book.

The pace of life is a lot slower here and I have much more, I guess, down time than I ever had. Especially coming straight from undergrad I was always busy with something or just going to bars, hanging out or watching TV. Now, because of culture and language barriers I spend much more time alone than I ever have in my life. I have decided to take advantage of this and use it for what I call my self-improvement projects. They are playing guitar, working out, reading/writing and I just started piano lessons – from a lady who only speaks Russian, so I will pick up some more Russian. (hopefully I can keep these up for the two years) Probably the coolest thing to come of this thus far is the reading of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. To be living in the Russian culture and reading a novel that “captures the Russian soul” and be able to recognize similarities and connections has been an amazing experience.