Day one. Saturday, Sept. 3rd

Hello everyone!  Thank you for taking a glance at this, my first and only blog, even if it's the only one you ever take.  I'm writing from the Bulgakov hostel - and sooooo happy to be here after 20-some hours of travel.  It's nice to go barefoot, have some peace and quiet and privacy.  Well, I did it.  I moved to Russia.  There were moments I was thinking, what have I gotten myself into??  But as the driver chaufered me from Domodedovo (the major airport about 15 miles out of town) to downtown Moscow, I felt calm and neutral.  Yup, it's Russia again.  I had just been here over the summer on a program for teachers of Russian.  But instead of returning for my second year of teaching middle school Russian and critical thinking in Jacksonville, Fl, I spontaneously decided to change it up.

Background

I've been studying Russian since college and have dreampt for a long time of living here for an extended time to complete my fluency.  This is the 4th time I've been to Russia:

-St. Pete for 2 academic semesters (9 months) in undergrad, CIEE

-Tomsk for 2 months, summer of 2009, Critical Languages Scholarship

-Moscow this past summer for 6 weeks, Summer Teachers' Language Program

-INDEPENDENTLY LIVING AND WORKING IN MOSCOW!!

I was not looking for work this past summer when I was studying here, but work found me.  I met a woman form my church who said she worked for a school that teaches Russian, English and French.  They needed an English teacher.  Long story short, I ended up taking the job.  I will be working with toddlers, 2 and 3 year olds, developing a fun language-learning cirricula.  It's immersion for them.  Some are native speakers, others not.  Every child who attends that school, P'tit Cref, is immersed in all three languages.  They pick it up very well.

Travel and arrival

I flew Jacksonville to Munich to Moscow.  Technically only 17.5 total hours of travel time, although the last flight was delayed.  This was the best and the cheapest itinerary, considering I had to buy my ticket across the Atlantic only 2 days before departure.  Other trips offered were 25-29 hours total, and through places like Singapore and Turkey.  No thanks. 

The layovers were both long enough but not too long, and no trouble with the bags or anything.  Surprisingly smooth travel.  I got an email at the Jacksonville airport telling me they would meet me in Moscow and take me to a hotel.  Only then did I know what to expect.  A lot of this has been a leap of faith. 

When I got there, as before, the first thing they have you do is "passport control," standing in a very long, slow-moving line.  When it's finally your turn, they hand you a little slip of paper you can carry with you, tucked into your passport.  I have never needed it again.  I always am told, "Don't lose that!"  But no one ever asks for it.  I throw it out upon return to America.  This is a document-obsessed country.

That took so long, I was worried my bags would no longer be retrievable.  I looked at the monitor and after my flight it said in red letters, "last bag time."  Great.  I hurried and fortunately found the big one, then a little later, already on the floor, the smaller one.  Whew!

I went out the door to the crowd that always greets international flights.  Many people were holding up signs - and one was for me.  It said, "CREF."  I felt like a movie star.

Moscow time is 8 hrs ahead of the US.  I got here at 5:30 pm, but to me it felt like 9:30 am.

The hostel is just as adorable as it can be.  Named after Mikhail Bulgakov, the 20th century writer of science fiction and other prose, including the unspeakably awesome novel Master and Margarita, this place has a lot of personality.  I'll try to post a picture of my room if I get that savvy with blogging.

Conclusion

I will try to update the blog periodically.  Feel free to still email me if you want more personal communication.  I am looking forward to living here for 10 or 11 months.  I will use French a lot in daily life, too, because my work and the Mass I attend are bi-lingual, English-French.  Everything else is in Russian.  I'll be at the hostel until Tuesday, by which time they will probably have found an apartment for me.  Work starts on Monday, but work with the kids starts on Thursday.  OH, and the best part?  Although I get paid full-time, this job is only 24 hrs/week.  Plus planning on my own time.  I plan to do fun things in my spare time!  I am so looking forward to exercising (bellydancing,) reading, cooking, painting, going out with friends, etc!  Take care and be well.  God bless you all.

Love,