A quick introduction to Liden and Denz’s new intern, Lizzie!
Hello everyone! My name is Lizzie, and I’m happy to introduce myself as a new member of the Liden & Denz team. I am from the East Midlands of the UK originally, though I moved to London when I was eighteen in order to start my undergraduate degree. I am a third year student in Politics, Sociology and Eastern European Studies at University College London.
Since September I have been living in St Petersburg on an exchange year. During this time I have been lucky to mix with people from all over the world, whilst exploring a culture that I only knew about theoretically before. Living here has shifted my focus from politics and sociology onto Russian Language, which I started as a beginner just under three years ago. Russian is the first language I have ever attempted to speak proficiently. Admittedly, I also studied French in school, but my knowledge in that particular language is now very much limited to ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘where is the train station’. Russian has been a challenging journey for me (the cyrillic alphabet used to make me cry) but I have found more of a passion for it along the way, and I try and practise with natives whenever I can. Within the next few years I hope to push myself to exceed an intermediate level in Russian.
Having a year abroad has presented me with an opportunity to travel that I have never had before. I am in love with everything I have seen so far! Additional to the glory of the Moscow Metro system or St Petersburg’s Cathedrals, walking on a frozen river or down a snowy beach is enough to amaze me – as funny as this may seem to locals. I am currently planning my next travel locations in Russia. I hope to spend some of my summer in Krasnodar, which is a city in the South of Russia. It is famous for its amazing nature, and hot enough to thaw me off completely after this year’s sub-zero winter.
In terms of more general knowledge about me, I love film, weightlifting and eating. Weightlifting particularly is a huge part of my life! This was an intimidating sport to get started with, particularly as a woman, but I absolutely love getting stronger and seeing what my body can do. Becuase of this, I am obviously concerned with eating healthily and keeping my body fuelled, and I do this whilst eating an entirely vegetarian diet. You can expect to see articles from me regarding any and all of the above, as well as general stories about my experience and knowledge of Russia so far!
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