After a bit of sleep on my first night here, I had to wake up early to get to the language school for 9. This was so that I could sit a test, which was to see which class I should be in. However, there are over 100 questions, and the receptionist supposedly only gave me 25 minutes to do it (but I think it was more like 20!) After that, some of the teachers and other staff members gave us a quick introduction to the school. We then had a ‘speaking test’, but all of us were together, so there wasn’t much chance to speak. I was placed in a class who are learning about clothes, so I am hoping to be able to move up soon!
There are 4 hours of classes, with 10 minutes break every hour. Having had 2 days so far, I’ve found that the classes seem to go really quickly. My teacher is nice, but I have never been one of the only people not to speak the language that everyone else does; other than me and a girl from Japan, everyone speaks German! It’s very odd to be left out of class jokes, and explanations can get a little confusing. They also set a lot of homework considering that it has to be handed in the next day.
Yesterday, I signed up to do the walking tour of the city, which takes 3 hours. However, while I was waiting in the reception, some other students asked if I wanted to go to lunch with them. I figured since I’ve been here before, I could forego the tour and make some new friends! I’m glad I did, firstly because I met an English person, and also because it was fun – we went to Teremok for blinis (pancakes), and then found a cafe on Nevski Prospect (the main street in St Petersburg) and drank beer in the sunshine.
That’s another thing – it’s already very hot here, and I wasn’t expecting it quite so soon! Apparently it was still snowing here in April.
I got back home just in time for dinner, which luckily is at 8, not too early! It was pretty good yesterday, pasta with mushrooms, egg and cheese. I then did my homework, which took a while, so once I’d done that, and called my parents, it was time for bed. I’m still not adjusted to the time difference, so I’m finding it hard to fall asleep at a reasonable hour, but hopefully that will get better!
Luckily, I don’t have to wake up as early as I did on Monday for school anymore – classes don’t start til 10, so breakfast is at 8.30. That meant I had a bit of a lie-in this morning! Breakfast consisted of a prune yoghurt which I only ate to be polite, followed by some bread and cheese. Then I headed for school, and everything went downhill. I found my way to the nearest metro station to school just fine, but then it all went wrong. I thought I would remember the way, but I definitely didn’t. Eventually, I made my way back to the metro station, and luckily spotted a guy in the distance who was from the school (he’s always late), and I finally made it to school half an hour late. Oops. Plus, everyone thought I was late because I overslept – I don’t know what’s more embarrassing, that, or having to tell everyone that I had no idea where I was going. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow!
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do after school today, but I was invited to lunch again, by some other people (I’ve met people from so many different nationalities – Swiss, German, Dutch, Japanese, Austrian, Swedish…), and we had sushi at Evrasia. I don’t like fish, but I do like sushi (I don’t understand either). We shared a whole load of different sushi, and it looked very pretty when they brought it out:
While we were there, the entire table decided that I looked just like the actress Emma Stone. I can’t see it, but I’ll take it as a compliment anyway… This, coupled with the fact that when I handed a passport photo of me to the receptionist (so she could make me a student card), she said that it didn’t look like me at all, made me feel a bit weird…!
After sushi, the girls in our group decided to find an H&M to buy some summer clothes, so I went with them. It was nice, it felt very familiar looking at clothes I was only looking at the other day back in the UK!
I headed home at about 5, which was good because it took me about 2 hours to do my homework! Dinner was pretty good – mashed potato with chicken and salad. And now I can relax this evening!
So, overall, I’m feeling a lot better about being here. Keeping busy is definitely key to warding off homesickness, especially as it tires you out! Hoping to do some sightseeing maybe this week or next week, particularly because you can get into the Hermitage for free with a student card!
Thanks for reading!
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