Spring is Here!

Spring is here! We are all thawed out. The rivers and canals are running and the huge piles of snow have vanished. Nevsky Prospect is starting to fill up with European tourists and the canal boats are getting ready to begin their tours. I have my first Russian winter under my belt.

Our winter was full of snow, and I mean a lot of snow! The cold was rough at times, measuring a brisk -22F. This did lead to a miserable walk to school, especially across the wide Neva River. It was an interesting and new experience arriving to work with icicles on my eyelashes. I still think I prefer it to crosswalk duty in Arizona when it was 118F.

The school year has been a great one. I have really enjoyed fifth grade and have worked with a great group of kids. I am very grateful for this whole experience and am still amazed that this is my life. Friends and family back home often ask what I will do when my two years are up. I have until November to make my decision but am definitely leaning toward signing on for at least one additional year.

I have enjoyed some neat travel experiences this winter. I was able to spend some time in London and Krakow, Poland for conferences and in Italy for a break from the cold in February. My Rome trip was simply amazing. I spent much of the trip thinking about what I could do to live there. I am sure this will not be a surprise to many of you. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Anzio, south of Rome. This is the location where my Grandpa Jack came ashore in WWII. It was a pretty neat experience to stand on the same beach.

I am also looking forward to the travel plans that I have made for the summer. I have booked trips to both Prague and Amsterdam. Yes, I am going alone. It's my favorite way to travel! I will also be spending a week in London for a conference in June and two weeks back home in Indiana/Ohio in early August. My dad will also be making the trip to St. Petersburg so I am going to enjoy showing him all this great city has to offer. A busy summer ahead, but this is a good thing!

Beautiful Winter

Who knew that I would be enjoying the wintertime so much? I have always loved the snow and have definitely not been disappointed. Here are a few more pics I took this past week.

A Winter Morning

Here is video I took this morning on my walk to school. It shows the frozen Neva River and some of the holiday lights. I love this city!

Three Month Mark

Wow! It is hard to believe that it has been three months! They have been a great three months for sure! Who'd have thought I would enjoy this beautiful city and country nearly as much as I have?

Recently, I enjoyed a week off of work and had big plans to go somewhere cool. My list of possibilities included: Krakow, Poland; Nice, France; and Athens, Greece. Well, my good friends at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had different plans as my updated visa was not ready in time. Thankfully, it did arrive in time for me to take a quick two-day trip to beautiful and historic Tallinn, Estonia. The next few pics are from this amazing medieval city.

Next on my schedule is a much-needed visit back to the States to spend Christmas with the fam. I miss them so much more over here on the other side of the world, even though I would be almost 2,000 miles away back in sunny and WARM Arizona. Countdown to Christmas!

My Walk to School

As many of you know, I walk to and from school each day. The walk is actually close to two miles each way so I am getting my exercise. This has led to a drop in close to fifteen pounds already. No Chick-fil-A here!

My walk takes me by some of the most beautiful sites. Every day I ask myself if this is real and I truly live in such a beautiful place. When I exit my building I walk across Palace Square and the Winter Palace (see above). My walk then takes my down Millionnaya Street, where the millionaires once lived. From there I pass the Field of Mars and head across the Neva River on the Troitsky (Trinity) Bridge (see below).

Then it is past Peter and Paul Fortress, built by Peter the Great in 1703. That's right, 1703! The fortress houses the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the burial place for many of the Russian tsars. My next stop is to visit the friendly fisherman along the Neva. He is always very excited to see me, especially if he has a big fish to show off. I wish that I had our interactions on video tape as we attempt to communicate in our native tongues accompanied by elaborate hand motions. The last site on my walk is Peter the Great's cabin, which is enclosed in a brick structure to protect it from the elements (see below).

All in all, I have enjoyed my walk each day. Though often rainy, at least it is not snowing...yet. I have even found a great little Italian restaurant that I pass each day. This is not necessarily a good thing!

Start of the School Year

Well, I am settling in quite nicely into my new school. The school year is well underway and I am thoroughly enjoying it thus far. I have a class of 14 great kids who have this great zeal for learning. My class is quite diverse, with students from the US, the UK, Holland, Korea, Hungary, Georgia, India, and Turkey. The school is very small and we are crammed into a very small building. We grin and bear it, knowing that the remodeling of the new school building will be underway. I could not ask for a better group of people to work with.

Arrival!

Wow! I am finally here and it feels a bit surreal. It is funny to think back to a few years back when I loved to fly. Those days are gone! My flights were uneventful (This is a good thing) and I arrived to a sunny, cool and perfect day in St. Petersburg.

Upon arrival, my principal gave me a quick tour of the city and the area around my apartment. This city is beautiful. Here are some of the pictures I took from the car as we drove around the city.

I was also able to tour the school and see my classroom. My room is small, which worried the principal. However, it is larger than the modular classroom I taught in one year at Kilgour, and I will only have 14 or 15 students! I told the principal "no worries". I also met the school security guard, tech guy, and custodian, who were all very friendly.

One thing I noticed is that the Russian people (so far) have been very friendly. I had read in many guidebooks that the Russians do not smile and find it weird that Americans (some) smile at complete strangers. The guidebooks stated that Russians thought it was "simple-minded" to do such! I am happy to report that this does not seem to be the case. I'll let you know if that changes!

Everyone back home has been teasing me about my apartment and how it might just end up not being as nice as the pictures that were emailed to me. I am pleased to report that the apartment is even better than the pictures! I arrived to discover that the apartment has an extra bedroom and an extra bathroom that I did not know about. In addition, there is a balcony which looks out onto a courtyard (think "Rear Window") and a dishwasher! Yep, a dishwasher! To top it off, the location could not be better for exploring this fine city. When I exit the apartment building I can turn my head to the right and there is the Hermitage! Amazing! If I exit my apartment building from the other exit I am staring at a picturesque canal (the Moika).

My principal asked me what I thought I would miss the most and I wasn't quite sure. Obviously, I would miss my family and friends. (Actually, I am missing my family a little more than I thought I would! Thankfully, there is Skype). Well, I can share one thing that I miss and that is my memory foam pillow. Ouch, my neck hurts, which is one reason that I am typing this at 4:52 in the morning! Tomorrow I search Nevsky Prospect for a good pillow!

That is all for now. Tomorrow I will meet the office staff at school and be given a walking tour of my neighborhood by a coworker. I will try to take lots of pictures!