My dad was here, and then he left.  The next batch of posts is in the order I felt like writing them, which is not necessarily the same order in which they happened.  In fact, this first one is about the last thing I did.  I went to the Russian banya!… Read full post »

Life got crazy.  First there was a terrorist bombing in the Moscow Metro.  Then the entire government of Poland crashed into the still frosty ground.  Now Icelandic volcanoes are spewing ash and soot miles into the atmosphere, leaving Russia alone but isolating her from the rest of Wes… Read full post »

I have a laundry list of excuses for why I haven’t updated in eight bagillion years: it’s finally spring and I can’t justify spending time in front of my computer when the weather is just so beautiful; I realized I’m only here for another two months, and have therefore been sp… Read full post »

Enjoyyyyy!!

I’m sure most of you have heard about the twin bombings in the Moscow metro on Monday morning.  Thankfully, me and everyone I know are alright, although it’s certainly left us all a little shaken up.  There were candle light vigils throughout Belgorod last night, but surprisingl… Read full post »

So as the Russians would say, I had a birthday on Monday. It was pretty great. At work, everyone ‘congratulated’ me and wished me health, happiness, beauty, and love. Every Russian alive becomes a master of eloquence and grace when they wish someone a happy birthday; I felt… Read full post »

Last week one of the teachers I work with exclaimed during the middle of class, “Nicky!  We are in the kingdom of viruses and disease!”  Though at the time I thought she was grossly exaggerating, I wish I had heeded her warning with a bit more… Read full post »

“Uvezhaemyi letyayushii, vy seichas mozhetye ispol’zobat’ vashi MP3 players, babblebabblebabble zzzzzzzz.”

I didn’t even make it off the runway before my head lolled to the side and drool started the long journey down my cheek to my chest. Below me half of Russia past… Read full post »

HEY EVERYONE DON'T BE HATING ON ME JUST BECAUSE I LEARNED HOW TO USE PHOTOBOOTH AND NOW I'M LEARNING HOW TO UPLOAD VIDEOS TO MY BLOG SPACE.  I'M JUST KEEPING IT REAL AND FOCUSING ON MY ART, I'M INTERESTED IN ALL ART EVERY ART ALL THE TIME EVERYWHERE AND I'M A… Read full post »

To be completely honest, Siberia was not as cold as I had expected. Kristen met me at the airport, and though we shivered while we struggled to explain on the phone where we were standing to the cabdriver, I could still feel my big toes when we hopped in the… Read full post »

So there is a legitimate reason behind the recent lack of posts: I was in Siberia!  In Tyumen, to be exact.  It’s right here:

I was there for Tyumen State University’s Model United Nations conference, where I represented the… Read full post »

Yesterday afternoon I left the university feeling a bit elated that my first year students participated so much during our American Culture Studies lecture and that my second year students were hanging on every word of my explanation about the American university system, and also slightly lightheaded… Read full post »

Monday was the first day of Lent, that period of the year where we give up our vices in an attempt to live up to our New Year’s resolutions.  Russians take this period of fasting quite seriously.  The will not touch meat or milk products or eggs until Easter, when they… Read full post »

Months ago, I let slip that I would explain the Russian school system.  Please excuse that I’m about five months late on this post.

Russians start their educational lives in detskii sad’, or what we call kindergarten.  From the age of three or four, they go to little… Read full post »

Being a Fulbright Fellow has some serious perks.  For starters, the government pretty much just sends you abroad with a relatively whopperish stipend, and all they ask in return is that you be the best, most talkative American you can be.  In addition, every few months they pay for you to… Read full post »

Russians are amazingly good at celebrating. Firework salutes light the city skies ablaze regularly; work and school are canceled for so many commemorative occasions that most people can’t even remember what they are honoring. Just like in America, each Russian holiday comes with its own tradi… Read full post »

            When I first learned of my posting in Belgorod, one of my professors warned me about Russian food.  Not about the taste, safety, or exoticness of the food – she said that even as an adamant vegetarian, I would be pleasantly… Read full post »

I may have mentioned that I can, in fact, receive post.  I don’t have a mailbox, but there is a handy dandy little shelf at the entrance to the dormitory where they pile everyone’s mail together and it sits there until you claim it.  I try to check this little shelf… Read full post »

In the spirit of cultural exchange, last week I exchanged my beloved Belgorod State University for its affiliate branch in the smaller city of Alekseevka.  The university there is very new and comfortably houses its few thousand students, twenty of who specialize in English language.  Thoug… Read full post »

“Hello, and welcome to our Thanksgiving celebration!  I’m thankful to be hosting this wonderful event with the most beautiful, the most dear hostess, Kitty!”

Friday’s introduction startles the first year students into bewildered silence.  He flashes a smile… Read full post »

Unfortunately, it has yet to snow in Belgorod, but last weekend it snowed in the city’s theater, where the cast revived Pushkin’s “Snowstorm” with a modern interpretation of the timeless love story.  For those of you unfamiliar with the tale, here is a synopsis:

 … Read full post »

Late on Friday night I received a text message from my friend Dasha. She wanted to know if I would come with her to see a fortuneteller and have my cards read. Filled with curiosity, I agreed, and minutes later she responded, “11 tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.… Read full post »

On the afternoons when my students haven’t worn me out entirely, I make my way down to the computer hall on the third floor.  There, in a large closet filled from floor to ceiling with laptops, projectors, screens, and cords, works Igor, my eternal source of pride, frustration, and hilarit… Read full post »

Whew boy, I have been a busy girl.  Between Halloween celebrations, visits from Americans, and organizing a Thanksgiving coffee house extravaganza (totally how we celebrate Thanksgiving, right?), I forgot to update my blog, and for… Read full post »

As some of you know, I was quite the runner in my former life in America.  For most of the year I averaged between 45 and 50 miles a week; Sundays were incomplete without the typical 13-mile long run.  But that all came… Read full post »