5th September: An uneventful day, a step on the way to settling in

I feel quite a sense of achievement at having managed to pass my third full day here without incident. Classes were as normal, we went out for lunch, then I was finally able to gain Internet access at the uni: hallelujah! Having no Internet at my flat in Germany was bad enough, but trying to live without it for four months is just unthinkable, inconceivable, unimaginable. Needless to say, I will be making serious enquiries into buying an Internet dongle tomorrow.

It was another warm, sunny day, and it’s beginning to live up to the Russian forecasters’ prediction of an Indian summer. I hope and pray that they’re right; I’ve already got a reputation in class for being permanently cold – my look of horror at the teacher’s suggestion to open the window today said it all. She said that the snow here starts in October and remains until March; how can that be? She must be telling the truth though; there’s even a word for it in Russian.

When I came back to the flat today I noticed it was beginning to feel like coming home. Lyudmila cooked me fried rice with carrots, and salad and bread on the side. The food is so much more normal and in actual fact healthier than I expected. I still think gym membership is a good idea though, as I’m feeling obligated to eat absolutely everything that’s put in front of me for fear of seeming rude or ungrateful. They have so little here that to waste anything seems like sacrilege.

We only had a short chat this evening as I had a lot of work to get done before meeting the others for drinks at 9.30. We talked a little on my return about our respective days and my plans for the evening, and a little later she briefly came into my room, my door being open to appear friendly and to get some heat from the kitchen. She swiftly closed the curtains, explaining sagely that ‘boys will walk past and see a girl and knock on the window’. Glad to know I have averted that danger. She then began to tell me about a friend of hers who worked at a jazz club: did I want to go tomorrow night? Touched that she had paid so much attention to what I had to say about music and my dad’s love of jazz, I accepted enthusiastically. People say that the Russians are cold and unfriendly, but from my experiences so far, they are anything but. It’s only a matter of getting to know them and giving them a chance.