€25?

I thought I'd share where I'm living with you all. I'm living in student halls (общежитие), as it only costs €25 a month, whereas renting a property in Odessa is pretty expensive considering. I'm sure you aren't expecting luxury, so, here goes....

Here's outside the building. I think грутожиток must be the equivalent of the Russian общежитие, so halls to all my non-cyrillic reading friends.

Soon after entering the building a lady (usually a Grandma) is there, to check you actually live there. Most of them get used to you after a while, apart from one really old lady who is always asking me if I live here, bless. In case they don't know you, you have a pass which you have to show them. Here's mine...

After gaining access, the challenge of walking up to the 7th floor begins. There is a lift, but it doesn't work, and even if it did I'm not sure I'd trust it. I always feel out of breath when I reach this point.

Here's what you've all been waiting for... my room

Also, I thought I'd show you the kitchen, as I feel without it I'd be paying a lot less than what I pay, as it's quality...

As you can see, it's all finished to a very high standard, clean, insect free and modern. Having such a lovely place to prepare food means I've never felt healthier. (Actually, I'm quite worried I'm going to end up with some kind of nutrition based problem, as I don't think I'm getting many nutrients from my Ukrainian pot noodles).

My mum's going to read this and worry, so I'm going to reassure her now by telling her I bought some bananas today even though I don't really like them.

So yes, I'd love to know what you all think about my new home!

Every little helps...

Yes, I did just use Tesco's slogan as the title of this post. No, I don't know why either. In light of yesterday's horrendously miserable mood, and feeling like all I wanted to do was hop on the next plane to England, I've decided that I ought to post something a little more positive.

So, I was going to make a list of things that never fail to cheer me up, but that maybe would have been a little boring, but then half way through doing this, I realised I had in fact started making a list, whoops.

Music
Cliche, I know, but here a few I've got on repeat right now.

Running
If you know me well enough, you'll know I'm one of those boring people who like to exercise almost religiously. After a week off thanks to travel and being a bit lazy, my body was in desperate need of endorphins. A brisk half hour in and around Парк Победы seems to have done the trick though.

Being a nerd
I'd be lying if I didn't say that I did more than just my homework tonight. However, I still feel like my Russian's pretty terrible and not back up to full speed. A few translations later, and I feel a little better/more capable. I'm also making sure I do a good amount of reading, as like running, I think it's a decent form of escapism.

I think that's enough positivity from me for now.

Settling in.

Now, I never thought for a second that moving abroad for 4/5 months on my own would be easy, and I know it's only my first weekend here, but neither of these facts have managed to prevent me from feeling as lousy as I currently do/have done most of today. I'm still a bit reluctant to venture out too far by myself, as my Russian is still a little rusty after a two month break from it, and I'm not confident enough to try and blag my way out of any complicated situations that may confront me. Also, there doesn't seem to be an awful lot going on in my student halls, maybe halls here are different to in England, where there's always something going on. I feel a bit frustrated and down about it all. Hopefully this will change over time, but right now part of me just wants to get the next flight to England. What do I do?

Boney M, a trip to the Poliklinik, and student accommodation.

I arrived in Odessa yesterday afternoon after a very sleepy bus journey, on probably the best coach I've ever been on. Getting to the bus station proved difficult, as all of the taxi drivers refused to take me, saying it was too close to the hotel, so I had to go on the metro with my 25kg suitcase. Luckily, Ukraine is better than  Russia as the metro stations have lifts, and if I had to use any stairs there always seemed to be someone around who was prepared to carry my suitcase for me, WIN!

When I got off the bus in Odessa Irina was there waiting for me, and led me to some man's car. When I was in Petrozavodsk, my friends and I found it hilarious how Boney M always seemed to be playing, and low and behold, as I sat down in the car Rasputin came on. It was quite difficult to hold in the laughter. 

After a 20 minute drive, I got to my accommodation. It just looks like a typical Eastern European block of flats from the outside - nothing special. Nor is it anything special inside. I'm sharing a room with a girl from Italy, Sara, who seems nice. In our room we have two beds, a desk, a wardrobe and a bedside table each. There is a kitchen on our floor, which is pretty crap - basically a hob and a sink, so I'll probably be living off porridge. One bonus is that nobody lives in the room next door, meaning we have a bathroom between just the two of us.

As today is my first full day here I've had to do lots of boring admin tasks like paying for accommodation, and registering at the language school. I also had to go and get my lungs checked, which was, to say the very least, an experience. Irina took me to the poliklinik, and lead me to a room in which sat two ladies reading newspapers, and a very old looking machine. I was forced to undress from the waist up and stand in this machine. The lady then came up to me and said 'когда двери закрыты, не душите'/'when the doors are closed, don't breathe'. I did as she said, and that was that. I'll get my results tomorrow.

The centre of Odessa is very pretty, and has quite a European feel to it. Much like in Kiev, there is a lot of Ukrainian around, but I've only heard people speak in Russian. I know that рок means year, and that the months of the year have really odd names, but that's it so far.

I'm currently using mobile internet, and I don't have much memory until I go and buy some more, but when I do I'll upload some pictures :)

A brief encounter with Kiev

I finally (and quite tearfully) left England today. Despite being excited about coming away again, the thought of going it alone coupled with the fact I feel like I've forgotten lots of Russian since December meant that I was a nervous wreck when my dad dropped me off at Luton this morning.

When I was waiting to board, I realised that I was most probably going to be the only British person travelling, which added to the nerves. After wearing a coat for a lady who was worried her hand luggage was too heavy (you just can't say no to Russians/Ukrainians), I boarded the flight and managed to sleep through the majority of it.

Zhulany Airport is ridiculously small, and there were lots of really tiny planes which I don't think I'd want to risk going on, but the fact it's tiny meant getting my luggage and getting a taxi to my hotel was a doddle. My hotel has old ladies on every floor who give you your key and clean the corridor lots, which seems quite normal, as there are grandmas at desks EVERYWHERE.

I've not really done much apart from get my bus ticket for tomorrow, and go on the metro to Ocean Plaza for a browse. I got quite excited when I saw Marks and Sparks. There was a huge tank of fish there, like the ones that used to be in the Victoria Centre (you'll know what I mean if you're from Nottingham). The area around this gigantic tank was by far the busiest part of the centre, with people taking pictures and generally seeming a little too fascinated by it all.

Before coming back to the hotel I went and bought some of my favourites from the supermarket...

сушки - little biscuit-y things.

The nicest milkshake ever. 

Smelly crisps.

Generally, people in Kiev seem a lot more cheerful than people in Russia. It's obvious by my accent I'm a foreigner, but everyone has been friendly and bothered to understand me. Nobody's tried speaking English to me, apart from the guy who I bought a sim card from, who picked up something vaguely stick shaped and told me it was his 'magic stick' (no, I'm not sure either). 

I'm beyond tired, and I've got a 6 hour coach journey to look forward to tomorrow. I've really pushed the boat out though, and booked a ticket on the VIP bus, so hopefully it won't be too traumatic! I think it's time for a nap.

Part 2

In exactly a week the second part of my year abroad adventure will have begun, and oh my I'm nervous. I'm going to Odessa, in the south of Ukraine on the Black Sea. I don't know much about the place at all, but a quick scour through google images shows me that Odessa is a damn sight more picturesque than Petrozavodsk, where I lived for three months last year.

Seeing this will be my first time travelling alone, I thought it would be nice to blog about it. Anyone who knows me knows that I am absolutely terrible at taking pictures, so I'm hoping that writing a blog will encourage me to bother to dig my camera out of my bag (which in result will stop my mum nagging me to take pictures of anything and everything). So, let's see how this goes, and whether I can produce anything worthy of reading.