The Beginnings of Winter in Vladimir, Russia

     After completing my internship in Bishkek, I moved to Vladimir, a small historical city in Russia, to work for a company called The American Home. As you can see, the building actually looks like an American home. 

     Our fall semester is quickly coming to an end. In general, this means piles of journals and quizzes to grade, but it also means snow has come for good. As one who has lived in the South for half of her life, the first day of snow was exciting and terrifying. Usually, two fallen snowflakes in North Carolina bring about school delays, bank closures, and a massive rush to buy all of the bread and milk in the grocery stores. Luckily, I am not the only teacher from the South. We all comiserated the day we looked out the window, saw three inches of snow, and gasped as the trolley buses were still working. 

      Now that we have become accustomed to the snow, I've begun to notice that there are vast differences in snowfalls. In North Carolina, we just have the big, slow, falling flakes that encourage you to grab an oversized sweater and some hot chocolate. But in Russia,during the “warm” winter nights, you can sometimes see glittery snow. It’s the kind of snow you would see in old 1940s or 1950s Hollywood films (but probably in those cases it was actual glitter). It’s the kind that is perfect for a jaunt around your Soviet apartment block.