#introduceyourself or how a year in America changed life of a Russian girl

Hey! My name is Vell. I'm a simple young woman from Russia, but have a few stories behind my back.

When I was 14 I was offered to take part in an American competition called FLEX and after going through 3 levels of tests, intervew and 6 months of wating, on my cousine's birthday in late March 7 years ago I got a call, and then my adventure started!

Winning the competition made me an exchange student for a whole year in an American high school. At first I arrived to Illinois and lived there for over a month. Life there was terrifying and boring at the same time: I lived with two mean teenage girls who stole from me and wanted me out of their house as soon as possible. After getting sick of it, I asked for a new family, moved to Michigan and enjoyed the rest of my year in the States.

That year turned my life around, taught a lot of new thing about world, people and myself. I never thought I'd be able to study in a language that wasn't my native (Russian), do different sports in one small year: swimming, tennis, track. I loved the year and am very thankful to all the people who surrounded me and helped during that year. Some of them are still my close friends, I dream to meet again some day!

Since then I've traveled to 14 more countries and learned 3 more foreign languages (Chinese, German and French). And the adventure is going on and on! More stories about my life in the USA and after it to come. Ask me questions in comments if you have any ;)