FINALLY!

Have finally got around to sitting down and actually writing something.
So, for the lack of a post whilst here I must apologise.

It has been a weird month. It's hard to really know what to say about starting a new life in a brand new country. The biggest thing so far has most certainly been the massive culture shock.

Although it's been ages since I was at home, the first reaction to arriving in Moscow and dragging my stupidly heavy suitcases into my new room was "oh my god, I can't believe I have to live here". It's all just so massively different. And here's why:
You don't get a bed, you get a pull out sofa.
You don't really get your own room as it's full of the hozyaika's stuff.
Russian flats aren't exactly spacious and most certainly aren't usually decorated in a modern way.

These were my biggest problems when I first arrived, and it was a really horrible feeling. It felt bad because you know that it's a culture thing and that this is how this family lives, and it also felt bad because you really don't want to have to stay there for ten months.

But after a week or so of sleeping on a springy box with a carpet on it and dreading every minute of being at 'home' it was decided that I would change things. I went to Ikea, bought my own sheets, duvet and pillows. I demanded a mattress (which is still really thin, but it'll do) and I forced myself to accept the fact that I was being silly for expecting some sort of Ikea showroom instead of a real Russian home.
I can now say after 4 weeks of living here, that I'm quite happy with my accommodation. It has hight ceilings, it has windows that open (although teeny flies come in during the night and bite me, leaving really itchy bites), it has fast cheap internet it's not massively far from where I study, it's walking distance from Red Square (around about 30 minutes) and it has a washing machine (although you can never use it because the family are constantly using it).

There's not all that much that i can tell you about Moscow at the moment that you can't read on any blog or in any travel book, although I'm sure I'll remember a few stories for the next post.

2nd September

Well, the time has arrived (not time to leave, but the time when I know when I'm leaving).

So, get ready to say goodbye to me on 2nd September 2010. I'll be leaving Birmingham at like 7 or 8 or somewhere around then (in the morning) on Thursday 2nd September.
Now you can all start getting sad that I'm leaving.

Videoblog

Hello all.

This is just a quick update on what's going on at the moment (not that anyone's actually reading this at the moment of course).

I've decided to create a video blog instead, as its easier and you can actually see some of the things that I'm talking about a little easier (I'm hoping). The videos will all be found on this site: http://www.youtube.com/theboagey so, when I'm in Moscow keep an eye on that.

So, by now here's what's been sorted out:
Course has been booked.
Accommodation form has been submitted. (will refer to this in a bit)
Deposits paid for course and FLIGHTS!!!

So, I'm expecting more information about official invitations and visa applications etc (although, it's all in the magical red book of RLUS of course).

The accommodation:
I've been asked so many times about where I'll be staying and when I find out exactly where I'll be staying. I'll tell you all definitively now that I don't know. All I know is that I'll be staying in Moscow, with a babushka/hozyaika. On the application form there was a question about whether I'd want to stay in accommodation with another student. Personally, I'd kind of prefer it, a little bit of pressure for me not to spend my whole time there stuck in my room on facebook to you guys (as good as that'd be). Fingers crossed it's not someone worth hating, if indeed I do end up staying with another student)

So yeah, keep an eye on the youtube page, as I'll hopefully be posting regular videos, boring you about the mundane things that I'll be doing whilst in Moscow. In fact, my aim is to take you all on a video tour of Moscow when I get there; that way you know what to expect when you come and visit me!

Deposits

Uh oh, opening e-mails is now starting to become a little too scary. The last e-mail was full of forms to fill in and requests for deposits. Everything is starting to become so real and so very very close.




Although, on a positive note, I felt really excited to go to Moscow for the first time in a couple of months.

Recently I've been a little scared and a little upset that I'm going to miss out on so much next year. I'm going to miss my good old English friends so much and I'm going to miss going to the pub quiz every week and bingo (not that I ever win of course) and I'm going to miss the winging about who's going to pick who up and where we're going to eat and what time we're getting to places etc.

However, looking at photos from people who are spending this year in Russia always makes me so enthusiastic, despite the worry that the accommodation won't be all that amazing.



Accommodation is certainly one of my biggest worries. Not that it's going to be uninhabitable of course, just that it's not going to be up to the standards of an English home. Like obviously Russian decoration is different and a little more rustic shall we say. I'm sure it'll be fine, it's not like Russia is some poverty stricken dump. I'm basically just really hoping that I get a hozyaika like my one from when I went in 2007, the apartment of a wealthy owner of a piping company (I think, I know it was something to do with piping, not sure if he was the owner though).

That brings up another concern as well. Having not lived away from home, I'm really looking forward to being completely independent, and I'm worried that living with a hozyaika will be as restrictive as living at home. I don't particularly want to have to get home by a certain time or not be able to have friends around whenever I want, or not to be able to cook whenever I want (probably my biggest worry). Of course, all of this is balanced out by the prospect of having someone constantly there to speak Russian to (again, hoping that they aren't like the other Russians I've met who are desperate to speak English all the time).



I suppose it's difficult to judge the situation until I'm actually there.

So, I'll address these concerns when I'm over there.

Februrary arrives

Well,
It's almost February and, as stated before, time has begun to FLY past.
Everything is becoming so real.
Right now, I've got to go back to the doctor to book the final appointment for injections (luckily I don't need many because of previous travels, although I can't remember which ones the lady told me I needed. Hopefully it won't be a problem.) and I've got to tell uni what my LEA need from them to confirm that I'll be going to Russia (which took me ages to find out, a good 15 minutes on the phone just to be told how student loans work... thanks) and also we have to decide what we want to write our year abroad project on by next week.
And its only going to get worse (or better, depending on how you see it of course).
Actually trying to think of a topic to write about whilst in Russia is actually a lot more difficult than I imagined it would be. Like, there are so many different aspects and problems to take into consideration, such as: what you write might become void if politics change, it may be difficult to research it when in Russia, getting responses to questionaires is never easy in a foreign country etc. Yet, 6000 words is still a really big essay, so it still has to be quite detailed and still specific. Not the easiest thing to decide on.
So, I've decided to steal Kate's idea, or at least something along those lines. The idea of creating the Russian nation after the fall of the Soviet Union looks like it could be promising.

So, here are the details so far:
I'm going to Moscow for the whole year (so if anyone is bored and wants a tour of Moscow, you know where I'll be).
And that's about it really, apart from the forementioned year abroad project of course.

But in general, 2nd year Russian and History ROCKS! Its so cool, I'm studying things that I'm actually interested and nothing else, there aren't too many essays to do, not too many hours in uni either. I'm certainly not complaining. I'd definately recommend it to any prospective Russian language students.

Struggling to think of what else I can fill this blog with, unfortunately nothing massively exciting is happening at the moment. However, I'll let you know if anything does.

Creation

Hello.

Inspired by Sarah, I've decided to create a blog for everyone who wants to see how I'm getting on in Russia.

At the moment, it is still a whole year away and I haven't even started planning or preparing for it yet, haven't even started 2nd year yet. However, time will pass quickly (I hope anyway, as am rather excited already) so I may aswell chart my preparation for the year abroad. Perhaps like a quasi-diary.