{"id":3411,"date":"2016-08-24T19:36:32","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T19:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/?p=3411"},"modified":"2016-08-24T19:36:32","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T19:36:32","slug":"headed-to-mother-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/2016\/08\/24\/headed-to-mother-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Headed to Mother Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>8\/18\/16<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s 12 o\u2019clock on my last day of work at my on-campus summer job here at UPS. I\u2019m sitting at my desk with a fan whirring beside me, googling how to go about writing a study abroad blog. I\u2019ve never been one to keep a journal or diary so I\u2019m hoping my posts won\u2019t come across as too contrived. I guess to start out I should tell you a bit about myself.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/files\/2016\/08\/IMG_0731.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3412\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/files\/2016\/08\/IMG_0731-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0731\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/files\/2016\/08\/IMG_0731-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/files\/2016\/08\/IMG_0731-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/files\/2016\/08\/IMG_0731-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a 23 year old junior here at UPS. I\u2019m an international business major, just started playing rugby here this past semester, and for the past year have been planning to study abroad in Russia. I don\u2019t speak the language, have never traveled to the country, and do not know anyone who lives there. Probably the top two responses I\u2019ve received when talking with others about my plans are: \u201cWhy Russia?\u201d and \u201cThat\u2019s crazy man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You know, the more I begin to think about it maybe it is a little crazy. It wasn\u2019t until a year ago I had even considered studying abroad when my faculty advisor strongly suggested I consider doing so, referring to it as a \u201conce in a lifetime, life changing experience.\u201d As for why, I don\u2019t really have a one tell-all response that can sum things up. Sure Russian cuisine isn\u2019t world renowned, the tap water in St. Petersburg may be contaminated with an intestinal virus and heavy metals, and during the winter the temperature drops below freezing, but that\u2019s just focusing on the negative aspects of the situation. I\u2019ve created the opportunity, for an entire academic year, to immerse myself in a completely new culture that I\u2019ve always been curious about.<\/p>\n<p>At the moment I only have a few goals while studying abroad, but I\u2019m sure this list will grow:<\/p>\n<p>-Learn the language<\/p>\n<p>-Be assigned a babushka during my homestay<\/p>\n<p>-Travel the Trans Siberian Railway<\/p>\n<p>-Volunteer at the Hermitage Museum<\/p>\n<p>As for the frequency of my blog posts, ideally I would like to post at least bi-monthly. I\u2019ll try to post as many photos as I can, and candidly share my experiences. Most sources recommend that a travel or study abroad blog be designed with a recurring theme, but at the moment I\u2019m still trying to figure out what that should be. This is my first time blogging&#8230;any thoughts or suggestions? If you have any requests for things you want me to find out while I\u2019m there, feel free to email me!<\/p>\n<p>-Andrew<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>8\/18\/16 It\u2019s 12 o\u2019clock on my last day of work at my on-campus summer job here at UPS. I\u2019m sitting at my desk with a fan whirring beside me, googling how to go about writing a study abroad blog. I\u2019ve &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/2016\/08\/24\/headed-to-mother-russia\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":513,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67,653,652],"class_list":["post-3411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-pugetsoundabroad","tag-russia","tag-studyabroad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/513"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3411"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3413,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3411\/revisions\/3413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}