Blogs from Russia, Europe - page 307

As impossible as it seemed, I wasn't tired when we left Yartek so I went for a walk with Chiara. We walked in the snow alongside the river Kotorosl near where we live. It was minus 14 at midnight - the Kotorosl had frozen over so we even walked on it, as far into the middle as we dared. There was more than a foot of snow on top of the ice so we couldn't tell we were walking across a river, it felt the same as walking on the path. We're both confused at the idea of leaving Yaroslavl in two weeks, just as there seems to be more to do. I got up late and walked to the factory with a large bag of my laundry. It is hard to talk in Russian when ... read more

The Trans-Siberian...Moscow to Irkutsk Several different trains travel the wide expanses between Moscow and Vladivostock and Beijing. The "Trans-Siberian" train, as such, only travels the region of Siberia in Central Russia. Siberia is not everything East of Moscow, but the region between the Ural and Altai Mountains. Its Winters are so fierce because the region is one large basin. But few people realize that the Summers can be uncomfortably hot. The train that goes from Irkutsk to Beijing is called the "Trans-Manchurian". The geography of Russia is known to most of us but this trip made it all the more real. Aside from being a magnificently large country we left with a better appreciation for the Russian people and their views towards Moscow. We learned early on that Moscow is basically its own "country" within Russia ... read more

I correctly guessed minus 7 today. It is so cold that my face turns purple from the minute I step outside, and my hands sting painfully if I don't keep them in my pockets. My day at the language school was tiring. Lena taught us in the morning; we have finished our workbook so we moved on to grammar excercises from another one. Her classes have been a huge help to my Russian by topping up the basics in an organised way. Her teaching is still good but I think that my grammar has improved as it can for one semester. The topics are getting easier but I'm finding it much harder to concentrate. In Olga's lessons in the afternoon we read part of a novel by Ilf and Petrov. I took Katya to Yartek at ... read more

Neither myself nor Chiara imagined that it could be minus 8 this morning, but my guess of minus 5 was closest. It was a very cold walk to school! Yulia's class was good. We finished the story about the plumber - his two house calls are to a lonely old man and a young boy with no parents, so he arranges for them to live together - and talked a bit about it. I slept well last night so I felt awake and willing to talk more than usual. In the lunch break I walked to the nearest shop with Chris W and it still felt exceptionally cold. I was shivering even wearing two thermal vests, my warmest jumper, a thick scarf and my overcoat. It feels like I'm really in Russia again, after the shake-up ... read more

I slept in until 10, then woke up for a breakfast of cold tea, warm brocolli and a greasy cutlet. The plan for the daytime was to relax. Katya invited me to dinner with her parents in the evening and I was understandably stressed about it... And so 5 o'clock arrived. I always yawn when I'm nervous so by quarter to I was almost asleep! I managed to transport a bottle of wine from ulitsa Bolshaya Oktyabr'skaya to ulitsa Schedrina where she lives, even though my hands were trembling and my feet were slipping on the ice. I met Katya outside, we went up the stairs to her flat and very timidly stepped into the hall. I put my overcoat on the coat stand, then shook hands with her mum and dad and said my politest ... read more