First days

I think it's a good thing I didn't have internet connection for my first few days here. Otherwise, I think the first post would have been pictures of my current bathroom situation, Russian cleaning equipment, dirty trolley busses etc. I'm not saying there won't be any pictures like that at some point, just that I'm glad the initial shock is starting to pass and I'm starting to realise how those are such minor little things.

Not that I'm not bothered by the dirtiness of everything, I am. The current weather is very untypical for this area this time of year, everything is wet and muddy. I'm only starting to learn not to put my bag down anywhere and trying not to lean on anything. I'm astonished by how the locals manage to look so neat all the time. Ladies in white winter jackets and pretty boots (which are always clean by the way!). The streets are covered in puddles and wet snow, I don't know how they do it. A lady at the bakery called me "молодой человек" (young man) today, I guess it might have something to do with me walking about in my gum boots and a weatherproof jacket...

I live in  a Russian student dormitory and share a small room with a Russian girl. It's the eighth floor of a soviet-time tall building and apparently "the best floor". There is an old elevator but as I learned with another Finnish student a few days ago, you shouldn't use it unless you're okay with being stuck in there for half on hour. On the eighth floor two rooms share a bathroom and a toilet. I just found out the other seven floors use communal showers in the first floor. My roommate has her bed covered in huge stuffed animals and seems quite indifferent of me. I'm slowly getting used to living with a stranger in such close proximity and also trying not to freak out about "her not liking me". I sense that Russia will teach me a lot in that area. Here it's impossible to please everyone, because people don't seem to waste too much kindness on strangers.