In January 1998 I went to St. Petersburg to study for 4 months (I left January 22 and got back May 15). During that time I saw and experienced many things. I turned 21 in Russia but that mere addition to my age doesn't come near to describing the growth that I underwent during that time. I learned at lot of things about people and about myself during that time. These pages are an attempt at recording some of the things I experienced and my thoughts from the time. It's taken me awhile to be able to sit down and write these pages (It's getting close to a year since I left) but I think that the time was needed in order to come to terms with some of my experiences. In another way, I don't think I've fully come to terms with the events that happened there and these pages are part of an attempt to do so.
Because of the length of this material, I've chosen to break it down into various "chapters" which will each cover some part of the trip. Unfortunately, my sense of chronology is a bit off now and so some events are probably presented out of order.