Sachalin: cosa c’è intorno, come arrivare e quando andare · 2026

UUSAblogi · 1 ott 2009Leggi

Before writing the first lines here, I paused. What is the purpose of my story, and for whom are these pages written? I decided that, first and foremost, it is for myself, as an attempt to process a new life experience that I believe I will gain in the USA, and which will allow me to look at myself and the reality around me in a new way. Secondly, I hope that my reflections and stories will help other guys take the first step in realizing their dreams. I can already imagine (no, actually, I can't even imagine how many surprises await me ahead). So, my name is Andrey. Like most of you, I am a student. I am in my 4th year at the Faculty of Sociology of the RSUH (Moscow). I am 21 years old and full of ideas for the future, as well as anxieties about it))) I first learned about the Work and Travel program while I was still an applicant in the distant city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, my small homeland, Sakhalin. On one of the crazy days of taking entrance exams to the university, while waiting for the exam to start, I saw an announcement about the opportunity to go work in the USA for a whole summer. I remember my thoughts: how cool it would be to just take off for the summer!!!! And a deep thought took root to turn this idea into reality. Then there were years of study at Sakhalin State University, work—perhaps the best time of my life (I hope that I will tell you about the best and most interesting moments of this time as I write my diary). That little announcement was forgotten by me, like many dreams we forget in our lives. During this time, I managed to finish 2 years of university and transfer to study in Moscow, where I have been living for two years now. Already in the first month of studying at the university, I had to recall that announcement I read three years ago. Fortunately, there were a bunch of such announcements both at RSUH and at MSU, where I had to be very often. Various newspapers, brochures, stories on agency websites—all this increasingly stirred my interest and desire to go to the USA. I was at program presentations at the university several times and became a frequent reader of forums where former and future travelers gathered. And as it turned out, many of my friends had already been to the USA, and how many of them dreamed about it!!!! All the stories about the trip were pure emotion. How cool and interesting it was there, and how they would love to go back—that's probably what everyone said. They showed photos and videos. I remember how the eyes of one of my acquaintances lit up; we met two hours after his arrival in Moscow. The guy was just beaming with happiness and positivity. How much energy and how many plans he had after this trip!!! (I will definitely tell you about his stories here too). But since the program costs a considerable amount of money, although it is worth it, in my first year in Moscow, my dreams remained just dreams. And as usual: university, work, various projects... And so September 2008 arrived, the beginning of the academic year and a new page in my story that is just beginning. So, a new academic year has begun, and with it, new tasks. But thoughts about a trip to America began to appear with enviable regularity. And our student body is simply not allowed to avoid them; at all exhibitions, various agencies present the program, and separate exhibitions are held. In general, almost all advertising platforms have been mastered (although I could suggest a lot about promotion to our agencies). The final decision to go to the USA was made, as always, spontaneously. I noticed that all the decisions I made quickly, without reflection, turned out to be the most successful. And here I am at our university, there is a career fair, and several agencies are offering to go to the USA. Well, I think, it's time to go. If not this summer, it's unlikely I'll be able to go later. And I imagined how I would regret it later, and decided to make it happen. Together with three of my classmates, we set a goa

Rravik18 giu 2009Leggi

I WILL WAIT A LITTLE LONGER, AND THEN I WILL PREPARE TO SET OFF! "The sun goes to the West And those who do not know That everything in this life Has a source Run after it. The sun goes to the West But to be born again, It rushes to the East, To the East!" I.V. Talkov Since circumstances have turned out such that I do not have the technical ability to finish this piece on the day of my return to Chelyabinsk, as I had envisioned in October, I am faced with a certain task: what will the ending be if my six-month journey to South Africa is not yet over? The answer was found quickly, and it turned out to be extremely simple! And even pleasant. Do you know what I came up with?! I decided this: I will just dream! I have good intuition. I will imagine for myself what and how things will be for me here, and everything will come true! I will spend the last month of my short, six-month life in South Africa in a similar way to the previous five. I will try to live a full life. If circumstances form a favorable chain, and I find a travel companion from old friends or new ones, we will still go to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. I would like to, of course! Maybe I'll buy myself a new camera. I will quit my job. There is not much left—I will live perfectly well without it. On Sundays, I will go for walks in the city, and I want to go to the University at least two more times. I will definitely sunbathe on the beach and take more than one walk along the mountains and the edge of the ocean waters. I will try to spend more time with friends. Once every week or two, as usual, I will go to the cinema. I will climb Table Mountain one more time when the clouds are not covering its peak. I will still have the opportunity to choose gifts for my family and buy the ones I like. What else will I fill my free time with if there is any left? Anything! THIS IS CAPE TOWN—A CITY OF CELEBRATION! I will say goodbye to it by visiting the places I want to. On March 20, 2009, I will board a flight from Cape Town to Dubai. It will soar into the sky, rising above the city. Above the Cape that I have come to love, with its center, the Waterfront, Sea Point and Clifton, mountains upon mountains, rivers, ponds, and the ocean. With cute road forks and the sandy yellowness of the earth. We will soar high, but the visibility will still be excellent. I will say goodbye. How to name the main feeling that I will have there, in the plane taking off over Cape Town? It will be STRANGE for me to leave this earthly paradise. But I will clearly understand: staying would have been even stranger for me. I will wave goodbye. And a tear will roll down my cheek. It will decide to stay here, like a piece of me. After all, I lived here. Loved. And felt many other things! And now, with all of this: with the friends left behind and the various people I interacted with; with specific places and the sensations they evoked in me—I am saying goodbye to all of this at once. I said goodbye, I felt longing—and FORWARD! I will turn my head and continue to look only in the direction of our heavenly liner's flight, all the way to Dubai. I will enjoy the view of the deserts from the porthole windows and the luxury of the city of stay again. A few hours at the airport—and back into the sky. Now heading towards our capital, the most beautiful in the world, on the Dubai-Moscow flight! We will be met by the always welcoming Domodedovo airport, and the faces of my countrymen will bring me joy (after Africa, any Russian is a countryman, regardless of whether you are from Kaliningrad or Sakhalin). A cozy bus will take me to the metro. And from there—to Zhenya and Yulka, my friends. I will stay with them for three or four days. And then home—to Chelyabinsk! During these first days of returning to Russia, I will certainly meet a conductor, or a salesperson, or... a customs officer who will definitely yell at me, growl menacingly, or scold me for no reason, which will finally sober me up and remind me that I am