FTP 20 - Controlling the self

     Ok, I do believe we are back on track now. That is not to say that I have everything put away, caught up, organized and ready to go, but I've found enough breathing room where I can marshall my thoughts into something resembling order once more. With that in mind, here goes this week's FTP:

     A number of times during the last two months, people asked me, "don't you miss being home?" or, "aren't you tired of being on the road for this long?" If you had asked me even two years ago how I thought I'd handle being away from home for two months, I'd have told you I wouldn't deal with it well. I'm a fairly domestic person, I like having things the way I left them, and I like having my down time- alone and in silence.

Delays again!

     I know, I know, I've been really bad about posting updates the last few weeks. I am technically back in the states, but not really home yet. I've been busy meeting up with old friends and hanging out with family, so there's not been a need for updates; on the other hand, I haven't had terribly much downtime to plan out new post topics either, which is why things have been pretty quiet on the blogfront.

     I'm flying home this coming Monday, so I sincerely doubt there'll be a post up then, unless it's something along the lines of "what's wrong with airports these days, and what needs to be changed to return to a rational state of business." Lengthy title, but I may just have to do that one someday... Anyhow! Things should return to normal (i.e. Monday and Friday postings) as of this coming Friday, the 24th, with a return to FTPs. Until then, here's something to consider:

Readjusting

     Traveling to another country is always fraught with culture shock and differences, but it is expected and planned for. Coming back from other countries, however, can carry just as much adjustment as going to them, particularly if you don't immediately return to your home and routine. You have to readjust, not only to the fact that everyone speaks your native language now (so the nagging, subconscious mental command of "no english!" can finally be put to rest), but also to things that you've taken for granted in the past.

     In my case, coming back to the east coast instead of the midwest is as much of a culture shock as leaving the country. Even when traveling within the US, there is a huge variation in the attitudes, outlooks on life, and general behaviors between regions. Having been subjected to the general rudeness of Russians for the past month, I had come to cherish my memories of Colorado friendliness; it was therefor a bit of a shock to come back to the Baltimore/ DC area and realize that the people here are at least as rude, but now I can understand their language, and there's no excuse of "oh, it's another culture!"

World's fastest update!

     Not much to say, because I haven't really done much. Today consisted of sleeping until noon, getting up, making breakfast, and then reading til 3 (while walking in circles in the kitchen). One of my roommates and I went to the store then had lunch, after which I came back here and continued watching silly videos until now (7:30). I was lazy, English (and French) speaking only, and had a fantastic day. Sadly, the bad roommate just came home, but all-in-all, fabulous day. Three more til I can get the $%^#@^$!! out of here, woot!

Pollyanna

     As my father is (inordinately) fond of pointing out, there is nothing in life that you learn that does not come in handy at some point down the road. Yesterday was an excellent example of that, in a myriad of ways. Monday night was insanely hot, and I decided (at 3 am as I finally started to drift off to sleep) that I was only going to go in for the second half of Russian classes yesterday, if my sinuses had cleared up by then. They're not 100% healed, but I felt like I'd been a slacker for long enough, so off I went to school.

     Well, off to try to go to school anyway. When I reached the elevators, the button was already lit, but no one was around. Odd, since they're usually fairly fast. After a while, however, it became apparent that the elevators were simply not working, so I had to find stairs. Russia, of course, does not bother with such niceties as "Emergency Exit" signs or "Stairs are this way" placards or anything like that. I put my "let's keep trying things until something works" skills to use, and found the stairs after a bit of searching. You had to go through the room where you dump garbage, out onto the balcony behind the building, and back into the building on the other side of the balcony, through a door that looked like it had last been used back when the Romanovs were still in power.

Not creepy AT ALL...