Life in Russia Starts Tomorrow!

Today's the day I'm finally setting foot on the plane that will take me to Russia, which will end my year-long hopes of returning to St. Petersburg after I enjoyed my time in the former capital of Russia last summer.

My journey starts in Seattle, Washington and continues through JFK Airport in New York before continuing on to Helsinki, Finland and touching down in Pulkovo Airport on Monday, August 25th.

It seems so surreal. It will be 379 days since I was last in Russia, and every single day I've thought about returning. There were some moments when I wasn't sure I'd make it, but I finally have. Well, not yet at least. I'm taking off now and I'll be touching down in Russia tomorrow.

I'll get three days to relax and recover from the long airplane ride before work starts. My very first task will be to accompany my students on an educational trip to Tula, which will last until September 6th or 7th. The school year will then start on September 8th.

I'm not yet sure of what my job's schedule will look like, but I do know I'll be working Monday through Friday for a total of 50 hours per week with weekends off. Most of those weekends will be spent with friends in St. Petersburg. The rest will be inviting my friends to Pavlovsk so that they can see where I live.

Once I get my schedule, I'll let you know what it's like. Then when I'm finally settled down in Pavlovsk and the school year has started, these are some things I want to do in my free time:

• Go to Teremok and enjoy a blini (think of a crepe) and a nice cold glass of kvass
• Attend a Zenit St. Petersburg Game
• Attend a SKA Hockey Game
• Learn how to roller blade (there's an island in St. Petersburg where this can be done)
• Improve my ice skating ability during the winter
• Keep up to date with every new episode of Doctor Who
• Try to finish one of my many novel ideas
• Go to Kronstadt Island
• Improve my fluency in Russian

Here are some fun things I'm taking with me:

• TARDIS Shower Curtain
• Seattle Sounders FC Flag, Scarf and Gloves
• Seattle Mariners Gloves
• Cincinnati Bengals Gloves
• Zenit St. Petersburg Scarf
• Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver

Here are a few things I'll miss:

• Macaroni & Cheese (either Kraft or Annie's. I'm not picky)
• American Football
• Easy access to a Starbucks (I live in Washington State... enough said)

15 Days Until Taking Off For Russia

I realize I haven't written in this blog for a while. Last time I wrote here, I was talking about my insecurities about finding a job in Russia while tensions between Russia and the United States were high. In the end, I did find a job. I'll be an English language teaching assistant in Pavlovsk, which is a small town in the Saint Petersburg region. It's about a 40-50 minute trip from Pavlovsk to Saint Petersburg, which is where I imagine I'll be spending most, but not all, of my weekends.

But guess what? If you haven't heard, tensions between the two nations are even higher. In fact, tensions have increased between the European Union and Russia, in large part due to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 going down in eastern Ukraine and the strong suspicion that Russia was involved in some way.

The EU and US have been increasing the amount of sanctions against Russia, as well as increasing their reach. Previously, the EU had been reluctant to expand its sanctions against Russia because both regions rely heavily on one another for roughly $500 billion of trade and investments.

Russia responded with its own list of sanctions, banning a wide range of food and agricultural imports from the EU and US. Canada, Norway and Australia are also included in Russia's ban on imports of all beef, pork, fish, fruit, vegetable and dairy products, which is scheduled to last one year. Russia is also considering measures involving aviation, such as banning flights over Siberia, which would affect EU and American routes to Asia.

Considering that the EU exports to Russia is only 10 percent of the EU's total agricultural trade, the average Russian consumer is more likely to be impacted negatively than the EU's agricultural industry. However, with Putin's approval ratings currently in the high 80s because of Russia's annexation of Crimea and its confrontation with the EU and US, it's unlikely this number will fall, at least until winter when Russian winter sets in.

Since I graduated Dartmouth in June, I've been staying at my parent's home, making the necessary preparations for my long-term trip. I've got my visa and all my necessary paperwork done so now it's just a waiting game that will end August 24th, which is the day I leave for Russia.

My parents, sister and some of my friends have been asking me whether it's smart for me to live in Russia at this time.

My answer? I'm not worried at all. I'm confident that all these tensions will come to some resolution within a year. Sure, none of the parties will be completely satisfied with the resolution but that's the nature of a compromise. No one is completely happy.

I've also got a few friends in Russia right now that I've done my best to stay in touch with and who will help me out if I get into a questionable situation. I'll also be on my best behavior, making sure I'm doing nothing that will get me into legal trouble.

If anything, this blog I'm going to maintain is probably the one thing that might get me into trouble. That's because Russia just passed a new law in the last couple days that requires users accessing public wi-fi must show picture ID, and bloggers who maintain a blog with over 300 followers must register themselves as if they were news organizations.

I'll be surprised if I somehow surpass 300 followers. I think I've had barely 300 page views on this blog since I started it last summer.

That's about all I have for now. If you skipped to the end, the main idea of this post is that I'm just over two weeks away moving to Russia, where I plan to stay for a couple years minimum, and that I have very few concerns about living in a country that currently is at odds with the United States. If you have any questions you'd like me to answer in my next post, please leave them in the comments section or send me an e-mail.

My next post will be August 23rd and it will be detailing my final preparations. Conveniently, I get to watch the Season 8 premier of Doctor Who and the start of the Peter Capaldi era as the 12th Doctor just before I leave. For all my fellow Whovians, rejoice. And then wish me luck so that I may somehow keep up to date in Russia (honestly, it won't be hard. A few of my Russian friends are also Whovians).