If this isnt christmas then sue me!

so its almost christmas time here in Yuzhno, Russia.. and also time to recap events of my life so far in Russia. since thanksgiving, in our house was guests from Blagobeshensk, Russia. who came to stay for 2.5 weeks. who brought my ice skates!
now time for one of my segments!!
SPORT REPORT!:
while the guests from Blagoveshensk were here, we did start to play soccer in the neighboorhood with our neighboors. so now occasionally in the snow and ice, with sub-zero temperatures. we play soccer, i only fell once, but i scored when i did. and unlike last time, im allowed to use my SHOES THAT FIT MY FEET!!! and guess how much better I play? a ton!
in school: we started to play guess what!? rugbe! almost like football. and ever though we played on our knees on a short field.. with a basketball... my record was still pretty impressive. 1 interception, 2.5 touchdowns. powerbacking title! one man goal line stand (all me) and prasie afterowrds. all in all. it was a fun game. as we won all the matches in class.
in semi school settings: i walked into basketball practice on wednesday.. the captain went up to me and said.. "Aaron, this is your assignment..... for when we play our games" which meant


IM ON THE TEAM!!!!!
my assignment for the games (this is ironic).. D-D-D... DEFENSE! swat the ball when its thrown, rebound with your long arms (im the tallest man on the team). and when you shoot the ball.. dont miss.
it just sucks now. because the sport hall is under construction. so we cant practice. and our first game is january 17th.. less then a month away.
so thats it for sports.
as for the weather Russia is a bit different. the temp is warmer then in the US. yet its much colder, but a lot of snow. which i like! as for holidays. we dont really have christmas, everything here is new years.. random street corners have huge christmas trees (yolka) with a ton of lights. something i dont see in the US. because they have a much different attitude to money here than in the states. speaking of new years, at the school was a french new years party. of which of course.. i didnt understand a word.. my props to caroline and Roxane.. so christmas time in the US means a lot more then in Russia.. so although i had little to talk about.. i still wish everyone a merry Christmas! ded moroz and santa claus wish it also..
p.s
GO PATS!

Thanksgiving Post

so for the first time in 16 years, Im not in the US on one of my favorite holidays... thanksgiving.. none the less.. heres what happened in the last few weeks.
my host mother lena took me out to go see a Checkhov play at the checkhov center. it was interesting as the group came all the way from moscow to perform. the play was called "чайка" about a bird or something. after the play i gave flowers to my favorite actors.. a comedian who made everyone laugh.
the next day, our school was visited by 2 college scouters. one from Oregon state university and one from london. they were trying to convince Russian kids to come to their schools. of course only 4 people in the audiance understood them "roxane from France, 2 kids who visited america for a year, and me" they were shocked to see me however. "so how many of you want to study in america" "I do!!!" "well just to study right?" "no to live" "really?" "well im from america actually" "wow, then come down here and help me out". it was really neat. as the london man did have an accent :D. after the presentations roxane and I stopped to talk to them. "so where are you from?" "the other OSU" "ahh, yea you probably find more results for that OSU when you google OSU" "yea, well my brother just got accepted to OSU (congrate Ryan)" "oh really, i wish him luck". meeting these 2 english speakers instantly made out day worth while and enjoyable. as it was cool so meet another foreign national 6,000 miles away from home. also in school, in my english class. the teacher said she had a new desktop background for her computer. so i decided to look at it, and wat do i see? "Altair about to assassinate a person". "you know Assassin's Creed!!!?" "no, it was one of my students who made a presentation about it" and for part of the class, we watched assassin creed trailers. i was happy :)
now this next part will be scary, but mom, your worst fears have been realized, I am an english teacher now. and to make it worse, a one on one tutor. i walked into the library one day and the receptionist asked me if i was interested in teaching. and as Exchange students always say yes, I said "yes". it is my job afterall. so now twice a week I tutor a russian girl in english language at the library. i am excited because it also gives me some insight into Russian, as people who arent familar with a language tend to try to make it sound like their own for comfort.
so in other news. Lena and Sasha had their 10th anniversary this last week. and they both liked the presents i got them and had a giant party at a hotelю before the party we all did go bowling, where I lost twice on botched calls. only to get 2nd place. it was fun though. and everyone enjoyed themselves.
speaking of parties, Karsakov rotary club had their 10 year anniversary of foundation. for it, the 3 exchange students on the island (lilian roxane and I) all recited peoms or speeches. my speech was long but it was recorded. so when i feel like emberrassing myself, I will post it on facebook. along with the speech. we all did a song "we are the world" by Michael Jackson. roxane CAN SING.. Lilian who doesnt know english.. CAN SING.. me, however CANT SING. just watch the video on facebook. you will see! well the party was good and big. and everyone was happy.
also in other news, i have been looking into restarting the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Interact and Rotaract club. a long process that I hope goes somewhere in the near future. (not to try to match Greg Miller of course)
so, anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE FOOTBALL. so I couldnt help but celebrate when the New England Patriots beat the Steelers and Colts. but probably the thing i miss most is football. ive gone into relapse. im noticing im starting to play all my sports football style.
during basketball in gym class. one of my team mates throws the ball to me. only he throws it high over my head. well i catch the ball (one handed over my head) (everyone says "woah"), I come down with it, secure the ball, trot to the goal and plop the ball in the endzone- i mean basket. for my 10th point of the game. so I guess you could say, I am improving greatly and football helps everything.
also, my host mother just walked in and said that she wants me to say that she is proud of me. and that I miss my mother and love her. thanks for the presents mommy :) they look good in my stomach.
happy thanksgiving everyone :) now watch the Patriots beat the lions. GO PATS!

I pull a semi Greg Miller in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia

so as the title says, i too have my own little story involving Russian Public transport.
this wednesday is my host parents 10th anniversary, so i went to the local (huge) shopping conter in the city called "citi moll" or "city mall" translated. to buy them an anniversary gift. I was really happy that I knew enough Russian to be able to manage slaes on my own. and while I was in the mall it did start to rain. well the city moll offers free public transportation to and from themselves. so everything was fine going there, I got on the bus to Yuzhno (alone) then waited and got on the bus to City mall (alone again). i figured i would take the 1:30 bus back to my house after i get back to the station in Yuzhno. however on the way back from City Mall. because the snow had picked up so much, they canceled the free transport. "ahh great.. host parents are at work so now what?" then i did over hear some people say that a bus stop existed across the road, so I then go over there to see it and soon realize that It's true. only I dont know the bus routes. I had done all my bus route managening out of the station in Yuzhno. nothing about city mall. luckily for me the Bus has signs of where it will go. yet unluckily for me i dont know half of them. so it starts to rain and snow (dont know how that was possible) and im getting kinda cold as you can imagine. and more busses come up that dont lead to where I need (mainly because i dont know where they go). however I did see that one bus was going to the Checkhov Center (anton Checkhov is a famous writer who visited Sakhalin) a theatre establishment in Yuzhno that ive passed most days when I go to listen to russian folk songs at the local music school ethnoc. I thought "ok, ive missed the 1:30, so ill just make the 2:40. naturally, I took the bus. yet at the time, I didnt know it to be the Checkhov center. I just knew that the building i was thinking about had a picture of Anton Checkhov on it. so im still nervous. it didnt help when most of the bus route went a way i have never seen before. yet out of no where I see (to my reflief) I saw the hugу face of Anton Checkhov on the building and the driver stopped. I got out and walked the rest of the way to the station. which wasnt really far from the Checkhov center. when I arrived at the station, my bus pulled up that takes me to my house everyday. I couldnt help but smile and be happy that i knew I could survive in Russia when I didnt know the language. it would of been the first day when people didnt know I was foreign, but when I got off the bus at my house a man got off also who talked to me so quickly that I had to ask him to speak slower and then he says "ahh youre foreign, where are you from?" but I was still happy about the day. and soon Ill know if my host parents liked the gifts or not. I got Sasha (host dad) a flashlight/torch/tripod flashlight. and Lena a bag that depicts the dangers of alcohol abuse. and both of them cards. so besides the Gift part of my story. Greg Miller, I tip my hat to you ;)

Снег, Anniversaries, and Patriotism

well it's almost been 2 months since I left my home in the US and started my Russian journey. since the last time I have a lot to talk about. my school "Gimnazia number 1 of A.C Pyshkin" celebrated 20 years of the school. I could only help but laugh, as my school in the US is at least 50. but it was nice to skip out on some classes to watch the celebration. and the dances that the school had for students (which I didnt go to :p). it also started to snow in Russia, in late october, and last night. theres something about the Russian snow that makes you feel all excited and happy to be here in Russia. along with the school anniversary, the Rotary Club of Yuzhno Sakhalinsk is also celebrating its 13 year of service with a celebration (also with karcakob rotary club.. so LILIAN! :) )
When I came to Russia, my job was to improve relations between the 2 countries. well seeing as everyone here loves america, I feel my job is already done, yet I still find myself doing presentations for groups of people in school. 3 times I did a michael Jackson presentation for english class, where I sang half his songs and danced beat it and thriller in front of and audiance, after my dignity flew out the window. I was asked to do a series presentation about the USA for a serious english class. which is tomorrow. so my and the French Exchange student Roxane will both have to go to school during the holidays to talk about France and the US.
despite the english language presentations. my Russian is improving, its just hard to get people to sit and talk to me because it seems that a foreigner in Russia means nothing to my classmates. they compliment my language when I speak but nobody seems to mind the fact an american and a french girl are sitting right next to them, which is really great, but hard to be embraced. out of all the teachers, only 2 embrace Roxane and me. the mother/english teacher, and the Physics teacher (no idea why). but my grammer is improving and I know enough now that my host family lets me be alone in the city, actually ive been left alone in the city before since week 2. but the coolest thing happening right now is that im starting to forget english, although I know my writing is a grammer nightmare, I dont know how to correct it and I had to ask Roxane how to write the letter Q in english. so the first step is happening.. forgetting english D: although language is tough, the hardest thing I see for myself is not the language, but is explaining myself to people. nobody here in Russia seems to have that independent personality we see in the US. they seem to be all slides of the same tray. nothing really original with anybody I see. (thanks Communists). yet I still love the people here, they are a lot niсук than american people. with the exception of little kids, Russian kids are a lot nicer, theres no talking back to teachers or anything. yet american kids are much more well rounded and witty than Russian. just by seeing this change I can see how lucky I was to be born in the US. traveling abroad is the best way to see how lucky you are, or unlucky. and I think I can truely say now that I love the US. tears almost come everytime I hear my National Anthem or patriotic songs.
now a little about whats happening, every 4 days my host family has me cook the meals. and of course Im totally new to this so Ive always needed help on it. well now last time, where they requested american food. and I found cow meat.. and anybody who knows me knows exactly what I was thinking at the time. "hamburgers" soon I realized, to make hamburgers required different meat, and I instead made extremely toughmini steaks. i cant help but feel they only ate them because there was nothing else. but Russian here tend to eat a lot of stuff with Mayonase. and garlic, I asked them why the garlic and they said "to keep the vampires away". and I have to admit, ever since they had garlic in meals I have not seen one solitary vampire in Russia. and if we take the garlic away, we might make vampires again.. and on a totally different statement. my host father Casha, has joined the list of people who have out ate me. soon him and Mr. Hawk will duke-it-out. one day when we hat meat, he told me to try this Russian sauce. so i dip a bit of my meat in it and try it, next thing I know I'm crying and my mouth turns red and im needing water like crazy.. then i ask "WHAT WAS THAT?" "wasabe sauce" D: then my host dad takes his whole piece of meat, dips it in the sauce, puts it all in his mouth and eats it starting at me.. >.> its not often im beated.. but I will remember this..
America is the capitalo of mass media in the world, and after coming here I believe it. because people take seeing old american movies on TV here really greatly. and they have a lot of them. while here ive watched some old movies on TV and DVD. like "Back to the Future", "Iron Man" and the "Spider Man" series. good movies people here think are awesomer then they are. speaking of entertainment, Nothing gets inbetween me and football. i can find college games on ESPN AMERICA.. right here in Russia. and hopefully, in February, the superbowl.
as for school life, it is interesting, the only classes I can fully participate in are English and Sport. yet the interesting stuff is in English. we got our first english test results back. even though the teacher took the american variants.. i got (ready for this mom) an A!!!!!! minus. i point from a B. so i did beat my mom. yet on the second test, I got 1 point from an A. so i got a B+. i really am forgetting english, and this is proof. (took me 4 tries to spell that word right).
Russia does seem to fufill to winston Churchill's description. as Russia is a contradiction. the nation has 1/4 of the worlds fresh water and is the energy superpower of the world, yet gas here costs more than in the US 4 years ago and everyone is worried about saving power and taking 5 minute showers.
the only rule I wish i broke was the laptop rule, as internet can go down here with no word of return...... so great. by following the rule im limited :p. but it is holiday here. until monday. so I will have time to learn more Russian. and play with my pets.. half of which the dog ate.= and we gave away. i only have 1 dog and 2 cats now. the kitten thinks its a ninja also.
it also appears that if youre sick here. you stay out the week at school. so you dont get anybody sick at school. which I like because who wants to go to school anyway. the Russian system is not as great as the people here think. the American system in much better. in america "im gifted in science" "ok advanced science classes, follow your gift" in Russia "im gifted in Science" "ok, stay with these people, doing the same thing, no special classes to improve your gift".
internationally. the president Medvedev is in the Kuril islands now negotiating with Japan over issues. the japanese want some of the Kuril islands that Russia controls. mainly because fish trabel inbetween these islands a lot and you know the Japs and fish. but Medvedev holds strong and tells them no all the time. speaking of Japan, my Rotary club has asked me to write a paper about how I found myself in Russia which they will put on their website, once I get the link ill post it for you all to read. in Russia you dont drink the water out of the faucet, becasuse its not filtered and cleaned. although that doesnt stop me from drinking out of the faucet all the time... because my family has a filter :p. along with Russian disadvantages, Toliet Paper doesnt seem to exist anywhere outside my house >.>...
i also received my first package, my host family told me that everything sent they have here in Russia, but i still ate all the contents within a day. they also play a game called Russian lottery. with real money, its like Bingo only if you win depending on what row you filled. and if you fill the last one then you win the money in the pot. and people get sad when they lose rubles and when i see the amount i laugh and think to myself "id lose more money if I threw a dollar out the window".

Things get cool

so its been a few weeks since I last talked about my Russian life. so here I go hoping I can remember everything. I passed my first month in Russia last week, and i felt so proud of myself that Ive made it past the toughest month of my life. i have been enrolled at the local library, and recently they have asked me to give a presentation in english for their english club. apparently people in Russia getting experience with native speakers is rare. the presentation went well, and I even met some really interesting people. becuase I couldnt think of a topic, I used my Rotary Presentation I did in the US and switched some parts out with more American stuff.
"So I wanted to go abroad to give people like you, the ability to meet and conversate with a native english speaker. It is really hard to find americans in the middle of the Russian Siberia" then out of nowhere I hear "there's a few of us :)" "omg.... talk to me after this! (watch what I say) It turns out that he was an American working on Sakhalin 2. the oil and gas project that is endorsed and run by english speaking countries like Shell and Exxon Mobil. after the presentation, questions were opened up, and deep cultural conversation between Russia, the US, and Great Britain opened up. Russian: "so what is difference between Russia and the US minds" me: "well I think that because of our seperate histories, Americans have a more independent mentality then the Russians" other american: "yes, that can be easily seen in our history differences, the Russian I work with arent as upgoing as their American collegues, theyre more conservative with standing up than the Americans" English Teacher: "that may be, but we as Russians have a better understanding of a state, Americans are unreliable. Russians can work together better then Americans". it went on for a while, and after words I was asked to write a short article about it. I will soon have that, and pictures :). so something else thats been bothering me about Russia I want to get out there, is that all the thoughts of no American gum and products are false. Russia has opened up greatly since the fall of communism, I walk through a store and I see power drinks like "Monster". american gum "5" "Dirol Senses", american food "Pringles" and of course, Hot dogs and hamburgers (:
another thing about Russia that surprised me was the television, I was told to expect the Russian Siberia to be a place where finding american programing would be hard. yet I turn on the TV and I end up watching Russian Dubbed Alladin and Dark Wing Duck (when theres trouble you call DW). also more surprising about Russia is its balance between public transportation and private sectors. my city is struck in the middle of Russian-Japanese car competition. Japanese and Russian car companies both try to run the island, eventhough the Russians drive on the right and its hard to drive a car on the wrong side like you do in a japanese car (point one Russia). but the Russian public transportation industry is really effective and good. even though 1 of every 2 people has a car. the public transportation has not takes much hits here. it is really surprising. something more interesting ive heard about Russia is how people think of the new democracy. my host father told me a story in the Banya about how they think of the new democrary "better then the Soviets. but we refer to the democrary as что будет завтра. (what will happen tomorrow) then he tells me the story about when he wanted to buy a Japanese car that would of costed him $1,000. yet at the customs the government added on $8,000 in taxes. he then gets really upset. but because hes a good worker, he got bonuses at his work after a few years he had enough to buy his car. then at the customs, they told him "ahh forget about it". bow was he mad and glad i bet.
my Host dad is probably the coolest man in all of Russia, he lets me help out on construction projects in the house, and on Tuesdays we somethimes go to play volleyball with his work friends. the kids love him and he plays Guitar. along with the host dad being the ticket to fun, the host mom is the ticket to survival.. oh how thats true.
at the last club meeting, my club said they were looking into buying a device that filters out alcohol in the blood or something. the first ever device of its kind on sakhalin. and are looking for grants to help reach the goal. and after my story of Greg Miller. they want me to ask my club in the US if they would want to help. but as always, Ill see what I can do.
Russian language is betting better :) I can understand basic speach. every day I tell meself. "I can do this, 3 months for basics, no english, dont think its bad to talk slow". and its working greatly :)

More Events

well its been 3 weeks since i left my home in the US to go to Russia. but in the last week a lot of stuff has happened that ill try to tell about. the trip to frog mountain was really exciting and fun. i noticed how much my scouting experience in the US helped me scale hills and know how to manage in the wilderness better then most others. it was also really good to have Karcakov Rotary Club with us. that day in Russia was probably my wierdest yet. for in that same day i jumped into a freezing cold lake. and when i got home. i went for my first time in a Russian Banya. soon, ill be able to handle the 100 degrees temperatures.
when i returned to school the next day, the Russian school had an issue with my language. apparently i was suppose to come over already fluent in Russian?? well the school became less of an issue. and i am now seeing myself help teach english class.
i can actually say now that i have seen a chicken cross the road, on my way to school, in my village, a chicken crossed the road right infront of us. i immediately said "why?" "wait.. its a rooster!" "wait, no.. its a chicken"..
i also am trying to get my schedule full to keep myself busy. basketball, library, and classes of Russian tradition and language by my host mom's friend. i did try out for soccer. but the fact that they dont have and shoes in my size is an issue they dont wanna deal with.
everywhere in Russia has flies. i have probably killed more flies then i can imagine, i definately beat my record of 2 in the US for flies killed. besides the school not understanding Youth Exchange and difficulty of the language, i am really enjoying it here. Russians are very curious about Americans. the Russian nation doesnt live in the cold war past like the US. all the time in school. people i dont even know, come up and say hello to me. and contrary to american fears, Russian people would never support a war against the US. the impressions Russia gives off makes it seem like the minute it was said, nobody would want to partake in it.

First Time

well. im in Russia. not exactly what i imagined at first but then again what is. ill try to sum up everything thats happened since i last posted. i met up with other exchange students in LAX and Seoul/Incheon international. so it was good to have some people to talk to while waiting hours to get to Vladivostok. when we arrived in Vladivostok. some of our friends were there and also some rotary people. it was a great welcome to Russia. we all drove 2 or so hours to Partisanks, Russia for orientation. and it was also nice to see my other friends who were there, and make some new ones. the orientation was great and surprising, as it was in the center of mountains and had no service. after the orientation, some of the kids left and those who remained (me and 7 others) got a tour around Nahodka, Russia. where we visited many sites, such as a WW2 memorial and a sacred Russian church and saw Nahodka's shipping port. we also ate lunch in Nahodka in a restaurant. then Lillian, Roxane, and I all went to the airport (Vladivostok International is very small.) to go to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. after the funnest plane ride ever, we finally landed in Yuzhno and saw our host families. Julia and i became instant friends in a day and she loved all the gifts i had for her. im starting to read Russian children stories that Julia has and she is reading english books. soon it will be my englished version of "War and Peace" by Loe Tolstoy. hahaha.
on the first day of school, i was asked to make a presentation of myself to the class. i did so, and once i stood up, the kids automatically asked me if i was into basketball. i said no, and that i have never played it officially before. but they insisted that i come after school some days and play with them.
as for school. i really like the Russian system. it would be better if i could understand what was going on. which brings me to the next topic.. language
as for the language. it is really hard, i dont even understand the Russian children stories. mostly because im not paying attention because im spending so much time reading. i can hold my place in a conversation and understand the meaning of whats going on. but im no where near ready to be on my own.
so i did end up playing with the students after school. and even though i told them, and that they saw that i cant shoot first hand. they want me to join the school basketball team. partly because Russians are short, the hoops are inches from dunking to me, and the court is much smaller. but i will join if possible, just will practice a lot.
it does get rather annoying in school, everyone stares at Roxane and I like we have the word "Foreigner" written on our foreheads. and everyone comes to talk to us in english. even though they know i speak well enough Russian to make small talk.
after school on saturday, we had our sport day. which was basically just for me, refereing for "tug of war". and tomorrow, we will go to "frog mountain" (i dont feel like spelling it in Russian)
Russian food is awesome. the first words i leanred in Russia all had to do with food. "im not hungry" was the first. Russians love to feed as it seems. probably some culture taken from the soviet times when they would make giant meals for foreigners. but im not sure.
I HAVE 4 KITTENS!!!! :D
and i have seen more cows in the road than Bears in Russia. so stereotypes arent always true :)
the Russiabn people really live it rough. looking out my window i see run down houses that no american would want even for a minute. yet the Russians live in everyday. it just goes to show the strength of the Russian people and spirit. when the first americans set foot in Russian after the fall of communism. they said "and this is the enemy we took so long to defeat". yet looking at that question now, after only 1 week in Russia, you can see why.

Final Thoughts

well, its my last full day in the US before i go to Russia for my exchange year. i can only begin to express all the thoughts going through my head at this time. that feeling you get when youve waited over a year for something and youre a day away from it, can only be understodd through experience. I am completely ready to go to Russia, my Visa came in the mail last week, my flights are still on for tomorrow, and mentally, ive been ready a long time ago. as for the language, my Russian is actually quite good for only an 8 month learning period. i taught myself Russian using Rosetta stone, Essential Russian Grammar, and Russian for Dummies. and for where its at at this point is considerably good. I finished my last grammer lesson today, i only hope more clicks in my mind come up when it comes to learning Grammar... Russian that is, ive given up hope on my English grammar.
I cant help but still think and look back at the start of my exchange training. me, wanting the land of the Rusing sun, doing everything in his power to the best of his ability so he could get Japan. only to have it slip from his hands at the last minute. I still believe there is a reason that I got Russia, but I wont know why until im there i guess (:
i get my last chance to say goodbye to my friends today, at the Scout meeting for my Boy Scout Troop. it seemed kinda cold for me to get my eagle and then immideately go to Russia. so hopefully they wont hate me as much.
the entire week before my departure has been "out with a bang". Michigan my college team beat UCONN 30-10. my High School beat Dublin Coffman, who we lost to in the Semi-finals last year to a bad call. 31-21. im getting really good luck when it comes to chance. i just hope it all carries over into Russia.
i cant express the gratitude enough for the people who made this life changing event possible for me, my Rotary Club, but especially my Mother and Grandma. I love you both and thank you for everything.
The Russian Anthem in playing in the background, a French girl needs her kisses and hugs, 28.5 hours remain. the training that 6690 gave me.
sounds live a good year ahead of me :)
До свидания США.
Жди меня Россия!

Starting to Roll

Well i received my Itinerary today.. i will depart from Cincinnati at 4:10 pm on wednesday September 10 on a straight shot to LA international. after a 6 hour layover in LA. other Exchangers and me will depart at 11:30 pm to Seoul Korea and arrive at 4:15 am local time.. then at 8:25 we will all leave Seoul for Vladivostok, Russia and arrive at 1:15pm. over all.. its about 8,000 miles of travel. i will Arrive on Russia on september 10th for Orientation till the 12th. then Roxane Perrier from Lyon, France and i will depart for our host city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the far east Russian island of Sakhalin on the 13th.. Roxane Perrier already arrived in Russia last week, so i hope i wont get lost when im with her. i will immideately go to live with my host family the Sergeevas.

they dont speak english (YESS!!!!) and their daughter Daria is an Berrein Springs, Michigan doing her Exchange year in the US (she is the only one of them who speaks english). they have an 8 year old girl and it really seems to be an exciting experience. or as Daria describes it "crazy at first".

so i guess some information about the place im staying would be in need.

my host city is Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia on the far east Sakhalin island. the southern half of the Island was taken over by Japan after the Russo-Japanese war in 1904. Russia took the island back after WWII and renamed it Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. the city is the capital of the Sakhalin Oblast. and is just 100 miles north of the country i wanted to go to for my entire life. Sakhalin is known for being an extremely diverse place in Russia. its also known for having the biggest off shore oil reserves in the world by major english speaking companies. the companies keep their headquarters in the south. mostly Yuzhno. although technically ill be living in Uspenskoye village which is under the juristiction of the Aniva Region. i will go to School in Yuzhno at Gymnazium #1 of A.S Pushkin and do pratically everything in Yuzhno. school in Yuzhno started on september 1st. so i will miss 2 weeks of that, which will be a nice shocker when i arrive in Yuzhno finally. my grades for school in Russia wont count, instead, to get my english credit for a year, i will be doing an independent study of Russian Literature, which will be graded by my teacher back here in the states. so it looks like i have a plan on what ill be doing for the insanly long trans pacific flight... hello Leo Tolstoy's thousand page book "War and Peace".. and if anyone is reading my blog from start to finish. i would like to apologize for the awfulness my English grammer will take in the next year, yea its pretty bad now. but i dont know if it can get any worse over the year. we will just have to see.

as for packing, i am all set. except for the last minute items, but who doesnt pass over those whenever theyre packing. i was so excited to go that i actually finished packing a couple weeks ago. and i just know that in Russia i most likley wont pack until the very last night. :)