inside Rhodes

Well, I can’t believe that I’m done with my first two years of undergrad.  Half of my “college years” are gone, and I barely remember seeing time flee that quickly.  It’s so unbelievably crazy that I’m going to be a junior next year… But that’s okay.  I’m ready for the next two years, as they will be the best of my life, without a doubt.  Although, this past year hasn’t been so bad…  I finished last semester feeling pretty accomplished in terms of the work made and progress achieved.  But maybe I was most excited by the recent Maymester to Saint Petersburg, Russia!!!!

So Russia is my first study abroad experience, and it was AMAZING!!  Saint Petersburg has the looks of any Western European city, since Peter the Great designed it to be European in every way possible.  It’s such a beautiful city with canals, palaces, cathedrals, and charming cafes.  There are only four cities in the world that were planned before they were built, and St. Pete’s one of them.  I never pictured Russia to feel so much like home.  But I did not want to return to the States at all…  Well, I definitely missed being able to turn the TV on and understand every word of what I was watching…  But that’s a luxury.  And you don’t need to know Russia to appreciate football (AKA: soccer) or hockey. hahaha.

But walking around in Russia totally reinvigorated my desire to learn Russian.  I’ve been taking it for a year now, but being in that country, made me crave to know what every sign was referring to.  I thought I had a pretty significant vocabulary, but it all came to very little (especially when we had to try to explain that our luggage was lost at the airport…).  I adapted as best I could, but I never could express myself fully.  I could talk about my family, house, town, school, classes, and friends.  But I could not discuss politics, music, or culture. Not to mention I was having a pretty hard time figuring out menu descriptions.  haha.  In time I suppose.  And I assume it will be a long time before I can discuss politics anyway…

There are so many stories to tell from the trip, that I might just have to devote the remainder of my summer posts to the experience, but we shall see what inspires me.  I bet it’ll be Russia, but who knows.  It could be a leave on a windshield for all I know.  But I must go to bed so that I may rise early in the morning to run.  Gotta love that summer heat!!!  So if you’re awake at 5:45 in the morning, know that I want to sleep just as bad as you do.

~Colin