Chapter the First, Section Kappa: Getting There, Part IV (now with UPDATES!)

As I type this, I'm sitting on my bed, in my apartment, in St. Petersburg, in Russia. Wooo!

The final flight was delayed a little bit; I think some guy got held up for lack of sufficient ID or something, but that was it. No serious weather issues or anything; we landed only about 20 minutes late. And then I made myself personally another 10-15 minutes later, because I'm a dumbass and it took me five or six tries before I filled out the migration card correctly (all I had was a pen, the blanks are tiny). I got through passport control just before they shut down the luggage carousel for my flight; my big red suitcase was the very last one on the conveyor belt, but I got it and found the guy sent to pick me up pretty quickly. A wheel broke off while he was hauling the suitcase to his van, but now that I'm in the apartment I don't think I'll need to move it again. And it's not that heavy. I guess I'm buying luggage at some point before I leave, anyway; that red suitcase should really just be retired. It's served admirably over the years, but the hard plastic lining inside has almost completely broken off, and now it's missing a wheel.

Before arriving, I had looked at maps of St. Petersburg and came to the extremely erroneous conclusion that it would not be difficult to navigate. See, I made the fatal mistake of assuming that they actually mark streets here in more than one location. The longer we drove around, the more disoriented I got, although part of that could have been from the sun going down and the tinted windows in the van. We eventually found my apartment, though.

I have four roommates. I've met two of them, and after my typical fashion, have already forgotten their names. I am a terrible person. There's a guy who isn't here right now for reasons I'm not entirely sure of, and another girl who is supposed to arrive tonight. Their names are Alex, Liz, Jorge and Corinne. Alex and Liz are both from Michigan and were here when I arrived; Jorge is from Iowa, and was out shopping when I got here as a way to avoid cleaning; and Corinne is from Texas, but she goes to school in Washington state, and arrived a couple hours after I did. If anyone is concerned about a man living among four women: there's nothing to worry about, as Jorge is very, very gay. It's like Three's Company, plus two people and minus the sexual tension and occasional appearance by Don Knotts. Jorge has offered-slash-threatened to take me (and Corinne) with him out to a gay bar; I actually think that would be pretty fun, just not tonight. He's fun to be around, though, as are the other girls.

I got here first, so I got first pick of the remaining beds. After talking with Alex and Liz for a while I retired to my room and sent the requisite "made it here alive, please don't start calling Eric in a panic" email, which if you're reading this means you probably got it. :) Once I'm done typing this post up, I think I'll take a shower...if I can. Of course I had to forget something important; to that end, I'm almost certain I don't have a bath towel (in addition to also managing to forget the toothpaste somehow, unless I derped and put that in another suitcase for some reason). I'm sure one can be purchased somewhere nearby, but I don't want to go back outside tonight...and I really, really want a shower. :( That'll teach me to doubt my roommates; there are extra towels, so I ended up getting clean after all, yay! The shower is kind of fiddly; there's a very, very narrow margin of error when it comes to positioning the handle. Mere millimeters to the left or right gets you boiling or frigid water, though it didn't take me too long to find the "sweet spot" as it were. I just don't know how long the hot water lasts. Guess I'll find out eventually; Corinne and I have to get up relatively early tomorrow and head down to the Vasileostrovskaya metro station with Liz to meet a guy for our orientation, where we'll get phones and get our classes finalized. I'm not sure which one I'm looking forward to more.

QUICK STATUS:
Headcold: [Swear word] [swear word] [swear word] [swear word] [swear word]. I'm just going to stock up on tissues at first opportunity.
Excite-O-Meter: 6/10. I'm here, the reality is still settling in, but I'm also tired and dirty and cold. I'll be more excited after tomorrow, when my schedule and everything is finalized.
Revised Excite-O-Meter: 9/10. Talking to Jorge and Alex got me pretty excited to start classes, and now that I'm relatively settled in and I know who I'm living with I can tell this semester is going to be memorable.

Chapter the First, Section Alpha: Getting There, Part I

At the time of writing, I'm sitting in the Orlando International Airport, killing time in the lobby of Terminal B, because my flight leaves in an hour and 45 minutes. I'm probably going to get some lunch before I head out to my specific terminal.

I feel naked without my phone in my pocket. Every so often I'll do a possessions check--you know, pat my pockets and make sure I have every little thing. And when I don't feel my phone or my keys, I have a small heart attack before remembering that 1) my phone is in the very capable hands of my little sister, and 2) my keys are in my backpack because I don't need them right now. I wish I had it; I'd much rather kill time by texting my friends than writing up this post in Notepad to upload later, because there are no unsecured wifi networks in this lobby.

Where to begin? Once Galen and I actually found a [swear word] parking space, we began the long and arduous journey to the check-in counter. I headed to Lufthansa's counter where, to my dismay, there was nobody; I asked an employee and she said the desk didn't open until 5. Cue the first minor hiccup of the day. I checked my itinerary again, and it turns out the first flight (Orlando to Charlotte) is operated by US Airways, so I was able to check in at their counter (all the way at the other [swear word] end of the building). As we approached the US Airways counter, I saw a massive line and my heart sank...and then I felt better as we moved past it, because those people were checking in on different airlines. There was almost no line at the US Airways counter, and I was able to check my big suitcase all the way through to St. Petersburg. I got my three boarding passes, thanked the lady, and started the inexorable march toward THE SECURITY CHECKPOINT.

Mom, you'll be glad to know I made it through security without incident. I picked a line that didn't send me through the backscatter machine (those are the X-ray machines that I find to be an incredible breach of privacy, so here's hoping I'll remain so lucky), I wasn't scowling the entire time, and everything progressed very smoothly. The line was a bit long, but I wasn't waiting more than about 15 minutes and I was through and collecting my belongings again in all of two minutes.

Apparently, though, the Orlando International Airport believes that chewing gum is Public Enemy No. 1, because there isn't a stick of it to be found in the entire airport. I must have circled the counter of the airport convenience store three times looking for gum, and finding nothing but mints and candy. Well, okay then. I got some Altoids, hopefully those will help.

I've still got a good hour and a half or so to kill before my flight boards, but I've parked myself in a relatively comfortable chair in front of the Arrival/Departure boards. Waiting on US Airways Flight 1722, departing 1:50 PM EST, January 31, 2012.

QUICK STATUS:
Headcold: Still sniffly, occasional sneezing. Doing OK overall.
Excite-O-Meter: 3/10. Maybe it's because I haven't left yet, but I'm mostly missing my friends and family at the moment. I'm excited, but it's kind of on an abstract level right now, if that makes sense (it doesn't).