At our last Rotary meeting, the club wanted me to cook Russian food for them. So my host mom and I cooked pelemeni, which they said turned out horrible because we made so little of it. The club then said their last words to the Taiwanese student and me, who were the only ones remaining in the city at that time. ive never seen a person break into tears that quickly as the Taiwanese student did. In the end, I thanked the club for what they have done for me. And donated my Russian flag to them, as they will go through with the Field of Heroes in Russia, I will be their first hero, they said. at the last night, my entire host family gathered s they could all speak with me one last time, it took a while to get them all here. but we very well talked the night and everyone wished me luck for the rest of my life.
its the end, thats whats been going through my mind the last week or so. soon ill see my friends again in the US, my screams of "Vinicio!" will be replaced by my screams of "Walt!". ill know the life i once knew 10 months ago, the land i called home. the language i speak better than everything. i just cant believe it. 9.5 months ago i was walking into this airport to start my exchange, and now, 294 days later, im leaving through this very airport to end it. all i can say, is that im leaving it with flying colors. i have said my goodbyes. one friend will be with me when i fly out, my brazilian friend who said he wouldnt miss it for the world. my host family pratically invited the entire family over this evening to say good bye to me. the day i fly out will just be me waking up and going straight to the airport. i finished packing yesterday.
i see this world in totally different eyes now, like theres a whole bigger new world waiting to be discovered. i feel like i want to continue my russian studies now while in the US. theres just so much im thinking about right now, when will be the next time i see this land? Russia, the place i have called home for 9.5 months. ive lived in 3 different cities, had 6 host families, and changed many lives on sakhalin and in Nakhodka. but like everyone at this point, im tired. it still hasnt hit me that ill return soon. i answered recently that i dont want to go home. but deep down, when ill be in the airport, i know, that ill want to go home. because something you cant change about me, its that im a patriot, and my homeland is calling. The United States of America. i missed you so much, my house, land, traditions, people, friends. but i know ill miss Russia, my host city. its people, land, traditions, and spirit inside everyone here.its just strange, i now understand how my mom felt at this point after her year, how Greg Miller felt, how everyone feels. its just a shame that it all ended, after living in 6 families, 3 cities, gaining this big impression of Russia, starting the frst ever Russian field of Heroes, along with all my other accomplishments, i can finally say, that now, its time to go home
Goodbye Russia!
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Closing of the Door, Opening of the Window Part 1
So the Rotary club of Nahodka wanted me to do a presentation about my 2 cities in the US, in Russia I say that I have 2 cities. I live in Columbus, but do everything in Westerville. I had my presentation recorded as a souvenir. And I explained how Westerville was the 15th best place to live in the US, the project “the Field of heroes” my club does every year, the Japanese shrine in Westerville, the prohibition of Alcohol. And how Columbus has the best zoo in the US and is a business center and so on. I also explained how I wouldn’t say that my city was Columbus if I didn’t live there, as I all around prefer Westerville. At the end, the Rotarians were all saying that they wanted to travel to Westerville. I consider that a Victory. The Club was also having their installment banquet on Saturday, and wanted all the exchange students to reenact the Russian fairytale “rebka” where an entire family is needed to pull out a vegetable. So to surprise them, we went to the local theatre to get costumes for the fairy tale. (I kinda hated it because I had to do all the talking) but soon we got costumes for the fairy tale. I was also asked to do more assignments for Nahodka at their banquet. A poem by a Russian author (ecenin) and a presentation about my life on Sakhalin. Along with all that, I was also the announcer for the fairy tale “Rebka”. And 2 pther songs which we all had to learn. All in all, I was kinda nervous, but knew if I pulled it off then the Rotary Club who practically saved me, would be glad that they did so. We also spend time helping the rotary club make paper lotuses for a kids summer camp. We made flowers which everybody learned how to make at the district conference, except me, because I wasn’t there. So when it came time for the actual installment banquet, I found myself as stressed out as ever. And it was definitely noticeable, as I would spend more time looking at my papers than eating the meals they brought us. As I still (after 2 weeks) could get my poem down. The entire time, the students were telling me “Aaron, you’re the best here, you don’t need to worry”. Well when it came time for my poem, I went up, messed up the first line by saying “me” instead of “you”, corrected myself, then proceeded to recite my poem, without flaw. I couldn’t believe I did it. When my presentation came along, I made everyone laugh when I talked about many examples of culture shock. Like cows wandering the streets, and how its deer who do it in the US (nobody in Russia has seen wild deer really) at the end, I thanked Nahodka club for taking me in and all that they’ve done for me. When we portrayed the fairy tale, it was funny thanks to the costumes and our Brazilian students. The rotary said that I was practically a star on the night. When we arrived home, I saw my bed, jumped on it, and went to sleep instantly.
After the Installment banquet in Nahodka, they have a tradition to climb a mount called sister. We did this the very next day (after some eco action and picking up trash on the shore) we reached the top of sister and saw all of Nahodka, a view ill never forget. And the Brazilians also wouldn’t, as the next day they left to Yakutsk to see more Brazilians. We got everyone together as the two Brazilians left us forever, leaving us with 10 days of awesome memories. My host mother the next few days, took the remaining students to see bears and eat in the weeds with them. And to a dolphin aquarium. Where I saw dolphins for the first time, and touched them. We saw them do tricks and such also there. On that same day, I explained to Nahodka Club more about the field of Heroes idea which they are planning on doing. They mentioned that in Russia its harder because of the local minorities who would seize any opportunity to ruin Russian patriotism or steal free flags. In Russia is a patriotism problem. The soviet union always said “be patriotic” and now that the soviet union is gone, whos saying “be patriotic” so the nation doesn’t do it much. (imagine it being like a mother always telling you to eat cereal all the time, you eat so much that you cant stand it anymore, then the mother leaves, now what will you do? Still eat cereal?) I was also stolen by a Rotarian to teach English at a sea school, for sailors who need English to work at their jobs. And we celebrated the last day of our Taiwanese student, with a trip to the banya.
so I can also say that ive fallen in a Russian Wedding. On the 25th of June, My host brother got married. Russian weddings are a lot more fun than American. We started by decorating all the cars with flowers or decorations. Then the groom had to buy his way to the bride by completing obstacles set up by the bride, like guess what certain numbers meant that had something to do with the bride. After the groom made it to the bride, we went to the marriage hall where the marriage was registered and then we took an excursion around the city. In Russia, all the cars watching you honk as they pass by, as a “good luck, congrats” way. Even the police turn on their sirens for the wedding, the Russian spirit of love is surprisingly everywhere. The entire Russian wedding traditionally is 2 or more days. So we went to a base and camped there and played some games that the wedding planner planned. The bride and groom aren’t considered bride and groom in Russia until they have spent one night together after the wedding. Everyone went to sleep around 1 or 2 in the morning. The next day we grilled shish ka bobs, talked, played volleyball, and went home around 6 or so. Many people wanted to talk to me, the Russian youth has considered me cool as the American who speaks Russian, has a sense of humor, knows enough Russian slang to make you laugh, and is full of surprises. I spend the last days in Russia, being with friends for the last time, and packing all my stuff for the plane on Wednesday the 29th.
After the Installment banquet in Nahodka, they have a tradition to climb a mount called sister. We did this the very next day (after some eco action and picking up trash on the shore) we reached the top of sister and saw all of Nahodka, a view ill never forget. And the Brazilians also wouldn’t, as the next day they left to Yakutsk to see more Brazilians. We got everyone together as the two Brazilians left us forever, leaving us with 10 days of awesome memories. My host mother the next few days, took the remaining students to see bears and eat in the weeds with them. And to a dolphin aquarium. Where I saw dolphins for the first time, and touched them. We saw them do tricks and such also there. On that same day, I explained to Nahodka Club more about the field of Heroes idea which they are planning on doing. They mentioned that in Russia its harder because of the local minorities who would seize any opportunity to ruin Russian patriotism or steal free flags. In Russia is a patriotism problem. The soviet union always said “be patriotic” and now that the soviet union is gone, whos saying “be patriotic” so the nation doesn’t do it much. (imagine it being like a mother always telling you to eat cereal all the time, you eat so much that you cant stand it anymore, then the mother leaves, now what will you do? Still eat cereal?) I was also stolen by a Rotarian to teach English at a sea school, for sailors who need English to work at their jobs. And we celebrated the last day of our Taiwanese student, with a trip to the banya.
so I can also say that ive fallen in a Russian Wedding. On the 25th of June, My host brother got married. Russian weddings are a lot more fun than American. We started by decorating all the cars with flowers or decorations. Then the groom had to buy his way to the bride by completing obstacles set up by the bride, like guess what certain numbers meant that had something to do with the bride. After the groom made it to the bride, we went to the marriage hall where the marriage was registered and then we took an excursion around the city. In Russia, all the cars watching you honk as they pass by, as a “good luck, congrats” way. Even the police turn on their sirens for the wedding, the Russian spirit of love is surprisingly everywhere. The entire Russian wedding traditionally is 2 or more days. So we went to a base and camped there and played some games that the wedding planner planned. The bride and groom aren’t considered bride and groom in Russia until they have spent one night together after the wedding. Everyone went to sleep around 1 or 2 in the morning. The next day we grilled shish ka bobs, talked, played volleyball, and went home around 6 or so. Many people wanted to talk to me, the Russian youth has considered me cool as the American who speaks Russian, has a sense of humor, knows enough Russian slang to make you laugh, and is full of surprises. I spend the last days in Russia, being with friends for the last time, and packing all my stuff for the plane on Wednesday the 29th.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
The Final Countdown
well after the switch of my host city in Russia, ive been doing a lot to keep myself occupied in the last month of my exchange. upon my arrival in Nahodka, i instantly went on a resort trip to the sea with the other exchange students, my friends from taiwan and brazil were very happy to see me after such a long time. we stayed at the seaside for 3 days,there we stole an abandoned inflatable boat from the docks and rode along the lakes with it, and did some rock climbing along the edges of the shore, it was very fun to do as usually i wouldnt be so stupid to go jumping off rocks onto other rocks, but the dangerou of Russia gets to eevryone, at the camp, the people next to us were playing music, but not any music.. my favorite russian band lubeh! so the entire time, i could listen to my favorite russian songs as we relaxed by the seaside chopping wood for the fire place. we spend the time at night, singing songs and guessing who wrote them. so soo the exchange students had to leave for the district conference, and i was left with no friends to be with for about 2 weeks. what do i do? well this is why i have native russian friends in this city along with me. when i returned from the seaside, i was instantly "stolen" by my friend vova for 2 days, he showed me the university where he goes and there i also saw my other friend who lives in nahodka, aselya, a girl who along with vova was at the orientation helping the inbounds. we watched kung fu panda and went to the head rotary chairman's house. where she helped me study japanese better. so within days i went to my first rotary meeting in nahodka, where i told them all about myself, my crazy brother, and my godgiven mom and grandma. and they helped me find a soccer team in the city where my brazilian friend also plays, but i havent played soccer since childhood and all the time was a defender, so i cant kick the ball right, but when it becomes game time and im defending these russian 20 year old forwards meet their match in most cases. so arriving from tailand is also another friend who i started to meet, elena. she now lives with the brazilian student and for many days we walked along the city with her friends and joked about everything. they showed me the famous soviet cartoon "cheburashka" and gave me him as a doll. my friend vova also challenged me to bowling and pool. where we swapped victories in bolwing and thanks to his white ball mistake when he was sinking the black, i won in pool, but was beaten in the nextround by a total novice. my host brother, who lives outside of the house and will soon be married on the 25th. invited me and his friends to the nature, while there, they askedme to start a fire and show the american way of starting fires, and in under 30 seconds with a lighter, i started a fire which dropped the jaws of the russians. after 9 months of no scouting, pulling off the fire was a big surprise. they came back all saying "im jealous that he can start a fire that well" the eagle scout rank always helps! something that ive always asked my families to do, and never really have succeeded in, is teaching me to cook. well my new host mom, decided to actually teach me to cook. she taught me to make russian soup "akroshka" and russian meat dish "myaca pa kapitancki" or "meat in the style of captian" which really tastes good. after the cooking lesson, she showed me the town Naxodka. including the biggest freight port in the world, ocated outside of nakodka, and the sea where her son will get married.
so finally, the students arrived from the conference in the russian siberia! and along with them, were 2 other students.. brazilians, who were some of my bestest friends at orientation and the trip to the russian capitals. they will be here for 10 days, then leave back to siberia. on ths day also, my host mom showed me the museum and the X men, first class movie. so the next day, all the students got together and literally hit the city! we walked everywhere, everyone talking, happy to see eachother, nobody with a frown on their face all day. we 6 students were probably happier than a dairy cow whose in the middle of work. we had picnics next to monuments and saw sites of the city. on the weekend, we were invited to partizansk, a neaighbooring city to nahodka, where we stayed for 3 days. there we watched movies, and celebrated "Russia day". in moscow, there was a concert on red square and i saw my favorite russian band "lubeh" sing the rock version of the russian anthem. the brazilians and i spent a lo of time talking about video games. we all shared mutual games we loved and discussed new ones coming out. how i will soon know the feeling of video games. i havent played since i arrived to russia.
in more recent news, i did a presentation to nahodka club about my 2 cities in the US, Columbus and westerville. and when i was telling about westerville, i mentioned the shinto shrine, no alcohol, our awards, 4th friday, and the field of heroes. the idea of the field of heroes was taken isntantly in by the club (as i had wanted in the first olace to present to them this idea) and they are thinking about doing it this fall for a holiday. they just wantg to talk with my club about it first. maybe its how i can leave a part of my exchange for the community in russia. too bad that if its taken in, i wont be around to see it with my own eyes.
well the countdown has hit 14 days, its hard to believe that in 2 weeks ill be sitting on the plane headed home.. that in 2 weeks ill meet the people who gave me this opportunity, the country i love more than anything, the people who i know, the language which i speak better than anything, the food which i lost 7 kilograms from when i stopped eating it. in my mind, it truely seems like the final countdown has just started
so finally, the students arrived from the conference in the russian siberia! and along with them, were 2 other students.. brazilians, who were some of my bestest friends at orientation and the trip to the russian capitals. they will be here for 10 days, then leave back to siberia. on ths day also, my host mom showed me the museum and the X men, first class movie. so the next day, all the students got together and literally hit the city! we walked everywhere, everyone talking, happy to see eachother, nobody with a frown on their face all day. we 6 students were probably happier than a dairy cow whose in the middle of work. we had picnics next to monuments and saw sites of the city. on the weekend, we were invited to partizansk, a neaighbooring city to nahodka, where we stayed for 3 days. there we watched movies, and celebrated "Russia day". in moscow, there was a concert on red square and i saw my favorite russian band "lubeh" sing the rock version of the russian anthem. the brazilians and i spent a lo of time talking about video games. we all shared mutual games we loved and discussed new ones coming out. how i will soon know the feeling of video games. i havent played since i arrived to russia.
in more recent news, i did a presentation to nahodka club about my 2 cities in the US, Columbus and westerville. and when i was telling about westerville, i mentioned the shinto shrine, no alcohol, our awards, 4th friday, and the field of heroes. the idea of the field of heroes was taken isntantly in by the club (as i had wanted in the first olace to present to them this idea) and they are thinking about doing it this fall for a holiday. they just wantg to talk with my club about it first. maybe its how i can leave a part of my exchange for the community in russia. too bad that if its taken in, i wont be around to see it with my own eyes.
well the countdown has hit 14 days, its hard to believe that in 2 weeks ill be sitting on the plane headed home.. that in 2 weeks ill meet the people who gave me this opportunity, the country i love more than anything, the people who i know, the language which i speak better than anything, the food which i lost 7 kilograms from when i stopped eating it. in my mind, it truely seems like the final countdown has just started
Thursday, May 26, 2011
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
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
Monday, May 9, 2011
8 months already?
So how are we all suppose to feel for the first time in 7 months after tasting civilization? Like were tired? Yea, after talking with some of the other students, we all agreed that were all different after our trip to Moscow and Peter. How life slowly started to readjust itself. I felt this also when I arrived from Moscow. It felt as if life wasn’t the same as beforу
So after our rotary meeting, my clothes arrived, and I was told that I would go my my possible last family on Sakhalin. Well at rotary, we had out happy dollar. And as recent news, I decided to give 100rubles (actually about 3-4 dollars) for my brother, Ryan. When it became my turn, unlike the others, I stood up, and said. “This is to my brother ryan, who received free college in Ohio State University, the best school in our state. And for 6 weeks, he will be in MSU, Moscow State University (debatably the best school in Russia), to study Russian. The entire rotary club erupts in applause.. Ryan, You’re welcome ;)
I moved into my new (and 5th) family on Sakhalin. Some first notes about my family. The father, oleg, very kind and nice, has already allowed me to address him in the Russian formal version and not polite like I had always done with my previous families. The daughter, 14 years old, named dasha, and the wife, nina. Within a few days, I saw that unlike most host families, my key to survival in this one, was friendship with the host father. Within the first 2 days in my family, it was my host sister’s birthday, so we invited some family friends over and celebrated. I gave her a bear for her bday, as i didn’t know her well enough to risk something else, so I played it safe. So as always, we have English club in the library usually a few times a week. Thanks to the club ive been able to talk about rotary and America. Yet this time, I wasn’t speaking, I was observing, as a british man told us about his work in Sakhalin. The topic was difficult but it was all he had at the time. I surprised him when I spoke English because he didn’t expect any fluent native speakers in the audience, and when I spoke his eyes looked at me differently and said “you don’t sound Russian” “yea I know, all my friends taunt me about that. They say “aaron, you’ve made great efforts to speak Russian, but you sound like the most American person in the world when you do” he laughed, and then had to leave, I didn’t get much time to talk with him. But I got time to talk with some more familiar people. My friends ive met who work off shore for exxon gas. Who was just recently released from his job, he was happy to see me. And a new friend named vladimor, who arrived specially from habarovck (Russian trader city. Also where my host family is from) especially to learn English. But he didn’t know who to help him outside of class. So he came to me. He said that if I can teach him english, he will be able to land a job with exxon, and earn enough money to support his family, and he would be very grateful. So I agreed, although my record in landing people with jobs in Russia with help in english is 0-1. I must always say yes. When I went home, the father held a surprise for me.. it was his birthday! And nobody told me. He invited his son over, and we instantly became friends over one topic, online gaming. We talked about my game “Guild Wars” and his “World of Warcraft”.. fierce rivals. But we had fun discussing the differences between the two and the other games we played.
So while I was reading the blogs of the other students, I got inspired to do something that they almost all were doing. And that was to pick up a second language while on their exchange. The other seemed to pick up French, well I decided to pick up my old friend and heart breaker, Japanese once again. I studied Japanese in the US for 8 months, but when I got Russia, I had to give up my studies, I remember how I couldn’t form one sentence, and how frustrated I got with the writing system and grammer structure. And how much easier Russian seemed when I got to learning it. Well now that im older and more mature, I can see the bigger differences between these 2 languages. Russian writing system has absolutely no way in anyone believing that its harder than Japanese. In Russian there are approx. 33 letters, half of which are roman and the other half are different shapes, with 2 letters which change the soft or hard soundings of words. In japanese, the meain writing system consists of 3 sets, hiragana, katanana, and kanji. Hiragana and katagana take separate shaoes but some sounds, each are used in different situations. Yet in one set alone there are about 40 or 50, (much harder to write than Russian letters) characters, then on top of that, they steal half of the Chinese characters, which is known as kanji. In all, it beats Russian writing. But Russian grammar, is probably the richest in the world, all nice and pretty, everytime new amazing things, adding to the complexity. Russian grammer destroys japanese grammer with ease. Although I still couldn’t form one sentence by myself in japanese after 8 months, and in Russian, I could after 2. To help my japanese, I got 50 giga bites of the language on a hard drive from a teacher, along with some culture notes and videos of castles and Kyoto, the city in which I would like to live in, the second capital of Japan is extremely beautiful. Compared to when I first tried to study japanese, its going along better, I still have my rosetta stone, but at home. So here im just focusing on remembering how to read, and thanks to japanese industry, I can read the japanese on trucks that pass by outside on the streets. I have probably learned over 100 characers already, but like I said, its nothing.
So my friends have been the force keeping me smiling in Russia it seems. They introduced to me, a new game. Called the “I” game. People stand in a circle and say I in turn. If you laugh, they add a name onto you. The more names, the funnier it gets, to the point where you cant remember all of them and you mess up saying stupid names and they have to restart all over again because it gets un fair.. best game in Russia, it beats the body beating one that karsakov club showed me. So my other friends, in the Korean church (which I still go to even though I don’t live with the Koreans anymore) held their easter service, as I forgot, it was easter. In Russia they give out little cakes and crack eggs against eachother, the ones’ whose breaks, loses. After my friends did performances, we went to a concert, where all the churches in the city sang about religion. Im agnostic, there by not a Christian, but it was nice to still be with people who accept me better then the others. There we also met people who arrived from the USA!! Also, but I don’t think they were native, as when I introduced myself to them, they didn’t know the word “exchange student”.
So for the first time I got to teach english to older people, mostly by talking and letting them hog the conversation and I correct them. My student brought his old tests and we went through them and corrected mistakes. He also showed me a very interesting method of learning english. You place 6 pictures in a story, then you select your english tense (which I now know hehe) and try to tell the story in only that tense, seems easy, but its actually very hard to do. Towards the end, he told me more about his work and life. How he arrived here and has been here for 6 months, and how the teachers teach the kids like they’re their kids. As he greatly speaks english for only learning it 6 months. At the end, he asks me for my age, and when I say 17. As usual, the answer is “I thought you were 24” but he gave me the compliment “you are very VERY smart for your age” made me feel good
So on the 27th of april, it was the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, in the Ukraine. Not really significant, but with fukushima acting up, it made people think quite a bit. Weird how my mom was in Germany right after Chernobyl, and 25 years later, her sin is in Russia right after fukushima.. so close to the blasts, each of us were. On a side note, Russia totally copies the US. Recently the militia has been renamed the police, and for years they have instated government exams which were instated in the US also. All the civilians know it. So I now have a Russian tutor, sorts. Its my english student who I teach usually on Saturdays, weve agreed to split our classes into Russian and english, to help both os us. And he can (legally) sneak me into secret facilities in the local park, because his company gave him the park and he can take 10 friends. Teaching english rocks! I only wish I was good at english but its enough to quote “really help out with speech”
So again, my church friends have struck with kindness, and after a Sunday service, treated me to a bread factory, like great harvest in Westerville, only seemingly better. Called windmill (translated). And after that, we went to go see Pio in the theatre. It and gulliever’s travels, are probably the most understandable movies I have seen in Russia. So I enjoyed myself. The next day, kindness struck again as they invited me to my Korean host father’s country house. Of course for the 3rd week in a row, it snowed (first time in my city there is snow in may) we still had a blast. I felt so stupid when the Koreans all spoke in Korean and (I think) said “let us pray” and everone broke out into loud praying, and im standing there clueless staring at an entire room full of loudly praying Koreans… I got it on camera. I have a translator, well 2.. Korean to Russian, and because they wanted to make sure that I would understand everything, they gave me Russian to english. But the lady took too long to translate and got cut off by the praying so I never heard it. This happened to me 5 times that day.. by the 3rd, I said, “what else can I pray for?.. god bless my socks?” I was really confused. But soon after, we ate a ton of meat, shish kabobs and friend meet. I loved those hours of just sitting, talking, and eating meet around a fireplace. I ate so much that I went home and couldn’t eat dinner. When I got home on the 2ND of MAY. I heard the news, Osama Bin laden had been killed in Pakistan. The rest of the day the biggest grin was on my face. And I watched the news the entire night. Every time Obama spoke, I smiled and I couldn’t help but chant out with the crowds on the TV, broadcasted through the British BBC. My host father couldn’t believe the news and asked me if I was mistaken. Sure his death won’t end the war, Within the next couple of days, I went with more friends and to see a movie about cars and people taking money, I don’t know the English name.. It was in rio de jinero. And my class prepared a party on the 9th of may.. in Russia its Victory day. Everyone in Russia loves this day, as it’s the day they beat the Germans in the great patriotic war, Russians really place high emphasis on their second front which forced Hitler to fight on 2 sides of Europe.
So after our rotary meeting, my clothes arrived, and I was told that I would go my my possible last family on Sakhalin. Well at rotary, we had out happy dollar. And as recent news, I decided to give 100rubles (actually about 3-4 dollars) for my brother, Ryan. When it became my turn, unlike the others, I stood up, and said. “This is to my brother ryan, who received free college in Ohio State University, the best school in our state. And for 6 weeks, he will be in MSU, Moscow State University (debatably the best school in Russia), to study Russian. The entire rotary club erupts in applause.. Ryan, You’re welcome ;)
I moved into my new (and 5th) family on Sakhalin. Some first notes about my family. The father, oleg, very kind and nice, has already allowed me to address him in the Russian formal version and not polite like I had always done with my previous families. The daughter, 14 years old, named dasha, and the wife, nina. Within a few days, I saw that unlike most host families, my key to survival in this one, was friendship with the host father. Within the first 2 days in my family, it was my host sister’s birthday, so we invited some family friends over and celebrated. I gave her a bear for her bday, as i didn’t know her well enough to risk something else, so I played it safe. So as always, we have English club in the library usually a few times a week. Thanks to the club ive been able to talk about rotary and America. Yet this time, I wasn’t speaking, I was observing, as a british man told us about his work in Sakhalin. The topic was difficult but it was all he had at the time. I surprised him when I spoke English because he didn’t expect any fluent native speakers in the audience, and when I spoke his eyes looked at me differently and said “you don’t sound Russian” “yea I know, all my friends taunt me about that. They say “aaron, you’ve made great efforts to speak Russian, but you sound like the most American person in the world when you do” he laughed, and then had to leave, I didn’t get much time to talk with him. But I got time to talk with some more familiar people. My friends ive met who work off shore for exxon gas. Who was just recently released from his job, he was happy to see me. And a new friend named vladimor, who arrived specially from habarovck (Russian trader city. Also where my host family is from) especially to learn English. But he didn’t know who to help him outside of class. So he came to me. He said that if I can teach him english, he will be able to land a job with exxon, and earn enough money to support his family, and he would be very grateful. So I agreed, although my record in landing people with jobs in Russia with help in english is 0-1. I must always say yes. When I went home, the father held a surprise for me.. it was his birthday! And nobody told me. He invited his son over, and we instantly became friends over one topic, online gaming. We talked about my game “Guild Wars” and his “World of Warcraft”.. fierce rivals. But we had fun discussing the differences between the two and the other games we played.
So while I was reading the blogs of the other students, I got inspired to do something that they almost all were doing. And that was to pick up a second language while on their exchange. The other seemed to pick up French, well I decided to pick up my old friend and heart breaker, Japanese once again. I studied Japanese in the US for 8 months, but when I got Russia, I had to give up my studies, I remember how I couldn’t form one sentence, and how frustrated I got with the writing system and grammer structure. And how much easier Russian seemed when I got to learning it. Well now that im older and more mature, I can see the bigger differences between these 2 languages. Russian writing system has absolutely no way in anyone believing that its harder than Japanese. In Russian there are approx. 33 letters, half of which are roman and the other half are different shapes, with 2 letters which change the soft or hard soundings of words. In japanese, the meain writing system consists of 3 sets, hiragana, katanana, and kanji. Hiragana and katagana take separate shaoes but some sounds, each are used in different situations. Yet in one set alone there are about 40 or 50, (much harder to write than Russian letters) characters, then on top of that, they steal half of the Chinese characters, which is known as kanji. In all, it beats Russian writing. But Russian grammar, is probably the richest in the world, all nice and pretty, everytime new amazing things, adding to the complexity. Russian grammer destroys japanese grammer with ease. Although I still couldn’t form one sentence by myself in japanese after 8 months, and in Russian, I could after 2. To help my japanese, I got 50 giga bites of the language on a hard drive from a teacher, along with some culture notes and videos of castles and Kyoto, the city in which I would like to live in, the second capital of Japan is extremely beautiful. Compared to when I first tried to study japanese, its going along better, I still have my rosetta stone, but at home. So here im just focusing on remembering how to read, and thanks to japanese industry, I can read the japanese on trucks that pass by outside on the streets. I have probably learned over 100 characers already, but like I said, its nothing.
So my friends have been the force keeping me smiling in Russia it seems. They introduced to me, a new game. Called the “I” game. People stand in a circle and say I in turn. If you laugh, they add a name onto you. The more names, the funnier it gets, to the point where you cant remember all of them and you mess up saying stupid names and they have to restart all over again because it gets un fair.. best game in Russia, it beats the body beating one that karsakov club showed me. So my other friends, in the Korean church (which I still go to even though I don’t live with the Koreans anymore) held their easter service, as I forgot, it was easter. In Russia they give out little cakes and crack eggs against eachother, the ones’ whose breaks, loses. After my friends did performances, we went to a concert, where all the churches in the city sang about religion. Im agnostic, there by not a Christian, but it was nice to still be with people who accept me better then the others. There we also met people who arrived from the USA!! Also, but I don’t think they were native, as when I introduced myself to them, they didn’t know the word “exchange student”.
So for the first time I got to teach english to older people, mostly by talking and letting them hog the conversation and I correct them. My student brought his old tests and we went through them and corrected mistakes. He also showed me a very interesting method of learning english. You place 6 pictures in a story, then you select your english tense (which I now know hehe) and try to tell the story in only that tense, seems easy, but its actually very hard to do. Towards the end, he told me more about his work and life. How he arrived here and has been here for 6 months, and how the teachers teach the kids like they’re their kids. As he greatly speaks english for only learning it 6 months. At the end, he asks me for my age, and when I say 17. As usual, the answer is “I thought you were 24” but he gave me the compliment “you are very VERY smart for your age” made me feel good
So on the 27th of april, it was the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, in the Ukraine. Not really significant, but with fukushima acting up, it made people think quite a bit. Weird how my mom was in Germany right after Chernobyl, and 25 years later, her sin is in Russia right after fukushima.. so close to the blasts, each of us were. On a side note, Russia totally copies the US. Recently the militia has been renamed the police, and for years they have instated government exams which were instated in the US also. All the civilians know it. So I now have a Russian tutor, sorts. Its my english student who I teach usually on Saturdays, weve agreed to split our classes into Russian and english, to help both os us. And he can (legally) sneak me into secret facilities in the local park, because his company gave him the park and he can take 10 friends. Teaching english rocks! I only wish I was good at english but its enough to quote “really help out with speech”
So again, my church friends have struck with kindness, and after a Sunday service, treated me to a bread factory, like great harvest in Westerville, only seemingly better. Called windmill (translated). And after that, we went to go see Pio in the theatre. It and gulliever’s travels, are probably the most understandable movies I have seen in Russia. So I enjoyed myself. The next day, kindness struck again as they invited me to my Korean host father’s country house. Of course for the 3rd week in a row, it snowed (first time in my city there is snow in may) we still had a blast. I felt so stupid when the Koreans all spoke in Korean and (I think) said “let us pray” and everone broke out into loud praying, and im standing there clueless staring at an entire room full of loudly praying Koreans… I got it on camera. I have a translator, well 2.. Korean to Russian, and because they wanted to make sure that I would understand everything, they gave me Russian to english. But the lady took too long to translate and got cut off by the praying so I never heard it. This happened to me 5 times that day.. by the 3rd, I said, “what else can I pray for?.. god bless my socks?” I was really confused. But soon after, we ate a ton of meat, shish kabobs and friend meet. I loved those hours of just sitting, talking, and eating meet around a fireplace. I ate so much that I went home and couldn’t eat dinner. When I got home on the 2ND of MAY. I heard the news, Osama Bin laden had been killed in Pakistan. The rest of the day the biggest grin was on my face. And I watched the news the entire night. Every time Obama spoke, I smiled and I couldn’t help but chant out with the crowds on the TV, broadcasted through the British BBC. My host father couldn’t believe the news and asked me if I was mistaken. Sure his death won’t end the war, Within the next couple of days, I went with more friends and to see a movie about cars and people taking money, I don’t know the English name.. It was in rio de jinero. And my class prepared a party on the 9th of may.. in Russia its Victory day. Everyone in Russia loves this day, as it’s the day they beat the Germans in the great patriotic war, Russians really place high emphasis on their second front which forced Hitler to fight on 2 sides of Europe.
Friday, April 15, 2011
the first taste of civilization in 7 months
So thanks to my friend here tamapa, I was able to find snowboarding classes. She was nice enough to take me to the place and snow me where to get the classes. I really owe her, it remeinds me that the Russian nation has really great kids, even when they don’t really know you they’re still willing to help. While on that hill we met some Americans!!! How I knew?? They were black. Yea in Russia its that easy.. really. They were from New York and were doing a jazz concert the next day. There a women was also from the US. And when I said that I was with rotary, she asked me why we didn’t meet in Vladivostok.. I responded “what do you mean?” this was all the time I had before their shuttle went down the hill. It was also amazing to me, as when I first met the Americans. I spoke in Russian. As I so rarely spoke English in yuzhno. So within the next days we had another English club, about global media which would be done by the Vladivostok consulate. So when I walk into the room of the presentation I see a women who asks me “why didn’t you go to the concert?” as it’s the same women who I meet on the sloped days before! Then she explains why she was surprised we didn’t meet in Vladivostok, because shes a member of the consulate there, along with jon yu another member of the consulate I meet earlier. But this consulate worker was the came worker who meet Greg Miller in Russia last year. Now shes meeting his successor in yuzhno. What a coincidence! After this discussion, she did her presentation on global media, which was probably one of the best presentations ive seen ever. After the presentation. I was given free jazz music. And a ride home, which I liked really as I lived far and it was dark. The consulate urged me to register with them but my mom already did that she says. On the next day, my church friends invited me to a bible study. So for a few hours we ate pizza and read stories about Solomon who decided to cut the baby in 2 for each mother in order to find the true mother. After that, I had my first snowboard class. On the last day of school. I got to skip school. My instructor taught me how to stop and turn. Which was really all I needed. But the classes are expensive, so I was only able top have one. After the snowboard class when I was walking to return my gear, people from Russian radio station avto radio stopped me to interview me about the news in japan. Of course I wasn’t really prepared for it after the hill kicking my butt and it being a sulky day, but I still said yes and was interviewed and put on national radio. Before I left, my instructor said that Vladimir putin would be in Sakhalin soon, on this very hill. I was happy to see it but doubted I would meet him. Yet when I was walking home, I saw a line of cars drive past all escorted by police. Maybe a total of 15 cars. It wasn’t hard to guess that it was putin who drove 40 feet by me.. oh how I hate that I forgot my camera. On the holidays I was eating with my family and they invited a person in. my host father then tried in english to introduce him. “he is nahhth.. nauthh.” Me “nawth? Whats is nawth?” host father: “no.. nauth, nauth..” me again” nauth? North? North!?” “yes.. he north Korean” I met my first person from north Korean!! And I got to work with him also. So I can say that ive worked with north Koreans. That same day me and friends went to see the movies, we saw battle for las angeles. And played American billiards. Of course I had the experience advantage and my team always won.. so ha!
The next day we wetn bowling and I put up 7 strikes in a row. I would of gone farther but some people cheated and threw by ball for me.. I still won though. When we went to stores, the clerks asked me to dance like Michael Jackson. So in front of clients in the middle of a store I danced to billie jean by Michael Jackson only in Russia. The next day we sung karaoke and I founf my favorite band lubeh on the karaoke and sung all their songs. Along with some American songs. So where was the taste of civilization that I tasted? Was it the orientation on the 25th in Vladivostok? Maybe. When we arrived in vladi, our Sakhalin group was the last to arrive because our flight was delayed. We arrived at night and met all the exchange students and high Rotarians. The orientation also had the outbounds. Most of them went to brazil, we also had out first students to mexico in the history of Russia, first to germany, and 2 to USA. With of course more who were sent to other countries. At the orientation I asked what we would do about the presentatrions we were asked to do that we were assigned. And then I was set up and told to do my presentatrion on Moscow. We also planned a surprise for Tatiana, the district chair. We gave her cards of us all and signed them. She liked them so much that she cried. The next day one of our students had an issue, and was told to make a apology to the rotary. But the student was in his first week in Russia, so I offered to help him saying that I will be his lawyer. And we had a 5 second fake little trial where I stated my defense infront of the rotary and made them laugh so hard that they accepted his apology and got it recorded on their phones. Victory I guess? We then were shown a tour of Vladivostok, a port city which borders north korea in russia’s far east. It was huge.
So Vladivostok wasn’t the taste of civilization which I meet. The next day we sent off on the airport… for Moscow.
In the airport, Tatiana li dinzi told me that if my new family doesn’t turn out, or if I still get switched, then I contact her and I can stay with a family they found in nahodka, Russia. So I have my family issue solved either yuzhno or nahodka will be my home. In the airport, the Brazilians loved to dance brazilian dances around our luggage. Making everyone stare at us. It was worth it though. I had to bring more then I wanted as I was suppose to find my German uncle in Moscow, but it was not successful. So after our 9 hour flight we arrived in Moscow and the hype of Moscow was met when we say familiar names of companies. “mcdonalds, Citibank, subway, etc” after we put our stuff in the hotel. We went to get dinner, the leaders went to a couple shops and when they found nothing good, they sighed and said “lets go to mcdonalds…” we all cheared and I ate my first mcdonalds in 7 months. It was scary as they had security checks infront of it. And next to mcdonalds, was KFC. After mcdonalds, we visited a monastery where photos weren’t allowed, we dditn know the name of it also.
The next day in Moscow, we visited the Moscow kremlin, and say the house of the president and his army. Then we had lunch and went to red square and say st. basils cathedral. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it. We also played some American football.. I caught 2 touchdown passes on red square. But apparently you aren’t allowed to do anything non Russian on red square. So the police broke us up, and the Brazilians with the Brazilian flag. Within hours we were in taganskaya station, a famous Moscow metro used in my favorite bands song. Moscow has the beautifulest metros in the world. We took it to see the famous street “Arbat” where we all stormed the shops and bought funny tshirts. And I saw hard rock café Moscow. We also saw the resting place of all the Russian tsars.
On the 2nd full day in Moscow, we say more monuments and spend 7 house in a mall in Moscow waiting for our train to Petersburg. In the mall I ate my first cinnabon in a year and got my Taiwanese friends hooked on it. I forgot to mention that in Moscow I hung out with the Taiwanese more then anyone, they’re very awesome. At 1 am we all boarded the train to st Petersburg. 2 days in Moscow, 8 in peter. In the train we had 3rd class seats, not an issue for most people, but seeing as im the biggest exchange student in Russia, I had issues as you can tell.
When we got off the train at peter, we were met by our guide and went to eat breakfast. Then we saw the resting place of peter the great and say an old battle ship used during the Russian war with Japan. Im surprised it survived as the Japanese navy completely destroyed the Russian navy in the war. We spend the rest of the time looking at more monuments even a cathedral that looks like the one on red square. But is not as beautiful
2nd day in peter we say the biggest street in the city, nevckii prospect, which had other recognizable names “pizza hut, burger king, citi bank again, and more I can’t remember. We also then went inside the look alike cathedral I talked about earlier. That night, the people who were older then 18 were allowed to go to a night club, while the rest slept
The next day we went to the tsar’s village, where the tsar stayed during the summer. It was recently ben renamed after Alexander Pushkin. But the entire group was tired and the rest of the day everyone slept from the late night
The next day we went to see a Russian church and met the head pope of the Russian orthodox church. Then the group split up into 2 parts, those who wanted to see a ballet, and those who wanted to see a zoology museum. I choose to see the museum. And I didnt regret it really. After the museum we went to a shopping mall and I decided to ask the members of citi bank if they knew where their main competitor/my bank “chase” was located. “hey so do you know this bank…. Chase? “chase? No.. is it a finnish bank?” “no, its American… infact its your main competitor.” “really? I never in my entire life have heard about chase bank” “crap…” I thought. My bank which I know is in st Petersburg and Moscow, decided to play disappear on me.
The next day in Petersburg, we had free. So we went to a waterpark. Normally im afraid of water, but not here as everyone loved the st. Petersburg park. Even going down their whirlpool tunnel into water. That evening, we signed each others flags in the hall. I would of let them sign the american flag. But only the creator of the flag may sign a flag, and the pride of my nation here rises higher then anything. I cant remember how many Brazilian flags I signed that night.
The next day we went to st. Isaacs cathedral. But not just in it.. on top of it. And we got pictures of all of st. petersburg’s main city. After this, we went to see the museum of wax figures. The museum had a display of old leaders, monsters, dinosaurs, and movie stars. All posing with my American football. Which was everywhere with me in Moscow and peter. After the museum, we had more free time in mega, where I was again with my Taiwanese friends.
2nd to last day in peter, we went to see the winter palace, (the very winter palace of the Russian revolution) and say the Hermitage museum. That night at 11 most of the group boarded into a hummer limo and we strolled the streets of Petersburg at night. It was my first time in a limo. We wanted to see the famous bridges of Petersburg, but the driver refused. We retuned home at 2 am.
The last day in peter we say petergoff. A magnificent fountain structure. Yet this time of year it was very dirty and the fountains were off. We also found some solid ice on a frozen lake that was strong enough to hold us, and we played American football again. Just me and my friends. I again caught 2 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions. That night we all sat in the corridor again and decorated flags, and gave presents to the leaders, all the girls were crying because the next day we had to leave each other, all the men didn’t cry at all, but were sad to have to leave deep down. The next day we each went to the airport, group split to 2, each to a different airport. Then there we each split again to our cities. Everytime leaving crying faces and comforting the ones in your group who were crying. When we arrived from Moscow, I was told that my host father left, and until Monday id have to live with my first family.
Moscow was a sight for sore eyes.. i absolutely loved the city, and wanted more time there. people say that petersburg is better. but its like brains vs brons, culture vs science,tradition vs sheer sive. st. petersburg VS Moscow.
The next day we wetn bowling and I put up 7 strikes in a row. I would of gone farther but some people cheated and threw by ball for me.. I still won though. When we went to stores, the clerks asked me to dance like Michael Jackson. So in front of clients in the middle of a store I danced to billie jean by Michael Jackson only in Russia. The next day we sung karaoke and I founf my favorite band lubeh on the karaoke and sung all their songs. Along with some American songs. So where was the taste of civilization that I tasted? Was it the orientation on the 25th in Vladivostok? Maybe. When we arrived in vladi, our Sakhalin group was the last to arrive because our flight was delayed. We arrived at night and met all the exchange students and high Rotarians. The orientation also had the outbounds. Most of them went to brazil, we also had out first students to mexico in the history of Russia, first to germany, and 2 to USA. With of course more who were sent to other countries. At the orientation I asked what we would do about the presentatrions we were asked to do that we were assigned. And then I was set up and told to do my presentatrion on Moscow. We also planned a surprise for Tatiana, the district chair. We gave her cards of us all and signed them. She liked them so much that she cried. The next day one of our students had an issue, and was told to make a apology to the rotary. But the student was in his first week in Russia, so I offered to help him saying that I will be his lawyer. And we had a 5 second fake little trial where I stated my defense infront of the rotary and made them laugh so hard that they accepted his apology and got it recorded on their phones. Victory I guess? We then were shown a tour of Vladivostok, a port city which borders north korea in russia’s far east. It was huge.
So Vladivostok wasn’t the taste of civilization which I meet. The next day we sent off on the airport… for Moscow.
In the airport, Tatiana li dinzi told me that if my new family doesn’t turn out, or if I still get switched, then I contact her and I can stay with a family they found in nahodka, Russia. So I have my family issue solved either yuzhno or nahodka will be my home. In the airport, the Brazilians loved to dance brazilian dances around our luggage. Making everyone stare at us. It was worth it though. I had to bring more then I wanted as I was suppose to find my German uncle in Moscow, but it was not successful. So after our 9 hour flight we arrived in Moscow and the hype of Moscow was met when we say familiar names of companies. “mcdonalds, Citibank, subway, etc” after we put our stuff in the hotel. We went to get dinner, the leaders went to a couple shops and when they found nothing good, they sighed and said “lets go to mcdonalds…” we all cheared and I ate my first mcdonalds in 7 months. It was scary as they had security checks infront of it. And next to mcdonalds, was KFC. After mcdonalds, we visited a monastery where photos weren’t allowed, we dditn know the name of it also.
The next day in Moscow, we visited the Moscow kremlin, and say the house of the president and his army. Then we had lunch and went to red square and say st. basils cathedral. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it. We also played some American football.. I caught 2 touchdown passes on red square. But apparently you aren’t allowed to do anything non Russian on red square. So the police broke us up, and the Brazilians with the Brazilian flag. Within hours we were in taganskaya station, a famous Moscow metro used in my favorite bands song. Moscow has the beautifulest metros in the world. We took it to see the famous street “Arbat” where we all stormed the shops and bought funny tshirts. And I saw hard rock café Moscow. We also saw the resting place of all the Russian tsars.
On the 2nd full day in Moscow, we say more monuments and spend 7 house in a mall in Moscow waiting for our train to Petersburg. In the mall I ate my first cinnabon in a year and got my Taiwanese friends hooked on it. I forgot to mention that in Moscow I hung out with the Taiwanese more then anyone, they’re very awesome. At 1 am we all boarded the train to st Petersburg. 2 days in Moscow, 8 in peter. In the train we had 3rd class seats, not an issue for most people, but seeing as im the biggest exchange student in Russia, I had issues as you can tell.
When we got off the train at peter, we were met by our guide and went to eat breakfast. Then we saw the resting place of peter the great and say an old battle ship used during the Russian war with Japan. Im surprised it survived as the Japanese navy completely destroyed the Russian navy in the war. We spend the rest of the time looking at more monuments even a cathedral that looks like the one on red square. But is not as beautiful
2nd day in peter we say the biggest street in the city, nevckii prospect, which had other recognizable names “pizza hut, burger king, citi bank again, and more I can’t remember. We also then went inside the look alike cathedral I talked about earlier. That night, the people who were older then 18 were allowed to go to a night club, while the rest slept
The next day we went to the tsar’s village, where the tsar stayed during the summer. It was recently ben renamed after Alexander Pushkin. But the entire group was tired and the rest of the day everyone slept from the late night
The next day we went to see a Russian church and met the head pope of the Russian orthodox church. Then the group split up into 2 parts, those who wanted to see a ballet, and those who wanted to see a zoology museum. I choose to see the museum. And I didnt regret it really. After the museum we went to a shopping mall and I decided to ask the members of citi bank if they knew where their main competitor/my bank “chase” was located. “hey so do you know this bank…. Chase? “chase? No.. is it a finnish bank?” “no, its American… infact its your main competitor.” “really? I never in my entire life have heard about chase bank” “crap…” I thought. My bank which I know is in st Petersburg and Moscow, decided to play disappear on me.
The next day in Petersburg, we had free. So we went to a waterpark. Normally im afraid of water, but not here as everyone loved the st. Petersburg park. Even going down their whirlpool tunnel into water. That evening, we signed each others flags in the hall. I would of let them sign the american flag. But only the creator of the flag may sign a flag, and the pride of my nation here rises higher then anything. I cant remember how many Brazilian flags I signed that night.
The next day we went to st. Isaacs cathedral. But not just in it.. on top of it. And we got pictures of all of st. petersburg’s main city. After this, we went to see the museum of wax figures. The museum had a display of old leaders, monsters, dinosaurs, and movie stars. All posing with my American football. Which was everywhere with me in Moscow and peter. After the museum, we had more free time in mega, where I was again with my Taiwanese friends.
2nd to last day in peter, we went to see the winter palace, (the very winter palace of the Russian revolution) and say the Hermitage museum. That night at 11 most of the group boarded into a hummer limo and we strolled the streets of Petersburg at night. It was my first time in a limo. We wanted to see the famous bridges of Petersburg, but the driver refused. We retuned home at 2 am.
The last day in peter we say petergoff. A magnificent fountain structure. Yet this time of year it was very dirty and the fountains were off. We also found some solid ice on a frozen lake that was strong enough to hold us, and we played American football again. Just me and my friends. I again caught 2 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions. That night we all sat in the corridor again and decorated flags, and gave presents to the leaders, all the girls were crying because the next day we had to leave each other, all the men didn’t cry at all, but were sad to have to leave deep down. The next day we each went to the airport, group split to 2, each to a different airport. Then there we each split again to our cities. Everytime leaving crying faces and comforting the ones in your group who were crying. When we arrived from Moscow, I was told that my host father left, and until Monday id have to live with my first family.
Moscow was a sight for sore eyes.. i absolutely loved the city, and wanted more time there. people say that petersburg is better. but its like brains vs brons, culture vs science,tradition vs sheer sive. st. petersburg VS Moscow.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
earthuakes russian and pain
So its been sometime since my last post. But in that time I have done many things. I helped my friends at the regional library and museum on the 22nd of February. They anted me to read a book about a native Sakhalin tribe called the Uilta, and make a small presentation about what I read and help support the museum because they need endorsement for this book. So I read the book and say some words and I soon find out that the director of the museum is present in frnt of me, and she totally loved what I said about her book. After the talk I meet with her and spoke for a bit and she walked out of the conversation with all smiles. After this, I was asked to say some words for the camera in Russian. So I do this thinking its for archives in the library. Well later that night I get a call from the other exchange student here and she asks, “why are you on TV?” I go on to the tv but miss myself. My words to the camera was broadcasted in yuzhno sakhalinsk. I figured that if what I sid was totally horrible, then they wouldn’t air it. So yay me!!!
So on the 23rd of February was mans day. And the entire day people went around congratulating men for defending the country. And the girls of out class presented the men with gifts, I got Sakhalin items. And in the square, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Tried to recruit me, and handed out free newspapers. So I took a communist newspaper as a souvenir and didn’t join.. its all I wanted. So after this, on the 25소 of February, I did a presentation at the local library where I helped ou with the book. This time the topic was about the American holiday “presidents day” I seen realized that the holiday is short. So I added in some info about famous presidents” after the presentation I was bombarded with questions and got to talk about rotary international. And a man came up to me and said that I gave an absolute great lecture about the presidents and that he had never in his time of learning about the presidents had ever seen such new info about them. The questions went on so long that the library closed and we were forced to leave. On march 2nd, the French girl and I went to karsakov for a surprise party for the Brazilian girl, as it was her bday. We plan to go in school, only its Brazilian tradition not to go to school on your bday. So we panic and go to her house and surprise her. She says that she will never forget that day. The French girl presented her with a photo album of themselves, and I gave her a Russian ushanka… as a souvenir. On the 8소 ㅐ march, was day of women. And we men planned a big surprise for our ladies. Consisting of ballons being pulled in through a window and dancing soldiers with skirts. This year the men beat the ladies . On the 10 of march, I moed into a third family, a Korean family. I still don’t know Korean culture, so im a bit cautious with what I do. On the same day, we went bowling with my rotary club. I thought it would be a good way to get an easy victory… until my club president whipped the floor with me 3 times.. the nextday I come home from school and turn on the tv so news of an earthquake that struck Japan.. at a 7.9 magnitude. With the time difference, it happened 20 minutes ago. I wtch later and thanks to news helicopter cams, I see the start of the tsunamis hit the northeast coast of japan.. literally I watched my favorite nation get trampled for hours.. I immediately call my president and ask what we can do for japan, and I go to contact with the local club of karsakov also. I am even debating visiting the Japanese consulate in the city to seek advice, but I would be important and would like a little more info on options. M friend from magadan Russia (Canadian exchange student) calls me and says “I am so glad rotary failed and didn’t send you to Russia” I see now why I got Russia and not japan. The next day, I hear news of a Japanese Chernobyl.. I watch the news and the Japanese fukushima 1 plant is now emitting radiation (current refrence) and the news says that japan must look to Russia to help as Russia is one of the only naions with experience with nuclear fallouts. And start naming similarities between Chernobyl and fukushima 1. How white smoke spew from both of them after an explosion. Only unike the USSR, the Japanese evacuated the citizens around the area. I also saw my host city on international TV. All of Russia is watching yuzhno sakhalinsk. As the tsunami had hit the kuril islands, which is my oblast (like a Russian state) so now Russia is involved. And if fukushima 1 explodes, and the wind is blowing right, my host city will be infected with nuclear radiation. Some people here think it already happened. And that the snow is nuclear… Russian humor, haha. Dmirty medvedev has dispatched Russian special forces to Sakhalin to ensure our safety. And many people here have been searching for personal Geiger counters. I for one trust japan a bit to tell us if its coming our ay.it wouldn’t look good for the Japanese to not tell Russia that radiaton is coming knowingly. Just a thought. So with international atomic disasters aside. I for the first time here I Russia, went to church. My new family are Christians. And I agreed to go to church with them. At church, which was translated from Korean to Russian. I met the youth group, kids who instantly acceted me and invited me to many events. Like snow boarding. That night we went snow boarding. I bought 5 times to go up the hill and down. I only usd one that night. It took 5 times to get up the hill for me. But if you don’t get a good way up they let you try again.
So after several failed attempts I finally got up the hill thanks to a kid I met there named alex. We soon were acquainted and he helped me ride the snowboard. I fell so much that day. I achieved perfect snowboard speed and form about 2 times. The feeling was great/ but I forgot how to stop!!! So I resorted to instincts and fell. Every time. The only time I stopped right was when I didn’t wanna stop. By the time I made it down the hill.. I was so tired that my friends that invited me and the new ones, had to hold me up for the picture. The entire endeavor took an hour to do. And my new friends, said that I am the craziest person they’ve seen
If you look closely, you see theyre holding me up. The entire night got me really interested and sore. One of the kids I met on the slope I soon found out I played basketball against “what school do you go to?” “2nd school” (we lost to them in our first game” “ohh well then lets talk nasketball” “ive played on my schools team.. and you?” “yea I played,.. im the guy who threw the ball into the wrong hoop” “I REMEMBER YOU!!!!” “geee thanks.”
After the day I made some calls and found out that theres a possibility to get lessons. So I looked up on the ent and found some places. Then when I was going home I met my class friends. 2 girls but 1 left. And we talked a bit and she decided to help me out and we went to the mountain and took pictures of my host city from the air. There we meet some Americans. I literally got off the lift, saw black people, didn’t thinkmuch and said.. theyre foreign, walked up to them and introduced myslf. And guess what? They were from NEW YORK!. In town for a jazz concert. I always love meeting Americans. I almost spoke Russian with them because I haven’t spoken English for so long. I greeted them I Russian and accidently said my state in Russian. Even when I said “mind go to English now” of curse in Russian. So we got info on lessons and soon ill have the chance to have snow boarding lessons. It’s a pay by go. So I pay for an hour and I get an instructor with me when I ski.. which remeinded me.. I need to pull out some money. Im nuclear probably here in yuzhno.. but well see within 40 years :p but medvedev has said that if the situation continues then hell evacuate all of sakhalin.. my exchange is in the hand of the wind
So on the 23rd of February was mans day. And the entire day people went around congratulating men for defending the country. And the girls of out class presented the men with gifts, I got Sakhalin items. And in the square, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Tried to recruit me, and handed out free newspapers. So I took a communist newspaper as a souvenir and didn’t join.. its all I wanted. So after this, on the 25소 of February, I did a presentation at the local library where I helped ou with the book. This time the topic was about the American holiday “presidents day” I seen realized that the holiday is short. So I added in some info about famous presidents” after the presentation I was bombarded with questions and got to talk about rotary international. And a man came up to me and said that I gave an absolute great lecture about the presidents and that he had never in his time of learning about the presidents had ever seen such new info about them. The questions went on so long that the library closed and we were forced to leave. On march 2nd, the French girl and I went to karsakov for a surprise party for the Brazilian girl, as it was her bday. We plan to go in school, only its Brazilian tradition not to go to school on your bday. So we panic and go to her house and surprise her. She says that she will never forget that day. The French girl presented her with a photo album of themselves, and I gave her a Russian ushanka… as a souvenir. On the 8소 ㅐ march, was day of women. And we men planned a big surprise for our ladies. Consisting of ballons being pulled in through a window and dancing soldiers with skirts. This year the men beat the ladies . On the 10 of march, I moed into a third family, a Korean family. I still don’t know Korean culture, so im a bit cautious with what I do. On the same day, we went bowling with my rotary club. I thought it would be a good way to get an easy victory… until my club president whipped the floor with me 3 times.. the nextday I come home from school and turn on the tv so news of an earthquake that struck Japan.. at a 7.9 magnitude. With the time difference, it happened 20 minutes ago. I wtch later and thanks to news helicopter cams, I see the start of the tsunamis hit the northeast coast of japan.. literally I watched my favorite nation get trampled for hours.. I immediately call my president and ask what we can do for japan, and I go to contact with the local club of karsakov also. I am even debating visiting the Japanese consulate in the city to seek advice, but I would be important and would like a little more info on options. M friend from magadan Russia (Canadian exchange student) calls me and says “I am so glad rotary failed and didn’t send you to Russia” I see now why I got Russia and not japan. The next day, I hear news of a Japanese Chernobyl.. I watch the news and the Japanese fukushima 1 plant is now emitting radiation (current refrence) and the news says that japan must look to Russia to help as Russia is one of the only naions with experience with nuclear fallouts. And start naming similarities between Chernobyl and fukushima 1. How white smoke spew from both of them after an explosion. Only unike the USSR, the Japanese evacuated the citizens around the area. I also saw my host city on international TV. All of Russia is watching yuzhno sakhalinsk. As the tsunami had hit the kuril islands, which is my oblast (like a Russian state) so now Russia is involved. And if fukushima 1 explodes, and the wind is blowing right, my host city will be infected with nuclear radiation. Some people here think it already happened. And that the snow is nuclear… Russian humor, haha. Dmirty medvedev has dispatched Russian special forces to Sakhalin to ensure our safety. And many people here have been searching for personal Geiger counters. I for one trust japan a bit to tell us if its coming our ay.it wouldn’t look good for the Japanese to not tell Russia that radiaton is coming knowingly. Just a thought. So with international atomic disasters aside. I for the first time here I Russia, went to church. My new family are Christians. And I agreed to go to church with them. At church, which was translated from Korean to Russian. I met the youth group, kids who instantly acceted me and invited me to many events. Like snow boarding. That night we went snow boarding. I bought 5 times to go up the hill and down. I only usd one that night. It took 5 times to get up the hill for me. But if you don’t get a good way up they let you try again.
So after several failed attempts I finally got up the hill thanks to a kid I met there named alex. We soon were acquainted and he helped me ride the snowboard. I fell so much that day. I achieved perfect snowboard speed and form about 2 times. The feeling was great/ but I forgot how to stop!!! So I resorted to instincts and fell. Every time. The only time I stopped right was when I didn’t wanna stop. By the time I made it down the hill.. I was so tired that my friends that invited me and the new ones, had to hold me up for the picture. The entire endeavor took an hour to do. And my new friends, said that I am the craziest person they’ve seen
If you look closely, you see theyre holding me up. The entire night got me really interested and sore. One of the kids I met on the slope I soon found out I played basketball against “what school do you go to?” “2nd school” (we lost to them in our first game” “ohh well then lets talk nasketball” “ive played on my schools team.. and you?” “yea I played,.. im the guy who threw the ball into the wrong hoop” “I REMEMBER YOU!!!!” “geee thanks.”
After the day I made some calls and found out that theres a possibility to get lessons. So I looked up on the ent and found some places. Then when I was going home I met my class friends. 2 girls but 1 left. And we talked a bit and she decided to help me out and we went to the mountain and took pictures of my host city from the air. There we meet some Americans. I literally got off the lift, saw black people, didn’t thinkmuch and said.. theyre foreign, walked up to them and introduced myslf. And guess what? They were from NEW YORK!. In town for a jazz concert. I always love meeting Americans. I almost spoke Russian with them because I haven’t spoken English for so long. I greeted them I Russian and accidently said my state in Russian. Even when I said “mind go to English now” of curse in Russian. So we got info on lessons and soon ill have the chance to have snow boarding lessons. It’s a pay by go. So I pay for an hour and I get an instructor with me when I ski.. which remeinded me.. I need to pull out some money. Im nuclear probably here in yuzhno.. but well see within 40 years :p but medvedev has said that if the situation continues then hell evacuate all of sakhalin.. my exchange is in the hand of the wind
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