A nice little town in the middle of @#$%ing nowhere. Population of about 17,000 people. [Probably] the only thing it is known for -- Truman State University (used to be Northeast Missouri State University -- NMSU). That is where I spent almost 2 years in 1993-1995.

Som pix of that fun time can be found here. They are not ordered in any way (other than ctime), hence forgive me for a messy sequence. There will be more. Soon.

As for what that time was like -- it was great. Probably the most intence and fun part of my first 25 years. You ask me how in the world have I ended up in such a ... distant place? Well, the short story is: a friend of mine was attending the school as a grad student of accounting and helped myself and 2 other guys (hereinafter ''Otsy'') from my college in Moscow to come and stay/study for 2 years. I can also give you an extended version, if you please, but a later time, ok?

So, there we were, in the States, after an almost 12 hour connected flight from Moscow through JFK to Atlanta, GA, and then to Kansas City, MO. Then another 3 hours on a limo to our final destination -- all of it in the middle of the night with temperature outside in the high 80's F (approximately 25-30 degrees C). Fun, fun, fun.

[ to be continued... ]