In 18 days, I'll finally have a life again.

I love my time at home with my family but I'm not a small town person and I absolutely disagree with my father's sentiment that family is all you need in life. I know he's had his own difficulties in life but my friends are invaluable to me. They're kind of an extension of family but I get to choose them. 

But amongst all my excitement, I admit I'm also terrified. Starting a life all over again is an ordeal and a half. It's a new culture, I don't know ANYONE, I don't know the city, etc. It took me a while to start to get used to things in Czech. I spent about 2 years there and I didn't find a good friend until I was about ready to leave. It got really lonely for me at times and I'm really thankful for those friends and family members that kept me company. 

And I know things will be fine in Russia and I needn't worry. I make friends easily enough (really good friends are a different story but here's hoping), I'll go for walks around the city and learn my way around, and I'll start to get used to the culture. I'm more capable of these things than I sometimes give myself credit for. But I'm hoping now that I've done it once already, it will be a little easier the second time around.