GW at the 2018 World Cup

After the tour to Winter Palace, our "team" went to Peterhof. The Summer Palace of Peter the Great was built between 1710–1714 in the northeast corner of the Summer Garden that sat on an island formed by the Fontanka river, Moyka river, the Swan Canal and has the railings of its northern perimeter running along the left bank of the Neva river across from the Cabin of Peter the Great and Peter and Paul Fortress and was the first palace built in Saint Petersburg.

From the pictures you can see the golden decoration of fountains and palaces. By the river there were seagulls everywhere. We feed them with leftovers and the cuties all came to us flying around and around. It was really beautiful scene.

As my classmates all begin to leave this beautiful country, I am missing them but feeling so greatly to still have 2 weeks left in Russia! From here on out I can watch the games (and fanfest) from my Airbnb window, attend more matches, and take in more of the amazing culture Russia, and the world of soccer, both have to offer!

 

There were only 3 undergraduate students in our group, including myself. At first, I was pretty nervous about the wide variety of ages we traveled with, and the potential challenges this presented. But, as time went on and we all grew closer, I realized that our varying ages we’re part of the beauty of this trip! There was so much we could learn from our older classmates and instructors, personally and professionally, and I know our trip wouldn’t have been as worthwhile for me if we were actually all close in age!

Today was my last day in Russia. I made lots of friends and had so much fun. I’d like to thank everyone who helped make this trip possible, as well as the instructors and my classmates who came along on the trip. You guys made it awesome.

The architecture of the Saint Petersburg stadium was really unique. It looked like a UFO had landed right on the island that the stadium was located on. It was also interesting that usually when you are near stadiums you can hear he crowd but this one you couldn’t. The stadium was completely sealed with doors from the sides, with the only opening of the stadium coming from the top. Inside it was a massive display, where every seats was a good seat in the house.

The nights in Saint Petersburg really are “White Nights”. I can’t remember a time where I truly saw the sun go down, nor did I see a time where there were not a lot of people out. The picture above was takin at 1am, yet the sky is still lit and the people of Saint Petersburg are still out and about.

To be honest, I am very excited about this World Cup Trip in Russia. Besides my motherland, China, and the

USA, Russia will be the third country I am going to visit. Before taking off in Beijing, there were many thoughts about Moscow and Russian people coming into my mind, but almost everything was changed once I have arrived here. This giant city is huge and definitely open for the international tourists. The public transport is effective; the street is clean, and the downtown Moscow is beautiful.   I will keep exploring this city and country in the following couples of days.

Saying goodbye to Russia, saying goodbye to the World Cup  and saying good to this happy family. Although most of us can still meet each other in dc, the feeling will not be the same, since we’re in a totally unacquainted city right now. I will cherish this memory for the rest of my life! I love you all!

My most impressive memory of summer palace is their fountains, there are literally fountains everywhere, and each of them are in different shapes. I’m really glad that those beautiful fountains survived from numerous wars, it would be a pity if that scene destroyed by wars.