до свидания милый город

well, it finally happened, i left Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, my host city, which i had called my home for 8 or so months, before i get onto more details, ill recap on my russian life in the last 2 weeks.

for the 9th of may celebration, our class went to the house of one of our classmates, Katya. and we plplaced flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers on the parade site. i had to however leave this party early as i had to teach english at this time also. the next day, i received a package, and i quickly see how russian post takes notes from pakistan in how to hunt for what someone needs (in relation to osama bin laden of course) "its not here, your package isnt here, its over there" "osama is not here, hes over there" "oh what do you know... its right here" "way to go russian post. the package i got was my book, which i need to read to finish an english course in taking in the states, i quickly finished it, and completed the course as quick as i could.
the next day, i am glad to say that japan took the stage. i went to a japanese exhibition in the library, and i met some japanese natives, who thought i was russian until the librarians told them that i was the american exchange student, (guess my russian was fine that day, i fooled the interpriter for the colsulate) the exhibition was put on by the japanese consulate, and they showed some toys and d honored the japanese holiday "day of kids" and the local tv station wanted to speak to me about japan (right down my alley) so i talked about my gozilla collection, how i always wanted japan, my love for japan for 13 years. and when i returned home, i saw myself on the TV (again) in yuzhno, this time i recorded myself and have proof, but the audio is so soft that its hard to hear. i also heard that my english student Vladimor, received a level 5 on his speaking test. which is really great because its the most important part of the language to ger, guess im a great teacher also? haha.
so my friends and i started to play Basketball after school in the gym. or school gym room. its always fun to play basketball in russia, maybe ill continue in the states when i return now that ive honed my skills. i remember how me and my friend daniel, just the 2 of us, beat a team of 3 people against us. can you say defense!?
speaking of sports, my student Vladimor, invited me to his sports center on sakhalin. his company (exxon) (yes that exxon) gived him the sports center to relax and play sports in, and he can take 10 friends with him. we played on the weight achines, treadmils, then went to the sauna and then played basketball a bit, where i showed how many 3 pointers i could shoot :).. then we went to the cafe where the chefs made us some real, long waited, american pizza :) the best in 8 months that i have ever tasted. i also got to meet some of his friends, who were very impressed to see a 17 year old american in the middle of a russian secret sports gym, who learned russian and was giving an english lesson.. im totally not a spy. aslo while there, i saw a new england patriots jacket. GO PATS!
in school we had the 1000 days until the sochi 2014 olympic games, and also a miny olympic games session. i had to judge tennis, which i said that i didnt know how to do, and still say, i dont know how to do! our school also then was preparing for the final day, known as the last bell. the kids prepare a concert for the teachers and administration, its very funny to do and see. in russia, you can express yourself a lot better than you can in the US without fear of being judged, and the only judgement happens when you blow up at the fact of what you did, so the only way to hurt yourself is to hate what you did.
a few days passed, and i went to a rotary/japanese concert. where i met karsakov club again. my karsakov family, the japanese again, and the brazilian student who lives in karsakov. while our japanese rotarian conducted an orchestra. it was long, but worth it for Japan. on sunday, it was my last day with my friends i met through my korean family. thursday i would leave sakhalin because of family issues. so on sunday, after church 9whic i couldnt go t because i had repirtion for last bell) we went to citi moll, and played laser tag, i got on some good clothes, as i wanted to make sure my enemy knew who it was who shot him in the dark with a laser. but wanted to be stealthy for my only (and maybe last) russian laser tag game, little did i know about my outfit, and its surprises. i stepped into the rin, and lit up like a sore thumb. everyone joked, as the ligh was neon and i had light blue colors. i thought i would lose miserably, but then i was put onto the bluw team.. the light bluw team, and in russian laser tag, you need to hit the target, not the persons bady, so i was pratically unhittable because people couldnt tell wherre my targets were located. i like russian laser tag more than american, you have 1 round, its 10 minutes, but you can run if you want, just not fast, unlike in american where its always walk. and the people in russian laser tag, blasted out loud everywhere linkin park - "Numb" through out the entire arena. so you can imagine me and my mind "one of my favorite songs, my favorite game, my last time playing it in Russia, go out with a bang" and i did. out of all 10 players, i was 2nd. and for the first time in my life, our team won laser tag. i had 38 kills, the guy infront of me had 88. the guy behind me, 12. another reason i like russian laser tagm, is because when you shoot a person, they sta dead for a bit. its like you actually shoot them in real life. you can duck behind barriers and blind fire. you hit a person, thy cant fire for 5 or so seconds, like you got the in real life. its not like magic mountain where you need to reload and can get shot 50 or so times. in russian laser tag, theres infinite ammo. i LOVE it!!!! after the game, we were all sweaty and went to eat korean food called bibin bam? i still dont know its name, but it was really good. then we went bowling, where the other team whipped out butts all over the floor. at the end of the day, my friends gave me a bible, and said that the best way to learn a language, was to read the bible in your own language, and compare it with the one in a differet language. in regular books, they reword things, but in the bible, the text is 100% accurate, as the meaning cant be changed in anyway. my church friends even started to call me at random days before i left sakhalin. making me feel really sad to have to leave them. i gave them all OSU t shirts as gifts. on the 25th of may, we had the last day of school. which served as more of a symbolic victory for me, as my grades here dont count. but it was nice to graduate from school. all the girls were crying, and at the concert, we and my friends had to dance in front of the entire school for our redubbed song. the concert was actually really good to see, and i couldnt help but think that the final song. "goodbye sweet home, first gymansia" was a bit for me, as the next day i left. well the tie came, my last day on sakhalin. howd i spend it? despite their wants, i got my host family a gift, which i didnt see them receive because they werent home, and i was late for a meeting with the brazilian student. the brazilin student, our friend nastya, and i went to see pirates of the carribean on strange shores. which i presonally tought was not interesting, as theres really no point as to why they would make it. after this,i quickly left for the airport.
my host father couldnt stay for long, and left me in the airport alone for sometime, as part of our plan. then to my surprise, there came some of my classmates. my man feidns and some girls came to see me off, along with some rotrians, and the french girl's family. about 10 or so people in all. they all had sad faces but wanted the best foer me, knew that i had to go. carried my 50 kilogram bags to he registration, and when they asked me if i wanted to go to the store, wouldnt let me pay for anything. then gave me gifts to remember them. my club presidet gave me an expensive japanese character made of glass, that means happiness. s they hope that i take happiness with me where ever i go. the frenc girls family gave me a mug and a russian hat. my english student ladimor, gave me a keychain for my phone, and expensive shaolin monk cross, and also expensive showboarding goggles. and my one of my friends gave me an item so vlauable, that he never gave to anybody else befor besides his daughter. and whe i shoped it to someone. they stared at it and showed it to their daughter because "she might never see one lik it again". when my time came, we took pictures, then i went through security, and while walking down the stairs, took one look at the frinds who have been with me since the very beginning, who made me laugh and helped me ins chool when we didnt know what to do. in the plane to vladivostok, i took one ast look at my town, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. as it faded in the distance, it fnally hit me then, just who i had left back there that day. but soon another thing hit me, that i was going to live in Nahodka, Russia. when i arrived, my new host mother met me and we droe 2 or so hours home from the airpor, we really got to know eachother in the car. in my room, i have my own computer, so i can learn japanese better now. and today we will meet the exchange students and spend 2 days in a camp to relax by the ocean. when they go to the conference soon, they will bring back more students who will live here. it will be a big roary bash in june for me and 6 other exchange students, concerts and joyful reunions, followed by sadful departured.
as for me, my first departure today will be a dream. its 2am here. and today i have to rest for my relaxation with friends.
good bye Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk! you were small, but put up a fight to keep me, but sometimes you lose.
not a lot of people can say that theyve lived ona russian island, well im one of them now.
The former Japanese/Russia island, located above japan, has an inpressive korean majority. is behind me now