Congratulations to all of the new graduates of Oberlin College!
This past week has been crazy and this week will get even crazier. I need to write a paper in the next two days, go to Moscow, come back and pack, and get on an airplane to go home.
If you want to hear about all of the fun things I've done in my final two weeks in Russia, you'll have to contact me once I'm back in the States (which you should do anyways).
My schedule:
June 1st-7th : Philadelphia
June 7th-12th: Pittsburgh
June 12th-end of summer: Aspen, CO.
Let me know if you'll be in any of those places!
Also, look at the youtube videos for the Eurovision entries from Spain, France, and Latvia...they're hilarious. Obviously, Russia won!
Thanks for reading my blog this semester and I look forward to seeing all of you soon!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
1 down...4 more to go!
So, I just finished my first final, which went pretty well I think. I just have 3 more Russian language finals (most of which will be incredibly easy) and one paper to write in English. Then I'll be done!
I only have 2 more weeks to go here, which is actually making it really hard to get through. The fact that I'll be home in 2 weeks makes me much more focused on getting home than on enjoying my last weeks here. But, on the other hand, there are lots of great things coming up: Backstreet Boys concert, possibly another trip to Moscow, going to Petergof to see the fountains, etc.
Not much has been going on lately because we've just been working hard. This weekend I went to a modernized version of "La Traviata" (kind of strange), a cemetery where more famous people are buried (like Tchaikovsky, Dostoevsky, etc.), and a monastery (where we had a tour led by the meanest monk possible. He got really mad at other tourists taking pictures of him and started complaining to us about the "savages from the West." Needless to say -- a bit awkward). I also visited the Armenian Church with an Armenian friend of mine. In my opinion, it was much nicer than the Russian Orthodox churches I have seen so far. It seemed a lot less intimidating and cluttered; there was also a service going on which was very beautiful.
This past week I had one experience with the Russian lack of understanding of the word "tolerance." We had actually discussed in school how Russians do not understand that word at all, so when it was announced as my conversation topic for the discussion club, I did not expect great results. It fully lived up to my expectations. Russians think that tolerance is simply patience. One girl said that she once saw a history textbook from America, and it didn't say that Russia won WWII (Russia thinks they won WWII and will not take any other explanation). She said that was intolerant of America.
Also, St. Petersburg won the European cup in soccer! Go Zenit!
Congrats to those of you who have already graduated!
I only have 2 more weeks to go here, which is actually making it really hard to get through. The fact that I'll be home in 2 weeks makes me much more focused on getting home than on enjoying my last weeks here. But, on the other hand, there are lots of great things coming up: Backstreet Boys concert, possibly another trip to Moscow, going to Petergof to see the fountains, etc.
Not much has been going on lately because we've just been working hard. This weekend I went to a modernized version of "La Traviata" (kind of strange), a cemetery where more famous people are buried (like Tchaikovsky, Dostoevsky, etc.), and a monastery (where we had a tour led by the meanest monk possible. He got really mad at other tourists taking pictures of him and started complaining to us about the "savages from the West." Needless to say -- a bit awkward). I also visited the Armenian Church with an Armenian friend of mine. In my opinion, it was much nicer than the Russian Orthodox churches I have seen so far. It seemed a lot less intimidating and cluttered; there was also a service going on which was very beautiful.
This past week I had one experience with the Russian lack of understanding of the word "tolerance." We had actually discussed in school how Russians do not understand that word at all, so when it was announced as my conversation topic for the discussion club, I did not expect great results. It fully lived up to my expectations. Russians think that tolerance is simply patience. One girl said that she once saw a history textbook from America, and it didn't say that Russia won WWII (Russia thinks they won WWII and will not take any other explanation). She said that was intolerant of America.
Also, St. Petersburg won the European cup in soccer! Go Zenit!
Congrats to those of you who have already graduated!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Moscow for real
Moscow and St. Petersburg are big rival cities -- kind of similar to Pittsburgh and Cleveland if I think about it. People in Petersburg will go into long tirades about all the bad things about Moscow if you even mention the city. So, I headed into this trip with a fairly negative expectation about what I was getting into. I expected Moscow to be dirty, overcrowded, boring, etc. Instead, I was greeted by a completely different city.
First of all, it takes about 7 hours on the train to get to Moscow. We went on an overnight train, which was an experience to begin with. I've never really traveled by train and I kind of enjoyed it. We had compartments for 4 people, with a bed for each. It was fun to hang out and travel with my friends on a Russian train. It even sounds like an interesting experience.
The train got into Moscow at 6 am and we headed straight to where we were staying (a dormitory for the blind...it had a central location). We had a few hours to sleep and then we were off. The first thing we did was meet up with our old man guide for our first walking tour. Instead of taking us to Red Square first (which we actually couldn't do because it was Victory day and the military parade was going through Red Square -- invitation only), we went into the botanical gardens of Moscow State University. They were beautiful! Moscow, to begin with, is already tons more green than St. Petersburg. The city has made an effort to create tons of parks and green spaces, which makes it very appealing. While the parks in Petersburg were created for the royalty (so they are gated in and sometimes hard to access), every time Moscow took down a set of circular walls surrounding the city (3 times), they replaced that space with parks. So, you can actually walk all around the city by walking through these strips of park. After that, we went to Red Square and did more of a walking tour around the center.
In general, Moscow is a lot more of an American like city than St. Petersburg. The metro system is incredibly complicated (but therefore useful, unlike the one here), the city is cleaner, and generally fairly efficient. It almost felt like we were in an entirely different country because we had this picture of a Russian city in our minds from our Petersburg experience, and this was totally different. It's more expensive, but definitely somewhere I would prefer to live over Petersburg.
Other highlights of the weekend: a circus performance (of course! I was also notified of the mouse circus that performs in Moscow. If I make another trip there, I'm going to try to get tickets. It sounds like something not to be missed), a sculpture garden that contained old Soviet sculptures that have no homes anymore (lots of Lenins and Stalins), and going to a cemetery where tons of famous people are buried (Yeltsin, Khruschev, Shostakovich, Gogol, Chekov, Rostrapovich, Kabelevsky, Skriabin, etc.). The cemetery was incredible because the gravestones were so creative and unique. There were tons of Russians walking around and laying flowers at graves.
We also went on a tour of the Kremlin, and I visited one of the synagogues and the Contemporary History museum. That museum was actually really overwhelming and full of Russian pride. Despite the fact that Medvedev was only inaugurated a week ago, his portrait was front and center.
One of the best things was the fact that a restaurant where we ate a lot forgot to order food for vegetarians so we got to order from the menu! We found a great American tasting sandwich.
In conclusion, I really loved Moscow and was kind of disappointed to come back here. I'm hoping to make another trip (mostly because Lenin's mausoleum was closed and I feel like I can't leave Russia without seeing Lenin), but who knows what will happen. Possibly we just enjoyed Moscow so much because we're about ready to return to the States. It definitely made us realize the things we'll appreciate.
Only three more weeks to go!
P.S. My friend Katie was talking with her host mother last night about Putin. Her host mother expressed how great Putin is and how everyone loves him. When Katie said that many people in the U.S. don't like him, her mother said "that's because you have too much propaganda in America." We thought it was funny.
First of all, it takes about 7 hours on the train to get to Moscow. We went on an overnight train, which was an experience to begin with. I've never really traveled by train and I kind of enjoyed it. We had compartments for 4 people, with a bed for each. It was fun to hang out and travel with my friends on a Russian train. It even sounds like an interesting experience.
The train got into Moscow at 6 am and we headed straight to where we were staying (a dormitory for the blind...it had a central location). We had a few hours to sleep and then we were off. The first thing we did was meet up with our old man guide for our first walking tour. Instead of taking us to Red Square first (which we actually couldn't do because it was Victory day and the military parade was going through Red Square -- invitation only), we went into the botanical gardens of Moscow State University. They were beautiful! Moscow, to begin with, is already tons more green than St. Petersburg. The city has made an effort to create tons of parks and green spaces, which makes it very appealing. While the parks in Petersburg were created for the royalty (so they are gated in and sometimes hard to access), every time Moscow took down a set of circular walls surrounding the city (3 times), they replaced that space with parks. So, you can actually walk all around the city by walking through these strips of park. After that, we went to Red Square and did more of a walking tour around the center.
In general, Moscow is a lot more of an American like city than St. Petersburg. The metro system is incredibly complicated (but therefore useful, unlike the one here), the city is cleaner, and generally fairly efficient. It almost felt like we were in an entirely different country because we had this picture of a Russian city in our minds from our Petersburg experience, and this was totally different. It's more expensive, but definitely somewhere I would prefer to live over Petersburg.
Other highlights of the weekend: a circus performance (of course! I was also notified of the mouse circus that performs in Moscow. If I make another trip there, I'm going to try to get tickets. It sounds like something not to be missed), a sculpture garden that contained old Soviet sculptures that have no homes anymore (lots of Lenins and Stalins), and going to a cemetery where tons of famous people are buried (Yeltsin, Khruschev, Shostakovich, Gogol, Chekov, Rostrapovich, Kabelevsky, Skriabin, etc.). The cemetery was incredible because the gravestones were so creative and unique. There were tons of Russians walking around and laying flowers at graves.
We also went on a tour of the Kremlin, and I visited one of the synagogues and the Contemporary History museum. That museum was actually really overwhelming and full of Russian pride. Despite the fact that Medvedev was only inaugurated a week ago, his portrait was front and center.
One of the best things was the fact that a restaurant where we ate a lot forgot to order food for vegetarians so we got to order from the menu! We found a great American tasting sandwich.
In conclusion, I really loved Moscow and was kind of disappointed to come back here. I'm hoping to make another trip (mostly because Lenin's mausoleum was closed and I feel like I can't leave Russia without seeing Lenin), but who knows what will happen. Possibly we just enjoyed Moscow so much because we're about ready to return to the States. It definitely made us realize the things we'll appreciate.
Only three more weeks to go!
P.S. My friend Katie was talking with her host mother last night about Putin. Her host mother expressed how great Putin is and how everyone loves him. When Katie said that many people in the U.S. don't like him, her mother said "that's because you have too much propaganda in America." We thought it was funny.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Moscow preview
So, I just had a fantastic weekend in Moscow, but our train got in at 6:30 this morning so I'm kind of exhausted and can't think straight. Therefore, I will post tomorrow when it will hopefully make more sense. I just wanted to let my loyal readers know I haven't forgotten them (i.e. Caitlin Seeley).
Monday, May 5, 2008
A week with my family...
So, I took the past week off of school and spent it touring with my family. It was really nice not to have to go to school, but it felt very strange to be in the mass of tourists that have suddenly appeared in Petersburg. The main streets are twice as crowded as normal, because not only is the weather nicer (so more Russians go outside), it's the beginning of tourist season. I can definitely tell why, though. Right now, I sun sets at about 11 pm...which is the craziest feeling. Your day lasts much longer than it normally would, because you don't realize it's getting late. I went to an evening ballet performance with my family (a modern dance-ish version of Cinderella -- I actually really liked it!), but when we exited the theater, it felt as if we saw a matinee. It's really an interesting experience to have elongated days.
Other than that, I don't have much to note from the past week. I saw a lot of things I had already seen, saw some new things (a battleship, Mendeleev's apartment/office, the geological museum), and ate much better food then normal. Thursday was May Day, and we actually witnessed a demonstration. First, the angry labor unions walked by, with signs demanding better wages and pensions. Next, came Putin's party, complete with his youth league marching with flags with his face on them. That was a little creepy. Then, came the socialists, the communists, and then some angry people yelling about death wearing black. Not quite sure who they were.
The thing that really struck me in the past week was how much I've adjusted to life here. Until my parents commented on how dirty the city was, I had forgotten. I think the demonstration only struck me as being out of the ordinary and a little scary because my family was there and looking at everything from a different perspective. I'm not sure if it's good or bad that I've become numb to some of the more depressing/disturbing signs of life in Russia.
In other news, the Pussycat Dolls were staying in my parents hotel in St. Petersburg. They saw them celebrating post-concert in the lobby.
To all those at Oberlin, enjoy your last week of school!
Other than that, I don't have much to note from the past week. I saw a lot of things I had already seen, saw some new things (a battleship, Mendeleev's apartment/office, the geological museum), and ate much better food then normal. Thursday was May Day, and we actually witnessed a demonstration. First, the angry labor unions walked by, with signs demanding better wages and pensions. Next, came Putin's party, complete with his youth league marching with flags with his face on them. That was a little creepy. Then, came the socialists, the communists, and then some angry people yelling about death wearing black. Not quite sure who they were.
The thing that really struck me in the past week was how much I've adjusted to life here. Until my parents commented on how dirty the city was, I had forgotten. I think the demonstration only struck me as being out of the ordinary and a little scary because my family was there and looking at everything from a different perspective. I'm not sure if it's good or bad that I've become numb to some of the more depressing/disturbing signs of life in Russia.
In other news, the Pussycat Dolls were staying in my parents hotel in St. Petersburg. They saw them celebrating post-concert in the lobby.
To all those at Oberlin, enjoy your last week of school!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Island adventures...and my family arrives
Once again, by the time I begin to update my blog, I've forgotten most of what happened during the previous week. Basically, last week was passover. In some ways, Passover in Russia was much easier than in the States. I expected it to be horrible, but since I was the only person I knew keeping Passover, I wasn't talking about it or complaining about it with anyone. Also, there is barely any corn syrup in Russian foods so I didn't have to worry about avoiding it. So, Passover was over before I knew it.
Saturday, the weather was so nice and although my friends were once again heading to the banya, I decided to go off on an adventure of my own. I thought about going to a museum, but I couldn't imagine spending all day inside. So, while looking through my "Lonely Planet" tour book, I found a three hour walking tour around these really nice park-like islands. It started on Kammeny island, which is basically where the rich of the rich Russian population lives. It was actually incredible to see. The houses were like mansions (some designed in new, over-the-top styles, and others which were restorations of the original architecture) -- each one with its own security guard. All the cars driving around were BMWs or SUVs with dark-tinted windows. It was like being transported to the subarbs, although these inhabitants were most likely politicians, organized crime, or some combination of the two.
After exploring that island, I crossed the bridge and payed the minimal fee to enter Yelagin island -- the park island without any cars. It was an incredible place to be when the weather was getting nicer. There were Russians everywhere -- walking around, picnicking in the grass (never thought I would see Russians sitting on the ground), playing volleyball, paddleboating, etc. There was even an army band which played music for the old ladies to dance to; this music ranged from old Soviet marches to the chicken dance. (I got a fantastic video from that one!) I stopped in an old summer palace for a little bit, but I mostly spent my time just sitting along the lakeside and reading, which felt really relaxing compared to my usual life of running all over the place. Eventually, I crossed off of that island and stopped by the Buddhist temple. I'd never been to a Buddhist temple before, and somehow I happened to stumble upon the end of a service. This service involved a lot of singing, banging of cymbals, and other things. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it was interesting. The temple was beautiful -- so colorful, I was surprised by the presence of a Buddhist population in St. Petersburg. It seemed small, but strong. After that, I headed back home, but it was definitely one of the most enjoyable afternoons I've had in this new, nice weather.
Sunday, was also a fantastic day, as I had convinced two of my friends (well, one didn't need to be convinced) to go see the Moscow circus with me. Since February, I had seen advertisements for this show, so I knew I needed to see it. First of all, the circus h ere is held in the actual "circus" building, not a tent. The building had very pretty architecture, but once you went inside, it seemed more like a circus tent (especially because of the strong animal scent). Overall, I enjoyed the show. The acrobats were fantastic, though some of the animal acts were lacking (specifically the goat act and the hedgehog act, animals that we personally saw no special talents in. The hedgehog's act was that he could pop balloons by walking into them. Hmm...) . The circus also featured a boxing kangaroo and a bear act, while although the idea of circus bears seemed depressing, they could actually do some incredible tricks. My Russian circus experiences are expanding every day...
After that, I broke Passover, and walked around Peter and Paul Fortress with Katherine where we saw someone almost run into the Neva in his boxers. From there, we met our group for the performance of "Master and Margerita" we were going to see. If you've read that book, you know it's really confusing (but great), but this staging of it was weirder than we could ever have expected. The first 15 minutes were silent, and to all of our knowledge, had nothing to do with anything in the book. We stayed for the first act (an hour and 45 minutes!) and decided to split. It was nice to experience a Russian play, but with the craziness of the play, plus us not understanding the Russian fully, we decided it would not be worth our time to stick it out.
From there, I went to pick up my parents. They arrived safely, but sadly, their luggage did not. We're still waiting on that luggage to arrive -- hopefully it will tonight. It's been fun having them here: staying in a hotel, getting to show off my knowledge about the city, etc. Today we walked around, climbed St. Isaac's Cathedral to see the spectacular view, and went to the Russian museum. It'll be a very busy week. Ok, well I guess we're heading to dinner now!
Hope you're all enjoying spring!
Saturday, the weather was so nice and although my friends were once again heading to the banya, I decided to go off on an adventure of my own. I thought about going to a museum, but I couldn't imagine spending all day inside. So, while looking through my "Lonely Planet" tour book, I found a three hour walking tour around these really nice park-like islands. It started on Kammeny island, which is basically where the rich of the rich Russian population lives. It was actually incredible to see. The houses were like mansions (some designed in new, over-the-top styles, and others which were restorations of the original architecture) -- each one with its own security guard. All the cars driving around were BMWs or SUVs with dark-tinted windows. It was like being transported to the subarbs, although these inhabitants were most likely politicians, organized crime, or some combination of the two.
After exploring that island, I crossed the bridge and payed the minimal fee to enter Yelagin island -- the park island without any cars. It was an incredible place to be when the weather was getting nicer. There were Russians everywhere -- walking around, picnicking in the grass (never thought I would see Russians sitting on the ground), playing volleyball, paddleboating, etc. There was even an army band which played music for the old ladies to dance to; this music ranged from old Soviet marches to the chicken dance. (I got a fantastic video from that one!) I stopped in an old summer palace for a little bit, but I mostly spent my time just sitting along the lakeside and reading, which felt really relaxing compared to my usual life of running all over the place. Eventually, I crossed off of that island and stopped by the Buddhist temple. I'd never been to a Buddhist temple before, and somehow I happened to stumble upon the end of a service. This service involved a lot of singing, banging of cymbals, and other things. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it was interesting. The temple was beautiful -- so colorful, I was surprised by the presence of a Buddhist population in St. Petersburg. It seemed small, but strong. After that, I headed back home, but it was definitely one of the most enjoyable afternoons I've had in this new, nice weather.
Sunday, was also a fantastic day, as I had convinced two of my friends (well, one didn't need to be convinced) to go see the Moscow circus with me. Since February, I had seen advertisements for this show, so I knew I needed to see it. First of all, the circus h ere is held in the actual "circus" building, not a tent. The building had very pretty architecture, but once you went inside, it seemed more like a circus tent (especially because of the strong animal scent). Overall, I enjoyed the show. The acrobats were fantastic, though some of the animal acts were lacking (specifically the goat act and the hedgehog act, animals that we personally saw no special talents in. The hedgehog's act was that he could pop balloons by walking into them. Hmm...) . The circus also featured a boxing kangaroo and a bear act, while although the idea of circus bears seemed depressing, they could actually do some incredible tricks. My Russian circus experiences are expanding every day...
After that, I broke Passover, and walked around Peter and Paul Fortress with Katherine where we saw someone almost run into the Neva in his boxers. From there, we met our group for the performance of "Master and Margerita" we were going to see. If you've read that book, you know it's really confusing (but great), but this staging of it was weirder than we could ever have expected. The first 15 minutes were silent, and to all of our knowledge, had nothing to do with anything in the book. We stayed for the first act (an hour and 45 minutes!) and decided to split. It was nice to experience a Russian play, but with the craziness of the play, plus us not understanding the Russian fully, we decided it would not be worth our time to stick it out.
From there, I went to pick up my parents. They arrived safely, but sadly, their luggage did not. We're still waiting on that luggage to arrive -- hopefully it will tonight. It's been fun having them here: staying in a hotel, getting to show off my knowledge about the city, etc. Today we walked around, climbed St. Isaac's Cathedral to see the spectacular view, and went to the Russian museum. It'll be a very busy week. Ok, well I guess we're heading to dinner now!
Hope you're all enjoying spring!
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