In the first month of my gap year, while I was still at home wondering what to do with myself (my gap year was unplanned, forced upon me after the whole A-level exams cock-up in 2003 - a story for another time), I got sick of hearing everyone talking about Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and all the other places gappers seems to go to 'get away' from home - the best way of doing so, it seems, is meeting other westerners in these places and recreating their home thousands of miles away. So, in a fit of pique, I decided I wanted to go to Russia, where, I was assured, nobody would tolerate attempts ...
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