Paul Georges . Alterego Construction

Once again I find myself staring at my computer screen, overcome by blank page syndrome. I’ve been back from Russia for a week two weeks now but I still have not found neither the time nor the energy to post about my latest outting. I have no clue where to start… how about a brainstorming session. Ready, set, go!

• 55 students from Linköping
• On a bus
• From Linköping to Stockholm by bus, Stockholm to Turku in Finland on a ferry, Turku to St. Petersburg by bus, St. Petersburg to Moscow by bus, read backwards for return trip
• Crazy weather, took us way longer than expected to drive from Turku to St. Petersburg
• Ferries in Scandinavia are strange… but very amusing!
• Russia roads are bumpy, icy and just flat out dangerous
• Russia is, simply put, a very fucked up country (that one is for you Mom)
• Everything contradicts itself in Russia
• Organized trips are a pain in the ass
• Russia is a very historical country, everywhere you look you can perceive the embodiment of the country’s history and culture, whether it be a beautiful church, a large ugly apartment building, a run down suburb, a flock of armed military men, a constant flux of police vehicles on the streets, an amazed young couple, a paranoid store clerk, larger than life advertisments for nokia and samsung, hip coffee shops, museums galore, communist rallies, security guards in malls, security guards in bars, security guards [insert place here]…
• Things that you don’t see also tell you a lot about Russian culture such as the lack of tourist information offices

Alright, now I know what I wanna talk about. Before I get down to the interesting stuff, I’ll get the boring stuff out of the way, notably, the schedule. You can find it here (it is more or less accurate).

I’ll get around to writing this post sometime or another. I loved my experience in Russia but for some strange reason I just can’t get around to writing about it.

For all my pictures from Russia head on over to Flickr.