Ice bucket challenge?! No, just Easter in Slovakia.

I took a picture of family whips from willow tree (three different styles which each man/boy can make by himself – at least one type).

“Women hate Easter, men love it.”

Based on the headline probably it sounds a bit strange, but it is our tradition and I will tell you about it later. We celebrate Easter for 5 days – from Thursday until Monday. Every day has its name and importance: Holly Thursday (Green Thursday); Good Friday (Big Friday); Holy Saturday (White Saturday); Easter Sunday and Easter Monday in Slovakia. This year Easter Monday was on 12^th April, but it is moveable holiday which depends on first Sunday after the first full moon and the spring equinox. Do you eat on Green Thursday something green too? Mainly spinach or different type of green vegetable.

Abakan

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A train from Krasnoyarsk to Abakan travels 400km. A ticket costs £10.20.A train from London to Edinburgh also travels 400km. A ticket costs £74.Which ticket is better value? Show your working.

My colleagues gave me a day off in return for working in the nursery in the mornings, so I decided to go to Abakan with Masha. Her and Max’s grandparents live there. Her grandma had already come to visit me and Max back in December, and we got on well. She was an English teacher in the rather provincial neighbouring region of Khakassia back in the Soviet Union, but she’d managed to go through her life without ever meeting a native speaker, which made me feel very special. I promised to go out and visit her before I left, and this was my last opportunity.

Baikal ♥

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It was 12:38pm and my journey started with 18 hours being in train to see beautiful Baikal lake. I arrived on Monday morning in Irkutsk and my way was from bus station directly to Olkhon island. My plan was staying there for 2 days and the second day I had to come back to Irkutsk (after that day I had flight really early morning to Moscow) and my plan was also Listvyanka.

You cannot enter this country

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading around the Europe and all the world, but we did not expect it will end like this. We can see now messages “get home as soon as possible” or “tickets were cancelled” or “you are not allowed to enter the country because you are not citizen of it, or you do not have resident permit”. Yes, those sentences we read and heard last days.

Taiga in Taiga?

Bogoroditse-Alekseyevskiy Muzhskoy Monastyr’

Bogoroditse-Alekseyevskiy Muzhskoy Monastyr’

How did my journey start to Tomsk? Before coming to Russia I had to do all documents etc. I got contact on 2 Slovaks in Tomsk, so I contacted them and we helped each other. They are volunteers in Tomsk by same program – European Solidarity Corps. Since then we are in everyday contact with one of them – but we were just in online contact – we have never met before, but we admited, we have to visit each other when we are so close (if we look on that distance with Russian eyes, not Slovak – then it would be too far away like from one side of Slovakia to another if we want to visit each other). As you can see on the pictures – on the left side there is Slovakia (connection of home towns) and Russia on the left (for comparison where we live now)

Half here

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What I was doing from January 16^th as I came to Krasnoyarsk?

After two days I came, Julia offered us horse-drawn sledge ride in suburb of Krasnoyarsk. We dediced – yes for sure! Theo, Julia and me went to Julia’s house and later we were sitting on sledge surrounded by beautiful landscape. Julia was right when she said it will be cold there, because yeah it was but it worth it absolutely. Really beautiful view when two horses – son and daugther of horse who rode the sledge were running around. Awesome experience.

Half there

Do you remember I wrote I had to prolong my stay in Slovakia and I was upset about it?

Yeah, the sign I saw in Moscow was right! Всё будет хорошо. Not only that but thanks for it that I stayed at home longer I could see my ex-classmate from high school after 6 years. You can not imagine how I was happy to see her because she lives in Scotland since we finished school. As you see, even it looked horrible at the beginning, everything was good in the end. But I have to admit it was long time being home so I really look forward going back to Krasnoyarsk!

Катание с хаски

Да, серёзно. Я приехал в Сибир, и катался на санках с хаски.  Представьте, насколько мои друзья в Англии были в восторге.

«А разве ты не катаешься с хаски каждый день, чтобы добраться до работы? Через замороженное озеро?»

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Почему Сибирь?! Why Siberia?!

«Почему Сибирь?!»

Я перестала считать, сколько раз у меня спрашивали этот вопрос. Мои родители, одноклассники и учителя в Австрии, а так же почти каждый новый знакомый здесь задаёт мне этот вопрос. Ну да, это странно. Что ищет молодая ученица из Австрии в огромном, холодном сердце России? Попробую объяснить своё решение.

Мой первый русский Новый Год

В России, Новый Год – это самый большой праздник года. Это как Рождество в Великобритании, но с фейерверками. Я решил оставаться в Красноярске для Нового Года, отчасти из любопитства, и отчасти потому что я не смог позволить себе авиабилеты. Но моя скупость была вознаграждена: Ноый Год был очень весело!