Placement Test Day

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Hello again!
Back in the internet cafe
it is cooollllddd out.

I am having serious problems adjusting to the time change. Two Days ago I fell asleep at 630 pm and woke up at 630 am. Last night I fell asleep at 9 and today I woke up at 430am. Had to drug myself back to sleep at 6am and then slept until 830. Tonight I am going to try to stay up. Maybe some Russian Champagne will help (approx. $4).

yesterday was supposed to be our first day but due to a communication failure we started today. Yesterday we went to the school (at the Smolny Institute. Google it. Its fantastic) to drop off our passports to verify our visas. we also got pictures taken for our student id's and visa extensions (the ones i brought were glossy and so they werent acceptable...sigh). Had Shwarma (spelling?) for lunch. It seems you can get that anywhere in the world. Its been really cool but weird so far. Havent actually done much except walk around and go to the grocery store and internet cafe.

Today we had our placement test for the classes we will be taking. Class doesnt start until 10am, which is awesome. But it takes about 1 1/2 hours to get to the school. last year they had a bus that took them to the metro, but that no longer exists, which sucks.

I had a fantastic lunch today. Fried potatoes, steak (which was really more of a cross between steak and a hamburger) and an americano. Coffee may help me stay up longer tonight... I hope.

Havent done anything touristy yet. No rush. Also it is WAY cheaper once we get our student cards so we are all waiting on that. Two of the girls from Dalhousie went to Ikea today but Arleigh Whitney and I (the Uvic-ers) are gonna go later, maybe Monday. BTW we have Mondays off. 4-day school weak only. its a pretty awesome schedule. I wonder what level of class I will be in.

The test today was multiple choice with a small written section (which was easy) and an oral part (also easy)

The MC section had 140 questions but noone got past 80 or 90. I got into the 70s but then gave up.

It got progressively harder so it was really confusing by that point. The beginning was fairly easy though. I hate perfective verbs.

Our first day here we went to Dom Knugee (House of books)
Gigantic bookstore. was fantastic. Gonna buy an english book there once I finish the ones I have.

TJ and Brendan's (Alberta guys) roomates want to take them to a hockey game sometime this semester. I plan on joining them. Their roomates love to party. They all got drunk last night. My roomate just studies
and is always by himself. Makes the place relaxing and quiet. But I need to hangout with ppl tonight so I can stay awake.

After we leave the internet we are going to try and buy phones. I hope that works out. The two girls who bought them already can't figure out how to call. Go figure. Russian phones confuse me. Too many numbers.

I can't really think of anything to say. Still havent drank at all. I made curry last night (thanks for the packets mom!)

Ummm. ya. nothing else to say.

Hope everyone is alive and well back home
Welcome back to Canada Graeme. (If you are reading this)

Bye for now!

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Comments

[Robin]

helllloooooooo
Glad to hear that you're having fun. I can't believe you're an hour and a half away from school - is biking a thing in St. Petersburg? Although it may be a little cold for that... Keep updating!

[mom]

Hockey games WOOT
I think getting to a Russian hockey game would be fantastic! You Cdn hockey fans should contact the Canadian Consultate in St petersburg and find out if they have anything going on for the Olympics and "prebook" yourselves in for some of the canadian games. It would be a blast to be there for the Gold Medal Game. plus no harm in introducing yourselves anyway! keep us posted about the phone. love Mom

[Emily]

Knugee
Okay, you're just going to grow increasingly annoyed by me and my miscellaneous comments, however, I don't give a damn. I will continue to be annoying. Deal with it. Anyways, onto the point of the comment. When you said Dom Knugee I pronounced Knugee ''noogie'' as in the thing that people used to do where they would put another person's head in a headlock and then rub their fist on the person's head while they stood there helpless. THEN I pictured them doing that to everyone who enters Dom Knugee... Conor, I actually chuckled and said 'Those crazy Russians...'out loud.... Once again, I'm in the bibliocafe reading this. Seriously though, your blog is going to give me some very warped views of Russians. Next time you enter or talk about Dom Knugee though I'll bet you'll think about me and my twisted thought processes!

[Emily Groundwater]

wow. an hour and half away from school is rough. i assume you are taking transit? you should get your roommate drunk one night. it seems like he needs to let loose. maybe wait until the end of the trip though just in case things go awry. glad to hear things are going well. i have no idea why you are going to get a phone though (tehehe)...i mean, you are conor after all. are you still using your man bag? that really was a game changer. love the updates. keep it up. good luck with the test results!

[jennifer Rooney]

yo
YO WHERES YOUR BLOOOOOOOOOG BRO!