Come on an adventure with me! As a South Jersey-ite and student, I was of the so-why-did-I-major-in-physics variety until about a year ago. Fast forward a little bit, and now I'm taking a one-way ticket to Vladivostok in the Russian Far East and spending the next undefined period of time joining with an incredible and diverse Vladivostokan youth (by birth or by attraction!). We're taking our place in a community building process. Particularly, we're working with a Baha'i-inspired program that aims at releasing the powers of junior youth, powers such as compassion, courage and the ability to translate intellectual and spiritual excellence into meaningful service to the good of society. I'm thrilled to death about it!
I'm writing for 3 reasons:
- Stories are important and I think no learning should be lost to the world. This blog is for chronicling the journey of a group of friends in Vladivostok as we try to better the world "through pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct."
- I'll miss you, dear friends. :) If you haven't googled it yet, Vladivostok is 9 time zones from South Jersey and 7 time zones from Moscow. Needless to say, I won't be taking weekend trips to visit the extraordinary people who have blessed my life for the past twenty-four years. So I'll keep in touch this way, and please write back if you'd like!
- Some say Vladivostok is a "mystery land." (And I thought so too before I learned I'd be coming here!) If it's a mystery, it's certainly a lovely one. This is a window into the life of a city and community that enraptured my heart from first sight. I hope you'll fall in love too!
More posts to come. I'm not the most verbose writing-wise, but I'll try to be consistent with writing once a week. So check back often!
Sending my love from South Jersey. (Flying to Moscow tomorrow afternoon.)
With love,
Linnea
