Another Day

So, Samantha and I went for a picnic today near the university right by the Moscow River. It was fun. The weather was beautiful and we ate lots of snacks and just talked about what we've been doing and how much we both hate and yet love Denner for sending us here. We're not really sure how we got sucked into this major...it's like Denner just forces you into it while making you think it's your own decsion when really it wasn't. These are the things Sam and I talked about while sitting on the river. A perfect end to the weekend if I say so myself. On the way home I went picture happy with the yellowing leaves. Enjoy the photos. I'll update soon.

Where I Live

So, I don't think most people comprehend how HUGE this building is that I live in. Sometimes I don't even think I know how big it is. At night when I come home and it's all lit up I just stare and I think to myself "Holy crap. This is my house!" So, I decided that I would post some pictures of the outside of MGU so maybe you might have an idea of what I'm surrounded by everyday.

Pictures

So, people have been complaning that I haven't been putting up enough pictures and that the ones I do put up of buildings should have me in them. So, today after class (cause I finished at 12:20 today) Karoliina and I just decided that we didn't want to be inside the campus or anything and so we left. We went to Tverskaiya Ulitsia and just walked around took pictures. We stopped by a coffee house where we were able to pick up a copy of the Moscow Times which is an English newspaper and we had dinner had an Italian resturant on one of the little side streets. Then we walked down to Red Square and took pictures there for awhile and now we're home. The pictures in this post and the post before are from today. Some are from the University Metro station, Pushkin Square, Red Square, St. Basil's, Lennin's Mausoleum, places like that. All in all, it was a great day. Now I'm headed back to my room to do my homework and relax. I've been busy the last couple of days. :) :)

Saturday Night

Saturday night Karoliina, Anders and I went to a club called Propaganda. The night was very interesting. The club itself is actually really nice. It's kind of small which makes the atmosphere really cozy, you're able to actually GET to the bar (which is sometimes nearly impossible in the US) and yet the place was packed. The music was interesting. I'm not use to Techno music and people dancing. The three of us danced all night from like midnight till 4. I met a couple of English guys (one of whom was dancing with me and trying to make out with me without even knowing my name cause he was so drunk). It was actually kind of funny because his other friend was like 'Ok buddy, time to back away and go to the bar.' When the guys first started talking to me they were speaking in Russian and I asked where they came from and they said England (in Russian of course) and I told them I was from America and I don't think they quite understood because the one guy started saying in Russian how he was tired of dealing with Russians and it was nice to meet another foreigner and then I said in English "You know you can speak in English. I will understand, being from America and all" and his eyes just lit up with this "Holy shit another English speaking person." Needless to say the night was interesting. We all danced until 4 and then Anders found the 3 of us a cab and we came back to the university and then I got up early to go to the football game. Life is good in Russia right now.

Football! (and of course by football I mean soccer)

A bunch of us went to a football game today where two Russian teams played each other. Locomotive and Spartik. The fans were absolutly CRAZY! They yelled and screamed and chanted and cursed. Worse I think then American Football fans during games such as FSU and UF (and that's saying a lot). This was suppose to be one of the 'calm' games and there still must have been nearly 500 police officers and militia standing guard all over the stadium and grounds. The game itself was actually a very good one. The score was tied until the last like minute of the game when the home team (Locomotive) scored and won.
The pictures are all from the game. It was great fun.

Just a little update

Don't get me wrong...I'm LOVING it here, but the way things work here is absolutely crazy! The office keeps telling us that we don't need a registration and yet the police are stopping some of the people at night and demanding it and then bribing money from them up to like 1000 rubles which is about $40 American dollars. So the office tells us no such thing exists and then magically it does and to come back tomorrow but then it's still not ready and to come back the next day and the next and nothing ever seems to get done. Jim has decided that we should all just go sit in the office everyday after class and wait for something that isn't going to come. They're telling us that we don't need it but we do, they don't have it but they do, it'll be ready the next day but it's not. It's a lot of fun let me tell you. Besides that I really do love it here.
My class is a little bit of a joke. I mean really when the teacher looks at you and says скажите пожалуйста, сколько вам лет? (Tell me please, how old are you?) I almost want to slap them. Really, I don't need to be going over how old I am and what my name is and where I'm from. I need a conversational class that is going to expand my vocabulary and teach what I need to have everday conversations with Russians. Bah. Whatever. Too late to change now I guess.