The most important thing I could ever tell anyone planning to study abroad in Russia is that you should never go to this country expecting things to work out the way they’re supposed to. That’s not what Russia does. Maybe you’re better off in Germany. If you have a good sense of humor and a spontaneous side, you could really thrive here. That being said, I think Russia is perfect for me.

Everything’s been wonderful so far. Don’t get me wrong. What you might mistake for complaining is more like amusement. Today would have been the day I would have met my host mother and got to know my new home. Instead I’ve moved into a different room in the dorms and I’ll be here indefinitely, though supposedly not long, until she gets better. I have a double room to myself. My suitemates, with whom I’ll be sharing a bathroom, are two other boys from our program, Daniel and Michael. Daniel had chosen to live in the dorm and will be all semester. Michael’s family is doing renovations and aren’t ready for him to move in. But he has gone on to meet them and see the home. So at the moment, Nina and I are the only pair to be currently unacquainted. I’m sure she’ll be worth the wait.

I’m very happy with the situation now, though, because I’ll be living pretty independently for the next few days. In the lobby on my floor, we can get free wifi most of the time from the hotel across the street. There’s a TV in my room with, among other channels, Russian MTV. I’m not worried about a lack of home cooked meals because Теремок, the Russian fast food chain, is basically my new favorite thing ever and they’re all over the city. I live near the center. All the students here are great, and I really like a lot of them, but the introvert in me is dying for some time alone and, since we have the day free and it’s been raining all morning, this looks like the perfect opportunity to just lay around and relax. Last night I managed to sleep from the relatively normal times of about 1 AM to 10. I was shocked to realize how well I slept, but it’s only 1:30 PM now and I’m already exhausted.

Yesterday, in the early evening, I went out with some people from our program: Gina, Cameron and Katie. Gina was meeting up with a friend of hers who she met on her first study abroad trip (to Vladimir 4 years ago, actually, funny coincidence) named Clare. Clare is studying in Peter with the Bard-Smolny program. Clare also brought with her a Russian girl named Regina who she met on the street at one of those Michael Jackson things where everyone does a synchronized dance on the street. We sat outside at a café talking and walked around a little. Then Clare, Gina and I split off so Clare could show us her neighborhood on one of the islands, I forget which one. We walked down a very charming street with musicians playing on all sides, and I thought of New Orleans (which is also like Russia because drinking on the streets is allowed). I said to Clare that Petersburg seems to have a lot of hipsters and she enthusiastically agreed. Outside of a Carl’s Jr. in the center we saw a girl with blue hair, spiked bracelets and a torn Sex Pistols shirt get kicked out for being drunk and then starting a fight with the security guard. I like this city.