“I love Russia! I mean I really love everything about Russia! The food, the people, the literature—EVERYTHING!” I was my usual melodramatic self speaking through clenched teeth to an American teacher in China telling her just how much I wanted to live and work in Russia. It was an insignificant chat with my new friend [...]

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The Trans-Siberian Railroad runs east and west/west and east across Russia. It’s the longest railroad in the world. It starts in Beijing or in Moscow—depending on which way you’re heading. It’s been running full steam (sorry) since 1916. Depending on who you talk to it takes anywhere from eight to twelve days to go from [...]

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The Trans-Siberian Railroad offers adventuresome travelers two types of trains: a Chinese train and a Russian train. Word on the street was that the Chinese train was cleaner than the Russian. Really? ‘Cause the Chinese trains were pretty bad back-in-the-day. I couldn’t even imagine what the Soviet trains would be like if they were worse [...]

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Long, long ago in a land far, far away there was an old-maid missionary, uh, well, maiden who thought she heard God’s voice and attempted to follow that voice wherever she thought it was leading her. Her handy hearing-God’s-voice-manual came from a beautiful Kingdom Princess named Corrie ten Boom. The poor old-maid-missionary maiden (is that [...]

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