That's funny, it made me think of the Dubliners too at one point - I think the combo of snow falling and a reminder that we're all going to die someday will invariably do that.

It was a great story start and I wish I had the space to deal with every layer presented in it rather than only a few. I actually have some stuff about Arkhangelsk bookmarked from a year or two ago when I ran across a bunch of photos or reddit or imgur, I think it was a day-in-the-life post from a university student there. It's on my ever-growing list of places to see.