Saint Petersburg, Russia

Imagine going to school here!

Imagine extreme cold. Imagine daylight that last only a few hours. Why anyone would decide to spend a winter semester in Russia is beyond me, but my son did just that. He had an arranged homestay that gave him a strong Russian mother, a philosophical Russian father and a Russian sister who romantasized everything which drove him crazy, and a very fat Russian cat. 

On one of his adventures, Adam went to the Monument To the Herioc Defenders of Leningrad on the day commemorating that event. In an underground exhibit he listened to a chorus sing old battle hymns, met survivors of the seige and talked to old women showing photos of their husbands lost in that battle. He regrets that he was not better able to understand them.



Monument to those herioc defenders.

Another of his adventures found him at a lake where he talked to some ice fisherman. They invited him to join them, gave him vodka then coffee then vodka then coffee and they had a fine time. Here Adam is showing off the one fish they caught and let him reel in.

The magnet, a ladybug, was left on the refrigerator of his Russian family's apartment.