Shhhh, no one has to know

Tags

classes, cosmetics, Laundry, make up, post office, postaday, Postcards, Russia, St. Petersburg, Teaching English

Nooooo. it’s today is technically over! Shhhhh, we will count this post at yesterdays post. It’s just a little late.

After classes, which weren’t terrible, I went to go to shawarma. It’s delicious. Go try it. If you don’t know what it is then click here. While eating, a friend and I talked and it was nice. Her and I have grown closer and we have bonded a lot more. I like her. She is a very interesting person and has no filter. She speaks her mind and I like that about her.

Anyway, then I went to the post office and mailed a postcard to a friend. It was kind of embarrassing because I just forgot how to say send in russian. Part of me thinks that maybe the postcard might not make it back to the US. We will see. Hopefully, it does. Since that took less time than expected, I decided to stop at Рив Гош.

I love Рив Гош! It’s a cosmetic store and is a lot like Sephora. Unfortunately, they don’t have Sephora here but Рив Гош is good substitute. Although, I can’t find my favorite makeup brand, Urban Decay, anywhere here. I bought a lipstick from Clinique because I had ran out of a certain color. Then I saw some eyeshadows that I liked from Yves Saint Laurent so I bought that too. My eyeshadows got lost when I came back to Russia in February so I needed to buy some anyways. Okay, I didn’t need to buy it because makeup is not a need. However, I really wanted it. I love playing with makeup.  Then when I talked to the saleswoman, I understood her. It was a smooth conversation and I’m proud of that. Woo!

It was almost 7PM so I rushed to where I teach English because class starts at 7. No, I don’t teach English because I’m more of a teacher’s aid but I feel awkward saying that. Everyone just calls it teaching English. I love the students in the Tuesday and Thursday class because they are so nice. I felt like they wanted to interact with me and ask me questions. I felt more welcomed and it felt like a friendly environment. It’s great. I can’t wait for next Tuesday. I look forward to it.

Now I have to go finish hanging my clothes so they will dry. We don’t have dryers here so I have to hang my clothes in my room.

Пока! Bye!

 

Sick

Tags

architecture, postaday, Russia, sick, St. Petersburg, Teaching English, Travel, Turkey

I’ve been sick lately and well I’ve mostly been sleeping. However, I’m a lot better now. Still feeling tired but that should go away soon. Everyone is well now, which is great because I don’t like being sick.

Back to normal life I go.

Today was okay. I had a test for my culture class and I realized I like learning about architecture. Buildings are interesting to learn about and St. Petersburg has so much history to it. I learned about buildings that I pass on a daily basis but I never give much thought to them. Now I want to visit the places that I learned about. I have been to most of them but there are a few that I have not been to yet.

I look forward to going to Turkey so much. I feel like a need a vacation away from Russia. I love this city, St. Petersburg, but this weather is just not good. It’s very inconsistant.

There isn’t any flow to this post but I’m too lazy to write. All that is on my mind is sleep.

Last thing, I went to go teach english today and even though I don’t do much, I like it. I help them by talking because they can hear the correct pronunciation of words.

That’s kind of it. I don’t have much to say. I had a plan as to what I wanted to say but I got distracted. Oh, well. It wasn’t really important anyway.

I quickly fail

Tags

Adventure Time, McDonalds, Russia, Sleep, Spring, St. Petersburg, Study Abroad, Teaching English, weather, Winter

Since I forgot to post yesterday, I already failed postaday for this year but I will continue to post. Yesterday after my classes, I went to this teaching English meeting. I was not aware that we were going to stay and teach that same night. Well I didn’t have to stay but I would have felt rude if I said no. The class is from 7PM to 10Pm but I explained that I couldn’t stay the whole time because my host mom would be waiting for me.

It was a small class and there were 5 students and I’m pretty sure that they are all older than I am. Most of them have already graduated from college and are working.  The teacher speaks english very well and one of the students does as well. It makes me feel bad about my russian because I’m just not good at it.

After class, I quickly walked home and started watching cartoons. I’ve been watching a lot of Adventure Time lately. My host mom had a student over so she gave my McDonalds for dinner and I had dinner in my room. I wasn’t really hungry but I ate it all so quickly because I just wanted to lay down. Then I started watching cartoons again and I fell asleep.

Later when I woke up, I was so confused as to what time it was and then I fell asleep again. I slept a lot and I think I am turning sleep into a hobby. After counting the hours, I realized that I slept 14 hours last night. I still want more but I know I shouldn’t.

It’s raining outside and I know Spring is coming. Lately, it has been getting warmer and warmer. I can walk around without wool socks and my down coat open now. It’s a nice feeling but it is not a pretty transition. The streets are full of slush and it’s muddy everywhere. I forgot to take a picture yesterday but if I can I will take one today or tomorrow. Maybe I will be able to not wear my down coat soon because I get really hot with it on in the metro. Spring will be gorgeous here and I can’t wait.

Today is just today

Tags

Animal Shelter, Fencing, postaday2011, Russia (Fall Semester), Study Abroad, Teaching English

The whole day I was craving sweets but I was strong and resisted the temptations. It was so hard though. One of the main reasons that I did not want to buy any sweets is because I know myself. If I buy something, I will eat them all. It is just a downhill spiral once I get a taste. I can’t control myself sometimes when it comes to sweets. I’m cursed with a sweet tooth the size of my head. Even though I had a donut earlier, I still want something else. Curse you sweet tooth. Curse you to hell.

Anyway, today I had a meeting with one of the people in charge of the study abroad program. It was just to see how we are going with our host families and about extra curricular activities. When he, asked me how things were going with my host family, I said good. He kind of gave me a look like he wanted me to expand on that but I didn’t. I figured why does it matter if I go into the details and explain why things are going good. Sure I could have done that but I think it would have been a waste of time for both of us. Unless he really wanted to know but if he did, I’m sure he would of asked some kind of follow up question.

Then he asked about extra curricular activities and after he went through the list of things I was interested in, he asked me something that I cannot remember. However, that question he asked made me realize, I don’t like going into a meeting or something unprepared. Yes, there are things I want to discuss with you but I forgot because I did not think in advance. Then while he was talking, I remembered and slapped my hand on the table. My ring hit the table and I felt it was a bit dramatic just to ask a question. Right before I came to Russia, I was looking into fencing. I’ve always thought it looked cool and I’ve always wanted to try it. So he sent someone lady he knows a message and I hope that it works out because I really want to fence.

So in total, I will be teaching English, volunteer at the animal shelter (whenever our program arranges that), and fencing. I’m really looking forward to doing these activities.

Russia, you be awesome. We will have an amazing time together. We shall learn lots about each other.

Oh my…….

Tags

Carl's Jr, postaday2011, shopping, Speaking Club, Teaching English

I feel bad that I was not able to post something yesterday but it was not my fault. The internet here was being rather silly. It was being naughty and not very nice to me. Bad internet bad. Moving on….

The most interesting thing that happened yesterday was going to Carl’s Jr. Although I have been to Carl’s Jr. several times in the States, I thought it would be interesting to go to one here. Nothing special. It’s was okay. The fries were a bit salty and the Famous Star didn’t taste as great as I remembered it. It was nothing to brag about but I’m sure that I will go there again when I am craving American food.

Today, I went to Speaking Club, which is where I will be teaching English. Well not really teach but more like speak with others to help them improve their conversational skills in English. However, Speaking Club was canceled today because they were having an open house for prospective students. These students are adults that want to improve or learn English for their jobs or other things. They actually want to learn and are most likely older than I am. I graded tests that would determine which group they would be in and directed them to different places. It was not a hard job at all but I am sad that I will not be able to go next Saturday because I am going on an excursion with my program. Everyone there was very nice and I met some very kind and animated people. Also there were a lot of bowls full of candy in that place and I had a lot of candy. I couldn’t control myself.

After, my friend and I went to the Galleria which is this huge mall here. It is really awesome because they have some many awesome stores here. The first stop was to River Island to see if they had a coat that my brother wants me to buy for him. They do so I will eventually be buying that and sending it back to the states.

This is the coat my brother wants.

I don’t see anything special about it but he wants it. We tried to find a Hallmark but they only had a Hallmark Babies. I’ve never seen a Hallmark Babies so yea. Then we found a store that sold souvenirs, books, CDs, DVDs, and an assortment of other products. I bought this really awesome birthday card for my Dad and a book about classic Russian posters for my brother.

I don't know when my Dad will receive this card but Happy birthday!

Oh, I also bought Nesquik because I don’t like white milk. It tastes gross so I only drink Chocolate milk. Yea, it’s odd. I know. I really love milk and I’ve only had it once since I’ve been here. I need more молоко in my life right now.

No More

Tags

Hermitage, postaday2011, Teaching English, Volunteer work

I am exhausted today. For the last couple of days it has been really difficult to get out of bed. Before I was able to get out of bed by 6am without any problems. Now my alarm is set at 7am. What happened? Не знаю.

Today I attended an information meeting about teaching English at a local business school. I am going on Saturday morning and I have to prepare a topic. I have no idea what I want my topic to be but I will think about that tomorrow. After this meeting, I made my way to the Hermitage so I can volunteer there as well. I have to fill out the application so I’ll do that tomorrow. For the Hermitage I have to volunteer a minimum of 20 hours per month so I have to figure that out. I’m sorry if this is not making sense or is jumping from topic to topic. Tomorrow should be a better day.

Our first Russian folk dance class is tomorrow so that should be interesting. I will tell you all about it tomorrow. I’m off to get ready for bed and probably fall asleep while watching a movie. Can you guess what movie? (Hint: think Sylvester Stallone)