Habits suck

Since I have been basically without internet for the better part of a year in Russia, when I got to my hostel in Norway and discovered fast and reliable internet, I seized it. At night, I plopped down on a chair, and surfed the web. It was glorious. During the course of my internetting, an [...]

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on the train to the ski jump

I was taking the local train the other day up to the ski jump tower in Oslo. It’s a pretty impressive thing. Super high up, and a way to get a great view of the city. However, the train is long and slow, due to the steep climb. The first stop we made a whole [...]

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The dollar sucks.

After Helsinki I went to Norway. Oslo. It’s a beautiful place. Expensive. Very expensive. Let me give you some perspective. 1 USD equals about 25 Rubles. 1 USD equals about 5 Norwegian Crowns (NOK.) When I look at the prices, for example, a bottle of coke, and it is 30 NOK, my first instinct, is [...]

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Comparing

The first real day in Helsinki I didn’t have enough euros on me. I hadn’t had a chance to go to an ATM. But I was so thirsty. I was buying some water for about 1 euro. I asked if I could use my credit card. And their answer was “yes” without hesitation. In Russia, [...]

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The night bus

So to get out of Russia, I took a bus to Finland. It was a night bus, obviously catered to Russians. Everything was conducted in Russia, which at that point, was no big deal. But still, when I talk, it is clear that I am a foreigner. Note to self, work on Russian accent. Anyway. [...]

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Pampers are Diapers

Aside from the fact that the baby has no name, which is very very disturbing. Over the past few days that I was with my host family, I began to pickup on some strange peculiarities which I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
The first: I heard my host mother and sister talk about “pampers” (which [...]

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To Hedgehog

So it has been awhile since my last entry. Again I apologize. I’ve been busy. So since my last log in. I have left Russia. The baby has still not been named. When I left, my host sister decided to call him “little hedgehog” due to the fact that he “hedgehogged” which apparently is when [...]

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Asian Mentality

The other day in class we were learning this stupid grammar topic. Anyway, we had sentences, and then had to give logical advice using the newly learned grammar rule. The girl’s sentence next to me was, “your friend is getting ready for his conference in America.” The girl’s advice was, “It is worth it to [...]

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A new baby

sO I know its been a while since my last post. A lot has happened. On Cinco de Mayo, but host sister had a baby. 10 fingers, ten toes, good length, good weight. All good. Yet, I have not seen the baby yet. No, its not because I haven’t been home. Its not because the [...]

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My own poetry recital.

This story actually happened last semester. But it is so good that I thought I must write about it. The story takes place on a crowded metro car. I am standing near the doorway. Usually on the metro, there are handrails attached to the roof of the car, and are high up. But there is [...]

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