Name: Elizaveta Vereshchagina
Area of Study: Mesoscale Chemical Systems Group, PhD candidate, first year
Nationality: Russian
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Holiday plans: `I am going to my hometown of Saint Petersburg to be with my family and friends. We don't really celebrate Christmas, but on New Year's Eve we gather together with family and friends. Young people celebrate with their parents starting between 6:00pm to 7:00pm in the evening,' says Vereshchagina.
`Russia is a big country with many time zones, therefore, during each hour a new region welcomes in the New Year. The regions of Russia that are close to Japan and China celebrate while in Saint Petersburg we are still waiting. You can watch on television how the New Year moves across the country-from east to west. Ten seconds before midnight the president congratulates us, wishes us all the best and we start counting 10, 9, 8…and hooray, it's the New Year.'
`There is dancing, a huge amount of food, champagne to drink, and at midnight there are fireworks in the sky. Sometimes, after spending time with relatives, young people flock to the city centers and go to the discos, clubs and bars.'
Greatest accomplishments of 2007: `I have been working really hard with my studies and haven't been home since September. I've managed to meet new friends and one of my Cuban friends is teaching me to salsa dance', laughs Vereshchagina. `Getting to know my colleagues and adjusting to a new environment was one of my greatest accomplishments.'
Goals for 2008: `I want to go further in my research area. My group is working on the fabrication of sensor devices for the automobile industry and other varied applications. Another goal, now that I think about it, is to learn Dutch.'
