Moscow

The semester in Moscow was an awesome experience. We got to do practically everything there is to do there. We arrived in Demadedova airport during a cloudy day. On that tay we did practically nothing. Just getting settled in. The next day the fun began. We got to go to hotel Kosmos to see a show that depicted the history of Russia through dance.. And we were off and running. Aside from class we took regular trips to museums, ballets, and theaters. We visited famous writers' homes and, I particularly, spent a lot of time on the red square.
One of my classes was scheduled everyday and ran from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. All we did in this class was read. The professor would hand us an article or a completion assignment and we would have to solve it orally, on the fly. This helped develop my Russian conversation skills beyond my wildest dreams.
And now. The part you'd all been waiting for. The people..
Russian culture is dramatically different than that of our own. The first impression is dreadful. But as I learned very quickly, first impressions of Russians are not very reliable. They are a tricky people. They say, "yes" when they mean, "maybe", and they say, "no", when they mean, "yes". They are kind of stand offish at first but warm up quicker than anyone in the US.
In the month that I spent there I acquired more friends than you can shake a stick at. (As if there were a perfect number of friends that it is OK to shake a stick at and I'd gone over that limit.)
I made friends in the classrooms, in the subways, in the streets, in the grocery store, and every other place I went. These people are so open to Americans. I actualy could say that I now have several friends in Russia that are truer than many of my friends in America. They spent a lot of time with me and would protect me at the drop of a hat.