I thought I’d better write an update, given
that I’m leaving in 6 days. The other English people that were here left just
over a month ago, and it really doesn’t feel like it’s been that long already.
Things definitely quietened down after they left because exam season started,
lectures stopped and the students who didn’t have exams went home.
I carried on with lectures for a bit though
which was certainly helpful and I also got down to writing my year abroad
essay, which I now have in a state that is almost ready to send. Apart from
academic work there hasn’t really been all that much that was terribly
exciting. I’m trying to keep myself busy, meeting people, going to the cinema,
seeing a Picasso exhibit at the art museum (basically abstract porn) and then
celebrating my birthday.
That’s probably the biggest thing that’s
happened in the past few weeks and I’m pleased to say that it was a really good
day despite being so far away from friends and family. It was also a Russian
friend’s birthday the day before mine so I celebrated with her at her summer
house and then on my birthday we gathered students together and went to see
‘Brave’ at the cinema and then had a meal in a restaurant. It’s very hard to
believe that ‘Brave’ is out in cinemas here more than a month before it’s out
in England; I don’t know how Russia managed that. I do highly recommend going
to see it though as it’s excellent and as soon as I’m back in England I’ll be
going to see it again, because who doesn’t want to hear the full (non-dubbed) effect
of Billy Connolly on the big screen?
Also many thanks to all the people who gave
me things for my birthday out here, they were much appreciated, I seem to give
off the ‘I love books vibe’ as I got some excellent ones as well as a Russian
Winnie the Pooh bear which sings and is very cute. Unfortunately I am now
having to send a lot of them back home via post rather than having them in my
suitcase because space is very limited. I currently have an enormous parcel
(the biggest box the post office sells) sitting on my floor, ready to be sent
tomorrow. My host mother is coming with me because neither of us can seem to
fully understand what’s required by all the forms and having someone there who
speaks better Russian than me is undoubtedly useful.
I think I’m really going to miss Tomsk, it’s
a great place and I’ve met some awesome people. I know it’s going to be difficult
to come back though and that makes me a bit sad. I’m especially going to miss
the family that have had me under their roof for the past five months. I don’t
think I’ll ever be properly able to express how much it’s meant to be included
in a family in another country like that. Without a doubt it has made living in
this country (whose language I felt I barely knew five months ago) infinitely
better. So for all the evenings spent drinking tea and comparing countries and
talking about everything and nothing, thank you guys, even though you’re not
likely to read this, thank you.
Before I get too mushy I’d better talk
about something else. I don’t know if I’ll blog again before leaving Tomsk, so for future reference here are the stops I should be making on my epic journey back across Europe:
Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Malmö, Leipzig, Berlin, Freiburg,
Amsterdam, Durham. Here’s hoping I make it all in one piece but by the end I will no doubt
want to kill the heavy suitcase that I will be dragging with me. No doubt there will also be brief updates on the way as all the hostels have wi-fi and I'll have to do something to fill the evenings.
See
you in a month England, I’m coming home!
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