My last day

I leave for the airport in less than 12 hours. It will be boring these last few hours as I'm one of the last to depart, but I'm glad I was able to see most of the others off. Transition times like this always leave me with a strange feeling.

This has been the single best semester of my undergraduate career. I've learned a crazy amount of math, my Russian has improved, I've been to places I never even dreamed of going to. This has also been the most fun semester I have had, which is something I think has been lacking since I've returned to school after Teen Challenge. Thankfully, finals worked out wonderfully, so the semester was a success on all accounts. The people I've met here in Moscow, both the participants of the program and the people that live here, are truly amazing. I've loved watching how such smart people study and think about math and I have learned a tremendous amount from them, both math and life lessons. Most of the Russian people I've met approach their interests and work with such intensity and dedication. They have been a great example to me of what can be accomplished by not giving up and giving 100% all the time.

These past few days have been spent hanging out as much as possible with people from the program. I'm going to really miss them. We went to see the Nutcracker at the Bolshoi Theater a few days ago. This performance was incredible! Music was great, dancers were very impressive. I've realized I'm quite spoiled now. I've never been anywhere to see a ballet or anything, and after this everything will ultimately be compared to performances at the Bolshoi. Oh well.

On Sunday, Josh and I took Ryan to Beardy's restaurant after church. This is my favorite restaurant in all of Moscow. The best borsch, delicious pastries, blini, just an all around great place. Today, Ryan and I went to meet Arina, a friend from the Bolshoi, for coffee at our favorite coffee place Double B. I have never had such a good cappuccino. Other than that, just packing and getting ready for departure. Speaking of which, I need to finish packing away everything then maybe take a nap before my flight.

Christmas time is coming!

My apologies for the complete slacking on the blog entries. Last couple weeks have been devoid of excitement except for a few blips on the radar. Topology has gotten really intense, many of us are having a hard time processing all this info that's getting thrown at us about the fundamental group, covering spaces, etc. We even covered some category theory today! This was actually pretty cool, since I've heard the word "functor" thrown around a lot but have never known what it meant. And its a pretty fun word to say. Anyway, the final countdown before finals is here. I have 2 finals next week and 2 finals the week after that. Pretty scary that the semester is almost over. It feels I've barely been here in Russia, buts its already the 4th month. On a related note, my last English conversation meeting was this past Monday. Three of the students showed up and we had a lot of fun, exchanging contact info and taking pictures before we all parted ways. I've so glad I got to meet them and work with them.

Alex, me, Ilya, and Helen

FIRST REAL SNOW! Moscow looks quite nice with some snow on the ground. Some places are decorating for Christmas, putting lights up and some decorative trees. Apparently putting lights outside is more for businesses than homes. I think part of the reason is that almost everybody in the city lives in an apartment. Another interesting tidbit I learned is that for some families New Year's is a bigger deal than Christmas, to the extent that some people don't even get a tree. From what I've read, this probably comes from the fact that during Soviet times, Christmas was not really celebrated in the Soviet Union. Also, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. I figured it would be like Ireland and be on January 6th, Little Christmas or Nollaig Bheag.

Studencheskaya metro station on my way to school this morning.

Train tracks

IUM driveway with a tiny bit of snow

Grad school apps are moving along. I've submitted Toronto, Michigan State, and Ohio State. I really need to hustle with the other ones. Most of them are due December 15th and I do not want to be working on these during finals. That would really suck.

Now on to the more pleasant side of life! I used to work at Papa John's pizza quite a few years ago, so I was very surprised to discover that there is a Papa John's here in Moscow. I had to try the pizza to see how it compared. Strangley enough, it tastes the EXACT same. I could've bought this from the place right by my house in Omaha and it would be no different.

Good ol' PJs

More on the topic of food (I love good food). Yuki and Jacob, two friends from the Math in Moscow program, discovered this amazing little Moldovan restaurant in the Moldovan embassy. So you literally travel to Moldova, handing over your passports and everything, to eat at this place. To get there, you take the metro, walk along this pedestrian only road, go in this shady looking gate, down a flight of stairs, into this little door that has no sign or anything (not that I could see). Then you come in to a great little place, with this cool old guy that takes your coats. Food was great, they had live entertainment, and a little video showing pictures of Moldova. Probably some of the best food I've eaten since coming to Moscow.

Jacob, Yuki, and Alex

Alex and Ryan

Jacob, Yuki, Ryan, Cool Old Guy, Alex, and me

In the coming week, we'll be meeting at the Russian language teacher's house to cook some Russian recipes. Also, tons of studying, sleepless nights, and grad school apps being submitted. Hopefully, the last week I'm here I'll get to see The Nutcracker at the Bolshoi!

More great news, I've just ordered a set of uilleann pipes! Fulfillment of a dream 10 years in the making.