It seems that I only do interesting things on the weekends now, so I’ll tell you about my weekend. Friday night, I had bought a ticket for an orchestra concert. There are two main orchestras in Petersburg, and I think I bought the ticket for the lesser of the two, so it'll be interesting to compare once I see the other one. It was a good concert, despite a bad cue from the conductor and the entire brass coming in early to the last chord of a Dvorak symphony. The tickets were extremely cheap, so I'll be sure to go many more times. The only thing that struck me as being odd was the clapping in unison that seemed to come out of nowhere when they demanded an encore by a soloist. I thought this might have been a remnant of Soviet style clapping, but my mom informed me that this is common practice across Europe at orchestra concerts.
Saturday was a really Russian day – I went to the bannya, or the Russian bathouse, for the first time! Going to the bannya is a very popular thing to do in Russia, and you can tell how often people go by how hardcore they are about it. Here's the process:
1. You go to the bannya, which is separated for men and women. We actually went to the bannya that Dostoevsky frequented, so that was a neat fact.
2. You strip down and go into the steam room, which has a wooden stove in it, so it's wet steam, unlike a sauna.
3. You sweat more than you have ever sweat before and sit there until you can't stand it anymore. This was like 6 minutes for me, and 20 minutes for the old Russian women.
4. You leave the steam room, take a warm shower, than immediately plunge into a freezing pool of water. Most people were complaining about this part, but truthfully it just reminded me of taking swim tests at camp, and the days when they made us swim when they really shouldn't have.
5. You repeat the proccess as many times as you want.
Eventually, after your body is getting used to the heat, you hit yourself with branches (with leaves), usually birch, oak, or pine. These branches have been soaking in hot water and help to exfoliate your skin. All in all, it’s a crazy process, but so relaxing and cheap, so I’m sure I’ll do it again. Definitely a cultural experience, though.
Sunday, I tried to go see a movie, but tickets get more expensive as the day goes on, and we didn’t want to pay 12 dollars to see a movie. Instead I hung around in cafes with my friend. We bought ice cream on the street for the first time, even though it was snowing outside. I didn’t think that would be a comfortable way to eat ice cream, but it was actually really good. The ice cream here is delicious – this will probably become a problem once the weather is warmer and we want to eat it all the time. We realized, though, that we walk a ton here, so eating ice cream once in a while isn’t so bad.
Sunday night, I went to Lenta for the first time, the mega-grocery store near my house. It’s basically like being in a Russian Costco or Sam’s Club. My favorite thing that I found was a large display of Heinz ketchup, including the popular Russian “spicy ketchup.” Look on my website for pictures.
We didn’t have school on Monday because of a holiday on Saturday. Saturday was “Day of protection of the homeland” which basically honors men and the military. I didn’t notice anything really happening for the holiday. It was explained to us that when a holiday falls on a Saturday, we have Monday off because people are still expected to be hung over. So, I imagine this was just a really big drinking weekend. But, having no school was very nice! I went back to the movie theater and got a cheaper ticket to see “Across the Universe”. There is one movie theater that shows American movies in English, just with Russian subtitles, which is much more enjoyable for us. The movie, if you haven’t seen it, is enjoyable, and directed by an Oberlin grad! The theater though, was so nice. I’ll definitely be going back to that one.
So, now I’m off to another week of school, albeit a short week, since I don’t have classes on Friday, either. It’s getting warm here, it was about 40 degrees yesterday, so I think my weather is much better than yours at home. Enjoy the cold!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
This weekend
This past weekend was rather relaxed. Friday night, I stayed home and watched “Mean Girls” in Russian with Katherine. Saturday, I did a ton of reading. Right now, I am signed up for this class entitled “Can Russia be a Nation-State.” In Russian school systems, you don’t have to buy books, but instead get a “reader” at the beginning of the semester, which includes all the readings you have to do. The reader for this class is literally 5 inches thick, and they ran out, so I’ve been doing my reading on the computer, which is very hard. For Tuesday I have about 50 pages to read in Russian, and I’ve read 12 thus far. Oh well.
Saturday night, there was a party for people in our program that was held at the apartment of two of the girls. If you stay the whole year, you can rent an apartment the second semester, and they found an absolutely gorgeous one. The biggest living space I’ve seen in Russia thus far (other than the palaces of course). The party was really fun; it was great to get to meet some of the people from last semester. Also, Katherine and I took a gypsy cab home that had the best Russian driver we had ever encountered – he drove like a safe, American driver! The weather was getting pretty bad, so that was much appreciated.
It finally snowed a substantial amount, and is starting to get colder. Still, though, it’s not anything abnormal. Although, today I talked to a girl from Siberia, who told me about her -50 degree Celsius temperatures at home last year. Today, we trekked out in the snow to Dostoevsky’s last apartment. The tour was actually incredibly fascinating – the best tour guide we’ve had so far. It was interesting to see his apartment and hear about his life, especially since I’m reading “Crime and Punishment” right now. My goal is to finish it this semester and take the famed, but tourist-y “Crime and Punishment” tour in St. Petersburg.
After the museum, we had bliny at a restaurant. Bliny are like Russian crepes. But, they are absolutely everywhere – my host mother made them today and yesterday for breakfast, and then I had them again at this restaurant. Since the bliny overdose, I’ve been reading some more and getting ready for my second week of classes. It’s still shopping period, but once I’m sure of my classes, I’ll let you know about them.
Oh, a week or so ago I opened up the refrigerator and saw a coconut, which I thought was a little bizarre. Tonight, I was sitting in my room on the phone when I heard hammering for 5 minutes or so. My host mother opened my door and told me to come to the kitchen to eat coconut. Strangely enough, my first experience eating fresh coconut was in Russia. It’s a really interesting texture, but tasty. I didn’t know that people really just cut up coconut and ate it, though.
Ok, hope people are surviving the winter back home!
Saturday night, there was a party for people in our program that was held at the apartment of two of the girls. If you stay the whole year, you can rent an apartment the second semester, and they found an absolutely gorgeous one. The biggest living space I’ve seen in Russia thus far (other than the palaces of course). The party was really fun; it was great to get to meet some of the people from last semester. Also, Katherine and I took a gypsy cab home that had the best Russian driver we had ever encountered – he drove like a safe, American driver! The weather was getting pretty bad, so that was much appreciated.
It finally snowed a substantial amount, and is starting to get colder. Still, though, it’s not anything abnormal. Although, today I talked to a girl from Siberia, who told me about her -50 degree Celsius temperatures at home last year. Today, we trekked out in the snow to Dostoevsky’s last apartment. The tour was actually incredibly fascinating – the best tour guide we’ve had so far. It was interesting to see his apartment and hear about his life, especially since I’m reading “Crime and Punishment” right now. My goal is to finish it this semester and take the famed, but tourist-y “Crime and Punishment” tour in St. Petersburg.
After the museum, we had bliny at a restaurant. Bliny are like Russian crepes. But, they are absolutely everywhere – my host mother made them today and yesterday for breakfast, and then I had them again at this restaurant. Since the bliny overdose, I’ve been reading some more and getting ready for my second week of classes. It’s still shopping period, but once I’m sure of my classes, I’ll let you know about them.
Oh, a week or so ago I opened up the refrigerator and saw a coconut, which I thought was a little bizarre. Tonight, I was sitting in my room on the phone when I heard hammering for 5 minutes or so. My host mother opened my door and told me to come to the kitchen to eat coconut. Strangely enough, my first experience eating fresh coconut was in Russia. It’s a really interesting texture, but tasty. I didn’t know that people really just cut up coconut and ate it, though.
Ok, hope people are surviving the winter back home!
Random Notes
Notes on Russia from this past week:
1. We encountered the smelliest dog in the world this week on the bus. I guess people can bring their pets on public transportation (forgot to mention that). This man came on with his dog, which was actually really adorable so we all commented on that. Less than a minute later, the worst smell was infiltrating the air. Luckily, our stop was really soon. I guess if you realize how dirty and gross the city is, it’s only natural that dogs would smell the same. I can’t imagine owning a dog in St. Petersburg – having to take it out for walks in the dead of winter would basically cancel it out for me.
2. So, for weeks we had seen stickers in our metro station for the local goth club’s Valentine’s Day celebration. It was described as “dark, gothic, love night” so we knew we had to check it out. So, the night before Valentine’s day, I traveled to Artica with Katie and dared to enter Artica – internet café/gothic club. It was really ridiculous. To the left is a large internet lab, you walk further and there was a café/bar (there was a big soccer match that night so it was full of fans watching the TV), you go even further through a hall of dark, gothic photography (girls in black with daggers?) and you here some loud, thumping music. The people coming out of this club were fully decked out in gothic gear. But, as we weren’t, and it cost about ten dollars to go in, we promptly left. We’d like to say that we tried, though.
3. I’ve also really started to experience the Russian administrative system, or moreso, the lack of one. Nothing works smoothly here. Professors don’t show up for classes (I had one class that was cancelled this week, but at least there was a note – usually you aren’t that lucky), and nothing happens on time. For example, our school library was supposed to have moved into the other building a week ago. It hasn’t happened, because no one hired movers or bought boxes. It’s also supposed to be moving into the gym, because the library isn’t finished, but they can’t install shelves in the gym because of the floor! So, right now, our school’s library is completely inaccessible and in piles in the hallway. Welcome to Russia.
4. I have found a little bit of America in the coffee shop “Respublika coffee” or “Republic of Coffee.” It’s basically Starbucks; the logo is almost exactly the same. I went in this week and although it’s a bit pricy (they charged me extra for cream), it felt nice to be in an American-like establishment. So, I think I may try to get some work done there once or twice a week.
5. I’m not a big fan of having to wear slippers in the house (luckily, my room is a slipper-free zone because of the rug), but I do love house clothes. Basically, since your clothes are “dirty” from being outside, and you don’t do laundry that often, when you come home, you change into more comfortable clothing. It’s fantastic.
6. I’ve slowly started bonding with my host sister, well at least what I consider a next step. We’ve watched a lot of “mythbusters” dubbed in Russian, and also this other show where they test people who think they have ESP. But, she’s obsessed with the biathlon, which I find to be a boring sport, so I’ve had to sit through 3 or 4 straight days of watching the biathlon on TV. In more positive news, she defends me in arguments with her mother about how many potatoes I should be served, or how I never eat enough in meals.
1. We encountered the smelliest dog in the world this week on the bus. I guess people can bring their pets on public transportation (forgot to mention that). This man came on with his dog, which was actually really adorable so we all commented on that. Less than a minute later, the worst smell was infiltrating the air. Luckily, our stop was really soon. I guess if you realize how dirty and gross the city is, it’s only natural that dogs would smell the same. I can’t imagine owning a dog in St. Petersburg – having to take it out for walks in the dead of winter would basically cancel it out for me.
2. So, for weeks we had seen stickers in our metro station for the local goth club’s Valentine’s Day celebration. It was described as “dark, gothic, love night” so we knew we had to check it out. So, the night before Valentine’s day, I traveled to Artica with Katie and dared to enter Artica – internet café/gothic club. It was really ridiculous. To the left is a large internet lab, you walk further and there was a café/bar (there was a big soccer match that night so it was full of fans watching the TV), you go even further through a hall of dark, gothic photography (girls in black with daggers?) and you here some loud, thumping music. The people coming out of this club were fully decked out in gothic gear. But, as we weren’t, and it cost about ten dollars to go in, we promptly left. We’d like to say that we tried, though.
3. I’ve also really started to experience the Russian administrative system, or moreso, the lack of one. Nothing works smoothly here. Professors don’t show up for classes (I had one class that was cancelled this week, but at least there was a note – usually you aren’t that lucky), and nothing happens on time. For example, our school library was supposed to have moved into the other building a week ago. It hasn’t happened, because no one hired movers or bought boxes. It’s also supposed to be moving into the gym, because the library isn’t finished, but they can’t install shelves in the gym because of the floor! So, right now, our school’s library is completely inaccessible and in piles in the hallway. Welcome to Russia.
4. I have found a little bit of America in the coffee shop “Respublika coffee” or “Republic of Coffee.” It’s basically Starbucks; the logo is almost exactly the same. I went in this week and although it’s a bit pricy (they charged me extra for cream), it felt nice to be in an American-like establishment. So, I think I may try to get some work done there once or twice a week.
5. I’m not a big fan of having to wear slippers in the house (luckily, my room is a slipper-free zone because of the rug), but I do love house clothes. Basically, since your clothes are “dirty” from being outside, and you don’t do laundry that often, when you come home, you change into more comfortable clothing. It’s fantastic.
6. I’ve slowly started bonding with my host sister, well at least what I consider a next step. We’ve watched a lot of “mythbusters” dubbed in Russian, and also this other show where they test people who think they have ESP. But, she’s obsessed with the biathlon, which I find to be a boring sport, so I’ve had to sit through 3 or 4 straight days of watching the biathlon on TV. In more positive news, she defends me in arguments with her mother about how many potatoes I should be served, or how I never eat enough in meals.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Catherine II and my weekend.
The conclusion of this weekend is that Catherine II had very extravagant taste. Saturday morning, I woke up late and found my host sister (who still rarely talks to me) in the kitchen. So, for obvious reasons, I was caught off guard when she asked me if I had any plans for the day. I mumbled something about the possibilities of a museum or a ballet, thinking she was just trying to be polite. Instead, she said that she has a friend who is trying to practice her English, and that they had invited me and my friend Katherine to come with them on a day trip. Obviously, we jumped at the opportunity to leave the city for a little bit, so we got ready and waited for them to pick us up.
It turned out that it was Katya’s friend Masha’s husband (Anatoly), who needed to practice his English, but he was really embarrassed for most of the time, so we mostly ended up talking to Masha. Katya, even with her own friends, was quite silent. Driving in St. Petersburg is always scary, especially when there aren’t working seatbelts, but we made it to the town of Pushkin in a little under an hour. Pushkin is officially part of St. Petersburg, and it’s located southeast of the main city. It’s named Pushkin because the writer, Pushkin, was born there and spent a large portion of his life studying there.
But, the real tourist attraction in Pushkin is Catherine II’s summer palace. It’s located in a giant park, which is supposedly really beautiful in the summer, but was still enjoyable through the slush. The palace itself is immense and so ornate. The floors are all gorgeous wooden mosaics, so we had to wear silly blue plastic booties over our shoes so as not to scratch them. We took a tour in Russian through the part of the palace that is open for tourists (a small portion, that is still bigger than any normal person would ever need). The first room we went into was the gold-encrusted Great Hall. We went through multiple dining rooms, thematic color rooms, and eventually came to the famed Amber Room.
There has been a lot of controversy over this room. It was first believed to have been plundered by the Nazis, when all the gem mosaics were found missing, but later it was revealed that it was destroyed in a fire while under Red Army occupation. They were so worried about Stalin’s reaction to allowing a fire to reach the room, that they created the Nazi rumor. But, a few years ago, the room was reopened after years of renovation, largely sponsored by German funds. The room was incredible, and the only one that you aren’t allowed to take pictures in. So, sorry about that.
But, while we were there, we did run into a wedding! It’s a Russian tradition for the couple to go to various famous landmarks and take pictures there, and this couple chose to take pictures throughout the palace. It was kind of funny to see a bride and groom, groomsmen and bridesmaids all wearing blue booties. It’s good luck if you see these pictures being taken, and Katherine and I saw 3 this weekend – we’re hoping for a good week. I snuck some pictures of the bride and groom as well.
After the palace tour, we walked through the park some more, and saw the pagodas Catherine II had built because she wanted to bring a little bit of China to her estate. It’s actually incredible how much normal, everyday Russians know about their history. Masha, and especially Anatoly, were able to tell us so many stories about where we were. All in all, it was a great tour, nice to breath some fresh air, and very fun in general. They said that whenever we want to go somewhere else, they would love to take us to practice their English some more, so it looks like there will be more fun trips in the future!
Today, we went to the Hermitage with our group. Only 4 people showed up, which was a little awkward. I’m sure most of you know about the Hermitage, the giant art museum housed in an old palace. It’s actually 5 buildings that are connected, but the Winter Palace alone has 1057 rooms, so that’s just a preview to its size. Once again, the architecture was incredible, and as Catherine II lived here for a while, it was extravagant beyond belief. I’m not really into art museums at all, so while other people marvel at the Hermitage, I enjoyed looking at the building, and quickly glanced at some art. Truthfully, I don’t know how many times I’ll end up going back this semester, but at least I went once!
Ok, well tomorrow is the first day of classes! Wish me luck!
It turned out that it was Katya’s friend Masha’s husband (Anatoly), who needed to practice his English, but he was really embarrassed for most of the time, so we mostly ended up talking to Masha. Katya, even with her own friends, was quite silent. Driving in St. Petersburg is always scary, especially when there aren’t working seatbelts, but we made it to the town of Pushkin in a little under an hour. Pushkin is officially part of St. Petersburg, and it’s located southeast of the main city. It’s named Pushkin because the writer, Pushkin, was born there and spent a large portion of his life studying there.
But, the real tourist attraction in Pushkin is Catherine II’s summer palace. It’s located in a giant park, which is supposedly really beautiful in the summer, but was still enjoyable through the slush. The palace itself is immense and so ornate. The floors are all gorgeous wooden mosaics, so we had to wear silly blue plastic booties over our shoes so as not to scratch them. We took a tour in Russian through the part of the palace that is open for tourists (a small portion, that is still bigger than any normal person would ever need). The first room we went into was the gold-encrusted Great Hall. We went through multiple dining rooms, thematic color rooms, and eventually came to the famed Amber Room.
There has been a lot of controversy over this room. It was first believed to have been plundered by the Nazis, when all the gem mosaics were found missing, but later it was revealed that it was destroyed in a fire while under Red Army occupation. They were so worried about Stalin’s reaction to allowing a fire to reach the room, that they created the Nazi rumor. But, a few years ago, the room was reopened after years of renovation, largely sponsored by German funds. The room was incredible, and the only one that you aren’t allowed to take pictures in. So, sorry about that.
But, while we were there, we did run into a wedding! It’s a Russian tradition for the couple to go to various famous landmarks and take pictures there, and this couple chose to take pictures throughout the palace. It was kind of funny to see a bride and groom, groomsmen and bridesmaids all wearing blue booties. It’s good luck if you see these pictures being taken, and Katherine and I saw 3 this weekend – we’re hoping for a good week. I snuck some pictures of the bride and groom as well.
After the palace tour, we walked through the park some more, and saw the pagodas Catherine II had built because she wanted to bring a little bit of China to her estate. It’s actually incredible how much normal, everyday Russians know about their history. Masha, and especially Anatoly, were able to tell us so many stories about where we were. All in all, it was a great tour, nice to breath some fresh air, and very fun in general. They said that whenever we want to go somewhere else, they would love to take us to practice their English some more, so it looks like there will be more fun trips in the future!
Today, we went to the Hermitage with our group. Only 4 people showed up, which was a little awkward. I’m sure most of you know about the Hermitage, the giant art museum housed in an old palace. It’s actually 5 buildings that are connected, but the Winter Palace alone has 1057 rooms, so that’s just a preview to its size. Once again, the architecture was incredible, and as Catherine II lived here for a while, it was extravagant beyond belief. I’m not really into art museums at all, so while other people marvel at the Hermitage, I enjoyed looking at the building, and quickly glanced at some art. Truthfully, I don’t know how many times I’ll end up going back this semester, but at least I went once!
Ok, well tomorrow is the first day of classes! Wish me luck!
Friday, February 8, 2008
End of Intensive Russian, beginning of viola
I'm officially done with my intensive Russian program! I just finished my last class (actually one class was canceled today, which made us all extremely thankful). It feels good to be done with this 2 week portion of the program. Now, on Monday, our real semester will begin. Tonight we have a kick-off dinner, which is kind of a mixer to get us to meet some Russian Smolny students. We'll see how that goes. As I'm a vegetarian here, I always have to sit at a certain part of the table, and there are definitely not going to be any vegetarian Russian students, so I'll probably just end up talking to my friends.
Yesterday was a really exciting day -- I had my first viola lesson! I was really scared and nervous about meeting my teacher. I had a vision of Russian music teachers being really strict, totally focused on technique, and kind of not caring about the student at all. I also foresaw a problem because when I called him to confirm, he gave me more precise directions of where to meet him, and I had no clue what he said. All I knew was that I was supposed to go to the Philharmonic hall, and something about the number 3.
So, immediately after class yesterday I got on the metro to go further into town. I realized that it was the first time I had actually traveled anywhere by myself in St. Petersburg, and it felt quite liberating and natural. Not that I've been clinging to my friends or anything, but since my closest ones live a minute away from me, it's generally easier and more fun to do things together.
But, I arrived at the philharmonic hall, and was walking around outside, when I spotted a door marked 3. I was debating whether to enter when some guy came up to me, holding a viola case and said "Are you looking for me?" So, I found Andrei Dogadin, my teacher. We have lessons in a room in that building, and the lesson felt completely normal. I could understand basically everything he said in Russian, and he used a few english words as well. But, generally music lessons involve a lot of gesturing, singing, movement, demonstrations...so it's easy to communicate. It felt different in the sense that studying with any new teacher feels different; you have to adjust to their musical interpretations and how they teach. But, I feel like I got a lot out of it, we connected pretty well, and I'm looking forward to studying with him for the semester. After the lesson, we walked outside and talked while he smoked a cigarette. The conversation consisted mostly of him asking me if Ohio is a nice state (I said no), him asking me to rank music schools in the US (which I did incorrectly after I realized his son was going to one that I had not given the 1st ranking), and him telling me that I play very well, but need to analyze everything.
Other than that, things have been going pretty well. I found a stash of DVDs belonging to my host sister that are all American movies dubbed in Russian. I'm most of the way through "What Women Want" and I'm looking forward to watching them all. It's a nice way to compromise my yearning for American culture with some educational Russian learning.
My friend's boyfriend was commenting that whenever he talks to her, she doesn't rave about how fantastic Russia is, and how she's having the best time of her life, which are comments often heard from people studying abroad. We were thinking about that, and realized that Russia is not a place that people normally rave about. We're having a great time, but it's more of a learning experience than a "best semester ever" kind of thing.
Well, I'm going to go home and get ready for the weekend. Hope everything is great with everyone, and keep sending me e-mails!
Yesterday was a really exciting day -- I had my first viola lesson! I was really scared and nervous about meeting my teacher. I had a vision of Russian music teachers being really strict, totally focused on technique, and kind of not caring about the student at all. I also foresaw a problem because when I called him to confirm, he gave me more precise directions of where to meet him, and I had no clue what he said. All I knew was that I was supposed to go to the Philharmonic hall, and something about the number 3.
So, immediately after class yesterday I got on the metro to go further into town. I realized that it was the first time I had actually traveled anywhere by myself in St. Petersburg, and it felt quite liberating and natural. Not that I've been clinging to my friends or anything, but since my closest ones live a minute away from me, it's generally easier and more fun to do things together.
But, I arrived at the philharmonic hall, and was walking around outside, when I spotted a door marked 3. I was debating whether to enter when some guy came up to me, holding a viola case and said "Are you looking for me?" So, I found Andrei Dogadin, my teacher. We have lessons in a room in that building, and the lesson felt completely normal. I could understand basically everything he said in Russian, and he used a few english words as well. But, generally music lessons involve a lot of gesturing, singing, movement, demonstrations...so it's easy to communicate. It felt different in the sense that studying with any new teacher feels different; you have to adjust to their musical interpretations and how they teach. But, I feel like I got a lot out of it, we connected pretty well, and I'm looking forward to studying with him for the semester. After the lesson, we walked outside and talked while he smoked a cigarette. The conversation consisted mostly of him asking me if Ohio is a nice state (I said no), him asking me to rank music schools in the US (which I did incorrectly after I realized his son was going to one that I had not given the 1st ranking), and him telling me that I play very well, but need to analyze everything.
Other than that, things have been going pretty well. I found a stash of DVDs belonging to my host sister that are all American movies dubbed in Russian. I'm most of the way through "What Women Want" and I'm looking forward to watching them all. It's a nice way to compromise my yearning for American culture with some educational Russian learning.
My friend's boyfriend was commenting that whenever he talks to her, she doesn't rave about how fantastic Russia is, and how she's having the best time of her life, which are comments often heard from people studying abroad. We were thinking about that, and realized that Russia is not a place that people normally rave about. We're having a great time, but it's more of a learning experience than a "best semester ever" kind of thing.
Well, I'm going to go home and get ready for the weekend. Hope everything is great with everyone, and keep sending me e-mails!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Pictures
Ok, I can't figure out how to post pictures on my blog, so here is a site that has pictures on it.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Hannah.Levinson/StPetersburg
Also, I will generally be updating my blog on Mondays, so check then!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Hannah.Levinson/StPetersburg
Also, I will generally be updating my blog on Mondays, so check then!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Weekend adventures...
So, I just woke up, it’s snowing, and there is snow sticking to the ground! That’s really exciting, because we haven’t really had snow since we have been here, so I have been inspired to write another blog entry.
I wrote my last one on Friday (even though I will have pasted it on Monday), so I guess I’ll talk a little bit about my weekend. Saturday, I went with my friend to visit another friend’s neighborhood, on the Petrograd Island. Our neighborhood is fine, it’s very residential and quiet, but we kind of saw what we were missing when we went to the Petrograd Side. There were cafes and restaurants everywhere, and lots of museums and cool places to check out. In my neighborhood, we have some casinos that are really sketchy, a karaoke bar, a club that is half internet cafe and half gothic club, and a sketchy café named Alyosha’s. We went to Alyosha’s once, but the second time we were about to go in we saw a giant bar fight break out, so we turned the other way.
But, back to Petrograd island. So, upon coming out of the metro station we saw the only Mosque in St. Petersburg, which is really pretty. Then, we started walking along one of the main streets because it was supposed to have really extravagant architecture, which it did. We stumbled upon a bust of Lenin, which are plentiful in this city, and then we decided that we wanted to find a museum. We settled upon visiting Kirov’s apartment. Kirov was a very important Soviet official, whose murder was used as the basis for Stalin’s show trials in the ‘30s. Needless to say, I was very interested in this apartment.
To start off, it was GIANT! This apartment was basically an entire floor of the building, over 10 rooms. If you think about how most people were living in communal apartments, it’s really ridiculous how much space the heads of government were keeping for themselves. Getting back to the museum, though, half of it is his preserved apartment, and the other half has been turned into a museum about him. There was also another floor that was a museum about Soviet life for children.
Kirov was really into game hunting, so there was dead game everywhere. Birds and foxes on every wall, and someone had even given him a polar bear rug as a present! The craziest thing was noticing how many portraits of Lenin and Stalin there were everywhere. Every room had at least 2 pictures of each of them hanging on the wall or on desks. It’s weirder when you think that Stalin was in that apartment a lot (I saw the table he ate at!), and would come in and see his face everywhere. I guess that’s what he wanted though . . .
Sunday, we had a group excursion to the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was built by Peter I as defense against the Swedes, but they never really had to use it for that, because they beat Sweden before they finished building the fortress. Mostly, it was just used as a jail for political prisoners, including Dostoevsky and Trotsky. We walked around the fortress a little bit, but it was really cold yesterday. We went into the main cathedral, where all of Russia’s pre-revolutionary leaders were buried. It was a beautiful cathedral, although it seemed more like a mausoleum inside, with all the tombs. We finished up that excursion with lunch at the vegetarian chain “Troitskii Most” which is really delicious! I’ll probably be frequenting that restaurant once a week.
Ok, well I need to get to school now. Though the streets are snowy, it doesn’t seem like people are driving any slower. Russians are crazy. Oberlin kids, have a great first day of classes – keep me updated!
I wrote my last one on Friday (even though I will have pasted it on Monday), so I guess I’ll talk a little bit about my weekend. Saturday, I went with my friend to visit another friend’s neighborhood, on the Petrograd Island. Our neighborhood is fine, it’s very residential and quiet, but we kind of saw what we were missing when we went to the Petrograd Side. There were cafes and restaurants everywhere, and lots of museums and cool places to check out. In my neighborhood, we have some casinos that are really sketchy, a karaoke bar, a club that is half internet cafe and half gothic club, and a sketchy café named Alyosha’s. We went to Alyosha’s once, but the second time we were about to go in we saw a giant bar fight break out, so we turned the other way.
But, back to Petrograd island. So, upon coming out of the metro station we saw the only Mosque in St. Petersburg, which is really pretty. Then, we started walking along one of the main streets because it was supposed to have really extravagant architecture, which it did. We stumbled upon a bust of Lenin, which are plentiful in this city, and then we decided that we wanted to find a museum. We settled upon visiting Kirov’s apartment. Kirov was a very important Soviet official, whose murder was used as the basis for Stalin’s show trials in the ‘30s. Needless to say, I was very interested in this apartment.
To start off, it was GIANT! This apartment was basically an entire floor of the building, over 10 rooms. If you think about how most people were living in communal apartments, it’s really ridiculous how much space the heads of government were keeping for themselves. Getting back to the museum, though, half of it is his preserved apartment, and the other half has been turned into a museum about him. There was also another floor that was a museum about Soviet life for children.
Kirov was really into game hunting, so there was dead game everywhere. Birds and foxes on every wall, and someone had even given him a polar bear rug as a present! The craziest thing was noticing how many portraits of Lenin and Stalin there were everywhere. Every room had at least 2 pictures of each of them hanging on the wall or on desks. It’s weirder when you think that Stalin was in that apartment a lot (I saw the table he ate at!), and would come in and see his face everywhere. I guess that’s what he wanted though . . .
Sunday, we had a group excursion to the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was built by Peter I as defense against the Swedes, but they never really had to use it for that, because they beat Sweden before they finished building the fortress. Mostly, it was just used as a jail for political prisoners, including Dostoevsky and Trotsky. We walked around the fortress a little bit, but it was really cold yesterday. We went into the main cathedral, where all of Russia’s pre-revolutionary leaders were buried. It was a beautiful cathedral, although it seemed more like a mausoleum inside, with all the tombs. We finished up that excursion with lunch at the vegetarian chain “Troitskii Most” which is really delicious! I’ll probably be frequenting that restaurant once a week.
Ok, well I need to get to school now. Though the streets are snowy, it doesn’t seem like people are driving any slower. Russians are crazy. Oberlin kids, have a great first day of classes – keep me updated!
Home and Classes
Ok, there are two main topics to cover in this blog entry: my host family, and classes. Basically, that’s all that has been going on in my life.
My host family, although I wasn’t so thrilled with them at the beginning, has turned into quite a lovely experience. The immediate family includes Tatiana, my host mother, Katya, her daughter, and Tosya, the rat. We live in a small apartment, only 3 rooms (the mom sleeps in the kitchen at night), but it is quite enough space to live in. But, because it’s so small, it has been a little difficult. Their computer is in what is now my room, so, when Danya, Tatiana’s 5 year old grandson, comes to visit and wants to play computer games, my room turns into a playroom. In some ways, that’s not bad, as I can speak more easily to Danya than to Russian people my age, but it gets a little frustrating.
But, I’m beginning to really bond with the mother, so it’s a much better experience. When she isn’t stuffing me with food (she is always making me try new things, often things I have eaten but don’t know the Russian names for. Like yesterday, when she slathered something on a piece of bread, told me to try it, and it turned out to be horseradish. Not a taste you want to be surprised with. But, she did make some tasty baked pumpkin the other day.), we have actually been having more conversations. Sometimes we watch bad Russian tv shows and talk about them, but today she told me a lot about her life, which was really interesting. She also asked me what my parents do (mom, it took me a really long time to try to explain the Alexander Technique in Russian). I actually felt like today I could carry on conversations with her and understand most of it, which is fantastic. Katya doesn’t really talk to me. I’m fine with that, although today I found out that she actually understands English. This occurred when a friend called me making plans to meet up, and she translated the conversation to her mother. What a spy . . . The rat stays in her room, so I barely see it. I’m also fine with that.
Classes are also going quite well. We have a slew of different intensive language classes every day. Sometimes grammar, which is taught by a lady who, I think, has gone crazy from teaching so many foreigners Russian grammar that she actually speaks more in sounds and motions than in words. Writing is an annoying but useful class, which involves writing an essay every night. We have speaking class, a class where we learn to interpret mass media, and today we had our first phonetics class! This was actually quite exciting, although if anyone walked in they would be really confused by the sight of a group of students making sounds for an hour.
Generally, things are going quite well. We had an excursion this past week to the Kuntskamera museum, which holds Peter I’s collection of malformed babies preserved in alcohol, and we have 2 more excursions to get in this week. I also have my first viola lesson this week, which I’m looking forward to, though half scared out of my mind. Having my viola has actually been a great thing, because practicing is a break from focusing on speaking and understanding Russian. Life, though, doesn’t seem so different. Even after 1 week, we are much more comfortable with transportation, I watch Scrubs every morning while I eat breakfast (dubbed in Russian), and today I bought a Russian Glamour magazine because Fergie was on the cover.
I’m happy to hear that people have been reading my blog, and pictures are coming soon!
My host family, although I wasn’t so thrilled with them at the beginning, has turned into quite a lovely experience. The immediate family includes Tatiana, my host mother, Katya, her daughter, and Tosya, the rat. We live in a small apartment, only 3 rooms (the mom sleeps in the kitchen at night), but it is quite enough space to live in. But, because it’s so small, it has been a little difficult. Their computer is in what is now my room, so, when Danya, Tatiana’s 5 year old grandson, comes to visit and wants to play computer games, my room turns into a playroom. In some ways, that’s not bad, as I can speak more easily to Danya than to Russian people my age, but it gets a little frustrating.
But, I’m beginning to really bond with the mother, so it’s a much better experience. When she isn’t stuffing me with food (she is always making me try new things, often things I have eaten but don’t know the Russian names for. Like yesterday, when she slathered something on a piece of bread, told me to try it, and it turned out to be horseradish. Not a taste you want to be surprised with. But, she did make some tasty baked pumpkin the other day.), we have actually been having more conversations. Sometimes we watch bad Russian tv shows and talk about them, but today she told me a lot about her life, which was really interesting. She also asked me what my parents do (mom, it took me a really long time to try to explain the Alexander Technique in Russian). I actually felt like today I could carry on conversations with her and understand most of it, which is fantastic. Katya doesn’t really talk to me. I’m fine with that, although today I found out that she actually understands English. This occurred when a friend called me making plans to meet up, and she translated the conversation to her mother. What a spy . . . The rat stays in her room, so I barely see it. I’m also fine with that.
Classes are also going quite well. We have a slew of different intensive language classes every day. Sometimes grammar, which is taught by a lady who, I think, has gone crazy from teaching so many foreigners Russian grammar that she actually speaks more in sounds and motions than in words. Writing is an annoying but useful class, which involves writing an essay every night. We have speaking class, a class where we learn to interpret mass media, and today we had our first phonetics class! This was actually quite exciting, although if anyone walked in they would be really confused by the sight of a group of students making sounds for an hour.
Generally, things are going quite well. We had an excursion this past week to the Kuntskamera museum, which holds Peter I’s collection of malformed babies preserved in alcohol, and we have 2 more excursions to get in this week. I also have my first viola lesson this week, which I’m looking forward to, though half scared out of my mind. Having my viola has actually been a great thing, because practicing is a break from focusing on speaking and understanding Russian. Life, though, doesn’t seem so different. Even after 1 week, we are much more comfortable with transportation, I watch Scrubs every morning while I eat breakfast (dubbed in Russian), and today I bought a Russian Glamour magazine because Fergie was on the cover.
I’m happy to hear that people have been reading my blog, and pictures are coming soon!
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