the countdown

I leave the country in 19 days. My overall emotion: excited, anxious, nervous - just to name a few. This will be the second time in my life that I have ever left the country (the first being to Jamaica for a mission trip) and the first time to live in some semi-permanent capacity outside the country. Truly, I have no idea what awaits me in Russia, but I'm really excited to find out. All I know is that a sense of adventure is pumping through my veins.

If you don't know already, I'm going to russia to study Russian language and culture as part of my Russian language degree at the University of Tennessee. I'm going with the Middlebury College program and will be in Yaroslavl, Russia for the entire fall semester. Have no idea where that is? Check it out below:






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While i'm going to study Russian language, I'm also going to have a Russian experience - hence the name of the blog. Don't get any ideas though. Stereotypes might lead you to think that I am going to "experience" Russia by drinking tons of vodka and attempting to become a spy - that's not at all what I mean. I'm going to experience another country, culture and people - one that, for some reason, has interested me for a couple years now.

Though I plan to blog as much as possible, it is very likely that I will only have internet access on campus or at an internet cafe of sorts. The likeliness of me having internet access in my host family's apartment is very slim, but I'll try to keep you up to date as much as I can.

One more thing - if you see a new blog post and it's in Russian, don't ignore it! While i will be in Russia, I will be under a language pledge through Middlebury College that "binds" me to use the Russian language first and my native language only in emergency situations or in situations in which I am not able to express myself in the Russian language. So, my plan is to blog first in russian (at least as much as I am able to) then I will blog the same thing in English, so all you will need to do is simply scroll down.

Well - back to my last few days in the states. You can check out my other English blog here: the Overflowing Cup  I'll be keeping them separate for organization's sake.