Nic Gregg’s blog

Alright like always sorrry it has been awhile since my last post. So the Holidays were really nice We went to Finland and that was really fun. It's a really beautiful country and I learned how to ski, which was the best part. We also played curling and I enjoyed that too. We celebrated New Years there and we got back late at night on te Russian Christmas, so we didn't really celebrate that. We drove to Finland so that took awhile, about a day. We drove through St. Petersburg at night which was really beautiful but unfortunately we didn't stop. Other interesting news is on the 20th we are going to the city Kazan for 5 days because there are mountains to ski and it's supposed to be a really cool city so taht should be alot of fun. It will take about 5 hours to get there by car. There they have an indoor water park and they just built one of the biggest movie theaters in the world so I can't wait to see all that. Kazan is also the capital of the Repuplic of Tartarstan, so there is a little more Muslim and everything is in Russian and Tartar language. Other than that I have just been hanging out with friends alot and going to school of course. I'll also pu tup some news pics after this so take a look. They are mostly of Finland thoug. Oh by the way Facebook has either deleted my account or is just not letting me sign in so it's better to talk here until I get that taken care of. So this isn't that big of a blog but I don't have that much new info. I can't believe I am already over half way done with my trip and as hard as it will be to leave, I will be very glad to be home again. Feel free to send a message or comment.

Hey everyone sorry it's been a while. So here is the latest news: on December 29th I am going with my host Family to Findland for a week for vacation. There we will relax, ski, and try the sport curling. We are staying in a resort town outside of Helsinki so it whould be so much fun I will take alot of pictures. I won't upload picturest his time but I will soon. The wether here is just starting to get really cold and we don't have snow yet which is really odd, but soon we will. Next week it should be about -20 celcius and it could get to -40 so that will be fun. Not much else is happening though. I have finally gone ice skating which was really fun. School is pretty cool everyone all my friends are pretty funny. I visited the cities Tula, Yasnaya Polyana (Leo Tolstoy's home), Cheboksariy, and soon we're going to the city Arzamas. I am still pretty busy here. After school I either have soccer practice, a Russian Lesson or hang out with friends. Here in Russia they have what's called Russian Banya which is like a sauna but it is extremely hot. I can only stay in for about 3-4 minutes at a time. It's always really fun though. The languge is coming along too.  study 4 hours a week ith a University Professor so that is really helping.

As for Christmas, here it is celebrated on New Year's with Old New Year being celebrated on January 7th. Everyone here has xmas trees too but they are all artificial.

The food here is good but it is really heavy. It's true a lot of potatoes and meat are used. Also alot of mayo is used which is really hard sometimes. A "salad" here is often chopped vegetables and mayo mixed. Don't worry I haven't gained weight. But some stuff is really good like blini (like Swedsh pancakes) and pelmeni, which are like meat dumplings (with mayo, of course). I hven't heard a real American speak in a long time which is weird. Here in school they study British-English.

Some other interesting stuff is in every store there is a security guard. Also, thre are a ton of little stores like 7-11 but all the food is behing a counter and you have to tell them what you want. The clothes style is reallydifferent. For guys the mullet is very popular. Not really a huge mullet but most guys have the hair on the back of the head a little longer. The most popular brands are sports brands like adidas, reebok, puma, etc. They like really shiny clothes too like gold and silver, and jeans with zipper-pockets are really popular here. Techno is also very popular music and almost every store and restaurant is playing it.  

Ok that's all for now. Message me if you have some questions. I hope everyone has a Merry X-mas!

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I have updated my blog but you need to understand I am very busy trying to learn a new language and live a whole new life and I can't always be communicating back home.

Anyways everything is great here. I have many friends and even though school is very difficult I get by. Everything is so different I can't describe everything. First off I arrived in Moscow fine and there spent a week at a camp and met many people form all over the world which was very cool. Almost all of them smoke by the way! Don't worry I haven't and won't. We went to see Red Square and everything Moscow is famous for which was so cool. I have many pictures but I have dial-up internet here so I will put them up later. After camp It was a 9 hour train ride to my city which was cool but it was at night so we slept through most of it. When we arrived I actually was with a different family than the one I described for one week and now I am with my permanent family and I like them very much. My host parents are Natasha and Alexey and their 13 year-old daughter Zhenya. They have a very nice flat and I have my own room too which is nice but I don't spend much time there. I live only a block away from school so that is nice. My city is very cool as well. It is very spread-out so it's easy to get lost. It is on the Volga and Oka rivers which are huge it is quite amazing to see a rivers of this size. There is an upper part of the city which is where the best shopping and restuarants are. This is also where the Kremlin and most beautiful churches of the city are and at night is a very nice view of the city.

As for school it is very different. There is no such thing as sports through school. School is Monday-Saturday from 8-1 with no lunch break. After school I usually go walk with fiends or play soccer. Everyone goes on walks here with friends it's very different but I like it. School is set up a different way than in America. For example, we only have Physics twice a week but the students have been studying it since 7th grade level so they are very advanced. I think it is a good system because they never forget it. I also wear a suit everyday to school. There is no uniform you just must dress nice. Also, when the teacher enters the room everyone must stand until she tells us to sit down. Everyday of the week is a different order of classes and there are maybe 15 classes all week. I haven't counted. There is also a hand-written schedule in the main hall and you must check it everyday because many classes are in different rooms each day it is so confusing. There is no set schedule and classroom like in America.

It is already about 4 degrees celcius here so it is definitely colder. As for the food it is usually very good and they eat so much here! It is all similar to American food just cooked in different ways. Also, they LOVE Mcdonalds here! There are many in my city adn Russia and they are generally 2-3 stories and always have big lines. Yes I've eaten it here and it's not much different. My friend had a tenor sax at his home that no one played so he has let me borrow it which is really nice. There is a music school nearby so I might do that after school. I am surprisingly very busy with friends and I soon might join a soccer team or a music school and have a private Russian teacher. Many people here also know English.

Well that's all for now if you have questions just post it and I will answer it when I can. I will put pictures up soon as well. Hope all is well for everyone.

Hey people my going away party will be this Sunday the 17th from 2-5pm at the Blue Boy Golf Course in Sultan at the pool/patio/jacuzzi area. We're not golfing, just using that area. You are welcome to swim. A lifeguard will be present.

Directions:

There are also Signs once you turn onto Woods Lake Rd that will guide you to Blue Boy West.

Hope to see everyone there and please RSVP.

Здравствуйте друзья и семья! I finally posted my first blog. If you are wondering I won't exactly be sending everyone personal e-mails and letters. This will be my way of communicating back to everyone. I will post a new blog about once a month with new photos. You also don't have to have an account with Vox to view my blog.

So here is the latest update on my trip: I leave on August 19 at 9:45 pm to New York and arrive at 5:59 am on the 20th. In NY I go to another orientation, meet the Americans going to Russia (not many kids, maybe 5). I spend the night in NY then wake up and fly to Frankfurt Germany on the 21st. I spend a few hours there and then fly to Moscow and arrive on august 22nd. In Moscow I spend a week for an intensive language and other info camp and meet all the kids from around the globe who are studying in Russia. Finally, after the twenty-some hours of flying, I go to my host city of Nizhny Novgorod. It is about 400 km (280 miles) east of Moscow. It is a huge and beautiful city of about 1.4 million people. Just slightly larger than Sultan and Gold Bar. I won't be back until the end of June 2009. The following links give great info and pictures. I posted some pictures but there are more on these links:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizhny_Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod City Government website

And I actually have a host family. I was amazed to have gotten it this fast. It's not uncommon for people to get one after they have departed. This is only a temporary family but could become my permanent family. Here is the low-down:

Mom-Galina Aslanova-56-English Teacher

Brother- Sergey Aslanov-31-Manager

Sister-Olga Aslanova-25- Associate Director

Cat- name unknown

My Address:

602 142 Nizhny Novgorod, Monchegorskaya str., 32-4 (I am sure it is an apartment).

I get my own bedroom, and I do have internet access at home.

My Family is Russian Orthodox, but only occasionally attend services.

My city is 11 hours ahead of our time.

Their hobbies are traveling, cinema, reading, shopping. There are many theatres, museums, monuments, and student activities in the town.

My school name: MOU School #126

I have a 20 minute walk to school and back everyday.

Galina skipped the whole Host Father Information section so clearly he's not around or at least doesn't live at home. I'm assuming the kids don't live at home either. I told some of you that there was a Dad but there isn't.

So that's all I have for no. I will start posting pictures that I take once I leave. I am so excited to go it's finally starting to hit that I'm leaving. I won't be back until the end of June 2009. Oh and for a going away party we don't have anything final yet but I will keep everyone updated. If you have any ideas let me know. All we know is it won't be at my house. If you have any questions about anything let me know here or on MySpace. I have a Facebook too so you can look for me there if you want.