Last Days....

So, tomorrow is my last official day in Yaroslavl, and I have such mixed feelings about it!!! (Really, I was like a crazy person today, swinging between being super excited and just about crying). On one hand, I miss everyone soo much back home! On the other, this has become my home too!! How do I leave one to go to the other?

As any AFSer could understand, the end of the year is the hardest. You rush to try and get everything done, see everything and everyone, but you know that you really can't. There's no way to fit in everything, no matter how hard you may want to, but it doesn't make it any easier. Today we finished souvenir shopping, saw a park on the other side of town, went to the Planetarium, and went out for pizza. It was amazing, and sad and perfect and I wish it wouldn't have ended. The park turned out to be more of a big 18th century, beautiful building, and then a couple of ponds around it, all with "No Swimming" signs posted right by where the boys were jumping in. We dipped our feet in too, watched some adorable ducklings and took plenty of pictures, which I may or may not end up putting up when I get back. We'll see.)))

Tomorrow, I'll finish packing, we're going to go swimming, and then we'll figure something else out to do.

As I've said before, and as many of my AFSer friends are writing on their blogs right now, there are just so many conflicting feeling that come with this ending. This year has been such an amazing experience, one I barely have the words to describe, and the end of it is so terrible, and so wonderful at the same time. In some ways, the end of this year here in Russia is simply a continuation of my life back in the US, but in so many other ways, it is the start of something completely new. I keep telling myself that, reminding myself that this isn't even really the end of anything at all, but it's hard. It's hard to say goodbye and not know when I'll be returning. It's hard to know that when I do return, so much will have changed without me. And it's hard to know that no matter what I do, everything will change anyways and I can't stop it.

I'll try to embrace the change, take it in stride, and not just move on, but incooperate everything I've seen and learned this year into what I make of the rest of my life. I won't forget those lessons, or the people that taught them to me.

For now, I'll let my last word from Russia on this blog be in the form of a video that I think captures a lot of how I feel about my time here. Enjoy!

At Home in Russia

I'll see you soon, be home on Monday.

From Russia,

With Love,

Bettina

10 Things That Make Me Happy

Just an idea that I got from a fellow blogger a while back that I'm hoping will make me feel a little better about this being my last week.

1. When it's going to get cold in the Spring or the summer, you always know because there's a tree that blooms white flowers to warn us. Then later, there's always this white cotton like stuff that floats around, and would be awful if you had allergies, but it looks like snow is falling amongst the flowers and leaves.

2. Because it's been so cold recently, I've been wearing favorite my coat out.

3. My "aunt" Anya came over yesterday and we talked for an hour just the two of us.

4. There's a book store in town that is closing down, so now all books are at least half off, and I found my all time favorite book there in Russian the other day!

5. I watched a movie with really fast Russian subtitles the other day, and it was hard but I read almost all of them.

6. I found a movie that I love with English subtitles and I can't wait to show everyone I know.

7. Murzic, our grumpy older cat, has been such a love bug the last two days! He slept with me, and when I picked him up, he sat with me (as opposed to clawing at me and leaping away).

8. While looking at all the pictures on her wall, Dinara realized that many of the pictures or things she had written had come true. Inna pointed out that her wall was covered in pictures of women... Hehe.

9. The mail man came to my house a long time ago and looked at me, then at my passport and announced "You've lost weight!" It really annoyed me at the time, but looking at my driver's licence recently, I realized that I have. :)

10. The oven that we bought the other day just arrived, and it'll be working as soon as the city gas people come and get the gas working!

With so little time left, I am doing my best not to be sad. I can't wait to see my family, friends and dogs. I still have so much left to do, including packing (which I have most certainly not figured out yet). I have two maps, a painting and many gifts. How to bring all this home? Well, I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Also, my dad asked for some pictures of the area around my house.


<-Winter (first snow)
Spring->



And here are a couple of my bedroom. For those that don't know, I live on the fifth floor (we have no elevator), we have one bedroom, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. It's small, but we're all girls, and I'm used to it. It's pretty normal for a Russian home, and it's not a bad thing if you catch on early and figure out how not to leave things on the floor. If anyone reads this and is going to Russia, keep in my that your room almost certainly won't be singularly your room, which means you have to keep it up.

I digress. The pictures:




On another quick note, I read Emily VanLoo's latest blog recently and realized how very true so many of the things she wrote there. Writing a blog has been really pretty hard for me because after a while, you settle back into things and life gets into a rhythm. Maybe it's not the rhythm I had in the US, but it's mine all the same, and one I forget to think or write about. Living in another country, whether on exchange or for any other reason, is an amazing experience, but it's life all the same. The difference is that I have learned to take the time to appreciate the things around me more, to take notice of things I might not if not for where I was.

I won't forget that lesson, even though it's a surprisingly hard one. Life may be rhythmic, repetitive, or even boring at times, but we still have lots of special little things that make it all worth it, that we so often forget to look at.

I will be back in the USA in a little over a week, and I know I won't take the little things for granted.

From Russia,

With Love,

Bettina

St Petersburg!!

For anyone who doesn't know, we went to Saint Petersburg last week! This is me finally writing a blog about it, haha.

So. Saint Petersburg is the city that was built by Peter the Great, Russia's most European city and the "cultural capital" of the country. It is literally one giant monument to 18th century architecture and by all accounts one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

We arrived in St Petersburg at 11am after a 12 hour train ride from Yaroslavl, and went straight into sightseeing. Needless to say, we were all exhausted--but it was so worth it.

The very first thing we saw was this large spire called "Peter's Staff". It happens to be one of the most famous symbols of the city (I got a shirt with it!).

Later of course we saw Peterhof...


Catherine the Great's palace, and several beautiful churches, including this one.



We also got to walk around every night on our own. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that the sun never set! We were able to see St Petersburg on White Nights!

Although I can't seem to find the words to write about it, I had an amazing time, and would suggest visiting St Petersburg to anyone I speak to. It was seriously amazing, and I will definitely be returning!!

For now,

From Russia, with love,

Bettina

The Last Bell

As anyone from Russia is probably familiar with, this week we had the Last Bell (Последний Звонок) in school. Everyone came to school in their best and we celebrated the last day of school! Some girls were in the old Soviet uniform (an old tradition that is, sadly, fading away) and the guys all came in suits and we had a concert. Most of us cried at some point or another as everyone sang, gave speeches, read poetry, and thanked eachother for the many years they've spent together. I have to admit this was a heavy one for me too. I can't believe that not only has my junior year finished, my school year in Russia has too. As of today, I have officially one month left in Russia.




As anyone who's every done this would probably agree with, this is probably one of the hardest blogs I've had to write, because it's one of the last. I love my home here in Russia and I know that I'll never forget the things and people I've gotten the chance to meet, from my amazing host family to my school principle to my fellow AFSers. And much like I did at the half year point (that seems soo recently) I'm going to just make a quick list of some of the things that have happened since I've been here!

1. I've met some of the most amazing people in the world!
Inna Alyamshina is the amazingly brave woman that took me on as a host student, and I don't think I could ever thank her enough! Not only did she open her home to me, she's become truly like family.Along with her, Dinara, my host sister is so amazing! I love them so much and I just can't imagine living so far away!




My principle, Galina Vladislavovna, is also one of the smartest ladies I know. Not only is she the priciple of our school, she's an amazing teacher and completely fluent in English! There are several other teachers here that have been awesome, namely my history teacher Yevgeniy Nikolaivich and David Dalieravich.




And finally, my AFS friends. I just want to say that AFSers are probably the bravest and most foolhardy people on the planet. I now have some of the best friends from Thailand and other countries, and I'm amazed all the time by how awesome that is. They are such smart, crazy people!




2. I got to experience (and survive) a Russian winter!
I can say now that I will honestly miss the harsh winter. I don't know what I'll do next year! I watched a movie today that took place at New Years and I already miss it! Yes, there were many, many times when I could have done without having my eyelashes (and other things) freeze just from being on the street, and I know I can say that at the end of the Winter, you really are just ready to wear flip flops, see the sun, and not worry about scarves, hats, and gloves... But once a year would be nice. :))





3. I've learned to love public transport.
Okay, this is a love/hate relationship, but I do appreciate Yaroslavl's public transport. It's really pretty good, and it's gotten me around all year without too many problems.

4. Fallen in love all over again with history.
I've gotten to take a Russian history class this year, and in June I'll be taking an exam on the topic. And I am soo excited! It has been soo amazing to hear about Russian history from the Russian point of view, besides the fact the Yevgeniy Nikolaivich is an awesome teacher!! I love that guy.)))

5. Figured out that I really don't know what I want to be!
I thought I knew... I didn't. I have now narrowed down the possibilies to anything that has to do with history, and language. So... politics, proffesor, law, business... Yeah, I'll be trying that all out in college probably.

Beyond that, I've learned an amazing language, learned to love Russian food, and gotten very used to hearing English with an accent.

All that said, I still have a month left, and I plan to live it up! To Mishkin and to St Petersburg I go!

Wish me luck and see everyone in California sooner than seems possible,

From Russia,

With Love,

Bettina

Rybinsk and a Couple Other Things....

So, I went to a nearby town this last weekend, Rybinsk, with Ploy. There are 4 other students there, but we only met with two of them, Palin and Oatt (from Thailand). It was great! We walked around, and though the wind was strong and it was pretty cold (I thought that it would be warmer than it was, and wore my Autumn jacket) we had a great time. Here are some pictures:







Blogger's being weird and making all the pictures into weird long... things. So I don't know how to comment in between them, sorry. Basically, these are some pictures from Rybinsk with Ploy and Oatt and Palin. The bridge over the river is on the Volga, and the statue is with fish is because Rybinsk is a big fishing town. The work "Rybinsk" in Russian actually comes from the word for fish!

So, other than that, it snowed today! Spring and Winter are definitely fighting right about now, and... I'm not sure who's winning! Haha. Tomorrow will be the Thai new year, and it'll be too cold here to celebrate in the traditional way (by having water fights!!) but oh, well. We'll figure something out.

Anyways, that's about all that's going on right now.

Happy New Year!

From Russia with love,

Bettina

Just a video to make up for my hibernation

This is a video that's actually part of a series that my cousin, Katie, and I have done (although to be honest, far more Katie than me). We based it off of another YouTubers' idea, the Vlogbrothers. The idea is just that we tried to send little videos back and forth, just about whatever we want to talk about. This is my most recent and like my first, just about a lot of the things going on here in Russia.

If you're interested, here's a link to our Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/BorisandKarloff?feature=mhum

Hope you enjoy!

Because I haven't written in so long...

So I, when I decided to write this blog, had no idea just how hard it would be to keep up with it. As with every other school year, this one has definitely picked up pace with the beginning of the end of the year. We're coming into Spring quickly and, though Winter is making a determined attempt at sticking around (as the freezing wind and snow today can account to), the seasons are not slowing down for anyone. Even those of us who really want time to take a break and slow down for a little while!

My whole point being that I've been super busy. Bad excuse, I know, but I'm using it anyways.

What have I been busy with you may ask? Well, that would be with... not terribly interesting things, I'm afraid. I've gone full fledged into studying for the SATs, as well as reading more in Russian (found a couple of my favorite books in Russian!) and trying to pull myself back into shape in time to wear skirts. I will say that the cold weather and the walking a lot makes Russian diets consisting of a rediculous amount of starch and sugar not so bad, but the cold's warming up.

But I digress. I am trying to think of some other things that have happened to write here, but I can't think of a whole lot. I went to a Russian folk dance and music concert, which was amazing! (I put up pictures on my facebook) I am also determined to get my hands on a traditional Russian outfit--we'll see how that works out.

I think that's about it. I have put up pictures on facebook, but for anyone that doesn't have a facebook, I'll be sure to put pictures up here soon!

From Russia with Love,

Bettina

Right about Half Year

So, seeing as I am about half way through my stay here in Russia (not officially or anything, just a sort of rough estimate...) I decided to make a sort of big sweeping look back type blog! Because, i was sitting here the other day, and thinking about how many things have changed in the last 5 months. Sometimes I think that a different person will be going back in my place in less than six months....

Here are some of the crazy things that have happened, and that have changed:

1) I speak Russian!

That is one of the coolest, in my opinion. I am now speaking conversational Russian, pretty fluently. By fluent, I mean to say that I still sometimes struggle with foreign words, but I now know so many words by heart that I don't think about what I'm saying as much-- which has the weird affect of making be speak in English sometimes. Strange... So I'll be speaking really fast in Russian, and then all the sudden say something like, "I mean" or "But yeah". Ploy thinks it's hilarious.

Also, I can understand more of what people are saying, Television, and classes!! Not perfectly, but I'm working on it!

2) I am learning the difference between Pushy and Rude

Because there is one. Here in Russia, sometimes you think that people are being really rude (and sometimes they are) but
there is a fine line that I am seeing now. Here, you just can't get away with being quiet or meek about something. If you want lunch, you'd better get to the front (not a line...) and shout your order fast, or you're just not going to get it. But being pushy, does in no way mean being mean to the people. I don't know how to explain it.

Also, saying Please and Thank You are not normal here. Don't get me wrong, that's a habit I will not be broken of, but I'm just pointing it out. Oh, and if you say "excuse me" too much, people get really weirded out, and you're friends might get offended. Excuse me is for when you've done something wrong and usually not so much for friends.

3) I am learning how to stop an argument when I know that I'm wrong... Or that arguing my correct point won't get me anywhere.

Seriously. That's been one of the hardest lessons, and one that I don't even totally like admitting. But it comes with the language territory. Sometimes I can't even properly explain my point, so I end up repeating myself... I know I'm right, but is there really a reason to go around and around in circles about it?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect. But I'm working on it. Walking away (literally) actually does help. Sometimes your pride isn't nearly as important as the person you're fighting with.

4) People can seriously surprise you.

I've mentioned how sometimes Russians seem really rude, and I know everyone knows that they don't really smile at people... But here's the thing, they aren't mean. Like, I never thought they were, but the extent of their kindness can be really surprising sometimes. They might not smile at perfect strangers on the street, but they smile a crazy amount amongst friends. And that sort of angry guy walking down the street, well, he might just be the one that picks up the hair clip that fell out of your hair and run after the bus you just ran to get on--and yes, that completely happened! And the bus driver stopped so that the man could give me my hair clip!

5) Stereotypes are so... lame

I've learned since being here, that people still who heartedly believe in stereotypes, and I really don't understand why. The more people I meet and the more places I've been, the more painfully obvious it becomes just how ridiculous that is. I have had several (okay, more than several) people be completely shocked that No, Americans don't eat at McDonald's everyday, and No, I don't even like McDonald's. No big group of people can really be flung into a category, and I hope that the smaller this world gets, the more other people get that.


So, when I come back, it's more than likely that I'll say random phrases in Russian without even meaning too, make eye contact with strangers, hold it, and not smile, and start eating salads... that aren't salad.

So for now, I'm going to say, thanks Russia for teaching me so many things!!

From Russia with Love,

Bettina

A teensy bit bored... Can you tell?

So, I've decided that I want to write on this more often, although I haven't done very much recently so this post will probably end up being just a bunch of ramblings (which I've begun to suspect will be to myself...)

So. Ploy and I went to a nearby town called Rostov. It's very small, cute, got a Russian church and a lake. I'll try and write more about it when I get around to downloading pictures.... But I will say that I had a completely small world moment while I was there. On our way back to the bus station, we passed a guy wearing a Greenbay Packers sweatshirt! I just about freaked out, trying to decide whether I should stop the poor guy in the middle of the street and say something to him... Decided not to. But I think he figured it out anyways since I not-so-subtely shoved Ploy into the street and exclaimed, "OMG THAT GUY'S WEARING A GREENBAY PACKERS SWEATSHIRT!". He turned around and stared at me and we started walkin faster.

But anyways. So, my Russian teacher had been out of school the entire time we've been back at school and only came back Friday for the first time. And while he was gone, I realized that it is very, very hard to talk yourself into going to school when there's really no reason... I mean, don't get me wrong. I find lessons interesting sometimes, when I can catch the thread of conversation and make myself pay close enough attention to keep it. And I want to see my friends... But couldn't we do that AFTER the sun comes up? And NOT on Saturday? ;.; Russians have very hard lives, I've decided. I don't get how they expect everyone to get up when the sun is completely not up (I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm getting up at 3am rather than 7...) and put on all this clothing and go out into the way below freezing weather... And just to clarify, I don't know who the "they" in that sentence was. Just sort of a general "they" in the we-are-expected-by-society type "they". I guess.

But I digress.

I am beginning to think that my English grammar has gone downhill. Not in the, 'if I tried I couldn't' sort of way, just in the 'I never have to try' sort of way. Everything I write (including this...) seems to be riddled with little smiley faces, "haha"s, ellipses, and other basically incorrect uses of English. You know, fragments and such.

But, I've already run out of things to talk about here. So if anyone is actually reading this, I applaud you for making it throught that, even if it didn't completely make sense.

For now, buh-bye!

Bettina

C Новым Годом!!!

Happy New Year!!!

So, I realize I'm a bit (well, actually a lot) late for New Years, but here it is anyways. XD I guess I'll just kind of talk about the holidays, but first: New Years!

So, for anyone who doesn't know, New Years here is kinda like Christmas+New Years+ Steroids. But really. Everyone here stays up all night (of course) and the president does a speech right before midnight that everyone watches (I missed it... I'm so sad... But I heard that he said (and I quote) "Warm words" hahahaha), and then people everywhere set off fireworks!!! And I mean, just like normal people. So, we just looked out our window as the fireworks went off for sooo long. We stopped watching after... maybe 20 minutes? But they continued for literally hours! Here's the link for a video my friend took. It's a little long, but you can get the gist... Oh, and she's from Thailand, hence the Thai. ;)))
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages#!/video/video.php?v=171394022902671 (I don't know how well this link will work, since it goes to facebook)

Anyways. So, I spent theholiday with fellow AFSers, Ploy (from Thailand) and Laura (from Germany) and it was great!! The day started in much the same way a lot of holidays start: with cleaning... **Groan** Ploy had been stayingalready, but we kind of ordered her to sit and relax. Which was very difficult for her. ;D But, anyways. In the afternoon, I went to the bus station and met Laura (who came into Yaroslavl from a nearby town, Uglich) and then we headed back to Brageena (the district where I live) and came back to find that Dinara and Ploy had blown up little balloons to put on the floor!!

Then, Ploy, Laura and I went to the store to get snacks and such for the night (a very bad idea... ;) which of course included the oh-so-healthy treats of ice cream, M&Ms, assorted candies, apple juice, and tangerines! A note: tangerines are actually a Russian tradition for New Years. I'm not totally sure how that happened, but I guess since tangerines don't grow in Russia, they only get them in the winter (from southern countries with the reversed winter thing) and they are soo yummy here. Don't know how they do that....

Sadly, Inna and Dinara both left for the night (Dinara to spend the holiday with her boyfriend, and Inna to work), which left us foreigners to try our best to create a Russian New Years (mixed with a little bit of Thai/German/American of course) which, if you can imagine, dissolved into complete AWESOME. Many of our Russian traditions had to be gleaned from things we'd heard (or seen in movies....) and we ended up:

-watching Mulan in Russian (Amaazzing, by the way),

-playing spin-the-bottle: Nailpolish style,

-skyping with people around the world in four languages,

-writing our New Years' resolutions on little pieces of paper, burning them (harder than it sounds...), and drinking them in our juice!!! (You're supposed to drink it with champagne... doing it with juice was not one of our brightest ideas)

-watching fireworks!

-exchanging gifts!

-going outside (in jackets and pajama pants, haha) and playing with sparklers!

-baking cookies

....I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of any more, and I shouldn't be allowed to do lists (they go on too long for me, tehe). All in all, it turned out to be one of the best New Years in memory! We ended up actually celebrating New Years at four different times (1st Thailand, then Russia, then Germany, then California)!

And that was our crazy Russian New Year!

So, now to backtrack a little, I'll go to Christmas. AFS put together a little Christmas celebration for us, which was fun (and very, very odd). We went to a school on the other side of the Volga where we watched a play (I am still confused about what happened there) and then they sang some songs, we sang some songs (we all sang Jingle Bells, but in all our languages: French, Italian, Thai, Portuguese, and English) and some of the highschoolers put on a play for us in English! ....Sleepy Hallow? I'm not totally sure who told them that that was Christmas themed... or why every character needed a banjo musical introduction... But okay. I can work with that.... Then we commandeered an empty classroom and had cake and candies! From AFS, we all got little ornament hearts to hangon our trees, and then the girl from Brazil gave us all a really cool gift: They are bracelets that you tie twice around your wrist and then knot three times, each knot with a wish. When the bracelet falls off, your wish will come true! My bracelet fell off, my wish came true, and I tied it on again because I think it looks so cool! ;)))

On the actual day of Christmas, I skipped school (Saturday and Christmas... just... no.) and exchanged gifts with Inna and Dinara-- they Loovved their gifts from Cali! And I got a set of really, really cute bracelets from Inna's sister, a pair of purple tights, body spray, and mittens that Inna knitted for me! They're soo great!

In the evening, I went to a friend's house and we had a feast... I was soo amazingly full--but it was so yummy!! Then we played a game that Dasha had gotten for Christmas on her Playstation calledRed Dead Redemption, which is like a cowboy game... But I'm not totally clear on the premise of that. Neither was Dasha. And it's in English. It was hilarious!

And that's about it. Went to a mall on the other side of town with Ploy over the holidays, wrote a bunch, was completely lazzy.... It was a good holiday.

Happy Belated Holidays to anyone I didn't say it to before!!

Bettina <3>