From Russia with Love (1/19/2002)

Privyet, Tovarishchi! (Hi Everyone),

Greetings from St. Petersburg. Before I begin, here's my contact information for the coming four months. All mail can be sent to the exchange organization's office, rather than my home address. Also, PLEASE don't send packages. The reasons are twofold:

1) Russian customs officials open EVERYTHING they get. This means, if they like the contents, they're theirs.

2) If by chance they DO get to me, customs charges 100 percent duties on everything. Thus, anything sent has to be paid for twice (once when purchasing it, once when getting it from customs.) Therefore, please avoid packages. I'm only here four months anyway, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

Anyway, mail can be sent to the following:

St. Petersburg State University
Matthew Burke
CIEE Russian Language Program
St. Petersburg State University
Universitetskaia Naberzhnaya 7-9
St. Petersburg 199034
Russia

Yes, it is long, but this is the way it was given to me, ergo it's the way I pass it on. My home address is

Ulitsa Nalichnaya
Dom 45, Apt. 398
St. Petersburg (Don't know the Zip.)
Telephone #: 011-7-356-78-29

I'm currently settling into (to say the least) quite the new experience. I'm living on Vasilevsky Island, the largest of St. Petersburg 42 islands, close to the city's westernmost point. My host family consists of just a host mother, Olga Petrovna Vishevetskaya. Her son, 23, recently married and moved out. I haven't met him yet, but she is quite pleasant and very eager to help me learn more and more Russian. I am her fourth exchange student, and coincidentally enough, last semester's was also a Bostonian.

Living conditions are, well, not western. The apartment is tiny, albeit quite cozy, and the neighboorhood isn't the greatest. Not that this fazes me much, though: I did want to integrate myself as much as possible and not be too separated from the city's ongoings. After all, I'm only here four months and then I have the rest of my life to enjoy the good ol' US.

School begins on Monday and our program is VERY full. It seems like almost every weekend there's something planned, such as trips to nearby cities of Pskov and Novgorod, as well as a mid-semester excursion to Moscow. I'll report on those as they come.

Anyway, I should get going. Keep in touch (Email is the best way), and I'll keep you updated.

Paka,
Matt