As the last few months of college drew to a close, I suddenly realized that I would soon have to work for a living. A lot of my friends had spent the entire four years devising a plan as to how they might "make it" after school. Some of my friends had more "reasonable" majors, like graphic design or had gotten their teaching certificate. Others had large amounts of inheritance money to rely on.
My plan? Make art and travel the world. How? Not real sure, but I'm sure I'll figure something out?
I eventually landed on the idea that I would teach English abroad, and concentrate on my photography in my spare time. I saved my money, sold my car and signed up for an TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) class in Morocco. I was in love with the idea of Morocco. I watched movies that took place there. I collected travel books about it. I read every piece of fiction that took place in Morocco. I practiced my French, and bought my airplane ticket.
Less than a month before I was supposed to leave, there was a bombing in Marrakesh, and my TEFL class was canceled. I was left with the following options: wait another six months for the next class. Do the same class in Prague. Do the same class in St. Petersburg.
I chose Russia. I knew very little about Russia, but my reasoning was this. Russia was exotic, and far away, and I felt like getting a long term Visa there was a rare opportunity. So I bought a book, an airplane ticket and was off to St. Petersburg just a few weeks later.
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