Here goes nothing!

Well here goes! Leaving 'Murrica tomorrow at 5pm, landing in Deutschland at 7am, one hour layover, then getting into St. Pete at 1pm. From there we will drop our stuff off at a temporary dorm, and walk the city "until our feet fall off"-according to my Resident Director. Sunday our host families will pick us up, and Monday we start school.

Some things I learned at my pre-departure orientation:
-Avoid the police. They are often times drunk and will try to steal money from you. Awesome!
-Boil your water before you drink it. (Do they sell Brita in Russia???)
-Apparently Russians like to eat tongue, jellied meat, and liver. Нет, спасибо!!
-When you're walking through the streets put on your 'poker face' ( I KNEW my Lady Gaga obsession would come in handy!) aka, "look like you hate everyone"- again, according to my Resident Director
-Russian teachers aren't afraid of asking you personal questions. They love to scold girls for having wet hair (Looks like I'm in trouble)
-Watch out pools of boiling water in the street...?? (I guess thats only Moscow though)
-If you get lost, try and only ask older women (Бабушки) for directions. If they are speaking too quickly, catch the first thing they say, follow that direction, then find another бабушка, and so on so forth until you reach your destination! Its like GPS, old-Russian lady style.

A little bit about my host family:
- I'm living with 3 generations of females- Sasha, the mom is 34 and works as a manager at a university. Her mother, Tatiana is 65 and keeps the house as well as looks after Sasha's daughter, Anastasia, who is 5. Sasha's brother and family live close and visit often. Apparently Anastasia is very high energy and loves horses. Her mind is about to be BLOWN by this sweet "My Little Pony" I'm giving her.


Class Schedule:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, I'm in class pretty much from 930-330. (One hour lunch break! YUS) Wednesday is "excursion day" where we visit different museums, etc.

I'm taking: Grammar, phonetics, syntax, history, and politics. ALLL in Russian. If they hear you speaking English on campus grounds, or on excursions, they'll knock your grade down half a letter.

WELL I think thats enough for tonight- I'm going to enjoy my last night in the good ol' US of A by jamming to MJ and Lady Gaga with my roommates.

Nervous for St. Pete! (The roommies Jess and Cornelia)