Holiday Greetings from Rip the Squirrel

You all should take a look at this and you will understand why I miss Ripon so much!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MoreTogether#p/a/u/0/44EzNX89VQg

Back in the USA

So the trip home was interesting. Flew from Russia to London and spent the last night with my awesome friends at a pretty nice hotel in London. We massacred a buffet-- which was amazing. The next morning I said goodbye to some friends and Emily, Andrew, and I headed off to the airport together. We flew from London to Chicago on a plane full of crying children, but on the bright side our TVs worked and we watched a LOT of movies! :) Yay for that! We arrived in Chicago to find Emily and my flights where canceled. We waited in the customer service line for FOREVER and then got our options to get home. I ended up having to fly to St. Louis and then wait for another flight up to Minneapolis. When I arrived in St. Louis my flight to Minneapolis was canceled, and so the airline gave me a free night in a hotel. :) I spent a whopping 4 hours in the hotel before heading back to the airport to wait in another line to get a different ticket to Minneapolis. That flight wasn't canceled and I made it back to Minneapolis by 9 AM on Monday. I started traveling Saturday at noon Russia time and was home in my house at 5:30 PM Monday WI time. So it was a long weekend.

I did get to enjoy a trip to WALMART! which was oh so very exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) My mom laughed at me- because I was so excited and giggling about things all being in one store. Then yesterday I got to babysit my sweetheart of a 2 year old- which kept me very busy.

My adventure in Russia is over, but I will treasure the experience forever!

Preparing for Goodbye

It is my last week in Russia... and the end is bitter sweet. I am going to be the first and only student from my school to complete this program. (My school is eliminating it...). Life here has been amazing. It is so laid back... a lot less American style of go go go! That being said you can still be all but carried by the wave of people trying to get on the metro or the bus at the same time you are. Rush hour is rush hour in any country I guess. 

I remember the day I took off-- I got a call from my mom while I was sitting in the Minneapolis airport waiting to take off- she told me Jean had committed suicide. I cried in the airport. I couldn't go the funeral- and I haven't been able to give TC a hug-- Jean always gave the best hugs. I got to London and I was so SCARED! A man approached me and asked if I was Megan. This was a little creepy- I said yes... who are you? He kind of chuckled and told me was with AIFS. We walked to his car, and he helped me load my stuff and drove me to the hotel. I got there and was in a daze-- I found Lindsey in the hall- a group of us went to breakfast, we sight saw the next day... then it was off to Russia. 

Our bus driver took a cigarette break, and the customs lady scared me. The airport was like one out of a 1960s movie. Welcome to Russia. It has been an amazing journey. One full of ups and downs, sideways, and all ways: especially the Russian way. I've learned how to blend in with the crowd, I apparently look Russian because I get asked questions by strangers and tourists about the location of things. It seems strange calling other Americans tourists... but I've been here for three and a half months. This city has become my home. This city of dirty water, cigarettes, beggars, homeless dogs, five and a half million people, stilettos and mini skirts, vodka, beer, rain, snow... its has become my second home. I love it so much- and for so many reasons. It has grown on me, I've become attached. This city that Peter the Great designed, where the Hermitage is situated, where The Church Built on Spilled Blood is towering over other buildings, this city where you are always in such rich history. This is the city the Nazis sieged for 900 days and 900 nights-- this is a city that hasn't forgotten its past, but rather embraced it. 

I will never forget or regret my life here. It has been so incredible. Simple things are adventures. Everything is exciting. You go to the grocery store and can tell at least 2 funny stories about what occurred on your trip. It is all so different from life in the states. I am so excited to be going home. I miss Wisconsin so much. But at the same time I'm going to miss Saint Petersburg and the amazing friends I have made here. 

IMOP where I have lived for 3.5 months now

A normal Russian family in the park. 

And now for those of you who don't know me too well I love quotes so here are some amazing ones that I have found that I think do my experiences here justice:

I met a lot of people in [Russia].  I even encountered myself.  ~James Baldwin

To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.  ~Aldous Huxley

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

"I get by with a little help from my friends." 

- John Lennon

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." 

- Mother Teresa

It's My Birthday!

Today is my 21st birthday. I'm in St. Petersburg, Russia- so turning 21 isn't that big of a deal, but the people I'm with have made it memorable. I know I've said it before but this trip has been such a life changing experience. My friends here are so amazing, and I'm really sad that I won't get to see them very often, if at all, after this trip. Even my Finnish roommates, whom I'm not really close to gave me a candle and a box of Finnish chocolates for my birthday. (For those of you not in Russia, Russia doesn't have good chocolate... so this is a big treat.) I am very excited that in 2 weeks I'll be back in the states, but also very sad to be leaving Russia and my AIFS friends behind. Not much is new.... so here are some pictures of the past week or so. 

Kensie and me during my B-day Party

Kensie and me at Turkey Dinner

Corey's Hair... STRAIGHTENED! Yeah we straightened his hair on Thanksgiving...

This is me in front of my dorm. 

Kensie and Me again... b-day party

view from Nevskie Prospect towards Church Built on Spilled Blood

Travels

Hello Readers!

So since my last post I have been to Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland. Both of which were amazing cities. Expensive, but amazing cities none the less. Bellow is a view from one of the islands in Helsinki. It was an amazing old fortress. We had a blast exploring it. There were tunnels, and passageways, and beautiful views of the Finnish Gulf, rolling hills, cannons, and just beautiful landscaping in general. This island was by far my favorite part of Helsinki.

Tallinn a beautiful city as well. We spent a lot of time in the old part of town. Which was basically a giant castle like place. It was beautiful. It was by far the smallest national capital I've been to, but one of the most amazing. The people where friendly, and everything was prime for tourists. :) Bellow is one of the beautiful views from the city wall. 

To travel to Helsinki we took a 7 hour train ride... yeah not that exciting. Then to get to Estonia we took a 3 hour "fairy" if by fairy you mean giant cruise ship. Both new and interesting ways to travel. 

Life in St. Petersburg has been going relatively well. I believe I am just about done shopping for presents! So that is good. :) We went to a Russian Ballet last week. It was AMAZING! I loved it. It was one of the most beautiful works of art I have ever seen. Incredible.

Thursday is Thanksgiving and they are making us a turkey dinner. So hopefully that turns out well. And Sunday is my 21st birthday... so I'm going out Saturday night with some friends. :) 

I guess in short all is well here. It has been an amazing journey! I can't believe its almost over. This has truly been an amazing experience... and I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

Once in A Lifetime

Tonight while riding the bus to a classical music concert... reality hit me. I was looking out at some absolutely amazing buildings, churches, monuments, bridges, and just pretty lights in general; when I realized how lucky I am to be here. This is experience is truly once in a lifetime. And while I am really excited to be getting back to the states I am so happy I decided to come here. Deciding to live in St. Petersburg for four months was by far the most spontaneous thing I have ever done-- but it is a decision I don't regret-- and am thankful that I made. I've learned so much about myself here, it has been and will continue to be 

a life changing experience. 

Live as though you will die tomorrow, 

Learn as though you will live forever,

Love as though you have nothing to lose~ 

For if you do you will find happiness.

Another Day

Hello Readers!

So in case you didn't know; it rains here a LOT. And rain can be well tolerable. I'm very thankful for my North Face boots. They are awesome for the weather here. 

Not a lot has gone one in the past few days. Today is a Russian national holiday, so we don't have class today or tomorrow, but never fear we will make up for not having class by having it on Saturday! (some holiday eh?) I have thus far begun my early weekend by sleeping for 11 hours. It was fantastic. :)

Last night Liam and I attempted to go to a movie. We went, asked the lady for tickets to the movie, Liam knows Russian- so I let him talk. And well we ended up with tickets to Saw VII in 3D. Yeah- we watched the previews and about 10 minutes of the movie before we booked it out of there. How messed up is the writer of those screen plays? I mean for real- First scene man crawling around with one leg, blood everywhere. Second scene 3 people about to be sawed in half. I don't know who got sawed- my eyes where closed. :) Then I came back here, and hung out with Kensie, Matt, and Corey for awhile. We even made a McDonald's run. :) I <3 McFlurries! 

As for the rest of the day today~ I have no idea what I'm going to do. Apparently the Russians drink a LOT on holiday~ so it may be a stay indoors kind of day. Ya nis nyu. 

My First Club~

So last night was one of the most interesting experiences I've ever had. Kensie and I had been planning on going out with some friends to Double Bar. We headed out at like 7 and where at the bar by 8. We hung out, played a couple of really educational games of never have I ever, and decided to head back and go to a club near the dorm. We took the metro back and were at the club around midnight. But only after, me and my clutseness fell and scraped up my knee- again. 

The club was filled with middle aged people dancing in a way that I've never seen before. Normally when an American thinks of dancing at a club the film "Dirty Dancing" comes to mind. Not here-- at least not by the club goers. So Corey, Kensie, and I look at each other and decide we are going to need some liquid courage to stay here. So I go up to the bar and there is this 30 something year old man hitting on me... I order the 3 drinks for us- and politely as I can (with my acutely small knowledge of Russian) get away from him. Kensie got a look at his wallet and was like-- you could have gotten some free drinks outa him! Needless to say I told Kensie to have at him. :)

So we drink our little bit of liquid courage, look at each other and decide to just dance and have some fun. There is Russian techno music playing, with weird random English words, that nobody around us seems to understand. This is when the interesting stuff starts to happen. After about an hour of dancing 2 girls come onto the stage dressed in sequins, and not a lot else. They start dancing, and while nothing was removed the skimpiness of their outfits didn't leave much to the imagination. Suddenly the music stops and 3 or 4 armed men in black ski masks come in. It's the police. Kensie, Corey, and I are really confused-- because this is a pretty nice place. They bring out a dog, a miniature cute little hunting dog of some sort, and we realize that they are searching for drugs. Some people leave, and eventually we go back to dancing. 

Now the dancers are back out again, this time in maid costumes, that are even skimpier. They are accompanied by some girls dressed in thongs and sequins, and the dancing was back on again for about 15 minutes. At this time the DJ starts talking a lot of Russian and holding the microphone out to people in the crowd-- needless to say Corey, Kensie, and I backed away from the stage. I decided to use this opportunity to make a bathroom run- big mistake. Corey and Kensie informed me that the DJ pulled 2 girls on the stage and they had to "give a blow job" to a banana. Yeah- 

So more dancers come out and we dance again for another 15 minutes or so. The next person to come out is a man dressed in black from head to toe with his face like covered in a black hood. Well he started dancing, and soon he was down to a loin cloth of sorts with shoulder straps. He then produced 2 flaming torches which he danced with, blew fire with, and ran the torches up and down his body- like flames on his arms- don't try it at home kids- this guy was a professional. He left and the dancing continued for another 15-20 minutes. The girls came out again in yet another skimpy outfit and continued dancing. 

Then 2 bar tenders come out and do a drink making routine. It was pretty impressive- they made 3 pretty drinks and it was cool to watch. Then the DJ came back down and began auctioning off the drinks. At this point it was 2 AM, and I was exhausted. So we headed back to the dorms, which were farther away then I thought- note to self don't go drinking in heals, you may end up at a club, and therefore your feet will hurt. A LOT. We woke the guard up and got let into the building. I kicked my boots off and we headed to our rooms. I managed to get out of the night with 2 extremely sore feet, a skinned up knee, and only one blister. It was an interesting and fun night. And as I was getting ready for bed I couldn't help but recount the events of the night and just say- Eta Rossiya. 

7 weeks to go!

As of today we have 7 weeks left in St. Petersburg. We are a little over the halfway mark and I feel as though I've accomplished a lot. I speak enough Russian to survive, and have made some amazing friends. I have learned a lot about myself, about other Americans, and about Russian culture. I'm excited to see what the next seven weeks have to offer. I already know I'm going to Finland, Estonia; a ballett, opera, classical music concert, and a bunch of museums. And as I believe I've already showed, Daily Life here is an adventure in itself!

Quote from Last night: I don't know what the deal is...

its just a frickin fish!~ Alina

 Here's to an even more Amazing

Second Half of the Trip!

Motivation

I'd like to start out by thanking Laura for making me feel better today.-- It was one of those days today. Your an amazing sister.~

I have come to a pretty important realization today. As some of you know I'm from a REALLY small town in northwestern Wisconsin, I have a compulsive gambler for a "father". In high school I was the president of everything, and I maintained a very high GPA. I had dreams of going to law school, to either become a corporate lawyer or a politician. My guidance counselor tried to talk me out of college, why on earth would anybody from my hometown need college anyway?

Well I went on to a pretty good school, where I am a Junior who will graduate in 4 years with a double major in Business Management with Emphasis in Business Law and History (maybe Economics Major too...). I have a decent GPA (not as high as I'd like... thanks statistics :p... but it'll go back up). I'm involved in the most amazing sorority on the planet Kappa Delta. And I'm the secretary for Pre Law Society. Last semester I was an RA, and intern at a law firm, an economics departmental assistant, an ambassador, a mentor, and I think that's all my jobs???

Now you may be asking yourself the same question I was asking myself today... how did I come out of my background with so much motivation to succeed? I've been pondering this question a lot today... and have come to some conclusions.
1. I love new experiences
2. I love success and don't settle for less then my best
3. I surrounded myself with the most amazingly talented young women on campus, my sorority sisters-
4. My mom has driven me to succeed, and helped me open new doors--

I know I may sound snobbish right now and you may be wondering what I'm doing typing this, but to me this is me- its who I am. I have fought to get to where I am today. I'm not a success by any means, I've got a long ways to go, and knowing myself I can mess it up pretty easily-- but I am doing a fairly good job of making the best of what I have. I work hard for what I've accomplished. In the last year I've been dumped by my first love, did the Polar Plunge, dumped the rebound man, worked at a law firm, gone to China to study, worked at a camp for children with disabilities (blind, deaf, cognitively disabled, diabetic), and now I'm in Russia spending an entire semester in a country I knew almost nothing about before I got here.  I'd say that's a pretty eventful year.

I can only imagine what the future has to offer me. I'm 20 years old, in Russia, learning SO much, and in December I'll be back home in that small town in Wisconsin. Where I will hopefully find a temp job to fill my winter break time. Then its back to school for a semester of homework, work, KD, fun, and friendship. Then dadadadah LSAT time-- Life is going by so fast, it seems like just a while ago I was leaving for college, scared to death of living on my own.-- Now look at me.

This experience truly is once in a lifetime-- and even if I can't shake this horrid cold-- I'm happy to be here-- happy to experience new things-- happy to beat the odds.