Memories

It’s strange how some decisions change your path, your perspective, your… everything. At the moment you receive the email about a semester exchange you have no clue how important that "I'm interested" can be. It’s just one semester after all, right? Well, no. It’s a life lasting memory.

Traveling to a country for a couple of weeks is one thing and living there for months is another. You merge with the society, the lifestyle. At first it’s just learning to say "Thank you" and "Goodbye"… Saying "Hello" is way more complicated for you. But gradually it becomes something more. You walk the streets looking for Russian cuisine; you go grocery shopping (even make impressions of a washing machine to find detergents), you explore the city. That’s how fun this complicated experience can be. Then after a month you look back and see how much you have changed.

The moment you step out of the plane it feels both lonely and exciting. You’re going to be alone after all. Then you see someone standing at the gate, holding a shawl that says "ITMO family". Those words melt your heart. All the loneliness suddenly fades away somehow and now you’re simply excited, as excited as a five year old at Disney Land. The first days are surreal. You don’t plug your ear phones as usual. The language sounds like a brand new music. After a week you start making new friends. At first it’s difficult with all the new names and cultural differences; you don’t know whether you should shake hands or hug; you’re not even sure if you got the names right. But it’s all going to be OK. You will be fine.

Then it’s time to see some new places, places you read about in literature. All you know about Russia were pieces of a jigsaw; the cartoon "Anastasia", the movie "Doctor Zhivago", the book "Catherine the Great", and some now and then traveling documentaries; you don’t have an image of the new country, yet. You enter the Winter Palace and gaze at the shine of bright colors; you explore the wide avenues and stand on the bridges inhaling the white spirit of the frozen rivers.

Every day brings something new. You meet new people- Russian, exchange and international students; you learn about different cultures in nationality nights; you even learn the names of some traditional food. After a while there is a trip to Yagodnoye; a fantastic settlement with all tiny cottages and a beautiful lake surrounded by needles of trees. Walking on a frozen lake was probably something you never thought about trying. But there you are, wandering on the white untouched surface and feeling guilty to scar the bright shine. It’s sad that you have to leave it so early. No worries… you will return there for an interesting event.

Here comes the pancake week. In spite of the snow and the frost, you know that the spring is coming. It feels cold but the breeze whispers the blossom. You go back to Yagodnoye to see how Russians farewell the winter. You play traditional games to win sun cards and eat pancakes. The joy of spinning around sticks and grabbing flags is sweeter than the taste of pancakes with strawberry jam. At last when you hold hands with all the new people you didn’t know a month ago, when you dance around the burning scarecrow, when you cheer at Russian words you don’t understand, that’s when you feel how meaningful a tradition could be. It’s not about the spring or pancakes. It’s about love and happiness. It’s about cherishing the moment; it’s about being alive.

Now that you are writing this, you feel as if it all passed so quickly. You wish you could stop the time and enjoy it more than you had the chance to. All these memories, all these friends, all these places… You wish you could capture them in a crystal ball and put it up the warm fireplace of your mind. Wishing it could last forever.