Oymyakon: the selo where I was born and raised. Built in Serbia and on top of permafrost, Oymyakon is considered the coldest habitable place on Earth, which I had the pleasure of experiencing first-hand for the first sixteen years of my life. And let me tell you, when you've survived that many years underneath a nearly continuously darkened sky where raw, frozen fish is considered a succulent, fancy meal, you tend to wish for change. That's what I thought, anyway, until the first time I had expressed my opinion about wanting a different scene to my father, who I had thought would feel the same. Unfortunately, I happened to be incorrect.
"You want to leave?" he had asked with a mortified expression on his wrinkled, leathery face; an expression that suggested all the things a daughter would be afraid of. So, in fear of disappointment and having a...