By: Gisele Greaux

Panic. Pure panic. That’s how I felt last week when I realized that I would soon be in a foreign country where I won’t know anyone, I can’t speak the language, and I don’t exactly have the funds to do all the things that I want to do. I also realized I haven’t done much research like I planned to do and it bothers me considering that I’m going to be in a land with such rich history and beautiful architecture without knowing much about it.

You see, I had every intention of becoming an expert of all things Russian (I’m going to St. Petersburg, in case you were wondering) before June 28 came about, but one thing popped up after the other and voila! It’s June 27 and I’ve got nothing.

I’m not worried, though. After panicking for a moment, I calmed down because it kind of doesn’t matter. I might not have done research prior but that won’t stop me from learning all that I can during the trip. In my opinion, we learn best when we have to survive and I’m used to just going to new places without much prior knowledge. I don’t feel ill prepared at all; I contacted my banks to let them know I’ll be overseas using my cards, I looked up the contact information of the nearest French embassy in St. Petersburg in case of emergencies, and I’ve made arrangements for my house and car to be taken care of while I’m gone.

I definitely feel like this is the most organized I’ve been before a trip–I usually just throw some clothes in a suitcase and go. I even packed my bag on Wednesday instead of the night before like I always do (thank goodness I did though, I ended up leaving to Atlanta on Thursday). Time to go to Mother Russia!