St. Petersburg- Day 8

Julie,

LAST DAY!!!!!! Can you believe it? Last day of the last international residency! Pretty crazy eh?
Not much fan fare today just a lot of closing up shop.

I finished out the week with my morning workout. Although the gym isn't good at all here, I have been able to workout every morning on this residency which has been really good. That coupled with the fact that I have had only a few treats and I've overall eaten really well and had a lot of water to drink makes me feel like this residency has gone really well. I tried to take a picture of me after my workout in Russia today, but the sun kind of washed it out (see below).

First we had operations today and it was a really good class. I really like the material in this class and hope I can put it to good use in a medical practice.

At the end of class, we had an  hour session called "looking ahead" which always gives us some idea of what the next residency is going to be like. This session was really cool because next time we get to go to Duke and the whole look and feeling of this residency is going to be different.  So the residency will be two weeks long during which time we are scheduled to take two electives one week and two electives another week. Because I am taking two HSM classes and they start in August, I will actually only be taking two classes. Negotiation the first week and Entrepreneurship the second week. Each day there are 3 time periods morning afternoon and evening and each class will rotate through those time periods. So, for example, if on Monday my class starts in the morning, on Tuesday it will be in the afternoon, Wednesday in the evening, and then Thursday in the morning again.

There are a couple of other cool things on the schedule. Of course, there is participation in the Fuqua Fridays and probably because we are the first class to do this type of format for CCMBA they really want to integrate us with the daytime students and the staff/faculty while we are at Duke.  The other thing is they are trying to arrange a Duke Basketball experience. They haven't given any details of what it entails, but I guess Duke Basketball has a consulting arm that does corporate team building events and they are trying to arrange something like that for us. It also happens to be the same day as the Duke v. Alabama football game so that first Saturday before we even get the ball rolling with classes we are going to have a Duke Basketball experience and go to a Duke football game. Needless to say I am pretty stoked about both!

Now here is the really good news (and again I think this is because we are the first class to do this program and they are trying to finish with a bang). Normally when we go to Duke we would stay in the Thomas Center which is where all the MBA students come to stay when they are on campus. Well for our class instead of the Thomas Center, they are having us stay at the Washington Duke Inn!

Check out the website in the link, but you won't believe what a nice place it is. It sits right on the golf course and is really classy. What made me really excited was the fact that you are going to be there with me so you can come and stay a few nights with me at least, WAHOO!!!!

The other part of the announcements had to do with the distance portion after the Duke residency. It is going to be ten weeks, but each class is only 5 weeks long and they rotate every other week. That means for 10 weeks I will only have one class each week once I finish my HSM classes in October. That should be really nice.

Once "Looking Ahead" was over, we had lunch and then the afternoon class was CCL. We reviewed the culture dashes that we did and compared the Russia region to all the other regions we had visited and then we were DONE!!!!! We finished about 4pm and now we have the evening to relax, pack, eat, say goodbyes, and get ready to leave tomorrow.

Here are a couple of pictures of things from today.

Here is the washed out picture I was talking about.

This has been my best friend in Russia. seriously.

Besides using this to brush my teeth morning and night I have been drinking water like a mad man.

Partly to stay hydrated and partly because I tried to stay away from all the soda.

By my estimation I would drink around 8 or 9 of these bottles a day. That's around 4 to 4.5 liters. Definitely hydrated and definitely familiar with the bathroom! :)

I retrospect, wow it has been quite a ride since we started this journey way back in August huh? Not that we are finished yet, but the accomplishment of completing all the international residencies feels like a pretty significant milestone. I am so glad I did this program and I have been able to have all the experiences I have had thus far. Although we haven't seen any of the campus yet, I really love being apart of the Duke culture and I am happy that I will be able to say I am a Duke Alum for the rest of my life (once I squeeze through the rest of this term and next).

Well I love you very much babe and you have been such an amazing support through all of this. Seriously, even with the student debt we've taken on and the time requirements that this program puts on me, you have always been so supportive and helpful. The best part is that you always knew this was a dream of mine and you have been there to help me carry it through. Thank you from the depths of my soul. I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Can't wait to see you and the boys in a little under 36 hours!

Love ya,

Brock

St. Petersburg- Day 7

Julie,

Well today was a really good day with a few "odd" occurrences. The day started out with our last class of accounting. Accounting started day earlier than Operations so naturally it ended a day earlier too. As we wrapped up class, I realized I have a lot of work to do in order to get ready for the midterm we are going to have to do in week 1, but I also am excited about. I like the material and I think it can be really applicable to medical practice management.

During class I also was reminded of a few ideas I had about my job situation earlier in the week that I wanted to tell you about. First was the ideas I came up with for my current job and some of the stuff we are doing for the website for Foot and Ankle. I had come up with an idea of a symptom self diagnosis that people could use on our website that essentially helps them know what they could possibly have and then points them to how our doctors treat those conditions better than anyone else can and then gives them an action item on how to contact us. Well I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around exactly how it would lay out and work. While I've been here I did some research and came across an iphone app that does a similar thing. That really opened my mind and helped me realize what I can do with this without making it too complicated or difficult to accomplish. It was like a light bulb went on. So I am excited to get back to get working on that.

The second idea has to do with my job applications. As I have contemplated on why I haven't been getting a good response rate on these job applications, I think there are a few factors. 1. I haven't graduated yet so they see me as still a student, 2. I have very little experience--especially in a healthcare setting, and 3. (which ties into 2) since my experience is so little by way of what I can list on my resume, my resume just blends in with the group.

During one of the CMC events, I had the thought that I need to change it up. For what reason other than tradition and conformity do I submit a resume like everyone else? The purpose of the resume is to show the prospective employer the skills and experience you have and hope that they tie that together in their mind of how that will apply to the position you are applying for. If the tie together goes well enough in their head the hiring person calls them in for interviews, etc.  Well my thought is to guide them in the tie together better. I am going to draft a non-traditional resume that still lists my chronological education and work experience, but rather than trying to summarize what I have done at each job and helping adapt that to the position I'm applying for, I will insert the job responsibilities of the new position into my resume and then show how something I have done at another job applies directly to that bulleted responsibility for the new job. (I hope that made sense). Anyway, for me it was another light bulb moment that can help me stand out and hopefully streamline me to the interview pile and not the "everyone else" pile.

After accounting we had operations and then we broke for lunch and the culture dash. It was at this point that I realized what a weird team dynamic I currently have and it initially made me angry. See for the culture dash we are all suppose to go out together and film interviews at key places and then put together the video. Well as we met after class right away everyone on the team was saying how they were going with this group or that group to different places rather than our team sticking together and getting the assignment done. They promised they would get some video at the places they went to and then took off. So there I was by myself, feeling the burden of having to do the "real" interview for the video and then obviously I will be editing and putting it together. I felt like everyone else just blew off the assignment and put it into my lap so I was starting to get pretty mad... but it all worked out. First of all, breaking off allowed me to go to the renok (market) and see what they had to offer and also do some souvenir shopping. I also was able to get an interview while I tagged along with another group. I also thought back to how our team dynamic has worked and we are not a team that really gets together like my last team did. I think we "divide and conquer" a little too much, but with that divide and conquer it has worked out that on every assignment different people have stepped up and taken charge. Even though this video falls into my court quite a bit that also means the paper doesn't and in our other classes other team members have stepped up and taken the load. Our team overall has some disfunction, but every team does and the most important thing to me is that everyone carries their load and overall I think that happens.

Here is the underground tunnel where I bought some souvenirs.

These are the tunnels that are passes under certain big streets and typically 

connect to the metro.

One of the sites along Nevski prospect where I took a walk tonight.

Cathedral of Christ and the Spilt Blood. 

I've shown this is a previous letter, but today I wandered over there from

Nevski prospect and found this really cool street performer.

Check out the video below.

Oh yeah, here is another cool thing that happened during our culture dash. We were taking a long walk to the penok and as has been happening all week with my classmates, JP started asking me how I knew Russian and why I lived in Moscow. I explained to him that I lived in Moscow for two years while I was serving as a missionary for my church. Usually that is where the conversation stops with most people although some would ask a little further about my language training. JP (who is from Argentina) was the first to ask more about the church. I explained to him what we did as missionaries and then he asked more about what we believe and where our members are. Nate and I both gave some input and then I had to stop to talk to a man on the street to get directions for our group. By the time I got back to the discussion Nate was in the middle of explaining what we believe and what beliefs our church is founded on... essentially the first discussion. It was really cool to be a part of that and for the most part observe it. It felt different because I wasn't a missionary with a "duty" to share this. We were just members sharing our beliefs. Who knows what will happen with JP as he is a pretty big partier that may have a difficult time with other principles if he were to research the church a little more, but it was a cool experience.

After we went to the market, we did some souvenir shopping and I got a few things for  you and the boys. When we were done with the culture dash I came back to my room for an hour or so to get some things done and then I headed out for dinner. I've realized through these residencies that I like going out to dinner, but more specifically I like going out to dinner with you. For me it is an experience for both of us so most of the time here, I am not really interested in going to dinner at a nice restaurant. Some of my motivation might be financial as well, but I really do feel like I prefer just to get some quick, simple food. I also was able to spend a good amount of time wandering up and down nevski prospect and that is when I got the video and some of the pictures.

After I got back, I ended up working on my operations quiz for WAY TO LONG for how big of a quiz it was, but oh well.

Now just one more day till its time to get ready to come home!

Love ya,

Brock

St. Petersburg- Day 6

Julie,

Today should be titled "The REAL marathon day." Holy Moly it was a long one! We started at 8am with operations and finished at 6:30pm with CCL. By the time we were done, it felt like we were staggering out of there.

Operations actually ended up being really good today. We did a simulation called the beer game which was a simulation of all of us acting as different steps in the supply chain (factory, distributor, wholesaler, retailer). It was an interesting exercise and was fun to see that it takes quite a bit of coordination to figure out demand and what is happening. For example, I went from having 10 "cases" in my inventory to -90 "cases" (back ordered) and then having over 100 in inventory as I tried to figure out how many cases my wholesaler (I was a distributor) would need and being able to have enough on hand to supply him. It was also nice because it took up a good chunk of class and made that class go a lot faster.

It was also good because the class helped me come up with a few ideas of what I want to do for my Health Sector Management concentration project. I think I am going to go with one of three ideas: 1. There is a principle called Queuing Theory which is the study and understanding of making people or things wait... as for example in a doctor's office. My idea is to do a study of alternative methods or adjustments doctors offices can do to both shorter the wait and make the wait seem shorter while keeping themselves busy.

2. My second idea has to do with applying process analysis to a medical office's billing cycle to determine flow, bottlenecks, processing rate, cycle time, and throughput time with the idea of being able to improve upon it to get dollars collected more quickly.

3. The last idea has to do with doing a cost estimation for every type of procedure seen at the office between material costs, direct labor costs, and overhead costs in order to best assess what procedures are effective and profitable and which are not.

After Operations, we had another speaker that was not much better than the others.. not better at all in fact, and that part seemed to drag on for a long time. Then came lunch and to be honest it was awful. The funny part is that it was the same food they have been serving us all week and although everyone has been complaining about the food cause there is no variation at all, I haven't worried about it too much because it has kept me on track with my workouts. So maybe it was because we had such good food the night before and there was so much variety, but to get to lunch and see another chicken dish and another fish dish was a little disheartening. Oh well it wasn't like we were throwing it up but it was the first time that I felt like it made me lose my appetite.

After lunch we had cost accounting and it was a LONG struggle to get through. I like the professor, but it was tough today. Right after that class it was already 4:15pm, but we still had a whole other class to go in CCL. It ended up going a little quicker because there is more of a discussion and he had us break out into groups quite a bit throughout, but still when it was all over I was VERY GRATEFUL.

Now that class is over for the day, I went to dinner and now I am going to study a little bit before I go to bed. Well only two more days left of this residency. Pretty crazy!

I love you very much and miss you!

Love ya,

Brock

St. Petersburg- Day 5

Julie,

Today hasn't been anything too exciting, but overall its been a good day. The morning started out with the Career Management Center doing a case discussion so class started an hour later than usual. That was nice because it gave me some time to sit down and do some studying for accounting and operations that I had put off.

Both classes also went really well. First we had accounting, then lunch, and then operations. Operations tended to feel like it was dragging on quite a bit, but that was more due to the fact that it was the afternoon class and not the morning class.

Class got out about 4:15pm and I decided to go out and try to find a supermarket where I could find a bunch of candy and things to bring home. What I forgot was how weird candy is packaged here. They are all saran wrapped on a foam plate like you are getting ground beef at the grocery store. AND they don't come with very many pieces. So anyway, I ended up spending 30 minutes there only to walk out with nothing... oh except for some youbollenya cookies--we'll see how they compare to lorna doones. And by the way, big side note... I realized that now that you done nursing Cole that means Milk is 100% off the list for you. Which is good cause these cookies have milk in them.

Tonight we had the CEO Event with dinner. Kirill Korniliev, the General Director or IBM Eastern Europe/Asia came and spoke to us. He was a very knowledgable guy, but boy was I having a hard time staying awake. After the speech was over, it was time for dinner. I was going to take some pictures but there really wasn't anything to take pictures of.. except maybe the food.

The funny thing about the food here is that none of it has been amazing. Everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner they essentially serve the EXACT SAME THING! Eggs, fruit, cereal, and juice in the morning. Chicken, Fish, Pork Medallions, salad, and dessert for lunch and dinner. For me it really hasn't been that bad because I have been able to eat relatively healthy and the desserts aren't even enticing. Well tonight for dinner it was like the pulled out everything they had been hiding. I didn't go overboard, but I definitely wasn't as strict with what I ate. They had prime rib, tempura shrimp, spring rolls, beef skewers, chicken skewers, fish skewers, asian beef skewers, cold shrimp, salads, vegetarian foods, and a whole table of desserts (some of which I tried and none of which ended up being very good). They even pulled out the soda they had been holding back. Usually they only give us Coke and Diet Coke and water. Well tonight (on top of the alcohol for everyone else) they had fanta, sprite, coke, diet coke and even some others. We were all just laughing about it trying to figure out where all this stuff had been the whole rest of the week we have been here.

Well that was our day. Tomorrow is going to be a beast. The worst day of all. Besides an hour break for lunch we will have class and a speaker from 8am to 6:30pm straight... ouch! Sure glad we are on the downhill now. I'm feeling a little behind in the material for the classes so I need to catch up in that, but I am glad we are winding things down.

Love you so much,


Brock

St. Petersburg- Day 4

Julie,

Well today was a good day especially after the two marathon days we had. Today our classes were only 2 hours long each and then were over by lunch time. The other good part about that is I really enjoyed both classes today. Like I said before, I think the content from these classes are going to be very useful to me, but I was nervous that I would have a hard time getting into the classes. This wasn't the case today. The only wishful thinking that I have now (which I have had throughout this program) is that I wish there was a way to apply what we are learning in class to the EXACT scenarios that I currently am facing at work. It is funny cause every professor will walk us through examples and my thoughts will be along the lines, "oh wow, that is cool, now I wonder how I can apply that to a medical practice." Because medical practices are small businesses and typically operate on cash basis as opposed to accrual basis and have their own third party payer system, they have to be thought of in a different way. Anyway, in a perfect world, I think it would be cool if each student could work with the professor to do practice problems, etc that would apply directly to their current business and industry. :)

After class, today was set up to be the corporate tour day. Usually I pick a corporation to attend, but for Russia they only gave us two options. One was a brewery (high interest to everyone else, no interest for me), and the other was the "Russian Wal-mart." So, a lot of the class decided that this would be a good time to go to the Hermitage. The Hermitage is a HUGE museum with all sorts of paintings, sculptures, armor, historical vehicles, etc.  It was originally the Winter Palace of Catherine the Great. All in all this was a dream land for Eden I am sure. For me it was a good experience. 

Here is the line we stood in for about an hour. If you can't

tell it wraps all the way along the side of the building and then

into the entrance that is all the way on that far side. Once we

got out of the shade it was HOT, so the time felt like it went

even slower, but thankfully a few of our classmates bribed 

our little group that was well ahead of the other group to let

them come up with us by buying us ice cream.

It was the first ice cream I had eaten here in Russia since coming back.

Mmmm, I forgot how much I loved the ice cream. Not a delicacy, but good!

I had a Nestle Maxibon, which was one of my favorites when I served here.

Needless to say it was a good reunion.

Once we got inside, we found out even more good news... FREE TICKETS!

Students were free to get in so luckily most of us had our Duke IDs. Sweet! That

saved me about 13 bucks!

Some of my classmates were making fun of me because when we finally got in,

we walked by a couple of rooms of art and then the first thing I pulled

out my camera for was this stairway. But can you blame me, those are a lot of stairs!

This is Rembrandt's "The Prodigal Son" 

This was the one I definitely wanted to see so

it was really cool to find it in this MASSIVE museum.

Seriously, a lot of our time was spend trying to figure out where the heck

we were going.

This is DaVinci's "Madonna with Child"

I couldn't believe how awesome these doors were. I mean they were just 

doors in a random room of a HUGE palace. Crazy!

Michelangelo's "Crouching Boy"

Can you believe these rooms, massive yet decorated/designed

down the the little details in the ceilings.

For some reason these knights on horses made me think of

Mason. I thought he would have liked it.

This was the like "When Animals Attack" room. All these pictures are HUGE

and just stacked side by side.

Monet

A few of the square in front of the Hermitage from the 2nd floor of the

Hermitage.

Van Gogh

Picasso

Wow...

Wowzer...

Wowzastic!

Needless to say the Hermitage was a great experience and a lot of fun. I was pretty exhausted from standing/walking for like 3 1/2 hours, but very glad I did it!

Well that was pretty much our day. After the hermitage, I've pretty much been at the hotel, although I also did some research on where I can go to get souvenirs and such for the family.

Now I am off to do some homework and get to bed early!

Love ya,

Brock

St. Petersburg- Day 3

Julie,

Wow and I thought yesterday felt like a long day... today was brutal! In short here was our schedule: A 3 hour class, followed by a one hour speaker, followed by a one hour lunch, followed by a three hour class, followed by an hour and half speaker, followed by dinner. Ouch! That is a lot of sitting.

I'm still getting a feel for whether or not I like these classes. I think both are very applicable, but the three hour time frames are wearing on me earlier than they usually do. I'm also a little confused with cost accounting as everything he talks about an is showing us in class is from an observation or managers view which would be nice other than I know he is going to test us on the details of how and where to calculate certain numbers. We have a midterm test the first week we get back from Russia and it is worth more of our grade than the final is and right now I am trying to figure out what the heck he is going to test us on?

Today was also our first day of operations class. I think it is going to be a good class, but today got a bad wrap cause the afternoon class is always harder to sit through than the morning class. I think there will be a lot of usual information. I know it is good when I am sitting in class thinking... ok so how can I apply this to Foot and Ankle or another medical practice I might be in? Hopefully that enthusiasm carries on.

Both speakers did an ok job today, but speaking engagements are just so much different than I expected them to be. None of the speakers really dazzle and a lot of the time I feel pretty bored (or I'm fighting to stay awake), but as I think back on it afterwards, they covered the very types of things I wanted to hear about in this region of the world. I guess it is just tough to spend an extra 2 1/2 hours sitting and listening to speakers after you have already spent 6 hours sitting and listening to lectures.

I also had a couple interesting realizations today. First was the break times we look forward to so much during class. Usually about half way through they will give us a 15 minute break. Everyone always looks forward to these, but I have found the breaks during this residency to be much different. I didn't realize what it was until part way through today. The reason the breaks haven't been as enjoyable or feel different is because every break is centered around food and the major food that is available are sugary treats like cookies and pastries. I hadn't really noticed it before, but this trip I have been really good about not eating the treats they provide (surprisingly I don't even desire them like I use to) so we get out to break and I chat with some classmates for a few minutes and then I have nothing to do. That is usually when I start glancing over at the treat table so now I usually head back in to the classroom early and check my email or facebook or something before we start up again. Nothing revolutionary, just an interesting observation I had.

The second has to do with an iron and an ironing board. Watch this video and then read further.

So to restate the video, it is crazy that a 5 star hotel would only have enough irons for like 10-15 people when they know they will be hosting 120 business students for 10 days. Oh well.

Well that was pretty much my day today. Here are a few other pictures of the hotel since that is all I have seen the last couple of days.

This is the "classroom" or hotel ballroom where I have class everyday.

This is the lobby entrance to the ballroom where we have class.

This is one of the many events screens around the hotel. As you

can tell we are monopolizing the space.

This is a view of the main lobby from the second floor.

This is the patio where I work out in the morning. The gym is right behind

where I was standing when I took the picture. Every morning so far I have 

come out here instead and done my workout (jumprope, situps, pushups, burpees, etc)

This picture didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but it is a picture of

the view from that balcony. You can see about 4 or 5 cathedrals sticking up just 

in this picture. It was amazing to me how many you could see from up there.

And my last picture...

This is the beating I've taken in Russia so far (notice the whip marks on my arm)

In reality this is the punishment I get from trying to learn

double unders.

Final side note: The housekeeping has been so weird here. LIke most hotels they leave signs that say, if you want to change the sheets leave this card on the bed and if you want new towels don't hang them up just leave them on the floor. Well today after I got back from class, I go into the bathroom to find both the hand towel and towel I used this morning hanging on the back of the door when I left both laying on the ground. It was just so funny to me. I mean what was she trying to pull... make me think that I hung them up there myself? Anyway, I just thought it was funny.

I love you so much,

Brock

St. Petersburg- Day 2

Julie,

Well sometimes it comes early and sometimes it comes late, but it ALWAYS COMES! That is the marathon day. I really hate days like today, but it sure got us back into the swing of things. Today we actually were given some "study time" in the morning so class didn't start until 11am and while most of my classmates used that time (and the first class) to sleep in after staying out all night, I was able to sleep in a little bit, workout, go to breakfast, and get some reading done for class.

The first class we had was GMI, which is the macro economics class we have been taking every term since we started. Thankfully this is the last term. We finished up talking about a few topics over 3 hours and now we never have GMI again. I am very grateful for that. That class was actually split in half with lunch right in the middle, so it was nice to get a little break half way through.

After lunch and the second half of GMI, we had our first class of managerial accounting. This is probably going to be one of the most useful classes I am taking, but 3:30pm to 6:30pm is a bad time. Right about the 4pm mark, I was fighting HARD to stay awake and I couldn't shake it until the half way mark at 5pm. Needless to say that was one of the longest hours of my life as I fought and fought to keep my eyes open. At 5pm he gave us a 15 minute break and that helped wake me up enough that I was ok the rest of the way. I'm looking forward to this class the rest of the way, but I hope I can gear myself up for it.

Oh here is a funny side note, so we have been having quite a few internet issues since we got here and the hotel staff couldn't figure out what was going on. Since we had arrived, we have crashed their server twice and they weren't sure why. Come to find out, even though they have 400 rooms and are a 5 star hotel, they only had 50 licenses for people to sign on to the server. When we arrived we typically have 118 people all trying to get on the server at the same time since we all get out of class the same time and have the same schedules. SO, supposedly tomorrow morning they will have the problem fixed. Let's hope...

Well after class was over they gave us 30 minutes to have dinner and then go to a career management class on interviewing. I ended up going to the main session at the first where we are given certain information on how to interview and then they decided to break out into smaller groups and practice. Based on how well that went in Shanghai (not well at all if you didn't guess), I decided my limited time was best used elsewhere so I left. Now it is 8pm so it will be nice to have a couple of hours to get some homework done and get to bed at a decent hour since we will be starting class early again tomorrow.

This residency has been very interesting, because I can tell I am pretty worn down at this point. I find myself being even more isolated. I still enjoy talking to my classmates and being apart of the group, but I don't mind splitting off from the group and getting things done on my schedule and timetable. I am very relieved that this will be the last international residency. I am not cut out for constant travel and although a lot of my classmates love it and travel 2 to 3 times this much for work, I could never do that. 5 international trips in 11 months has definitely worn me down. I feel like we have half way into this residency and then I look at the calendar and realize this is day 2.... wow!

Well sorry no pictures, but there wasn't much to show today. Tomorrow we will spend all day in the hotel as well so I will try to get you some pictures of the classroom and where we eat, etc.

Thanks for all your love and support.

Love,

Brock

St. Petersburg- Day 1

Julie,

Well can you believe it is the last international residency? As I sit here and contemplate it, I can't believe in the last 11 months I have been to London, Dubai, New Delhi, Shanghai, and now St. Petersburg. You have been such an amazing support through all of this. The other thing I have realized is how much closer this experience has made us. I've been here for a little over 24 hours and already I am wishing I were home with you and the boys. As much fun as it is to be in Russia, it will never be as fun as it would be with you. Having said that, I really think we made the right choice in you not coming. I want you to see Moscow--my home-- not St. Petersburg. (Plus I am VERY MUCH looking forward to our trip to Cancun!) My point in all this is that WOW! it has been a long journey and YES! we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I arrived in St. Petersburg last night around 6:30pm and as usual by the time I got to the hotel, unpacked, and took a deep breath it was time to go to bed--thankfully cause I was exhausted.
This hotel is definitely VERY NICE for Russia, but it doesn't get anywhere near matching the JW Marriott we stayed at in Shanghai. The rooms are actually kind of disappointing-- smaller rooms, small bathroom, weird half glass bathtub/shower, and two twin beds side by side instead of a king bed.

View from the doorway

Bathroom (that's the beday, not the toilet, I'm standing over the toilet taking the picture)

Notice the half glass shower thing... it only blocks enough water so your floor gets partly soaking wet :)

Bedroom-- two twins? huh? Aren't I suppose to feel like a king? :)

This morning we had orientation first at 8am followed up by a 2 hour GMI class. I learned two things, 1. Orientation is still boring, and 2. I still don't like GMI and will be very glad it is over after this term. I promise I am not trying to be negative, I think I am just becoming a little more opinionated about certain things so I can then translate that into being more decisive in some of my decision making.

After classes we were given box lunches and then it was free time and a group cultural tour. During the free time a big group of us decided to take a trip out to Peterhof to see the palace and we ended up having quite the adventure. I didn't even know the group was going to Peterhof until I got down to the lobby to go to the convenience store (had to buy some toothpaste cause I forgot to bring some) and I saw a big group of students. I ran back up to my room to get my camera and by the time I got back most of the group was gone except Dave Taylor and Johnson Tan who waited for me. They had said everyone was going to walk there so we started walking assuming we as 3 people could catch up to the big group. Apparently, however, we couldn't. We were never really sure we were going the right way but we were walking down the main historical street nevski avenue (невский проспект) so here are some of the things we saw along the way.

This is the Hermitage (Art/Cultural Museum). Our tour guide in our later tour told us that if you spent 

10 seconds looking at each picture in there that it would take you 2 weeks straight to finish.

WOW! That's a lot of pictures.

After about a 40 minute walk we made it to the hydro foil boat in order to ride to Peterhof. This is where we caught up with the rest of the group. 

The Hydro foil boat to Peterhof

Along the way there wasn't much to see, but this was kind of

cool to see the construction/maintenance area for a big ship.

After a 30 minute boat ride, we made it Peterhof. Luckily for all of this I had my student ID in my wallet, because student prices are half of the regular tourist prices. We were pressed for time, so we didn't spend a huge amount of time here, but it was definitely worth seeing. The palace is HUGE and the fountains are amazing to see. 

Me at Peterhof

This is a view from the palace looking back toward the docks where the boat dropped us off.

This is a view from the docks toward the palace.

After Peterhof, we boogied on back to the hotel so we could make it on time for the cultural tour with the Duke group. We made it back in enough time to run an errand to the store for my toothpaste and then catch the bus. The bus ride was alright and the tour guide was a funny girl that spoke funny broken english, but driving around the city gets a little old after a while. Here are some of the sites we saw.

One of many monuments

The Moscow Train Station (i.e. the portal to my homeland in Russia)

Another monument

The Cathedral of Christ and the Spilt Blood.

After the bus ride, we took this boat through the river/canals of the city. It was a cool perspective, but I didn't take many pictures because you are so low all you can really see are the sides of buildings. All in all it was a busy day with a lot of walking and touring, but it was also A LOT OF FUN! I'm glad I got to see as much of the city as I did and especially right up front so I can be sure I got to do all I wanted to.

Here are a couple of videos I shot... hopefully they load.

                                  Peterhof

                         Example of our boat tour

          (very similar to the one we did in Denmark)