"You look..like..Japan"

After I signed off last night at like 1:30am, I tried going to bed but I didn't fall asleep until like 2 or 3. I played 30 Rock until I fell asleep but I was kept up because of my dry scratchy throat and general coldness (yes I'm sick). So I sucked on a Vitamin C drop and a cough drop and ended up falling asleep eventually. I had to sleep in my sweatshirt because I found the room to be pretty chilly (relative to how I spent most of my summer next to my AC and feeling like dying from humidity).

I woke up at 8:30, and brushed my teeth. Augh I'm really paranoid about Russian tap water, I just quickly rinsed my mouth as fast as possible. My host mother was already putting out breakfast and I sat down to have peach yogurt (Danone haha), bread, green tea with milk and sugar, and bread with cheese. It was nice, and filling. My host mother uttered what is, so far, my favorite question asked to me on this trip: "Your session. Japan. You look like...Japan?" So I guess that means I've lost my tan?
I had to explain, to no avail, that I was Chinese (yeah I didn't know how to say Chinese in Russian, but now I do!) Then she asked "You have boyfriend?" Oh, what a host mom, lol.

Well while she was at work I tried fixing my laptop again to accept the ethernet cord but it failed again and again. Oh well. Yoda time.

When my host mother came back we had some green tea and then left to meet with the others in my program for our all-day walking tour of the city. It was rainy and windy. I got to go to the Metro, and walk on the streets and I realized how crappy my memory is. The Metro is really interesting, and the escalator ride down took a good 2 minutes, which is a damned long time to be on an escalator... It was crowded and kind of dark but had its charm. Reminded me a lot of NYC Subways in the 80s...the trains look just like the vintage ones in the Transit Museum, and on the platform you see people gathering around what looks like elevator doors. When the train comes, all the elevator-like doors open and people come out.

I got to Kazan Cathedral and it was beautiful, even in all the grey rainy-ness. I realized that no one else in the program takes photos, and I didn't want to be a total tourist and start snapping photos of every little thing, so I took some shots of the buildings, but not too many. Also it was cold and raining and my hands would get numb. We saw a ton of white stretch limosines with brides and grooms taking photos outside of all the monuments we visited--not the best day, what with the rain and wind, but apparently it's popular. And I learned about all year round Russian sunbathers who will line themselves against the wall of a fortress in their underwear and sunbathe whenever the sun comes out, even if its in the dead of winter and it's not warm at all.

We also went to the Gulf of Finland, the Palace Square (the Hermitage just totally takes my breath away every time), and of course, the famous statue of Peter the Great. Professor Firtich provided very interesting anecdotal information on many buildings on the way and an introduction to the history of St. Petersburg, Catherine the Great, etc.
Oh! And I finally got a cellphone whooooo. 950 roubles (30 dollars) Nokia--it has a flashlight :O It's a totally pimpin' phone, gotta say.

For dinner after our very interesting and mostly bus tour of St. Petersburg (it was cold and rainy), we went to a nice little Russian restaurant and had appetizers, soup (I had miso soup lol), a main dish (pasta cabanara), red and white wine, lemonade, beer, tea, and dessert. The appetizers were like a meat plate, a vegetable plate, a fish plate, and a cheese and grapes plate. It was intense of a dinner. The restaurant even offered quesadillas, sushi, and pizza. Very interesting. The miso soup was good, it had miso paste, seaweed, tofu, sesame seeds, scallions, thyme?, and mushrooms. The pasta was good but way too rich for me because it was literally noodles covered in a thick creamy sauce, bacon bits (all fat), and mushrooms. I had two glasses of red wine, which was nice, and a sip of Elizabeth's beer, which was good. I had no room for dessert or even tea, because I knew I'd have tea at home anyway haha.

After dinner, we walked to Nevsky Prospect and split up into groups to take each other home. After what felt like more than half an hour of walking in the windy rain (augh, have I mentioned that it was cold and rainy? because it really was.), I finally got home in my wet jeans and poor umbrella, and Olga escorted me all the way up to the apartment. She asked my host mother why she's making me have dinners and breakfasts alone, and my host mother explained that she still works, and that she works until late, so I should be free to take whatever's on the shelf in the fridge and prepare my own dinner as I see fit. Olga says it may be the best conditions since I honestly get to eat as much as I can whenever I want, but I see it more as...alone and going hungry because I dont want to eat too much of what's in her fridge. I'm not exactly helping with the groceries, and there's not a lot to begin with in the fridge. But I'll make do, and I do need to learn to be alone...and I'm really forcing myself to learn since I'm in a country I don't understand the language or culture just yet. And my host mother is not a protective babushka shoving food down my throat...

Definitely a learning experience on many levels. More to come tomorrow! Shopping time haha.