Tuesday, August 26, 2008

about siberia-post #1

So I am going to Russia soon, as I have talked to you endlessly about the past 2-3 years. On Monday I fly to Dallas, where I will wait for six hours before going on to Chicago. From Chicago I have a direct flight to Moscow, where I have Orientation. On the fifth or sixth I will arrive in Irkutsk, Russia.

Siberia has a lot of bad connotations, a lot of which I subconsciously believe in, but I'm from Alaska and people ask me stupid questions so I'm sure it won't be that bad. What does Siberia mean? It means, realistically:
a) it will be really cold, like Fairbanks cold
b) it will be in Asia, as in the local people (Buryati)look like Mongolians, and I will see camels
c) it will not be ancient
d) it will not be super hip

That being said, Irkutsk is a city of about 700,000 people, so there. Here is some information about it if you want to read it. I have become aware that a lot of people have heard about it because it is a region on the Risk game board.

wikipedia article
an adorable picture
pictures

I am pretty anxious about the trip. I guess that is to be expected. I plan to write on this blog pretty often once I get there. There will be prizes for attentive readers.

David