I guess I could begin by talking about how lazy I've been to post, or about how stressful the past few weeks have been, or how excited I am to be going home in a week, but I have some anecdotes which span the past few weeks in which I have been totally absent from my blog. I'll begin with today, which sucked, but then later was totally awesome.

So the first of my two stories of today is the story of how I almost didn't get to go home. A note on Russian registration laws: the entire concept might be, nay probably is, totally absurd to most foreigners, but you need to register in your home city, deregister when you leave, and reregister when you come back. For me this means taking a marshrutka bus to the center and then walking to the university headquarters on 1 Karl Marx St. where the International Office is located. There I meet a woman who is the actual holder of my real visa (ie I only have a copy in my personal possession).

So when I purchased my plane tickets a month ago to fly home for a two week vacation I knew that it was necessary to de/re-register for my trip. Unfortunately for me, and my psychological health, I totally forgot about this until last night around 12pm, at which point I started totally stressing out. I didn't know if the office was even open today because all Russian governmental institutes go on holiday around the 28th or 29th for 10 days of New Years/Russian Christmas celebrations. Today was the 30th, which meant when I woke up, there was approximately a 50% chance I would be totally screwed by the fact that the international office would be closed and locked, including the containment of certain precious items such as my visa.

So I woke up this morning and called my attache at the university who, with utmost helpfulness, assisted me in contacting the woman who is my normal visa-helper-person. Naturally, it turned out she was on holiday, and wouldn't be in that day. "Daniel the American?! He should have come in two days ago!" She did, however, say that "there may be someone there who can help me" and I should leave as soon as possible. Thus, with severe doubts about my flying home situation, I left my room and immediately proceeded to the center of the city praying to god that the building was open, and the office staffed.

Luckily, I crashed their New Years' party. Basically that meant walking in on 10 people who I basically/informally know and who were drinking champagne and I asked them to go back to work, just for me. Fortunately, Russians are famously nice during holiday time. Ever so generously, two of them went to their desks and began sorting through various paperwork which included my registrations but more importantly, giving me my visa. All in all, despite a solid 12 hours of 'oh shit I might not be able to go home' stress, I received my visa, and I was deregistered off the list of foreigners. All this despite the fact that this was the very last day the office was open, and very well possibly the very last hour I possibly could have completed these tasks.

Now, for my second adventure of the day. As I mentioned above, Russians are famously happy around holiday time. So, when I went to the university for the second time today (the first time of the day was for my last Russian language class of the semester) I should not have been surprised to have been invited (coerced) into a party with some of the lovely ladies who manage the day to day task of handing out room keys. That's right, these 6 babushkas have the leisurely job of looking condescendingly at everyone who passes only to hand out keys and make sure that we teachers fill out the proper forms in order to access the actual teaching areas. Despite the fact that today was my legs day, I sat down at a table filled with traditional Russian holiday foods and vodka. Exercise vs. alcohol? Who do you think won this won? For anyone who has not been to a Russian party, good luck refusing alcohol, or food. It's basically impossible unless you outright insult your hosts. Nevertheless I'm not that rude, and it was a great opportunity to practice Russian. "Danya we love you! Have some more chicken!.. Yes! Of course it is absolutely necessary to drink the entire thing!" 'Thank you ladies, I just wanted to use the trainers' room, but yes, sure, what's the harm in another shot'...

Often I think that some sort of crazy spirit or being controls the fates of people in this country, and with a sharp sense of irony. I began the day with the incredibly stress of thinking 'oh shit, what if I have to tell my parents i'm actually not coming home?' and only a few hours later, unable to physically exert myself as was my intention, I was forced to consume some form of liquid contention. By the way, have I mentioned how poor quality Russian vodka can be? Really its quite disgusting and the hangover can be equally as brutal. Not that it matters, it's New Years and its best to treat life as the Russians do. Really, the whole process of cultural exchange has taught me that, despite decrepit streets and a sagging economy, there are a few things we Americans need to learn from the Russians. Most importantly, when it's holiday time, it's ever so important to make sure to, as belligerently as possible, stop some relatively unknown person, that is a person who you see regularly but do not know, and make good friends with him. If necessary, include alcohol. If necessary, provide unnecessary amounts.