I'm sort of in the same boat as you in that I'm moving to St. Petersburg for a year in 13 days. But, I've been studying for 3 years so my Russian is not too bad. I was in St. Pete's last summer and it was an amazing experience. I think the winter will be a different game but I'm still hopeful it will be great! Good luck and if you need any advice from someone in a similar position, let me know. You can email me at kylesbarry___at____gmail___dot___com.