I am once again seated in my overly sketch internet cafe, talking to my friends.

I just got back from going to my first hockey game, and I have to say, it was pretty amazing. As part of our whole "cultural experiences", Aschauer got a group of us together and bought some really good tickets (center 12th row). It was the international team- Russia vs. Sweden, so it was some pretty sweet hockey. I'm sporting my РУССИЯ scarf right now.

I took a spinning class with Aschauer yesterday at Планетна Фитнес. I had had a particularly stressful day in language class, so it was really thereputic for me. Although he's kind of a chauvinist, he can be really friendly too.

I realized the other day that through the window of my room, all that water and the land beyond it are the gulf and FINLAND. Yes, I have a view of Finland from my room.
I'm kind of making peace with where I live too. At first sight, I was scared about what I thought was going to be 4 months of living in the projects. But I was reading about my island and how it's famous for "mass Soviet style housing". Basically rows of long cynder blocks people dwell in. The average family here makes about $400 a month in salary, and only has to pay $100 in rent. No one really knows who is in charge of the buildings, which is why they look so depolorable (from the outside).
Although the I decided the island isn't so bad, I've come to realize how horrible the infrustructure is in this country. Making a phone call is a major pain in the ass, the roads are full of pot holes and metal scaps from the old trolly lines, and it sometimes takes 2 hours to get metro tokens. I can't wait to finally take my Russian history/econ courses and learn about all of these things.

Well, that is all for now.
I hope everyone is having fun returning to school and I MISS ALL MY BATESIES! Write me emails (afulton@bates.edu) and let me know how you're doing!