Last "full" day in the U.S.

Tomorrow is the big day.

I'll be finishing the packing, laundry, and other mundane things today. My cell will be shut off on Saturday for a whole month (will I survive? --LOL). But, as far as I know, I will have internet access out in the Russian forest (where the sanatorium is located), so I'll keep this blog going and I can be contacted through email, facebook, and Skype.

The time difference is about 12 hours --I'll check on that when I'm actually there. So your "morning" will be my "night."

Here's a link to the place that I'll be staying at.

There are some pictures on the website, but I'll be

taking lots of my own pics to post here.

http://www.s-bor.com/foto

This is "it." My first trip overseas.

Matthew

Packin' it up...

...notice the large bottle of Tabasco Sauce in the middle of the suit case. I've heard that Russian food is VERY bland.

Countdown...

Well, it's Monday. Only 4 more days until I start the long flight to the other side of the world. The itinerary has me scheduled for over 27 hours of flight time plus about 8 hours of layover time. So for 35 hours, my life will be in limbo --neither at home, nor at my destination.

If you had asked me where I would like to travel to for the summer, Russia would have been one of the last places that I would have named. I still find myself wondering, "why am I going to Russia?" Well, only time will tell. I've heard good things and bad things about the country. It will be strange trying to adapt, but I'm sure it will all work out.

While I'm there, I'll be working with young college students who are, for the most part, science majors (e.g. math, biology, engineering, etc). I'll be going with 8 other Americans, and we'll be helping the students to improve their spoken and written English skills. The classes are an hour and a half long, and the teaching schedule will be sporadic. So I may only teach one class for an entire day, and I may teach two or three on another day. I'm in charge of teaching the "writing" portion, which means that I'll have to read a ton of essays --I think that there are about 60 students.

Well, that's it for now. I'm expecting my passport to come in the mail tomorrow. I'll post a pic of my Russian visa.

Matthew