Last day of our acquaintance

So today is the day when I'll leave Moscow and Russia behind. It might have been more of an epic story if I'd leave Moscow directly for London and UK but a nice cooling down in the lonesome Nordic corner that many people know as Finland appears to be quite vital for me at this point (after three months of Moscow, yeah!).

Now it's time for me to gather some thoughts of my time here in Moscow. Firstly, I ended up in this city very suddenly and even slightly to my own astonishment (mainly due to the amount of work and study I had in the hectic rat race back in Helsinki last spring). Secondly, as I already wrote in June, I continued to live within two different bubbles (in the embassy and at my friends Night and Troll) throughout the whole summer. Thirdly, my life in Moscow very quickly adopted a certain pattern (off to work, off to home, off to sleep) it followed the whole time I was in the city. This pattern did not break but only had few pauses while I was twice in Yaroslavl' and once in St.Petersburg. 

I came back from Yaroslavl' on Sunday with some great ideas that came to my head while I spent a sleepless night on Saturday. Basically what happened was that I was finally able to pick a career I want to pursue. And the one (and the only logical one) I see ahead of me is the one of a teacher. Not any teacher though but a teacher of languages (Russian + Finnish or perhaps English). So, what I need to do about this is to give it a little more thought (find out about the possibilities to realize this in my home university) and sign in and undertake two entrance exams next spring.

Also, these last few days here in Moscow have turned out to be, frankly, the very best days of this summer. Why exactly? Well, let it suffice to say that I've had the pleasure to enjoy the company of an extraordinary girl ('extraordinary' due to her ability to stand me for virtually all the time!). During these last few days we've had some really good time together starting with a house party in Uhtomskaya (where I live) and ending with an evening cruise on the Moskva river. Here I have two pictures for you:

Kremlin (on the right-hand side) at dusk

Me on the waves and in dreamy weather.
'

So, I'll leave this city and this country within few hours in a mix of both enthusiasm (of all the things awaiting me) and sadness (for all the good things I've had experienced in Moscow) with the words of Sinéad O'Connor:  
'

This is the last day of our acquintance
I will meet you later in somebody's office
I'll talk but you won't listen to me
I know your answer already
'

The reason for these particular words remains with a number of experiences and phenomenons I've had to come across almost every single day while in Moscow (some of them being but not limiting to such things as overpopulation and overcrowdedness, bureaucracy that by my reckoning is way closer to idiocracy and inefficiency of most public service, but most of all scrupulous, self-absorbed and indifferent people I had to serve, attend, work with and meet on a daily basis). Without being too bitter I must confess that I've had enough of Russia for quite some time and I also need some time on my own to put my thoughts (and myself) back together after this rattle.

But on the other hand I'm certainly (from overall perspective) happy with my summer in the Russian capital. Firstly, I've met and befriended some amazing people not just from the embassy but also some Muscovites and few people from around the world. I'm also very grateful to my friends Night and Troll who allowed me to stay with them and even took good care of me by providing me with an astonishing environment in which to live on the outskirts of Moscow city. And thirdly I wouldn't have missed these last days in Moscow for the world: I've regained some of my past self-confidence and even few of my older more romantic ideas of life in general. And all these aforementioned things neither I nor anyone else can measure in money or gold simply because they are few pieces of the mosaic that make up the pattern and the picture of my life.

Yours & ready for departure,

Stefan