Four blinchiki for breakfast (Tamara Aleksandrovna already knows they're my favourite) then four hours of grammar with Olga and a different Lena. They are both middle aged ladies with brown hair. Russian grammar is hard enough in an English classroom but it is even more of a headache here. Most of us went to an outside biker bar down the road for a drink after class. It is on a street near Nekrasova, with three tables and a menu of microwave mini kolbasa pizzas, sausages or soup. I went to the town centre - ulitsa Kirova - on my own afterwards [View Full Entry]

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It's the beginning of autumn and it's been about 15 degrees all week. People say it will stay like this until November, which is the start of winter. Judging by how thick my duvet is, and the fact that the thermometer in my room goes down to minus 30, I'm in for a bit of a shock! I wonder if I could wear everything in my suitcase at once? Prospekt Tolbukhina is run down and feels unwelcoming, but my room is comfortable. The three carpets are red, the ceiling is white and the lamp and lights are silver. The colour scheme [View Full Entry]

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A new day, new people to meet. Viktor gave us a history lesson, which started with us telling him about our first impressions of Yaroslavl ("amazing architecture, feels very different to England, hard to find your way around") and finished with a one hour lecture on how the city was founded, and the history of some of the churches and towers. In 1010 Prince Yaroslav the Wise built a fortress on the spot where he killed a bear, and in the 16th century it was Russia's second city after Moscow. It was interesting to hear about what the place we live [View Full Entry]

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After a breakfast of blini s medom, or pancakes with honey, I followed the map to Yartek for my first day of lessons. Before they started the class compared notes on our landladies. We can't quite understand why they behave towards us as English grans do with toddlers, but we're here to learn about Russian culture - and for all of us all the attention is very welcome! Chris J got his verbs mixed up last night, and instead of saying he wanted to go to the bathroom for a shave he said he wanted to go to the bathroom "to [View Full Entry]

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I was allowed a lie-in until 9. Syrniki - cheese pancakes - awaited me in the kitchen for breakfast, and after a day here my Russian felt ever so slightly more confident. Tamara Aleksandrovna is very warm and friendly, but all the same it is very difficult to communicate with someone of such a different age and culture, in a language I have only been speaking for two years. On a scrap piece of paper she drew me a map of how to get to Yartek: walk along ulitsa Tolbukhina for two blocks - cross the road and turn right at [View Full Entry]

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I set my alarm for 7 o'clock, to have a lie-in and relax before the day started. At 7.05 Tamara Aleksandrovna woke me up for breakfast. Still rubbing my eyes and not sure of where I was, I went into our kitchen, which is only just big enough for 2 people, with a table in the corner overlooking the rooftops. She had already put my pancakes with honey on the table, along with coffee made by heating milk in a saucepan. I struggled with my Russian, had a shower under yellow water and got ready to leave for a meeting at [View Full Entry]

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The flight from London to Moscow was comfortable. At Moscow Domidedovo airport the 15 'RLUS' students met and introduced ourselves. Then we left for Yaroslavl. It appears to be just a short distance from Moscow on a map, but in reality it is a 6 hour coach trip along the same wide, connifer lined road. While it was light I got to know three of the people I had met at the airport, Chris, Jamie and another Chris. We stopped at a roadside café about half way and each bought a bottle of water - in Russian of course - which [View Full Entry]

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As I write this it is seventy three days until I will arrive in Russia. My adventures will take me to Yaroslavl in september for the first semester, then after a quick trip home I'll start in Tver next spring. Both cities have a population of about 600,000, and are situated roughly a six hour train journey north of Moscow. At the moment the idea of going to Russia is really exciting. As most of you already know I tend to act first and think later - I'm not the type to get nervous about things! There might be a last [View Full Entry]

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