Russia: Where Hairstyles Come to Die

In my few days in Russia I have come to the rather horrifying realization that Russian men appear to be trapped in the 1980's and feel that the mullet is the epitome of style. I kid you not. The mullet, long since thought dead, is not only alive, but thriving in Russia. Russian men of all ages sport mullets with pride (see picture, not only does he a mullet, he has a braided and dyed one!). It is truly disheartening to see a five year old boy running around on the street with a mullet. SO take not, if you want to blend in in Russia, grow a mullet.
In other news, yesterday was the first day of class. I have really found the classes to be quite informative, and think I'm going to look forward to going to class everyday. Yesterday was also our first excursion. We took a tour of the Petersburg canals. The tour would have been great, except for the fact that it was raining and about 40 degrees. I did find it enjoyable though, and at times it was quite an adventure. Many of the bridges spanning the canals are quite low, and if you were standing on the deck outside, you had to duck to avoid decapitation by bridge. Except for a few brave souls (myself included), everybody seemed pretty miserable and stayed in the boat and spoke with their Russian tutors. Unfortunately for me, my tutor had an exam the next day and couldn't make it. Now I'm faced with the daunting task of calling a girl on the phone, whose English is apparently non-existent, and attempt to arrange a meeting. I desperately want to make at least one Russian friend however (I don't think the babushka who stands outside my metro station and yells at me in the mornings counts), so I'm trying to get ahold of her as soon as possible (apparently some dacha visits are a possibility if we get along). After our failed excursion, we spent a lovely few hours in a local bar. Beer here can be pretty cheap, and I ended up splitting three liters of beer with a couple of friends for about 100 rubles (3 bucks) a person. Beer was served in containers that looked like a mix between a water jug and a gumball machine. It was really quite something, unfortunately I didn't get a picture. That about does it for me. I'm still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that it never gets dark, even as I sit here at 11:15, it's still quite bright out.