Shocking!

As soon as I landed on American soil, it was as if I had forgotten every English word and all the rules for putting them into a sentence at once! It was a total disaster! Not only could I not utter a word, but I also couldn't understand American speech by ear at all at first! It was just awful! I even cried at the airport out of helplessness! This problem lasted for about two weeks! Interestingly, I chatted perfectly fine with my roommates from Thailand and China; it was specifically the Americans who posed a difficulty for me! The conclusion is simple: study, study, and study English again BEFORE arriving in the States!

For some reason, everyone thinks that in an environment of native speakers, you start picking it up on the fly! Perhaps when your English is already at a very, very decent level, the American environment will help you quickly hone your pronunciation and absorb some common American idioms!

But if your English is weak, keep in mind that grammar and new vocabulary won't just magically enter your head! Watch movies, cartoons in American English, try to understand the meaning of songs by ear, watch video lessons from various bloggers, Irina Shipilova for example (http://www.youtube.com/user/EnglishGermanSpanish), or there is an excellent channel with everyday vocabulary from an American named Ronnie (http://www.youtube.com/user/EnglishLessons4U) - it's all absolutely free, in short, improve your English however you can so you don't cry from despair like I did))

I traveled and traveled and finally arrived)

After a long journey Penza - Moscow - Milan - New York - Charleston - Folly Beach, I finally reached my workplace. They put me in a comfortable two-story apartment with all amenities, furniture, a TV, and it was in a beautiful condominium with a pool, flowers, and palm trees. From the balcony, I watched dolphins every day and went swimming in the pool before work! I didn't pay that little for it, $450 for a spot in a room for three. But there was nothing else to choose from...

I talked to my roommates: at first, they were students from Thailand, the most friendly people I have ever met; they treated me to Thai food and told me about the Thai way of life! Super girls! Then the Thai girls left, and Chinese girls arrived! Small, fragile girls, each looking like they were 13, also very sweet! When I tried their soup based on a Chinese recipe, steam almost came out of my ears! Unbearably spicy! They didn't like Russian cuisine either – everything was too bland for them) They saw the buckwheat I brought for the first time in their lives)

In Folly Beach, there were no J-1 students at all besides us, let alone Russian speakers, so at first, there was no one to talk to in Russian, but I practiced English to the fullest by talking to my roommates) That was a full-fledged international cultural exchange)

Sometimes it got a bit boring: in Folly, there are no nightclubs, no cinemas, no water parks...

Only on America's Independence Day did a lot of young people come to Folly Beach, and one of the bars was really hot! For some reason, they didn't ask for my ID at the entrance to the bar, and I hung out there all night with a handsome guy named Jake from Kansas)

Three weeks into my stay in the States, my long-awaited compatriots finally arrived, Alina from Yakutsk and Katya from Moscow! That's when it started: we constantly had fun, chatted, philosophized while sitting on the ocean shore at night, and met the locals! Oh yes, they also gave me a sweet surprise for my 20th birthday! Oh, my girls! They are the most pleasant thing I can remember from my life in Folly)) By the way, we are still in touch, we are all now incurably sick with America!