Base Camp

For those of you who may need a refresher, this is Tim Huether's blog that I started for my junior fall semester abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia. Right now I'm here in Saint Louis for a couple of weeks before I fly out two Tuesdays from now, on August 26th. I got home to St. Louis last Saturday, the 9th, after a fun summer in DC. The idea was to get everything ready for the big trip while I'm at home, but as usual, I've done a pretty good job of procrastinating so far. But enough of the day-to-day, I doubt anyone wants to read that and if they do want to know about it, they can just ask me.
I decided to set up this blog both as a journal of my experiences for myself, and also so that my friends and family can keep track of how I'm doing easily. I will do my best to convey how life abroad is on me, and it will be great to live for a while in a culture with a completely different point of view of the international system and American hegemony.
So maybe a little bit about why I'm going to Russia in the first place, because whenever I mention studying abroad there, many people immediately ask, "why?" Indeed, nowadays more people are surprised at someone venturing to Russia than to China or the Middle East for studying abroad.
I must say that my interest in Russia wasn't all deliberate. I began studying Russian as a freshman in high school, a choice made out of my desire to be different and unique as much as anything else. Here I am, six years later, with no regrets about that decision. I have, in my opinion, been very fortunate to see Russia regain some of its lost importance on the world stage over the past few years, and I think that the Russian population is one that is still very misunderstood by the West. I definitely don't claim to have a good understanding or Russia, but hopefully this trip will help.
For reference, St. Petersburg time is 9 hours ahead of central, 8 hours ahead of eastern. I just got skype, my name is Heathrow143. I'm not sure how much Internet access I'll have, but hopefully I will be able to keep in touch with everyone pretty easily. I am hoping to write some snail mail letters back and forth as well, so give me your addresses in the comments if you're interested and I'll provide mine as soon as I know it in another post (I'll be living with a host family but won't know which one or where I'll live until I get there).
If you want me to try to find something out, have a question about Russian culture you want me to try to answer, or want me to pick something Russian up for you while I'm there, write a comment or shoot me an email at tjhuether@gmail.com (no guarantees, I only have so much room in the suitcases).
Lastly, the title of the blog: Timswindowtothewest. Peter the Great always wanted a warm-water port, and following a war with Sweden he was able to take the land that St. Petersburg is built on. Shortly after the war he started construction of a new, European-style capital, St. Petersburg, in 1703, requiring massive amounts of labor to drain the swamp on which it is built. Peter the Great was striving for a "Window on the West," trying to make Russia look western to the great European powers as a model for future development. So, too I will try to look through the Russian perspective at the West during this trip. A corny name I know, but it was as good any I suppose.
First blog post done, I'll be writing again but possibly not until I get to St. Petersburg. This was pretty disorganized and just stream of consciousness, so hopefully in the future these will be more organized and thought-out.