from russia with blog: Countdown and Korean Food

Wow. Today is May 29th. I'm leaving Russia in exactly one month, which is somewhat incomprehensible to me. When I first arrived late June seemed so far in my future that it was difficult to imagine, and now it's right around the corner. I have so many good friends here... I can't imagine not seeing all of them every day, but in 31 days that's exactly what's going to happen. It's scary. I'm also sad about leaving Russia, especially not knowing when I'll be back. I'm sure I *will* be back to this country at some point, but I know that at the very least it's not going to be for a few years (unless I make it from Daegu to Vladivostok sometime, but Vladivostok is so vastly different from Vladimir that even that wouldn't be the same!). I am very excited about returning home, seeing my friends and family and cats again... not to mention seeing my new house for the first time :-) I'm planning to spend the bulk of July cleaning, painting, gardening and scavenging for thrift store furniture, which sounds like tons of fun to me. But it's just weird to think about living somewhere other than Vladimir, hanging out with people other than the AH crowd. And of course, I'll only be in the States for approximately one month before taking off again, this time to Daegu, South Korea.

I'm really excited about returning to Korea... and today made that excitement even more intense. Y, goddess that she is, made us a fabulous Korean dinner. She made Bibimpap (a dish of rice mixed with yummy meat and veggies and hot red pepper paste) and those delicious Korean-pancake things that I can never remember the name of... It was delicious. As the ingredients were all purchased here in Russia, it didn't look exactly like bibimpap does in Korea, but it certainly tasted just right. And the fact that the red pepper paste was genuine (horded from previous Korean Air flights, no less!) gave it that extra kick that is so sorely lacking in Russian foods. For dessert, Brooke had the foresight to purchase apricots, strawberries and icecream at the market this morning, so the whole feast ended splendidly.