Zdravstvuj Rossiya

Looks like I just hit a bunch of random keys on my keyboard doesn't it? Like, maybe a small child broke into our house and started playing on my computer? Nope. That completely unpronounceable word "zdravstvuj" means simply "hello" in Russian. 

Zdravstvuj Rossiya = Hello Russia

It's completely possible I've got endings wrong. It's completely possible this is informal and I should be using a formal, or the other way around, but according to google, this is how you spell the word "hello". I think I'll be letting Derrald do most of the talking while I settle for some good old fashioned hand gestures.

We leave for our trans-siberian adventure today. The excitement in our house is palpable. I've been running around gathering up all our winter woollies. We even competed to see who can get on the most layers of clothing then stumbled around our house like giant marshmallow-Michelin men. We've got hot chocolate for the train, snacks for sharing, and goodies to celebrate Christmas day. All I have to do now is get my plants into their baths (I've been calling them "plant baths" because I don't want them to die while I'm away so under the guidance of my mother, who managed to keep plants alive while we used to go on holidays, I am putting them all in the tub with some water) and take a shower. Our first section on the train will last three days and we will not have access to a shower, so.... yeah. I'm going to make sure I clean up well before leaving!

Mostly, in all our excitement, I wanted to share this with you, the weather forecast:

First stop, Vladivostok:

 Second stop, Irkutsk:

Third stop, Yekaterinburg:

Final stop, Moscow:

It's going to be a COOOOOOOOOLD Christmas in Siberia for the Stices. Hohohohohohohoho!