September 26, 2008

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.