Posted by Ksenia
When I got back home from Kiev I spent about a week in Moscow mainly meeting various friends – from Russia and the UK (well, they are all from Russia to be precise).
One my very good friend from my Bellerbys GCSE class also lives in Moscow but it’s the first time the two of us found time to meet each other during the summer. There was so many things to do in my home city - shops, cinema, cafes and even my first driving lessons (not really lessons – but my mum allowed me to try on her car – at first I was scared to death that I will run into something, but after a few times I began to enjoy it!) so as usual I did not noticed how the time went by. But the next trip was already waiting for me – I finally decided that I don’t want to live in the residence during my first year at university so I had to start looking for some sort of accommodation - more precisely a flat to rent.
The best way to do it was to go the London and see everything on my own. We went there with my father who was obviously the brains of our little group and the one to make all the important decisions. We found the flat I’ll be renting this and probably the two following years. It is unfurnished so my mum and I are going back to London for a week again on the 10th to buy all the important stuff. The flat itself is quite nice, not too big, not too small (at least for London), just a few meters from tube station but the window are facing the other way so it is perfectly quiet up there. This factor was very important for me - back home in Russia our family lives on the 13th floor and in Brighton my room was facing St Anne’s Gardens so I got very used to sleep with open windows without any noise. It’s very close to Chiswick with all the shops as well and the kitchen is small but very modern – in other way it is a perfect match for me!
I got back exactly on time for my best friend’s birthday party. The celebration wasn’t a usual one. My friend organized a car to take us (me and four other girls) to the countryside where we were going to fly on a balloon. The traffic was quite heavy as it was Friday and everyone was leaving Moscow but we were chatting all the time so it wasn’t a problem. It was a very special feeling when we got inside the basket and started to take off. It was nothing comparing to what I felt in the usual plane – here we were really flying! We reached the height of 720 meters and went up and down a few times – from there the views were really fantastic.
The duration of the flight was one hour but we barely noticed it as a few bottles of champagne were there waiting for us and everyone wanted to say a few kind words to the birthday girl and wish her once more a happy birthday. The landing was fun as well – very smoothly we stopped on some field and continued to take pictures and drink champagne until the car arrived to take us to one of the Moscow lounges.
On the way back I even felt a little pity for our drivers – for an hour or so we were talking really loudly, laughing and singing all the songs that was played on the radio. In the lounge we met up with a few other friends and continued partying till late.
The next day we went to a restaurant to celebrate again with her relatives (except, my friend, I was the only person to be on the two parties). The place was nice and I really felt as a part of a family as I already knew everyone and everyone knew me. A very special present was waiting for the birthday girl there as well – they made a video where her entire family was singing a song wishing her all the best in her future life. That was very sweet especially to see her little brother and usually serious father rapping).
I am trying not to forget my own family as well and spend with them more time as I don’t see them for the major part of the year. Every weekend we go to the countryside with my parents where I am mainly collecting berries (and eating them straight away) and reading books (the pastime I missed the most in Brighton – simply did not have time for anything excepting science books). I even had a chance to meet my distant relatives from Ukraine who came for a few days - I’ve never seen them before and was very pleased learn that I have a cousin who is the same age as me.
Enjoy your summer everyone!!! UK is waiting for us)
Comments