Hi there, all. I'm experiencing reverse culture shock here in the US. Everyone speaks English! (Well, not really.) The PA system folks at airports speak English as though they were native speakers! (Well, most of …

I'm in D.C., and I'm about to leave for Minneapolis and subsequently SFO. I'll be glad to see the people who are meeting me at the gate -- right now, as far as I know, …

And yet, I Can't Stop Leaving St. Petersburg! I hit Frankfurt tonight, then leave there the next day and arrive in Washington, D.C. on Monday afternoon local time. Then I leave D.C. on Tuesday morning …

Today I went to Novgorod, basically an old city in Russia. It was founded more than a thousand years ago. And playing at the movie theater there: Moulin Rouge. Tomorrow I leave St. Petersburg and …

Wow, The Onion actually has some really funny headlines today. I won't spoil it by actually reading the stories, though. About three days left in St. Petersburg. I'm just falling further and further behind in …

Possibly the most interesting and relaxing thing I've done here in Russia is spend lots and lots of time in cemeteries. Today was the last time, I'm pretty sure. I leave St. Petersburg in only …

Today, a bit about dreams and funny quotes from here in St. Petersburg. I leave on Sunday. Yesterday: "That's a war bookstore." Okay, I'm not going to tell y'all why it's funny, but it is. …

Here's the second part of my Solovki travelogue. This promises to be longish, overall, when done. Part I was here. Thursday: We Arrive. The next morning, I had no hangover that I could tell -- …

First of all, this Modern Humorist story made me laugh a great deal, and I'm quite grateful. Second of all, I saw a Britney Spears matryoshki doll today. No, not kidding. It was inevitable, I …

One brand of mineral water available here in Russia is -- it says right here on the bottle -- blessed by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. (When John discovered this, he said, "I …