Well, this post is born out of a very surreal realization that today, Monday October the 6th, marks my one month anniversary of arriving in Moscow. Coupled with the fact that this past Saturday (the 4th) capped off my first month of teaching English, you have this post.

Before I left good old Virginia, and even when I was sitting (and fighting to get free wifi) for my layovers, I had reservations about leaving for Russia. Like, is this what I truly wanted? After all, I was leaving the place where I spent all 22 years of my life for something that didn’t necessarily guarantee security. Would I be homesick? How would teaching go? Would I struggle to adapt? Well, the answer was a resounding yes-this is what I was meant to do. Okay, it’s a cliche. However, it’s been absolutely amazing so far. I’ve been super busy, yes, but I knew about that ahead of time; on average, I spend the better part of 9 hours at school lesson planning and teaching five days a week (Tuesday through Saturday). Over the past four weeks, my experience has been nothing short of spectacular-I’ve met fantastic colleagues and fellow expats/EF teachers as well as something amazing students! I count my lucky stars that I get to work with some radiant students, as they’ve brought nothing but joy so far. Also, I want to extend a big thank you to my roommate (who coincidentally is my coworker-we’re the only two native English speakers at our school) and the rest of the staff for making my transition to teaching far, far easier than I thought it would be. I arrived after training, so I basically was thrown to the wolves by starting immediately. Thankfully, everybody has made things easy for me, and their words of support have been very much appreciated. Heck, two days ago our school’s staff went out bowling for a rolicking good time! I arrived very much unsure as to the dynamic of my school, but since then, it’s felt like an intimate family! Finally, I found a great bunch of expats (mentioned a few sentences earlier) that give me a chance to hang out and enjoy Moscow in our free time. As cheesy as it may sound, I’ve found my happy place: Russia has been fantastic (I say, before experiencing the winter), I’ve been lucky to work in a great job, and I’m surrounded by great company. What more could I ask for?

Before I started writing this post, I didn’t imagine it would get this sappy-my apologies. However, I count my lucky stars that this has worked out as well as it did. One month has gone by in the blink of the eye, attesting to how time flies when you’re having fun. At a minimum, I have two more months to go on my contract, but I intend to stay on for a whole year. For now, I plan on reveling in what each day brings. Thanks for reading!