I cannot recall when last I had a window seat when flying. I usually book an aisle seat but as this flight was during the day, I chose a window seat instead. Wow! The views are amazing. I watched the clouds go from soft and fluffy to hard and tightly woven. They almost looked like hard white mountains. They certainly did not have the whimsical feel to them that the soft, fluffy clouds have.

I saw planes pass us and ships dot the ocean and a couple of islands that looked pretty deserted.

Oleg, the school's driver, was at the airport holding up my name for all to see, very hard to miss him or should I say my name. He told me as I introduced myself that his English is not good so we walked in silence to the car and as we left the airport and got onto the highway, he mentioned in his best English that the traffic was difficult and it would take us 2 hours. I still wasn't sure where we were heading as I did try and ask but he couldn't understand. I guessed my apartment as our TOA was estimated to be around 23:00. I was surprised to see quite how heavy the traffic was so late at night but I have since been told this is common for Russia.

We arrived at the school, I recognised it from the photos the school had sent to me and we were met by four Russian ladies. They whisked me into the kitchen and made me fried eggs on bread and coffee and then prompty signalled to me to follow them and up we went to the third floor of the school which I then realised is where I will be sleeping... my sleeping quarters!

The third floor is basically in the ceiling part of the house as all houses in Russia are build in a "A" shape because of the snow in winter. My room is fairly large and all my things only take up half so I have a lot of wasted space right now which I'm sure I'll fill up in no time. I have internet and a desk in my room. The school went out and bought me new bedding, really pretty. Beige with pale blue stripes and a leaf design in black and white. I have my own bedroom but share a bathroom with a couple of the other Russian teachers.

After being shown my room, I was told to be downstairs at 9:00 for breakfast and classes would start at 9:30 sharp!