Tveriffied.

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My flight to Moscow was at 9.15 in the morning. Once I said goodbye to my parents I walked to the departure lounge, but took too long talking to some of my Yartek friends on the way and by the time I got there at 8.55 I was seriously panicking about missing the 'plane.

I just made it but from there the panic increased. I'm usually quite relaxed when I fly but this time I was in pieces. I had never sat on my own before, the 'plane was less than half full and I knew no-one. During the whole three and a half hours I had the feeling in my chest as if we were taking off.

At Domodedovo I went through passport control and baggage reclaim on my own, still almost shaking, then wheeled my suitcase into the the main hall where I eventually found Natalia, the RLUS rep for Tver. With her was Viktor who had come to collect the next Yartek group. We shook hands like old friends, he hugged me and asked me about my break. Finding someone that I knew calmed me down a lot, and speaking in Russian at least made me realise that I was in Russia again. The two other British students joined me soon afterwards - Michael from Nottingham and Tamzin from London - and we introduced ourselves. Michael has been studying Russian for ten years and lived in Petersburg last semester, Tamzin also studies French and has just come back from Paris.

Exactly like last semester we were shown to a minibus to take us to our town - only this was a flithy three seater van that stank of cigarette smoke. Our course leader came with us, another sullen disinterested middle aged woman who didn't say a word to us for the entire journey. Driving on Russian roads is dangerous enough but the driver was determined to frighten us even more by keeping his lights off once it got dark. It took another four hours to reach Tver, by which time we all felt horrible.

I am still in the north of european Russia. Imagine Moscow as the centre of a clockface; Yaroslavl is at 2 o'clock and Tver is at half past 11. Under the Soviet Union the town was renamed Kalinin, and only became Tver (Tvyer') again in 1991. The population is 400,000.

We were dropped off on ulitsa Zhelyabova and took our things into the hostel. It's next door to the university on studencheskii pereulok. The building is clean and light; the walls are painted light brown and cream. Our corridor is on the fourth floor, one above the teaching rooms. Tamzin is in flat 46, myself and Michael are in 44. We have a kitchen - with a wooden table, a stove and a large fridge - a toilet and a shower room. There is a bedroom each with a bed, desk, chair, cupboard and a small television. The flat is very bare but there is enough space, and there is a good view of Zhelyàbova from my window. Five Finnish girls live on our corridor, also students at Tv.G.U. They had been waiting for us all day. I need to do some name-learning tomorrow!

At 10 I went for a walk with Michael and Tamzin. There is a lot of snow and it is very cold, although I only have my face and ears to guide me rather than a thermometer. Say minus 12? Our curfew was 11 so there wasn't time to see much, but Tver seems very attractive so far. The buildings are lower than in Yaroslavl so it feels less imposing, and the streets are wider. Buildings are painted light blues, yellows and greens similar to Kiev. On the street turning off ours, ulitsa Trekhsvyàtskaya, there are mobile phone shops and european-style boutiques. There are no cars and the pavement is white with trampled-in snow. Bar Kalinin and a café called 'Chiken Hauz' are less than two minutes' walk.

We didn't get back until 11.30 but the cheerful round lady in reception didn't mind. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on top of my bed.

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Photos

The obshezhitie.
In the corner of the university courtyard. My flat is on the fourth floor.