I have a lot of feelings about it. Initially, I was very, VERY over it and just wanted to go home because I was coming off a very busy semester and stressful trip home from my first Alternative Break/preparation to leave for Russia. Now, I really enjoy it and can totally imagine living and working here one...
LOST
I must admit that at this moment I am pretty damn tired. I made the (wonderful) mistake of staying out too late in Petersburg. Sure, you say, we have all done that before, stayed out too late and were forced to pay for it the next day. The only difference is that in St. Petersburg, depending upon the location of your residence compared to where you choose to be in the city, after a certain point...
So, first a bit of back tracking on my summer adventures. Before I jetted off to Russia, I got to be a Co-Site Leader for an Alternative Breaks trip to Catalina Island, California to help out with the Catalina Environmental Leadership Program (CELP, www.celp.net ). In short, the program was wonderful and I learned so many wonderful things that I want to apply to my life back home. I also got to...
May 2010
1 post
"A whole new world!"
My first full day in St. Petersburg will officially be complete tonight when I lay down for a bit of rest. Thus far, everything has gone surprising well and been unbelievably amazing! I was slightly worried about my flight situation and potentially being placed next to a disgustingly annoying child or some overly chatting person who was insistent upon telling me all about his/her life/trip during...