My Arrival

Wow. Just....wow. I've been awake for over 30 hours, and yet I can't bring myself to fall asleep...well, at least not yet. My flight out of Dulles went off smoothly (except for that annoying baby two rows ahead of me, who somehow managed to scream his little heart out for the entire transatlantic crossing). I made friends with a nice girl from Austria while in Heathrow, and we spent a while chatting about our respective schools and hometowns. Unfortunately, I have no idea what her name was...we got so engrossed in a discussion about film that I don't think either of us bothered to ask the other. Aside from that, my layover in London was pleasant enough, if a little bit on the dull side.

Landing in Russia, though....cliche as it may sound, words really can't do it justice. From the minute I landed, this trip has been simply overwhelming. Russia simply defies description. At once, it is both uncannily similar to, and utterly different from the United States, and I wish I had some way to more clearly illustrate that paradox to all of you back home. Anyway, since landing, I've shaken hands and introduced myself to at least twenty kids, and that's less than a third of the other students on this program. Dinner was okay, but I honestly don't have much of an appetite, and haven't since taking off from DC. We are currently staying at a hotel on the city outskirts, near Poschad Pobyedy (Victory Square), home to the massive and imposing Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad...I haven't had a chance to get a closer look yet, but rest assured, I'll find a way to go see it tomorrow.

I honestly can't decide yet how I feel about Russia...on the one hand, I'm really excited for all the stuff I get to see and do, but on the other hand, I feel a bit like a fish out of water...probably because I can barely understand most of the Russians I talk to. They talk so fast that I'm barely picking up one word out of every five or six they say. My vocabulary has also gotten considerably rustier than it had been in the past, which further compounds the problem. Obviously, it's something that I need to work on.

The wireless in the hotel is a bit squiffy, so it may be another couple days before I post again...if that should be the case, I just want everyone back home to know that I'm enjoying myself, but I miss them like hell.

Do svidanya, comrades.