Now that I have developed somewhat of a routine that involves getting used to the constant daylight of White Nights in Saint Petersburg (waking up at 3 a.m. and seeing daylight kept throwing me for a loop), I am rather excited to share my experiences with you!

As my plane flew from Brussels to Saint Petersburg two weeks ago, I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. Maybe it was a combination of the dehydration that comes with running through airports and time zones without a water bottle handy and the anxiety of flying to Russia to live there for the summer. Yeah, that was probably it.

To ease my nerves and excitement, I peered out the window into the vast blue. The sky seemed cloudless and endless, and eventually the pilot’s voice announced our descent into Saint Petersburg. As if on cue, the sky turned to a thick, milky gray, and condensation covered my window. When my plane landed, the 20-some degree drop in the temperature blasted me like a bad surprise… But there was absolutely no time to let the stereotypically temperamental Petersburg weather being me down. I was greeted by enthusiastic CIEE employees and taken to Crowne Plaza, a gorgeous hotel (WITH WIFI!), to wind down and prepare for dinner and, yes finally, sleep.

I landed on a Friday and spent the weekend attending orientation sessions with the other CIEE program participants to prepare for Sunday afternoon. That was when our host families were meeting us to take us to our home for the summer. (Ahhhhh!!! We were all so anxious..)

But everything has been great, and I am happily typing away in my own bedroom in an apartment with my host mother and her little Yorkshire Terrier. We have had multiple funny moments together, and no matter how awkward a situation may seem due to cultural differences… we both get a kick out of it.

For example, during first evening with my host mom I was telling her about where I came from, and I brought out my gifts to share with her. I presented to her a Pennsylvania map, Pittsburgh sports memorabilia (including a Fourth-of-July-edition Terrible Towel, of course), JIF Peanut Butter and family pictures.

I guess I figured that my lack of language skills (how does one explain the Terrible Towel, anyway?!) would be made up for with my superior charades skills… Needless to say, my host mom was laughing so hard when I jumped up and started waving around the Terrible Towel like a true Steelers football fan. She must have liked the gifts because she giggled and grabbed my arm, and we went for a walk to the metro station so that I would be able to know where to go to commute to school each day (Russian transportation requires another post… stay tuned…). We laughed the whole time, bonding over the stories we shared as we passed a McDonald’s restaurant (you can’t escape it…) and other familiar businesses. To my happy surprise, I realized I even knew enough Russian to crack a few jokes and to help break the ice.

Троицкий собор – Troitsky sobor (Trinity Cathedral) I am lucky to have a long, scenic walk home from the metro station every day. Oh, and this photo was taken at about 10 at night!

Eat Fresh!

As it turns out, we are all people who smile and laugh and cry and understand – no matter where we come from or what language we speak – and I am so blessed to be understanding the Russian culture and appreciating more every single day that I spend abroad.

Location: St. Petersburg, Russia