randilynn_8

Since I have put any pictures up!!!!! :-D I just finished my final exam and I have 3 full days left in Nizhni! :-( and :-D ... read more

Written: 11/20/07 HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I wish I got to celebrate my Thanksgiving traditions…Six Flags the day before, the parade, turkey and pumpkin pie! Tomorrow I will go with all the Americans to Harley’s (our professor) house. We will have chicken instead of turkey and then some different deserts, possibly apple crisp, and whatever anyone wants to bring. Pretty much no Thanksgiving food, which had me pretty down (this being my favorite holiday), but some people offered to make stuffing from scratch! Let’s hope it works because that would make the day for me! Either way I guess it will make me focus on the point of the holiday; because there is a lot that I am thankful for! My family and friends back home who keep me going every day even when they don’t know, my ... read more

Written: 11/8/07 So these last two weeks was a busy one! Last Thursday, the English teacher I help in my service project asked me and my partner to help her have a Halloween party for the 10 year olds. Russians tend to think that there are traditions that ALL Americans do exactly the same on October 31st. We didn’t attempt to try and tell them differently; its easier not to try and explain that some people go to parties, others go to carnivals at their church or school, and still others go trick-or-treating or that some families might have different traditions such as one family I know has tacos on Halloween and what not. Before the party, Andrew (my partner who works at the school with me) and our friend Dustin went to one of the ... read more

Sorry its been a while since I have updated! Written: 10/29/07 So a lot has happened since my last entry. I moved in with my host family and it has been great! My host sister, Sveta, is a lot of fun and speaks enough English so that between my poor Russian and her English we can communicate well. She is a dancer which keeps her busy during the weekends but besides practices during the day (normally while I am in class anyways) we have time at night to socialize. Last week we went to the movies with her best friend and her boyfriend, both of whom are really nice, do not know much English but still try to talk to me. My host mom’s name is Olya. She is a teacher. She takes care of everything ... read more

Hey Everyone! I thought I would give a brief update! Still no snow although there were some snowflakes one day...they did not last and it wasn't even enough to make anything white. :-( It sure is chilly though but I am getting used to it! I found out about my host family. I was told it was a teacher, her father (in otherwords I would have a host "mom" and "grandpa" and that she had a daughter but the daughter was not at home. I was kind of upset to find out that I wouldn't realy have any "siblings" BUT when I went to meet them last night I found out that the daughter does live at home and she is 22! It made me pretty happy! I move in tomorrow! I am SOOOO excited! ... read more

Written on 10/08/07 On the Russian Studies Program everyone has to participate in some type of service project for 9 weeks. Last Friday I started my service project. I am working as an English Teacher’s aid in a nearby elementary school. I was very excited to be working with kids again and after going to the school I know that I am volunteering in the right place! The kids are amazing and want to know everything about America (which is pretty much all I am there for so if you have any suggestions on what to tell them about American culture/families let me know). The older groups (11-13) know English really well! I thought it was so fascinating that they speak English that well for that age. The youngest age group that the teacher has is ... read more

Written: 9/23/07 Last night the group I am with went to the Circus. This circus is a popular place for families in Nizhni Novgorod. Supposedly, it was closed for twenty years because they were building a new building for it; it was re-opened recently so we were told we had to go. Many of the acts were interesting but there were a few things in the circus that irritated me extremely. The show started with a skating couple that was amazing. They seemed like they could have been ice-skaters yet they were using in-line skates. One of the things that they did was the guy lifted the girl up and she attached herself to something that was around his neck and then spun around on that while he was twirling around. Next they had a clown ... read more