Goodbye, Lenin

This is it!  I have 26 hours left in the Motherland.  Until next August, when I come back for an unspecified amount of time.  WOOT.

I'm not really sure what to say.  I don't have any deep musings about life in Russia, or funny stories about exciting things we have done in this last week of not having classes.  My days have been filled with last minute present acquisition and TV watching.  And playing with Andrew's kitty.  Poor Kiti, I don't know how she's going to live without him.  Fortunately, I think all of my stuff is going to fit in my luggage.  I'm going to wear two jackets, a sweatshirt, a cardigan, and a turtleneck.  Definitely won't be cold!

I'm so excited to be coming back to a country with plentiful coffee, toilet paper, sidewalks, and where strangers smile at you.  That's one thing that's confounded me about Russia- strangers seem to consider you as a threat until proven friend.  While it's nice for me to not feel pressured into talking to anybody, the atmosphere is just kind of cold- literally and metaphorically!  Of course, this all changes when you visit someone's house.  Then Russians turn out to be incredibly caring.  They tell us to stop by whenever we are in Novgorod again, which I definitely will.  But overall, I don't think I could live in Russia for an extended period of time.  There's a lot of frustrating things here.  Oh well, it has helped me appreciate America!

I'm looking forward to getting off the plane and eating at Paula Deen's buffet.  That'll shock me back into America like nothing else!

I can't believe Christmas is on Saturday.  I've missed all the Christmas preparations!