Welcome

Hello and welcome! First and foremost I would like to say that I appreciate all who come and read my blog. I hope you all enjoy. The purpose of this blog is for you all to share in my experiences as I travel to Russia from July 2 to August 18th, 2009.

Yes, that means I am leaving in 12 days, ahh so scary and exciting. For those of you who don't know, I was born in Moscow,Russia in February of 1988, and I was adopted in July of 1992. During those four years I lived in an orphanage in Moscow. Since then I have lived in lovely western New York!

So, where to start first?! Well, let me explain a little bit of what I will be doing in Russia, and about the circumstance that led me to this great experience. I attend SUNY Brockport, and when I arrived I had to take a language as a credit. Brockport had Russian! One of my goals in life is to learn Russian and travel to Russia! So, I figured why not take Russian. Therefore I have been taking Russian for the past two semesters. In that time I've learned a big of Russian including your basic colors, numbers, vocabulary, and some verbs. Enough to say things about myself and talk about doing some daily activities. Nearly enough to get myself around a little.

I found out that Brockport has study abroad to Russia. You can either pick a whole semester or a summer program. Being a Nursing Major allows for no flexibility, especially for studying abroad during a semester, so a summer program was a better option.

Summer Program in Novgorod Russia! (Click that link to go to Brockport's Page)

I will be staying in the city of Novgorod.

Here are a few websites that will orient you to the city that is Novgorod... Velikiy Novgorod City Portal . This site has extensive information about the city! Novgorod Travel Guide . This second site is very helpful if you want to know about Traveling around Novgorod.

Velikiy Novgorod - Google maps There's a map of Novgorod! If you've ever used Google Maps before, it's really neat. You can zoom in and out on the map and use the arrows to move the map!

Hm.. So Yes, Novgorod is located along the Volkhov River, 8 hours away from Moscow by train. About the distance of NYC from Rochester.

During my six weeks I will be staying with a host mother, Olga. Olga is in her 50s, apparently. I've learned from friends who've been on this program before that she's a great cook, great for me! I love to eat! She has a dog and a cat, lives in an apartment building. Was never married and has no children.

I will be studying at Novgorod State University, and it too has its own website.

As for who will be joining me on my trip. I am not sure, but I think there are 10 students and 3 adults that are in the group that I know of! The professor of my Russian class is accompanying everyone, as this is basically her program. Her name in Liza! I know 5 of the 10 students. Those 5 and myself are all Brockport students who are in Liza's Russian language classes. I know that of the other students, one of the students is from Texas, and another is from Poland, and is actually not meeting the group until we are in Russia.

As for travel. I will be taking JetBlue from Rochester to JFK, and FinnAir from JFK to Helsinki and from there to Russia. I am not sure where in Russia we're landing, I could look on my ticket....

From the airport it will be a nice long bus ride to Novgorod, at least that's what Liza tells us all.

That's all the information that I can think of sharing at the moment. Just a fair warning, I love to write. This blog is also a personal journal, and I decided to share it with all of you. For those who know of my writing capabilities, and those who don't, you'll soon see that I like to write, A LOT. That is not an understatement. I apologize in advance if you find some of my posts to be too long.

On that note, I also love taking pictures, I've got a nice camera, and lot's of time to take pictures. I am sure that will take plenty of pictures. I am not sure where I will upload them all to share, but no worries, I will let you know where they'll be!

Secondly, I will not have internet access at Olga's. There is wireless internet at the University. I plan on writing my daily posts in a word processor, and then when I get internet access posting it all here! I plan on going on once a week to check email or update my blog. If I can more frequently, I will try, either way you'll be updated!

Oh oh! Almost forgot. Russian time is 8 hours ahead of time in New York, in the top right corner you will see a clock, and that will tell you the time in Russia, in case you are ever reading and wondering!

Lastly, (See what I mean about writing alot...) If you have any questions, comments, concerns, advice, you can comment on this blog, there is a place to leave comments, or you could always...

email me at : alexandraann16@gmail.com or agent1@brockport.edu

Thank you all again for sharing in this experience with me! Also, much love to my family who have supported me in many ways and allowed me this great experience. I can never express how much this means to me. Thanks to my boyfriend and freinds who have also supported me and all who have wished me well! All of your words are never forgotten. God Bless.

with love,
~Alexandra (Sasha)