Bismillah.
Salam wbt.
Today is the 22nd of May 2013.
In less than a month I will be sitting for the State Exam, or much better known to the student as GOS examination ( short for gasudarstvenni ekzamen ).
I am quite thrilled for it to be over, but don't get me wrong, it's not because of the study, we kind of have it quite easy here. I'm actually thrilled because that means that my family is coming here soon. Yeay!
Earlier this year, we were told that the GOS exam are going to be held on the 8th and 10th of June. So I suggested to my mother to buy her flight ticket on the 10th, so that she could arrive in Moscow on the 11th. But fate has it that the exam dates has been changed to 10th and 11th. So I have to literally try to answer my exam quickly, and carefully I hope, and run to the airport to pick her up.
Also, there will be two family trips, the first one is going to be only Mama and me. And another one is for the 5 of us : Abah, Ummi, big bro, lil sis and me.
That is why, instead of studying, I am currently planning their trips here.
Even though I've lived here in Moscow for almost 6 years, but I've never actually explored it thoroughly. There are only a few attractions that I've been to in Moscow, but, there's not much to see here anyway. Or maybe because you tend to take things for granted especially when it is close to you. Just when you are about to lose/leave it, then only will you realize how great or how fine it is. The other cities I've been to were Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorad, Kursk, and Kazan.
When you come to Russia, the must-see cities are Moscow and St.Petersburg. So that left me with just one city to visit. And going there for the first time, plus bringing people along is quite a challenge for me. Luckily St.Petersburg is not that hard to figure out and being a must-see city, you can find almost every information you need on the internet.
Planning trips in Russia can be quite challenging since almost everything in Russia is expensive. When you open travel websites, it's going to give you a headache since almost everything is a must visit. So one thing I always do is search for blogs where over there you can find people's experiences, their views on what we have to visit and what we can just skip. Tips on how to save on entrance tickets, the best time to visit a place, and how to arrange your trip. Everything at the tip of your finger, heh?
Just a sneak peak on the upcoming adventure : midnight train ride, sunset river cruise, a room overlooking the canal and the city's major attractions, a visit to one of the world's largest collection of arts and paintings, evening walk in scenic parks, scandinavian adventure, cruise ride, a visit to the fjords (go figure!), ballet performance.. and many more!
I'm excited!
But for now let's get the accommodation, the train rides, the-must-buy-early-as-to-avoid-long-lines entrance tickets, and the tentative settled. And then we have to put them aside.
Because the exam is waiting, and even though no one really takes this exam seriously, but I am sure I would not want to enter the hall unprepared and to answer the oral question badly. Even though like I have mentioned before, one can easily pass the exam. At the end of the day, I am going to be a doctor, and I will have to treat patients, and I seriously do not want to kill anyone due to the lack of knowledge and experience. If the system is not going to help you, you just have to work harder to gain the knowledge you were supposed to get. You just have to put some extra effort, go a few miles further. People are going to say, it is because of those few people who take for granted the easy system they have here, that makes the russian graduates reputation very bad in Malaysia. I do hope that I am not going to be one of them. Like the old saying, bersusah-susah dulu, bersenang-senang kemudian. Kiasu or not, the choice is yours.
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