Before New York, I had two flights: Moscow—Frankfurt, Frankfurt—New York. I landed in Germany, waiting for the second flight. And then, an announcement at the airport: "Flight cancelled, get in line and rebook your tickets." What? WHAT? I thought all the bad luck was over. Okay, I realized that the bus tickets I bought in advance were going to waste. Tip! Don't buy bus tickets in advance. So, I got on a plane to Washington, and then to New York.

So, it's midnight, and I'm at the New York airport. My bus isn't for almost a day, but I'm so exhausted that I don't want to go anywhere, I just wander around the airport, talk to Americans, and read a book.

At 7 a.m., I head to Port Authority to buy tickets to my city, drop my luggage off at the storage locker, and go wander around the city. I've always had a good sense of direction, so I looked at the map once, understood which way to go, and didn't open it again after that. During my walk, I completely immersed myself in the atmosphere of New York.

In the bus line, I met Ulya. Ulyana is from Barnaul, she's going to work in Sandusky, the first and last person from the linguistics department I met. We chatted the whole way, sometimes fell asleep, chatted again, ate buckwheat and bananas. Ulyana got off in Sandusky, and I went on.

On the next bus, another acquaintance with a person from Russia awaited me. We chatted again, and thanks to the conversation, I didn't even notice how we reached Minneapolis. Tip! Use Greyhound buses. When I was buying tickets for them, it was scary, as there are many negative reviews on the internet, but it is a wonderful and comfortable (incredibly cheap) means of transportation. But definitely take a blanket on the bus, Americans love the cold.

I fell in love with Minneapolis. Its architecture captured my heart.

In Walker, I was met by Josh, the manager of the resort where I was supposed to work. We stocked up on food for the week ahead. He showed me Leech Lake, which everyone in this small town was proud of, as it is the 3rd largest lake in Minnesota. Also, in conversation with Josh, I learned that they already have 2 Russian girls working there. He brought me to the resort, introduced me to the owner and a girl, Ksyusha. Ksenia, out of habit, said 'Hi' to me because she didn't know that I was also from Russia.

Joshua took me to the house where I was to spend the summer. We had two houses for the three of us, you could go from one to the other, each house was equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and 2 bedrooms.

I was given two days to rest, I rode a bike, went to the lake, lay at home, and watched movies in English. Riding around the resort area for the hundredth time, I realized that there wasn't much entertainment here, because the nearest town was 30 miles away.