The End

When things got green

The time has come for my fifteenth and final blog post of the year.  I am going home tomorrow! I’m really going to miss writing my blog and I don’t know the next time I will find myself somewhere as bonkers as here to start it up again.  Anyway, my cases are semi-packed and I am full of sadness about leaving, whilst being very excited to get home, see my lovely family, have a lie down on the sofa, cook some food in the oven, boycott the microwave, pay in sterling, hug my cat and watch the BBC.

When things got cold

I’ve had a great end to the year this week.  Despite some sad goodbyes, finishing my year abroad in Russia brings a huge sense of achievement and relief.  We’ve all had highs and lows, and I for one have felt that when things got bad, Perekop was the last place I wanted to be.  But the good times have been SO good.  I’ve done things that I never imagined I would do, met some amazing people and made some fantastic friends.  My Russian has improved a lot and this time last year, I would never have imagined that such an incredible experience was lying ahead of me.  As cliché as it sounds when people claim that their year abroad is the best year of their lives, it is true.  Everything about living here has become ‘home’.  It doesn’t seem unusual any more to have to point to things in shops behind glass cabinets, to see people walking around the street in slippers and dressing gowns and to see dead frogs on the way to school.

When things got itchy

When things got tough

We performed our play to the babushkas the other day, which was a version of ‘Snow White’.  It went down very well and we had a post-play tea party where we thanked our landladies for everything and exchanged presents.  Natasha told me that she is very said I’m leaving and that she feels like I’m her relative.  I really will miss her a lot because she has been a lovely person to live with, despite the kitchen catastrophes. 

So here I am on the other side.  I’ve seen the seasons change and have battled with sheet ice and blizzards as well as the ravenous summer mosquitoes.  I’ve learnt how to eat horrible food very fast and also learnt how to dispose of it very fast in desperate situations.  I’m accustomed to Russian sleeper trains, piling onto buses and marshrutkas and paying twelve roubles (24p) to get into town on the bus.  TFL prices are something that I won’t be thrilled to be reunited with!

Thank you to everyone who has been reading my posts :)

Here’s to a frighteningly English June...and to Russia, thank you for having me!  - Мы гордимся тобой!