Partay in Tyumen

While training during the day, my classmates and I have been having lots of fun in the evenings in Tyumen.

We went to a fancy schmancy restaurant called The Golden Turtle:

Afterward, I was in the mood for karaoke, so we walked a few blocks only to discover that the karaoke place had a $10 entrance fee which was steep for myself and many of my classmates (especially as we only had a half hour before the bus) so we walked to the lovers' bridge and I snapped a few photos:



You can't really tell, but the rails on the side of the bridge are covered with locks. Apparently every city has a spot where lovers come, lock a lock and throw away the key, thus sealing their love. Here they typically through the key into the river below.

We don't just have fun. We do train some; it's just mainly during the day:

But we also party. This was at a place called Giraffe:

Apparently Elena was a little tired or got caught during a blink.

I had no idea bowling was so popular in Russia, but apparently it happens in almost every city. There are two bowling alleys in Noyabrsk, and that's a town of only 100,000. I thought of ordering a White Russian, but ended up sticking with the Sprite.

I also spent an evening with these folks:


The Palmers are LDS missionaries from Utah living in Tyumen. They are spending two years struggling to learn Russian and help the people here. I also went to a church Halloween party with them which turned out to be pretty fun. A lady who had worked for about 15 years for the circus did some magic tricks.

After the party, I met up with many of my coworkers to continue the Halloween festivities. I was out until 1:30 with them, but when they headed for a dance club, I cut out. Not that I'm chicken or anything, just that I'm the world's most awkward dancer. I did get a good shot of a local Orthodox church while we were walking around though:

Happy November everyone.