http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Russia en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:33:28 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:33:28 UTC ...for everything Hello my faithful blog readers. It has been a few days since I last updated so today's blog may be a little lengthy but it will have pics I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving with family and friends. I hope you ate until you were satisfied and had a great day I did not think I would get a traditional Thanksgiving so before I left my mom fixed a big Thanksgiving dinner http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-350326.html Hi again it's convenient that it gets dark and cold so early here gives me plenty of time to write blog entries. Thanks for all your comments and messages.We've just got back to Irkutsk after having a few days at Lake Baikal. Baikal is the biggest volume lake in the world and holds something like 20 of the planet's freshwater. Apparently it's on a fault line which is continually growing so th http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-349585.html there is a song that goes like moskvaaaaaa ya lublyu tebya....... that is i how i feel right now. i love moscow andi am going tomiss it dearly. all day i have been sad because imleaving. dont get me wrong i am excited to go home but im sad because i dont know when i will return to moscow. yesterday was thanksgiving and our last day of classes. i think i got all A's so for dinner we went to http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-349346.html September 7 TuesdayWoke up real early today for our 745 am flight for St. Petersburg. Good thing we got our suitcases in Lylahrsquos trunk the night before. Thank yous hugs and kisses for our perfect hostess Lylah Moonlight and Emy and I were off to Russia via Paris.From Paris it was just another 3 hrs or so before we landed in St. Petersburg. Emy was held up in the airport immigration f http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/blog-348827.html ...but not like in the US They are starting to decorate for Christmas and are beginning to play a little bit of Christmas music in the malls but it still doesn't compare to home. But at least it is feeling a little like the holidays. It's been a few days since I spent some time sharing what is happening so I'll take some time today to do that.I get Thanksgiving Before I left Tulsa I asked http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-348693.html Hello all I'm not going to blog today although I have lots to say. I'll save it for another day. I know everyone has been eager to see pics and I finally have internet in my room so I can put some on. I hope you enjoy Be sure and check out my video. It is just a small clip of Sunday School. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more on here for your enjoyment http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-348389.html ok i know i wont be in moscow for Christmas but........drum roll....IT SNOWED. i feel like a giddy kid. its so cool. i woke up last week adn there was snow on the ground. its not a lot but its enough for me. the last time i saw snow was in Lake Tahoe 4 years ago. so this was big. i mean it is big. i get to wear my boots and my coat and mittens and scarf. its exciting well its cool when im http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-348250.html Hello again we've arrived in SiberiaThe train journey from Moscow to Irkutsk was fantastic. It was everything we'd hoped for and we're so glad we went all the way with no stops There's no way we can convey how good it was in one blog entry because so many funny things happened. But I'll have a go.....We set off on Thursday lunchtime. Unfortunately we were on a slow train one of the ones that g http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-348115.html Hello TravelBlog and anyone who would be interested in reading this. So i spent a week in Moscow and then i took a train or as we say it in Russian poezd all the way to St.Petersburg. Me and my grandmother departed some time in the evening and early in the morning we were already in St.Petersburg. It was May 20th and the weather in the morning was pretty cold as we got out of the train. It made http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-347671.html Previet hello my Blog subscriber's and readers So much has happend since the last time I blogged so I thought I would update my blog before I have too much to convey at one time The last major thing to happen was quite stressful but God worked in out in just a matter of minutes. How awesome is that On Friday Amber and myself were on our way to the State Museum at Red Square. As we were http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-347433.html Just looking back at all these memories motivated me to sign up for TravelBlog which i think is not such a bad idea after all. At least i will get to look back on what i have done and places i have visited. So this summer in May 2008 i went to my home countrymother Russia. Living in Canada for almost 7 years i havent visited Russia ever since. Going there as a tourist is an amazing feeling. Fo http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-347061.html I don't have a lot to say today but I wanted to update everyone on the school situation. I received an email yesterday asking me to come by the Centre asap regarding my VISA. I was not sure what to think about this so I went to inquire about it. When I arrived I found out they just needed my signature they sure know how to make you sweat why couldn't they have just told me in the email they http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-346813.html I thought I'd write something because I have a few minutes free on the internet at the hostel. We're leaving Moscow tomorrow we are going on the train to Irkutsk which is the city nearest to Lake Baikal. It's a 5day nonstop journey We're quite nervous about it but really excited at the same time. We'll be crossing the Urals into Asia and crossing loads of time zones as when we get there we'll http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-346628.html The scenery has become more rugged it is starting to get more mountainous and a lot colder. Ive been talking to the Chinese girls in our Carriage and have found that they had gone to Moscow to work and were now heading home to China they had been there 5 months and the one I spoke with had about 350 to take home after the cost of living in Moscow. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Siberia/Krasnoyarsk/blog-346491.html Today the sceanary was similar to what I had seen the day before although it had a light covering of snow.This entry is mainly just to show afew pictures from the day. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Siberia/Omsk/blog-346461.html On the train I am in a Cabin with 4 beds there is just me and a French girl in there she is living in French Guiana South America working as a social worker although she is originally from Paris.In my Wagon there is me my French roommate 1 American 2 French 2 Swedish 1 from Norway and 8 Chinese Girls. The train is not very full and most people have space in their cabins this is probably du http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Volga/Perm/blog-346454.html It's a pity It's a pity That's what my school said to me when I told them I was not going to class because I wasn't learning anything and I wanted them to do something about it Hmmm...maybe they don't quite understand what they are saying No I'm sure they do Anyway...that's what is going on with the school situation right now. Many of you are probably wondering what the big deal is http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-346120.html Hello everyone Thanks for signing up to our blog. It's going to be harder than we thought to add entries because we won't be able to get on t'internet much it's expensive here and also we just tried to upload a photo but it didn't work. Hopefully this situation will improve as we head east but I wouldn't count on itSo we're already in Moscow We're a bit ahead of schedule because we strug http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-345893.html And now the end is nearAnd so I face the final curtain.My friend Ill say it clearIll state my case of which Im certain.Ive lived a life thats full.Ive traveled each and evry highwayAnd more much more than thisI did it my way.Regrets Ive had a fewBut then again too few to mention.I did what I had to doAnd saw it through without exemption.I planned each charted courseEach careful step al http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-345600.html Teaching at Perm State University presents unique problems. Because you can never be too secure every classroom at PSU is locked when not in use and when in use many have a camera trained directly on the instructor. And every building has a key guard an old woman in scrubs who sits behind a window and distributes keys. During the first week of class the key guard of building 5 flatly refus http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Volga/Perm/blog-345024.html Updated As I write this I039m currently in Saint Petersburg and writing on a French keyboard so all the letters are in the wrong place its very confusing we arrived here yesterday at 6AM and spent most of the morning lugging our heavy backpacks arround the city because we weren't going to meet the person we are staying with until the evening. All our clothes were dirty and smelly so we http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-344951.html today as i walked out of the metro i was greeted by the smell of urine....oh moscow. i will still miss the city a lot . ok more later tootles xoxoshot shot http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-344695.html Hey Guys I did not go to class today. I tried to give it a chance but it just isnt' working. They are so far advanced that I'm not understanding let alone grasping the material presented. Of all the things I could have had problems with I never guessed it would be my language classes. I've had a pretty easy time adjusting to the culture and getting used to living here but my school is anoth http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-344688.html Today was my last day in Moscow first of all I went to see Lenin in his Tomb...he looks quite dead but seems to be well preserved for the age of the body.I then took a look around at lots of the underground stations there are some very well decorated ones most of the decorations are of a soviet style but they do look good. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-344011.html Today I got into Moscow around 1pm it seems to be quite a nice place although it is very busy...after checking into my hostel I took a walk around the outside of the Kremlin and saw St Basils Cathedral. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-343673.html asjfhagnsd.kjghnajkdfgh afjgh isnt that interesting haha im lame. i jhave been sitting in the library for 2 hours trying to figure out my school schedule for next quarter oh what funanyhooo. i left off on stockholm. i loved it so so much it reminded me of sf except a lot cleaner. people were friendly. we went the national musum which was really coolthe boat ride to estonia was a lot of fun. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-343617.html Hi EveryoneIt is Monday afternoon here and I just finished up with class and had a few moments free in the internet cafe. I am slowly getting acclimated to the way things are done here but my one complaint is that the Russian people DO NOT believe in customer service Other than that I am learning how to navigate the subway system to get around town and also learning how to function in this new http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-343577.html Looking back I don't think that we really got a lasting impression of St Petersburg. Whether this was due to some 'travel weariness' or because we felt like we'd already seen similar sights in other European cities I don't know. We did enjoy the few days we spent in St Petersburg though and we did our fair share of exploring. St Petersburg has nice buildings. It has very old buildings. It has h http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-342538.html whats is interesting is that i now consider moscow home. while i was on my little vacation i actually missed moscow. i think its becuase here i actually feel at home because my hozaika treats me so well like family. so for me i actually came home this morning not just came back to the place where i sleep while i live in mocow. natalia borisovna for me has become family cheesy as it may sou http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-342523.html I have finally arrived in Moscow I actually got into the Moscow airport on Saturday morning at 2 a.m. but I have spent the last several days resting and trying to get my bearings. Also today has been the first day since I arrived that I have had internet access. Moscow is quite a different place. Culture shock has set in to say the least. My dorm room is very small. It is very humble. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-341818.html