I knew Sakhalin was going to be cold. It's an island to the north east of Vladivostok, off the Siberian coast so it was never going to be tropical. But it's still a huge shock to go from 35 degrees in Sydney to -10 in Russia. I could see the snow-covered mountains and sea with ice sheets from the plane window, and as we taxied along the tarmac, everyone started to bundle up in coats and hats. I had been backpacking around Australia, so my wardrobe consisted mainly of skirts, vest tops and a pair of flip-flops. I bought a couple of jumpers in K-Mart before I left, and Kerryanne and Mary had lent me gloves, a hat and a fleece, and someone else had given me a coat, so I was prepared in a limited, half-assed kind of way. But the cold hit me like I'd been thrown into a freezing swimming pool as I stepped off the plane. I got through immigration quickly but found that the person meant to collect me wasn't there. Someone offered me a lift but then the right people turned up and I got taken to my hotel.

After living in hostels for a few weeks, the idea of having a room to myself without a bunch of other people snoring and the interminable unpacking of plastic bags sounded like Xanadu. I was amazed by my hotel room - a suite with a kitchen, living room with armchairs, settee, TV and video, big bedroom, modern bathroom (with heated towel rail and soap dispenser!) and a walk-in closet. Oh brave new world!

I went for a walk around the city, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, which is on the southern end of the island and has a population of around 180,000. There was snow everywhere, metres thick and trampled into paths. They don't grit or salt here, so there's ice all over the place. It was about 18.00, the sun was setting behind the mountains, and people were returning from work, all wrapped up in fur coats and hats. The younger women are really glammed up with lots of make up, clothes with lots of diamanté stuck on and ubiquitous stiletto boots. There aren't many traffic lights and the zebra crossings are indicated by signs (there's no point painting it on the road as it's under snow for much of the year). The cars are generally old and probably with dubious brakes and sometimes dubious drivers. I wandered around and tried not to get lost as I couldn't read Cyrillic script and had no idea how to ask for directions. I got back to the hotel after less than an hour outside and I was bright red with cold.

After a while, you get used to the temperature, and I prefer it overcast drizzle. The snow makes everything look clean and it's so pretty when it's falling. From my office window I can see the mountains and reckon it would be good to climb them when the snow melts (apparently April, so...). I walk to work in the mornings, which wakes me up as it's clear and fresh (apart from the burning landfill on the other side of the city).

I'm working 6 days a week, 9 - 18.00 in an office with Russians and foreign contractors. The ex-pats here are mostly American, British, Dutch and Australian, and almost all men, the majority of whom seem to be engineers. Not many have families here, and most are working on rotation so they have a few weeks here, then go back to their home base for a while. It's pretty social, and most people go out after work. I've been to a few Russian, an Indian and Japanese restaurants and a fair few bars. I thought I'd been to one place called "Cafe Bap," until someone told me that what I thought was 'bap' is just 'bar' in Cyrillic. Nice one. The beer is good, as is the vodka, which they drink neat with some fruit juice to chase it down. I don't speak any Russian yet, but am picking up some words and hope to learn the alphabet so at least I can sound things out and not feel so totally lost when I'm out.

Da svidanya for now...