Petersburg Time

Hello, thank you for joining me.
I have been rather preoccupied these last two weeks with a teacher training course, specifically an iTEFAL course. The theory part is now over, and the teaching practice awaits. There have been disturbing rumours about my specific school being disaffiliated from the international group of Benedict schools, but what with bureaucracy here I'm not too worried. And then there are private, or to use a phrase with a nice ring to it, 'corporate' classes. I have been lucky to meet a very useful contact in the teaching profession, and have been given several opportunities to take private and better paid classes, and am currently beginning organising some of them.
The sunny weather has rather worn off here, and a grey haze of mist, pollution and cloud hangs over the city, in the streets and over the Straights of Finland. The temperature seems to be experimenting, occasionally dipping briefly towards low single figures, and then rising to just about comfortable levels again. It is more reminiscent of England, but the difference will surely be in the extremes here- the temperature will probably reach minus twenty before Christmas.
I have managed to not entirely deprive myself of alcohol over the last couple of weeks, and have met a few more friends around the city- although not large numbers of Russians. Most bars here stay open 'til about 6 in the morning, which makes late risings very tempting. Discipline Firmin, discipline!
I have also visited a few more landmarks, including the Peter and Paul Fortress, several cathedrals, and Peterhoff. This invariably meant exploring more parts of the city in the process, so the general education is always active and usually interesting. There are also several stories running in the news at the moment, relating to Russian foreign affairs- esp. Georgia and Belaruss, and partly Ukraine (as usual). These are tempting to use for some coursework I have to do, and the political angle is always interesting. More later.
Have to wrap this up here, but will endeavor to fill you in on the finer details soon.
Ciao.