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.