Moscow memories...

HUGE stray dogs, snow, rain, sunshine, rivers in the street, back alleys, an insanely confusing metro system, lovely hostel with signs that tell you you'll be eaten if you don't obey the rules (well, it is called Godzilla's), Homer Simpson in Red Square, a dinosaur in the loos in McD's (sorry Tony, didn't eat there...just borrowed their bathroom), sore feet and lots of sleep. It's been fun! x

Planes, trains and back alleys.

The flight was uneventful (just as I like them), with the marked exception of the Russian lady next to me telling me that the most dangerous part is actually just after you land...when you're very likely to skid on the ice and crash off the runway as the plane slows down. All said just after we landed, you guessed it, while the plane was slowing down. Nice.

Next stop was some educated guess work to find a train into the city. Followed by some sweating on the underground (both in the literal and metaphorical sense). All topped off with a stroll around the back alleys of Moscow in the dark to find the hostel.

Oh, and not to forget writing web copy for a demolition company once I got here.

Funny old day.

x

Gulp...

I'm packed! Oh. My. God. It looks like this might actually be real after all.

36 hours and counting...

And so it begins.

First day sans job wasn’t a huge success. How am I going to survive 10 months alone in the big wide world when I can’t even manage a tip to the doctor’s without incident?

Having turned up to ask for malaria tablets, I was told in no uncertain terms that she didn’t have time to deal with that right now as there were other patients waiting. Nice. I (very politely) explained that I had told the receptionist why I needed the appointment when I called and that as I was leaving the country in 3 days it was rather of important. She (very impolitely) explained that it wasn’t her fault and asked me to leave.

45 minutes later I was back in her office being stabbed in the arm for things I’m sure I’ve already been stabbed for. Apparently it doesn’t pay to upset the nurse.

The final count down.

Only an hour and a half left in the world of work. And I’m still not convinced any of this is actually real. I’ve only just realised that I need to pack away the stuff on my desk. Oh and print the maps for the places I’m staying in the next three weeks. Very handily the Beijing one is totally in Chinese. Good thing I’m fluent. Ahem. This bodes well!

Oops, I did it again.

So, apparently they don’t let you into Korea unless you have an exit ticket. Oh dear. Would have been a long way to go only to get turned away at the gate! All is well though, I have picked a date and destination (pretty much at random) and will be flying from Seoul to Shanghai on the 22nd May.

I am also seriously considering a week’s Ti Chi training in the middle of no-where, China. Got to feed the inner hippy, after all.