Things I have learned since my first day in Russia (including Moscow)

• Russians all feel like they have horrible English. Sometimes this is true, but usually it is much better than what they claim or make me think.
• A lot of Russians smoke, compared to those in the U.S. 
• One stereotype of Americans is that we all smile all the time with our white, straight teeth (can I prove them wrong when I have had some orthodontia and smile when nervous?)
• School is canceled if the temp is below -35C; not because that is dangerously cold, but because some schools aren't heated very well (or at all).
• Russians don't have to pay for higher education (just books and living expenses).
• Russians have no idea where OR is, but if you tell them where it is in relation to CA, they can figure it out. :)
• Hammer and Sickle are still in a lot of the emblems and symbols.
• Russians have two passports. One for in-country travel and one for international travels.
• A favorite thing to drink with a meal is a watery yogurt-like drink.
• Monks created the Cyrillic Alphabet, modeling it after the Greek alphabet.
• No one really likes the police here, not because they write tickets, but because they are more corrupt. 
• Russians have large servings (although everyone looks like they are starving), and tend to eat meals later than the traditional American mealtimes.
• Since there are 30 Rubles to the Dollar, there is no need to have parts of Ruples, or "cents." 
• A beloved thing to do on a Sunday is go for a walk. 
• Tea? Russians love tea, and water (unless it is sparkling) is not a beloved drink. 
• There are many old traditions. When you break a plate, for example, you say "FOR HAPPINESS." And there is an old story about a house elf thing that I need to look into more.

Topics of Interest

Tomorrow I go to Barnaul for my Orientation. I doubt that I will have access to a computer, and would like to put something that all of you would actually like to know. Do you have any questions that you would like me to answer about my homelife, the exchange process so far, Russian customs, ect? Comment on this post and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability!

New friends and the river Mona..

Today I stayed all day with a group of very pleasant people. It was travel agents and their families mostly, but there was a woman from Julia's work there. That is how I got invited. I went with the woman from Julia's work (Irina), and her son to this party/social gathering. Julia was very excited to tell me yesterday that I was invited to go to this part of Krasnoyarsk. It was waaay outside of town, by a feeder river (it was as big as the Rogue, but it goes into Yanisek, so that makes it small). It was very nice and there was a lot of bbqed meat, so add the fun and it was a wonderful day! There was a little girl named Sasha that just cracked me up.We would make faces at each other and some other things. Her mom really liked that and thought it was really cool that we could interact without language. :)

Some excerpts from emails about school...

I have school six days a week, arriving there at 8 and going home at 1 or 2. I have six classes and they last 45 minutes, with a 15 minute break between each and sometimes a 20 minute break. School was short, but still felt really long. There is no set schedule for all of the days. Every day at the end there is the schedule with the classes for tomorrow posted on a pillar, and all of the kids shove their way up to it to take a picture of it on their phone so they can write it down later. Since it was the second day of school most just talked about their expectations of the class and talked about themselves. Or that is what the girl next to me told me. There were about 3 girls that speak great English. They (my schoolmates) were all nice. I have a safety class where the teacher talks about what to do if there is a fire and a bunch of other stuff. Well, I was sitting there looking at the posters in the class and I turned around to look at the back of the room and there were shelves lined with gas masks. That isn't in our first aid classes in southern Oregon! Also, the mullet is alive and well here. Like one in every 20-30 people have a mullet, so I see them a lot. There is also this hair style that is like a mullet, only they just cut their bangs really short, so the face is framed. I would still consider it a mullet, but there is hair over the ears so I guess technically it isn't. Julia will also go with me to the University one last time, which isn't so bad getting there, it is getting back from there that is difficult. The bus ride is an hour long each way and it is like driving on a bus in Peru. I would actually describe Krasnoyarsk as a mixture between Queens NY and Peru.