The six week week mark is the culture shock moment. I'm fast approaching it. Last Friday was probably a low-point for me in this trip. I had been three days with food poisoning and I wasn't feeling any better. I was still teaching classes because I was worried about falling behind. The heat was still off in my appartment. The hot water was also off for some construction (though this happens frequently). There are some grumpy people here who like to work at service counters. There seemed to be few things left in my refrigerator that I could eat, I was quickly discovering that many of the things sold in the grocery stores are expired--not by a few days, or weeks, but months.
Thankfully, Olga from our office was able to get me in to see the doctor (it wasn't serious, I just felt really nauseated)--for free. And then she was able to get me some very discounted medication with her card (antibiotics, vitamins).
My new diet: noodles, soup, boiled vegetables. No cans, preserves, smoked meat, fried foods. Yay me.
Below you can see one of the rooms that were used for APEC (Asia-Pacific Economics Conference) this fall, imagine Hillary Clinton, Stephen Harper, Dmitry Medvedev and other Pacific rim leaders sitting here instead, check: http://www.apec2012.ru/news/20120909/462962966.html
The six week week mark is the culture shock moment. I'm fast approaching it. Last Friday was probably a low-point for me in this trip. I had been three days with food poisoning and I wasn't feeling any better. I was still teaching classes because I was worried about falling behind. The heat was still off in my appartment. The hot water was also off for some construction (though this happens frequently). There are some grumpy people here who like to work at service counters. There seemed to be few things left in my refrigerator that I could eat, I was quickly discovering that many of the things sold in the grocery stores are expired--not by a few days, or weeks, but months.
Thankfully, Olga from our office was able to get me in to see the doctor (it wasn't serious, I just felt really nauseated)--for free. And then she was able to get me some very discounted medication with her card (antibiotics, vitamins).
My new diet: noodles, soup, boiled vegetables. No cans, preserves, smoked meat, fried foods. Yay me.
Here, to the right, you can see me with some of my students. I organized a Hallowe'en party for them!
 |
| Taking the Bus to Russki Island |
 |
| My fellow "volunteers" (I actually arrived too late to do any real volunteering). On Sunday, I made my way to the new university on Russki Island and attended some of FEELTA, an English Teacher's conference. There were representatives from other Asian countries there as well and I met a number of fellow foreigners. |
 |
| From the window of the university, another beautiful sunset at Russki Island. |
Below you can see one of the rooms that were used for APEC (Asia-Pacific Economics Conference) this fall, imagine Hillary Clinton, Stephen Harper, Dmitry Medvedev and other Pacific rim leaders sitting here instead, check: http://www.apec2012.ru/news/20120909/462962966.html
 | ||
|
