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.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Sunday, 31 January 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
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.
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.
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