Fayetteville

resident and Fayette County High School graduate Christopher Thornburg

had an excellent summer vacation, although it wasn't spent at the beach

or an amusement park.

In fact, much

of his five weeks out of town was spent in learning experiences and was

very far out of town. Thornburg, a senior at Clayton College and State

University, went to St. Petersburg, Russia, this summer for a study abroad

program.

The program

was through the European Council of the University of Georgia School Systems

and involved taking three classes at the University of St. Petersburg.

Thornburg was joined by 49 other students and chaperones in Russia from

the last week of May until the first week of July. He took classes on

Russian art and architecture, an introduction to Russian culture and the

history of St. Petersburg, but admits there was a lot of learning outside

of the classroom as the group took a number of field trips. One such trip

took the class to Moscow for a week.

Though Thornburg

is a business major with hopes of becoming an entrepreneur, he admires

artistic endeavors in architecture. While on his five-week trip, he got

to see some of amazing palaces built during the time of the Czars, including

the Peterhof. He was amazed by the wealth that the Czars had, stating

that much of the buildings were decorated in gold and that the collection

of jewels in the Kremlin in Moscow, also blew him away.

His day began

at 7 a.m., three hours after the sun came up, with breakfast at the dorms.

The sun rises early and sets late in St. Petersburg during the summer

due to its proximity to the Arctic Circle. In turn, the sun would not

fully set until after midnight. "It was hard to get used to at first,"

Thornburg admitted. "Especially with the jet lag."

After breakfast,

Thornburg was off to class. The classes were taught in English by professors

from the University of St. Petersburg. On most days, the learning would

take place on field trips to one of the many palaces or museums in the

area. The museums and palaces used to be closed to the public during the

height of communism, but they are now open and the citizens take great

pride in them.

The students

also got to witness some history firsthand. During their stay, St. Petersburg

celebrated its 300th anniversary celebration. President Bush and President

Vladmir Putin were on hand for the party, which included a laser show,

fireworks and two ships exchanging cannon fire. Thornburg and his colleagues

were also on hand for the 1,192nd City Day of Pavlosk, which is a town

located near St. Petersburg. Residents donned traditional costumes, sang

folk songs and danced and cooked traditional dishes. Speaking of food,

Thornburg tried some new dishes and liked many of them, with the exception

of a soup that consisted of fish broth, cabbage and beets.

While Thornburg

feels that Russia appeared decades behind America in some respects, he

did get to watch "The Simpsons," "Jerry Springer,"

"Married With Children" and the new Matrix movie, dubbed in

Russian and without the benefit of English subtitles. The Russian citizens

he met had some misconceptions about Americans, based mainly on what they

see on television and in movies. "They think we all eat fast food

all the time and act like the kids in American movies," said Thornburg,

who claims he avoided the two McDonald's restaurants in Moscow as well

as the McDonald's in St. Petersburg.

All in all,

Thornburg had a great time and wanted to thank Dr. Scott T. McPherson,

a dentist from Peachtree City, who sponsored part of Thornburg's trip

and helped put him in touch with others who donated money for the excursion.

It was a trip

loaded with activities that left Thornburg with memories that will last

a lifetime. One special moment included seeing Paul McCartney leave his

hotel and duck into a limousine. He recommends study-abroad trips for

all college students interested in taking one and would love to spend

more time in Russia some day in the future.