Well, as it so happens, I did make it. A surprisingly smooth journey from Utica's train station, to Newark International Airport, a nice little stop in Frankfurt (lovely city and airport, do stop by sometime) brings me to my current location, St. Petersburg, Venice of the North. Given how well that worked, going to Newark via train might just be my jam from now on. Most international flights leave later in the day, so it should work. Leaving from Syracuse (ie, adding an extra leg to your trip) is just asking for trouble nowadays. They should just demolish the entire airport and use the scrap material for some other venture.
Anyway, after a pretty tepid introduction to the place by a customs agent (bordering on the rude, I dare say), I was greeted by the much more cheerful Ivan, my old pal from my days at Capital Normal in Beijing. After an embrace and a "Jesus man, you made it"! from Ivan, we set off for his vehicle (get this...a Ford. Well, at least someone is using American vehicles). My first taste of Russian life was the slowed-to-a-crawl traffic and some pretty suicidal driving tactics (not from Ivan, he stated his distaste for driving, and was pretty cautious). It took us near an hour to get to his residence, the third floor of an apartment building right in downtown.
And that pretty much sums up that, for now. I unpacked and unwound a bit, that taking up the hour or so that I have been here. I don't expect much action today, I am already beginning to feel the fog of lack of sleep in my head, and Ivan has a concert to attend this evening (The Red Hot Chili Peppers-first Ford, now the Peppers, what next, Jersey Shore?....God I hope not), so things will likely be quiet today, but I hope to hit the ground running tomorrow.
Beyond that, I'll come right out and say Ivan and his folks (all of whom aren't at home at the moment) are shaping up to be quite the hosts. His mother had already prepared a little something to eat, and they gave me the palatial guest bedroom all to my lonesome. St. Petersburg, where the livin' is easy.
Keep on checking for updates, in the meantime, take a look at a what a Russian apartment in downtown St. P's looks like from the pictures below......
Anyway, after a pretty tepid introduction to the place by a customs agent (bordering on the rude, I dare say), I was greeted by the much more cheerful Ivan, my old pal from my days at Capital Normal in Beijing. After an embrace and a "Jesus man, you made it"! from Ivan, we set off for his vehicle (get this...a Ford. Well, at least someone is using American vehicles). My first taste of Russian life was the slowed-to-a-crawl traffic and some pretty suicidal driving tactics (not from Ivan, he stated his distaste for driving, and was pretty cautious). It took us near an hour to get to his residence, the third floor of an apartment building right in downtown.
And that pretty much sums up that, for now. I unpacked and unwound a bit, that taking up the hour or so that I have been here. I don't expect much action today, I am already beginning to feel the fog of lack of sleep in my head, and Ivan has a concert to attend this evening (The Red Hot Chili Peppers-first Ford, now the Peppers, what next, Jersey Shore?....God I hope not), so things will likely be quiet today, but I hope to hit the ground running tomorrow.
Beyond that, I'll come right out and say Ivan and his folks (all of whom aren't at home at the moment) are shaping up to be quite the hosts. His mother had already prepared a little something to eat, and they gave me the palatial guest bedroom all to my lonesome. St. Petersburg, where the livin' is easy.
Keep on checking for updates, in the meantime, take a look at a what a Russian apartment in downtown St. P's looks like from the pictures below......
My room at the Casa de Ivan
Their spacious kitchen
The main hallway (this is all very exciting, I know, but come on, I just got here).
Two views of Kaznacheiskaya Ulitsa (street) from my room
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