Happy New Years!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful New Years!! I am back in Utah and staying with my sister and her husband for a week before I start school again. I can't believe that it's the new year already--time really does fly. Russia was a lot of fun and I learned a lot, but it's nice to be back home. Salt Lake is just as I remember it and am excited to finish my last semester at school. I can hardly believe that I am almost finished--it's been a long road, but I've done a lot of things and have met people from all over the world.

I will post more pictures as soon as I can use my own computer--my sister lives in a cute little town called Mona and it's really out in the middle of nowhere--so internet for my computer won't come until Im back in Salt Lake. It's really quiet out here and it's been nice visiting with my sister--she's so cute (she's pregnant) even though she doesn't think so. I am excited for her and Corey.

Well not much else is happening with me--I hope everyone has a great night and will chat with y'll next year!

My Night in Paris!

Since my layover in Paris was so long I was able to go into the city and see the sights--well a few of them anyways. One of my friends from school in Russia was there and he met me. It was really nice cause then I had someone that actually spoke French and knew the city. I was in the 4th section of the city for the most part and was able to sleep over at my friends friends apt. He was staying there and the girls let me bunk up as well. Let me tell you that was a lot better than sleeping on the floor in the airport. I wasn't able to get pics of the Louvre or the E. Tower cause I was on a bus and they didn't turn out. But was able to go right up to Nortre Dame. That was the main thing I wanted to see, but it was too late to go in. Anyway here are some pics of the little part of the city I was in...

This is the Nortre Dame Cathedral--it was so pretty up close. I will have to go back sometime so I can actually go inside. For some reason I thought it would be bigger, but it was still amazing.
This building is where the Mayor or Gov. of Paris lives--thats what my friends says anyway. Other VIP people stay there too-I think.
This is the same building in the above picture. They have build an icerink in front and actually have an igloo there. I thought that was pretty amusing. It's just for Christmas and the New Year. Russia does that too--they build outside rinks just for the celebrations then take them down.
This is a church--not sure what it's called, but thought it was pretty.
This is the Republic of France.
The pic above is of a mopehead. These things are all over the place--It seemed like there were more of these than cars. It makes sense cause the streets are really narrow. Anyway this one I thought was cool cause it's so decked out--with a roof and everything.

Write more later--gotta get on the plane!

Bad Night

So this weekend is the last for many of us so we all decided to go out one last time. We went to this pub/dance club place that actually plays something other than techno and we were all having a good time until I felt something hit me on the head. I thought something fell from the ceiling, was thrown from behind me, or someone was holding something in their hand and accidently hit me in the head. My friend who was standing next to me and I starting looking around on the floor for whatever hit me and then I realized that my hand was all wet--yeah I was bleeding. It was about an inch long and straight(horizontal) and about a half inch above the top of my forehead. So my roommate turned and saw me and took me to the bathroom where I washed off--this was me walking through a whole bunch of people with blood running down my face and all over my shirt. I really freaked some people out cause it was pretty crowded and had to get pretty close to some people as I pushed myself through the crowd. Anyway got home and cleaned it off really well thinking it wasnt too bad till I got a better look and saw that, it actually was deeper than I thought. Don't worry it's still not that deep, but I got myself three stitches now and look like a quarter mummy. I went to the American Clinic and the doctor had to cut away some of the little hair I have on the top of my head to do the stitches. When it came time to putting the bandage on he couldn't get it too stick because of my hair--so he wrapped the bandage around my head so he didn't have to cut off more hair. I look like an idiot, but wasn't about to loose more hair. I already have a bald spot and am gonna be wearing hats for awhile. Anyway here I am before the stitches and after I cleaned the cut when I got back home. It looks like someone was holding a knife or something. Anyway it really didn't hurt too bad and it could have been much worse so I am thankful for that.
This is after the stitches--I go back on Mon to have them look at them. They want the stitches to stay in for at least a week, which is great cause I leave in exactly a week--man the luck some people have. I hope I can get them out a little earlier. So now I am a quarter Mummy! I've got my hair in a pony tail in the back.

Now on a happier night here are some things I saw on the way back from the clinic today. There are Christmas lights everywhere and it's really pretty. These lights are all actually for New Years since that is Russia's big holiday. They will spend about 3 days partying for New Years. Their Christmas isn't until the 7th of Jan and it's also celebrated, but just not as much. Anyway the whole city looks like this!


I am ok and not in pain, except when something pushes on the cut so other than being careful I am doing just fine. I am excited to get home next Sunday and can't wait to see all of you!

DOES IT COUNT!!!

So today I went to a Birthday dinner for a friend of mine and I was nominated to buy the cake--well they are actually called torts, but resemble our cakes even though not near as good. Anyway, so the one I got was called an Italian Tort. It was really pretty and actually looked good (Russians have a great way of making their torts look to good to eat, but then well lets just say that you really cant judge a book by its cover) so I bought it. Well as I took the first bite I noticed how moist it was and thought it was a little too moist and weird tasting--after another bite I just knew and looked at the ingredients and there it was in tiny tiny writing wine and cognac. So anyway, my question is Does it Count? Ha I just had to laugh. I mean I really should have known--it would be pretty tough to go to Italy and find a cake that didnt have something in it. Oh well what can you do...

So things here are going really well. I am having a great time and am sad and really excited at the same time to go home. Sad cause I have really made some good friends here, but Im really looking forward to seeing friends and family home too. I am so glad that I found skype cause everyone that Ive met from all over seem to be on it and its a really great way to stay in touch. I cant believe that I will be going home in two weeks--it just seems so unreal. Now I am doing the wonderful task of finding a place to live. I have actually found several places that are under 300 am month so am keeping my fingers crossed. I am gonna have to settle for just a room this semester and roommates cause I really want to save money and will only be there for 5 months anyway. I'm glad that Sadie is still around cause it was really sad when Miles and Becky left, but at least I have my sister. Other than that I havent really done anything new and exciting.

Becky and Sadie have already mentioned this, but my Aunt Lenny (Dads side) has just survived a horrible tradegy. She was almost killed by her fiance's son a couple of weeks ago. He actually killed his father and would have killed Lenny had their dog not come in at the last moment. I would like to repeat what everyone is saying and say that I am so grateful that Lenny is alive and is the strong person she is cause I cant imagine going through what she is going through. She will be in the hospital for quite sometime. Everyone that visits her says she is smiling and doing her best to stay strong. I too send my love and look forward to seeing her when I get home. Family is so important--things like this make family sqabbles so unimportant and unnececary (hemhem Mom and aunt Angie and Barbra) And I would have to say my father too. Anyway Lenny is in need of your prayers so please keep her in your hearts!

Well I am gonna sign out for now...until next time!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Ok so it's not so scary--just when the wind is blowing. We haven't gotten hardly any snow yet,which I hear is happening in the great Ak as well. Believe me I am not complaining. Tonight was really pretty and wasn't too cold cause there was no wind. Anyway last weekend (well just Friday) my roommate, her parents, and I went to Выборг (Viyborg). It's a small , but very old city in Russia and is really close to Finland. It's only about 2 hours from St. Petersburg by bus so it was neat to see it. The structures of many of the buildings is Finnish since a long long time ago Finnish actually ruled and lived here. Still today it's a popular Finnish tourist spot. Anyway, there wasn't a whole lot to see--but thats cause we mostly stayed in the older part of town. Anyway here are a couple of pictures:

This one is of a circular restaurant(upclose) and a big inside market.
This one is of the Viyborg Castle--it's of Finnish design cause they used it first for multiple reasons throughout history. This city was one of the first in Russia.
These pics below are behind my dorm building. The whiteness you see spread out is the ocean. I just thought it was a gorgeous day and thought the pics turned out well.


I especially like the sky in this one--we wanted to try to walk on the ice, but no one was brave enough to try it--the ice just didn't look thick enough.
This one is of the river that actually separated the island that I live on from the rest of the city. In the summer you have to be on one side or the other cause the bridges go up until 5 am. Anyway here they are breaking up the ice for some reason or another. This is taken on the side that I go to school.
Well there you go and the snow you see is still the snow I see when I go outside. There just isn't any snow. But hey Im ok with that. Things here are going well. I only have a couple of weeks left then I am back home. I can't believe that 4 months went so quickly. I really can't believe that 2007 is almost over. Anyway, hope all is well with you guys and hope your all having a great week. Later!

Just an update!

I haven't written anything is awhile so I thought I would let ya'll know whats happening. It's been pretty cold here lately, but mostly cause of the wind. School is going well and I'm only gonna teach two more times. My Russian is getting better, but it's hard when everyone is wanting to speak English with me--but I'm trying to hold strong and speak Russian. Anyway nothing new is actually happing--I wish I had something exciting to tell you all, but what can you do.
This is a picture taken behind our dorm. It's really cold and windy here, but was a gorgeous day!
And this is my roommate Luisa and I--enjoying the sunshine--not that we can actually feel it or anything.
The next two are me and friends out on the town.

Well everyone hope all is well and just have to say that I'm loving the pictures your putting on your blogs. I love seeing what everyone is up to. Till next time...

I went to the OPERA!

Some friends and I went to the Opera last weekend. It was really pretty and the costumes were gorgeous. The story was a fairytale of sorts and it was fun to listen to it in Russian. Luckily there were subtitles!! Yeah, above the stage there was this video thing that showed the subtitles--it was nice because I was able to understand everything that was going on. Anyway here are some pics of the theater.



Other than going to concerts, plays, and opera's things have been going well. Ok I made that sound like all I am doing is going to those kinds of things, which I'm not--BUT I have gone to one of each and have a couple more coming up. We are hoping to go out into the country soon to see yet another palace and see the sights there. Thats been one of the best things I've done is see the different palaces and historical places around St. Peters--It's really been great!

English class is going well. I actually have three different groups one on Thurs. night and two on Friday. Two of the groups speak really well and have plenty of questions about American stuff and it's been fun comparing the different cultures. Class for me is going well--my Russian has been improving..at least I can say more now than I could when I first got here. It's a challenging language, but am enjoying learning it and hope to cont. to get better.

I miss everyone and can't wait to see you guys in Dec/Jan!!! Later

Found a Graveyard!!

Some friends and I wanted to go for a walk then find somewhere to eat. On the way we took what we guessed was a shortcut and it turned out to be a huge graveyard. It was really neat to see it cause its not like the graveyards I have seen at home. Well most of it anyway and its really not saying much since I haven't seen all the graveyards, but this one reminds me of what you would see in a witch movie or something scary. But it wasn't creepy or anything it was (as Becky put it) peaceful to walk through. It was really huge and we didn't go through all of it, but I took some pics of the different parts. Some parts are completely grown over the graves and some are taken care of (cut grass and so forth). Anyway here are some pics...
Oh yeah and the white little specks you are seeing is what I am sure you already know is snow! For the past several days is has done a little bit of snowing then would stop. Its like mother nature is just gearing up to dump it on us.


This is just Julia (Italy) and I after we found our way out of the graveyard. I think I have decided which language I want to learn next and now I have people that I can stay with now. I mean who doesn't want to see Italy?
Well as for me everything here is going well. I am just going to school (almost everyday anyway hee-hee). I have started to--well its not really teaching, but conducting an English speaking class. It's so the students can have someone to speak Russian with. I had my first two classes last Friday and it was actually a lot of fun. My first group are beginners so they struggle, but overall understand quite a bit. They want me to talk about shopping this coming Friday and I really don't know what to talk about. Anyway my next group are advanced speakers and they want to talk more on buisness and school related topics. This next week the advanced class wants me to explain to them the rules of football HA that'll be interesting. To me all I see are a bunch of padded men running into eachother every couple of minutes trying to get the ball to the other side. Oh and you know can anyone explain to me why the US is the only country in the WORLD that had to change the real name of football (aka soccer)? I just don't understand it. Anyway so thats going well.

Anyway, hope all is well with you and will chat later.

Oldest City in Russia

Well its the first city anyway. Last weekend we went on a trip to Novogorod and went around to the different highlights of the city and it was great. It's not the most gorgeous city, but was pretty and had a lot of history. There were so many church-so many in fact I think it beats Provo and thats saying something. Most of them are not used anymore and are just sitting there, but I was able to go into a couple of them. Anyway here is what I saw...
This one below is a church from the 14th or 15th cent. I can't remember which, I would have take more pics, but they didn't like me doing that so...what can you do.
This is the inside of another church!



This one is so Russian--out in the country this is how people do laundry. It was so cold outside--well ok not cold cold, but too cold to be working with cold water doing laundry.





Well thats Novogorod for ya!

Good thing I'm not claustrophobic!

Well first thing--I kinda got a job teaching English. It's only for a couple times a week, but pays pretty decent and I'll get to meet more Russians. So my first day going there I had to go by metro. It was like rush hour or something cause when I got there there was a HUGE amount of people just trying to get into the door. See people here don't wait in line--they all bunch together like a big mosh pit and just barrel through. The the time we were inside, which isn't a big space, there were so many people I was practically being crushed. Well ok I guess it wasn't that bad, but just imagine a room that can hold 25 people max-well this room had about 60--it was crazy if I were to jump in the air I would have been suspended in mid air and been held up by all the other people surrounding me. I couldn't help, but laughing--just imagining Mom being there or someone that likes their space. It's a good thing I can deal with people in my space or else I would've really freaked out. Anyway it was really funny.

You know what else is funny here--or just plain crazy are shoes. Women here love their shoes and not just any shoes but high heels on whatever kind of shoe. For the most part it's ALL they wear. And not just for a while, but ALL day. A girl once said that the pain doesn't matter, but the shoe has to look good. I mean girls at school are wearing these hooker heels and have them on all day and these people walk everywhere. One of the first things a woman looks at when they see me are my shoes--I mean when a woman looks at another woman they always look at the shoes. I think they are all crazy--if Im gonna be walking all day I'm wearing comfy shoes. Anyway just another tidbit about Russian fashion.

Well tomorrow I am going to Novogorod with a bunch of friends. This town is the first established town in Russia. It has a ton of history so it should be a lot of fun. Other than that things here are going well. Can't believe it's already November-well almost anyway! Ciao

I've been Tagged!

Alright here are six quirky things about me...

1. When I see a pile of papers, magazines, whatever I always have to straighten them. Sometimes I'll be in a teachers office or someones home and find myself going for piles on the desks, counters, etc. I usually catch and restrain myself, but if no one is looking I will do it anyway.

2. I hate spiders and when I see them I really freak out. I have gotten better from living in UT and have gotten to the point of being able to kill them. I hate the crunching sound they make and usually have to make a loud noise so I can't hear it and fast so I can't feel it. But the weird thing is I like to look at them in books, on the discovery channel, or if their caged--I am somewhat fascinated by them, but can't deal with them running around.

3. I have this really annoying (to me even) twitch where when eating chips, popcorn, something like that I tap (several times) my hand into whatever I'm eating. It's just with dry stuff in a bag like I mentioned earlier. I don't even notice I'm doing it until someone asks what the heck I'm doing and if I do realize it myself I still do it--I really don't understand it. Any suggestions on how to stop would be great.

4. If I see hair on someone else's clothes I always have to pull it off even if I don't know the person. I can usually do it without them realizing it. The same goes for the tags sticking out of shirts and if a necklaces clasp is showing. However with the two last things I can restrain myself especially if I don't know the person.

5. I like scary movies--the really suspenseful kinds. I don't like the gory stuff, but if I turn to something like that on TV I have a hard time turning it. I have always been somewhat fascinated by serial killers--just trying to understand what makes a person do such horrible things to another human being. But again I know if I watch it then I will end up putting myself into a dream just like the movie and lets just say I don't have a good nights sleep.

6. Last of all I can't walk on the covers of man holes in the street or sidewalk. Even if its clear that its all covered and wouldn't open I just can't do it. I suppose it stems from my mission when I wasn't paying attention and actually walked on one that was only covered a quarter and my leg fell in being scraped the whole way down (till I hit the ground anyway) I am lucky I didn't fall in all the way, but to still scares me to death.

Well thats it. I am tagging Erik and Angela, Amy and Jerry, Miles and Bex, Sadie and Corey, Reed and Annie, and Erica. Here are the rules of the game:

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I went skating!

Last night I went skating. I can't even tell you how long it's been since I have been on skates. I can assure you that I was probably worse than Brayden when he first got on skates--but I didnt fall down. It was a lot of fun--i'd really like to be good again with skating I think Id like to do it more often. We went with about 6 other girls and so it was fun to help each other skate. A few of them already knew how and would hold on to those that couldnt. I stuck close to the wall cause I wasn't going to fall. My roommate was going past me pretty fast and looked at me and laughed cause at that time I was practically hugging the wall (i'd had just got on the ice for the first time in I don't know how long and was terrified--I mean we have all seen what it looks like when a fat person falls and can't get up--now just imagine what that looks like with skates on) anyway so as she laughed her skate caught on the ice and she went flying forward and landed on her stomach with her arms and legs spread out. I thought my head was going to explode I was laughing so hard. It was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time--and I don't feel bad for laughing cause she would have done the same to me--I mean come on we all would have. But what was worse for her was there was this guy a little ways ahead of where she fell and he had been teaching his son (he looked about Braydens age-all decked out in his gear) how to do different moves or whatever you call them and they both started to crack up. Anyway it was well worth the night of hugging the wall--ok I moved away from it for a few minutes at a time, but I wasn't taking any chances.
Anyway so thats it for that. Things here have been going well and we are just exploring all over the city. We are organizing a trip to Novogorod, which is about 3 or so hours from here on bus, but is the first established city in Russia--and we know a guy that will take us there (he's from there) and show us around. In a week I will be going to my first Opera--can't say Im too excited, but I hope that Im wrong. I also have a ballet, concert, and play that Im going to so of course Ill talk more on those as they come.

This next pic is of a museum of where we will be seeing a play by Chekov and I thought the horses coming off the roof looked pretty cool.
This next one is of Luisa and I in a park--practically all the parks look like this one and it's a great place to just think or read a book or feed the pigeons cause there are tons. Anyway its too cold to just sit now, but it's pretty to walk through.
Well thats it for now. I send my love to you all and hope that everyones having a great weekend. "Peace Out" as my German friends love to say to me!

Climbing St. Issac Cathedral!!!

A few days ago I went to the St. Issacs Cathedral and Lusia (my roommate) and I climbed to the top--there were over 200 stairs so that was a lot of fun, but not as bad as I thought. Once we got to the top it was so pretty and so worth the climb. We could have gone higher but the stairs were closed off. Anyway here are some pics of the view from the top as well as from the bottom...

In this pic if you look right across the river you can see where I go to school--anyway you can also see a wedding if you look really close in the park. Can you see them--look for the little white dot. It's tradition that during the wedding that the whole party go to one or more statues and put flowers on the statue--it's like paying tribute. So every Sat. and Sun you can see wedding parties all over the place.


I thought these stairs were pretty cool--it's like this all the way down.
This is the view directly across the Cathedral that you saw in the first pic. St. Petersburg is filled with this kind of stuff.
Ok well thats it for now. I will write more soon...