So, Wednesday was the day of departure for London and I went from Buffalo to Philly and then had an overnight flight from Philly to London. Ended up getting there about 10 AM local time. My first impressions of London were much along the lines of classical meets modern and a lot of confusion about more or less where I was. What I mean by that was it was strikingly like New York City except for the whole driving on the left and British accents thing. But other than that, I almost felt like I was in New York. Of course we did all of the touristy stuff like going to see Westminster Abbey and Parliament which was awesome. However, I tried to avoid going into places because nothing is free there (including using most public bathrooms) and when you have to pay, you really have to pay. It is quite expensive. Anyway, we only spent a day and a half in London and while London was quite exciting and all, we all signed up for the Russia semester so that was obviously what everyone was really excited about. However, we were a bit delayed in getting to Russia. We had to get up at 5:15 on Saturday morning to catch our 9:20 flight. We were a little late boarding but had boarded by 9:15 or so. However, due to some issues with the plane or the jetty (I have to brush up on my aviation terminology because I have no idea what that is), we ended up just sitting in the gate for close to 2 hours which was quite frustrating. But once we got off, it was harmless and now I have been in the lovely city of St. Petersburg for almost 2 days. :D
Getting off the plane was intimidating because my one year of Russian isn't going to get me too far here but it went smoothly. The ride from the airport to the dorm was one where we were able to almost get a feel for Post-Soviet Russia, which still has quite a bit of Soviet influence. There are apartment buildings everywhere and they are all the same color in browns and off-whites. A little bit boring and run down to look at was my first impression but also kind of what I expect of Post-Soviet Russia. However, that was changed yesterday when we took our tour of the center of St. Petersburg and it was amazing. We got to see places like Peter and Paul Fortress (where the city was founded), Winter Palace, Church of Our Savior of Spilled Blood (a mini St. Basil's Cathedral), St. Isaac's Cathedral, Smolny Monastery, among others. I can't wait to go see the Hermitage, one of the largest museums in the world! We have been having orientation since we got here and had to take Russian placement tests this morning, so I hope that all went decently well, I think I will find out tomorrow as well as actually starting classes tomorrow.
On a few other notes, I did manage to pack my skates, and there is an ice rink only about a 5-10 minute walk from the dorm so I am super excited about that. I feel it will be more of an occasion to skate here though than doing it regularly, but I guess I am okay with that. It was the idea of NO skating for 3.5 months that really irked me. Food here is AWESOME! and they are honoring my request for no red meat which is nice, because I really didn't think they would. On one last note, the people in this program and super nice and fun to hang out with. I am super sleep deprived because I've been averaging probably about 5 hours of sleep a night since I left, due to the excitement of being in a foreign land, major jet lag, and just wanting to stay up hanging out with them. Anyway, thats about all for now I believe. I will write again when I feel it is appropriate. :)
Getting off the plane was intimidating because my one year of Russian isn't going to get me too far here but it went smoothly. The ride from the airport to the dorm was one where we were able to almost get a feel for Post-Soviet Russia, which still has quite a bit of Soviet influence. There are apartment buildings everywhere and they are all the same color in browns and off-whites. A little bit boring and run down to look at was my first impression but also kind of what I expect of Post-Soviet Russia. However, that was changed yesterday when we took our tour of the center of St. Petersburg and it was amazing. We got to see places like Peter and Paul Fortress (where the city was founded), Winter Palace, Church of Our Savior of Spilled Blood (a mini St. Basil's Cathedral), St. Isaac's Cathedral, Smolny Monastery, among others. I can't wait to go see the Hermitage, one of the largest museums in the world! We have been having orientation since we got here and had to take Russian placement tests this morning, so I hope that all went decently well, I think I will find out tomorrow as well as actually starting classes tomorrow.
On a few other notes, I did manage to pack my skates, and there is an ice rink only about a 5-10 minute walk from the dorm so I am super excited about that. I feel it will be more of an occasion to skate here though than doing it regularly, but I guess I am okay with that. It was the idea of NO skating for 3.5 months that really irked me. Food here is AWESOME! and they are honoring my request for no red meat which is nice, because I really didn't think they would. On one last note, the people in this program and super nice and fun to hang out with. I am super sleep deprived because I've been averaging probably about 5 hours of sleep a night since I left, due to the excitement of being in a foreign land, major jet lag, and just wanting to stay up hanging out with them. Anyway, thats about all for now I believe. I will write again when I feel it is appropriate. :)
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