Orange Luggage and the Geneva Conventions

This post is brought to you by the phrase:

я радa (yah rah-da), which means "I'm happy."

Well, comrades, in 21 days I will be on Russian soil! I've been in denial for the past few weeks about how soon my summer is coming to an end and I was actually beginning to feel very nervous about going abroad. However, CIEE (the organization in charge of the study abroad program) held an orientation chat this morning and alleviated many of my concerns. About 15 of us talked with the wonderful program director for over two and a half hours, asking questions about what to expect when we arrive, what the program is like, and what life is like in St. Petersburg. Did you know that Petersburg is actually an archipelago? I did not. There's the mainland that's connected to the rest of Russia, as well as two islands in the Gulf of Finland! (More than likely, I'll be living on one of those islands and will take the metro, bus or taxi to school on the mainland every day.)

A pleasant surprise, I found out that one of my Russian professors from Vandy is actually coming to Russia with us to be the program's academic coordinator! Irina Makoveeva and I have a very good relationship, so it will be nice to have someone I know and who is familiar with the Vanderbilt Russian program with me while I'm there.

I am getting very excited about all the things I'll be able to do, once I'm in the motherland. There is a university choir that I'm thinking of auditioning for, as well as some ESL volunteering opportunities and a couple internships with NGO's and the Hermitage museum! Also, there are apparently a lot of field trips included in the program, including some overnight stays in Novgorod, Moscow and Tallinn, Estonia! I plan to go out to as many ballets, operas and movies as humanly possible, as well. I'm even taking a class on "traditional Russian visual and performing arts."

I still have three weeks left before I'm there, though, and preparations for my egress are still in play. I recently ordered a new luggage set that should arrive a week before I leave. My only regret regarding the luggage is that it isn't lime green. It is, however, a wonderful shade of orange, which should be easy enough to distinguish from the typical blacks, blues and reds. I did get a little flack from the family about the color. My parents thought orange was too understated and soft, but I thought subtlety was the way to go...

There are still many little things to take care of before I go, such as buying shoes, clothes, AC/DC converter thingies (technical term) and so on, but I'm in the final stretch! I've got to get more serious about my Russian, however, because I'll be taking a language placement exam a week after I arrive. I've been meaning to dust off the ole "Голоса" (Russian textbook), but that felt an awful lot like work. As you know, Work (an alias of the equally nefarious "Study") during the summer is a violation of the Geneva Conventions, the Constitution, the fine print in your mortgage contract and every unwritten moral code in human history. Thus, I have avoided the textbook so as not to invite a volley of FBI, CIA, NSA, INTERPOL, neighborhood watch and UN Peacekeeping agents to my home to arrest me for crimes against humanity. However, if you promise to keep a secret, I will crack open the grammar guides and brush up on my conversational Russian.

Until next time, comrades! Watch out for the FSB infiltrators in your McDonald's...and embrace the future of neon luggage.

Katya