Russian summer school is coming...

It's almost time for Russian summer school! *slight panicky feeling* 

Last night I had my first dream about being in Russia. It was a confusing mix of trying to buy bread and water from a little kiosk, using wooden tokens to ride the metro, and getting outdated rubles from an ATM. Pretty sure reality won't look much like that, though. Right? But who cares, I'm SO excited!!!

Yesterday the school sent out a class schedule-

Class 1 and 2 are language lessons. The afternoons are culture sessions: a human library, a visit to a neuroscience center, and museums, museums, museums. On the weekends, students can take an optional getaway.

What trips do you think sound best? I'm hoping Kazan-by-train happens. A Russian blogger once wrote about Good Kazan / Bad Kazan and it looked like a really interesting place.
 
And the roommate survey arrived. This was my favorite question-

Where did the nice early bird / night owl questions go?

In terms of packing, the only thing I've done so far is get business cards, which are really more of calling cards. Haven't you secretly always wanted a bilingual card with your name on it? ;)

One thing I'm not going to pack is a phrasebook or a dictionary (even though that red Russian dictionary is still my best friend.) Hooray! This is Round #2 of studying abroad in Russia and last time I was frantically cramming Pimsleur CDs from the library. I'd taken Russian 101 and 102, meaning I could barely even say hello. It's so hard to tell if you're making progress with a foreign language but this is finally a clear sign- being able to travel there with just your own brain.


I don't know why the world of Russian summer schools was invisible for so long. Now that I'm looking, they're all over the internet. In addition to the Nizhny Novgorod program, there's also-

• Kalmyk State University. $501 USD. July 16 - July 31, 2016. Intensive course of Russian language (60 hours), accommodation in a comfortable dormitory (hostel), meals, excursions (Elista, Volgograd, Moscow), interesting games and trainings with volunteers, transfer Moscow-Elista-Moscow.

• Udmurt State University. $440 USD. July 2016. 109 academic hours of intensive Russian language training, exciting excursions, handmade souvenir workshops, singing-video-discussion clubs, hot lunches from Mon-Fri, official transcript of credits, accomodation.

• Omsk State University. $469 USD. August 1 - 20. 72 hours of Russian language instruction, course materials, accommodation, daytime program, evening activities, airport transfers.

• Siberian Summer School, Yakutsk. $1,012 USD. August 1 - 19. Siberia-themed lessons, field trips, accommodation, lectures in English and/or Russian with English interpretation.

But if your tastes are a little fancier and you don't want to spend your summer in a place like Udmurtia, you'll have to shell out significantly more money.

• Russian International Summer School, Moscow. $3,500 USD. June 13 - August 4. Intensive language courses, dorm housing, excursions, academic internships, forums. 

• Middlebury Language School Russian School, Vermont. $11,350 USD. June 24 - August 19. 160 hours of Russian, performance clubs, sports teams, room and board.

Also on the pricey-but-worth-it side is Arizona's Critical Languages Institute. Forget plain old Russian. Instead have a summer fling with a language like Bosnian, Uzbek, or Macedonian.


Alright, off to start packing now for real!