So this past weekend was fairly eventful, I would say. Despite trying to get student rush tickets to the opera twice - and failing both times - I managed to have quite a large number of interesting Russian experiences.
Friday night, after a failed attempt to see Carmen, I went with two friends to a restaurant called "1001 nights." Obviously, a slight middle eastern theme. My one friend had tried to go with her family the week before, but they were closed. We walked in, and had to go through 5 rooms before we found anyone that gave us any hope that this was a functioning restaurant. The entire complex was decorated like middle eastern/arabian buildings. The walls were painted to resemble light stone, with light blue decorations everywhere and fake pools of water. The restaurant itself was huge -- there were 2 banquet tables for 14 people each, and many more smaller tables. We were the only people there. We had to assume that it was a front for some sketchy Russian business, but even if it was, the food was great. After a week of meals consisting only of cabbage and potatoes, spicy eggplant was a nice change. We were thoroughly enjoying our empty restaurant until this guy came out with a microphone and welcomed us ladies to the restaurant. I guess he had been hired as the entertainment, but we were the only people there. So, for the next 40 minutes, he sang, just to us. We heard Arabian and Russian pop songs, plus some jazz standards. It was extremely awkward to sit there with a restaurant performer staring at us the entire time, but once again, the food was good.
Our weather is starting to get really nice -- today for the first time I wore a fleece to school instead of my huge down coat. Saturday was an especially sunny day, so I went for a long progulka (stroll) by myself. Along my walk, I stopped in the Nabokov's apartment (not so interesting, most of the exhibit was of his butterfly collection) and in Rimsky-Korsakov's apartment (more interesting, but still quite small. There are concerts sometimes held in Rimsky-Korsakov's apartment, so I'm going to look into maybe attending on of those.
But! The most exciting part of this past weekend was going to the famous Moscow cat theater! I am a big fan of circuses in general, so the idea of the cat circus seemed incredible to me. It wasn't as enticing to my friends, but I found a few who I could convince to come with me. First of all, I was a little embarrassed to go to a box office and ask for tickets to the cat circus. But, it's an extremely normal thing for Russians. My host mother said "Oh, that's a good thing to see. It doesn't come around here all the time." I guess Kuklachov's cat circus is often abroad doing international tours. I would suggest youtubing some clips to get the full effect.
All in all, it was an enjoyable circus. Sometimes the cat's trick seemed to be sitting. For example, a clown would balance on something with a cat on his head. But there were some really impressive cat tricks, like cats tightroping, or climbing across a rope upside down. My favorite was the cat that could traverse tightropes with just it's front legs -- basically by hanging by it's armpits. That was cool. I'm really glad that I got a chance to see this very pivotal part of Russian culture. It's not everyday you can go to the cat circus.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Sorry it's late!
Things have been getting busier and busier, so I apologize for the lack of blog updates. This week is our midterms week for Russian as a second language classes, which on top of being a bit sick, has not made for a fun time. I think everyone is getting sick though, because the weather is so wacky. It was warm for a little bit, but the past two days, there have been giant snowstorms in the morning, and then sunny, clear afternoons. It’s almost April! I really hope the snow stops soon . . .
My normal life has also become extremely busy. It kind of feels like Oberlin, where I don’t come home until 10 or 11 every night. One night a week I am now helping with an English discussion club at the Jewish community center. There are about 15-20 people who show up for this club, and another American girl who helps out with me. Every week there is a different topic that the participants find out about beforehand so that they can practice vocabulary if they want. This past week, our topic was “careers.” Working at the discussion club basically involves sitting around for an hour and 45 minutes talking about the topic, which has its ups and downs. I don’t know how they do it, but I think it would be extremely hard to get a group of Americans to sit still for that long and talk about one topic, but the Russians have great powers of concentrations. I, on the other hand, find myself getting a little bored. But, it has its benefits. The participants are all different ages, so sometimes the things they say are really interesting. Last week there were 3 girls who are freshmen in college, who talked about how they are extremely patriotic people and never want to work anywhere except for Russia. This surprised not only myself, but the other Russians there, because most people want to work abroad for the money. My other job for this discussion club is to bring in some Jewish elements to the discussion. About 70% of the people have some Jewish connection, but people don’t really know much about Judaism so I try to add some interesting tidbits into the conversation.
I also joined a small string orchestra in the university. The orchestra itself is pretty bad, but the people are so nice that I keep going. Like any Russian club, there is a break in the middle of rehearsal that runs into more of a 45 minute tea and snacking time. After rehearsal, a bunch of girls go out for more tea and they have invited me along. They are all really friendly and it’s a great chance to practice my Russian. Last Thursday it was a girl’s birthday in the orchestra, and the break was extended to add room for cake and champagne. Needless to say, after that, no one wanted to rehearse more.
This past weekend I also met with the friends of one of my Russian teachers at Oberlin. The daughter, Mariam, is applying for college in the US and needs to practice her English. I went over to their house and they were so friendly. Her mother cooked a ton of food and was so excited to meet me. They are Armenians, not Russians, but have lived here for a really long time. I heard many stories about their lives, was invited to bring my entire family to Armenia to visit them, and asked so many questions about myself. From speaking to Mariam, it’s really obvious how well she would do in a US university. Her way of thinking just doesn’t match with the Russian educational system, which teaches people not really to think, but to repeat facts. She told me many stories about what her classmates say in history classes, and how she gets in trouble for trying to make them more open-minded. She also told me a story about how they were all supposed to pick what they wanted to do when they were in 8th grade, and how she got in trouble for changing her mind a few months later from wanting to do chemistry to physics. If Americans had to pick their profession in 8th grade, our world would be a very different place . . . This week I think I’m going to go to a museum with her on my day off, so we’ll spend half the time speaking English, and the other half speaking in Russian. I’m really looking forward to spending more time with her and her mother.
All in all, this past weekend wasn’t very exciting. But, Friday night I went to a birthday party for a friend at some night club. We didn’t want to stay out all night, so we took a gypsy cab home at 2:30 am. The conversation I got into with the driver was a great example of Russian personalities. It was the middle of the night and he starts asking me about the American primaries and who we want to win. After giving his opinions on the candidates (he thinks Hilary won’t win because she forgave Bill for his sex scandal, which made her look weak to the public), he went on to other topics: Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, the benefits of racism. It was a pretty amusing ride home. Even though the gypsy cabs can be slightly sketchy, they are a great way to break into the mind of the normal Russian.
Well, I should get going – I have two midterms today! Other than that, I found out that I got into Aspen music festival for this summer, so I will be spending the summer in Colorado. Let me know what kind of plans everyone has for the summer!
My normal life has also become extremely busy. It kind of feels like Oberlin, where I don’t come home until 10 or 11 every night. One night a week I am now helping with an English discussion club at the Jewish community center. There are about 15-20 people who show up for this club, and another American girl who helps out with me. Every week there is a different topic that the participants find out about beforehand so that they can practice vocabulary if they want. This past week, our topic was “careers.” Working at the discussion club basically involves sitting around for an hour and 45 minutes talking about the topic, which has its ups and downs. I don’t know how they do it, but I think it would be extremely hard to get a group of Americans to sit still for that long and talk about one topic, but the Russians have great powers of concentrations. I, on the other hand, find myself getting a little bored. But, it has its benefits. The participants are all different ages, so sometimes the things they say are really interesting. Last week there were 3 girls who are freshmen in college, who talked about how they are extremely patriotic people and never want to work anywhere except for Russia. This surprised not only myself, but the other Russians there, because most people want to work abroad for the money. My other job for this discussion club is to bring in some Jewish elements to the discussion. About 70% of the people have some Jewish connection, but people don’t really know much about Judaism so I try to add some interesting tidbits into the conversation.
I also joined a small string orchestra in the university. The orchestra itself is pretty bad, but the people are so nice that I keep going. Like any Russian club, there is a break in the middle of rehearsal that runs into more of a 45 minute tea and snacking time. After rehearsal, a bunch of girls go out for more tea and they have invited me along. They are all really friendly and it’s a great chance to practice my Russian. Last Thursday it was a girl’s birthday in the orchestra, and the break was extended to add room for cake and champagne. Needless to say, after that, no one wanted to rehearse more.
This past weekend I also met with the friends of one of my Russian teachers at Oberlin. The daughter, Mariam, is applying for college in the US and needs to practice her English. I went over to their house and they were so friendly. Her mother cooked a ton of food and was so excited to meet me. They are Armenians, not Russians, but have lived here for a really long time. I heard many stories about their lives, was invited to bring my entire family to Armenia to visit them, and asked so many questions about myself. From speaking to Mariam, it’s really obvious how well she would do in a US university. Her way of thinking just doesn’t match with the Russian educational system, which teaches people not really to think, but to repeat facts. She told me many stories about what her classmates say in history classes, and how she gets in trouble for trying to make them more open-minded. She also told me a story about how they were all supposed to pick what they wanted to do when they were in 8th grade, and how she got in trouble for changing her mind a few months later from wanting to do chemistry to physics. If Americans had to pick their profession in 8th grade, our world would be a very different place . . . This week I think I’m going to go to a museum with her on my day off, so we’ll spend half the time speaking English, and the other half speaking in Russian. I’m really looking forward to spending more time with her and her mother.
All in all, this past weekend wasn’t very exciting. But, Friday night I went to a birthday party for a friend at some night club. We didn’t want to stay out all night, so we took a gypsy cab home at 2:30 am. The conversation I got into with the driver was a great example of Russian personalities. It was the middle of the night and he starts asking me about the American primaries and who we want to win. After giving his opinions on the candidates (he thinks Hilary won’t win because she forgave Bill for his sex scandal, which made her look weak to the public), he went on to other topics: Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, the benefits of racism. It was a pretty amusing ride home. Even though the gypsy cabs can be slightly sketchy, they are a great way to break into the mind of the normal Russian.
Well, I should get going – I have two midterms today! Other than that, I found out that I got into Aspen music festival for this summer, so I will be spending the summer in Colorado. Let me know what kind of plans everyone has for the summer!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Can't come up with good titles.
So now, with only 3 more months to go, my life seems like it is starting to fall into place. This being my 8th semester of college, I’m more interested in exploring the community and opportunities available to me in St. Petersburg, rather than sitting in endless classes and writing papers.
This past week I had a meeting with a woman, Irina, at the JDC to talk about volunteer options for me this semester. Starting this week, I’m going to go help out with an English discussion group at the Jewish community center, for people who like to practice their English. Every week there is a different theme and the teachers plan activities and discussion questions for the meeting. All in all, it seems a lot like what I do at camp, so it shouldn’t be so hard. She’s also going to invite me to Jewish youth events for students my age, so that will be a good way to meet some Russian friends. She gave me a presentation about the JDC which was actually really interesting. I don’t know if I have mentioned this, but Judaism in this region has always been an ethnicity, not a religion. So, while people were forced to identify as Jewish, it held more of a negative connotation than the idea of a heritage they could actually embrace. Part of the JDC’s work in St. Petersburg is to get Jews active and affiliated with communities, but another part of it is to create a self-sufficient community. Irina showed me a statistic that over 60% of the Jewish population in this area is middle/upper class, so part of their work is to encourage these people to support the community so that they can have their own benefactors, instead of always using foreign ones.
This past Saturday I had lunch at the people’s house where I had dinner the Friday before. There, I got to meet some of these Jewish businessmen and other Jews in the community. Menachem and his wife always invite a wide variety of people to their house for Shabbat. This lunch included: me, a woman from Chicago who was here visiting, a couple from Canada (originally from South Africa) who were also visiting, 3 Russian businessmen, a secretary from the JDC (who was never an active Jew but saw an advertisement for a Jewish secretary 13 years ago and has been working there since), and a Jewish, Russian violinist who was very fun to talk to. It was an interesting combination of a traditional Shabbat meal and a traditional Russian one, with the men taking shots of vodka and toasting to various things. Everyone is excited to meet me and very thankful that I want to volunteer, even though I haven’t done anything yet.
Also this week I met with a new viola teacher, since I hadn’t really been enjoying my 1st one. This guy seems good, we’ll see how my next lesson goes. He’s a teacher in the conservatory and my lesson was actually in the conservatory this time. It was interesting to go inside the conservatory and observe the students and the environment compared to Oberlin’s. It definitely made me notice the lack of musical environment that I am in this semester (although I went to two orchestra concerts this weekend). The best thing about the lesson was that I got there by marshutka, which is a small minibus that runs on a more specific route, but is harder to take because it stops wherever you want it to, therefore you need to know where you want to go. But, I got to and from my lesson successfully, so now I am less afraid of that mode of transportation.
Tomorrow I am going to check out a string orchestra in St. Petersburg University that I might play with. Hopefully that will be good. All in all, I’m glad to be able to participate in things I’m interested in – I think it will really add to this semester.
This past week I had a meeting with a woman, Irina, at the JDC to talk about volunteer options for me this semester. Starting this week, I’m going to go help out with an English discussion group at the Jewish community center, for people who like to practice their English. Every week there is a different theme and the teachers plan activities and discussion questions for the meeting. All in all, it seems a lot like what I do at camp, so it shouldn’t be so hard. She’s also going to invite me to Jewish youth events for students my age, so that will be a good way to meet some Russian friends. She gave me a presentation about the JDC which was actually really interesting. I don’t know if I have mentioned this, but Judaism in this region has always been an ethnicity, not a religion. So, while people were forced to identify as Jewish, it held more of a negative connotation than the idea of a heritage they could actually embrace. Part of the JDC’s work in St. Petersburg is to get Jews active and affiliated with communities, but another part of it is to create a self-sufficient community. Irina showed me a statistic that over 60% of the Jewish population in this area is middle/upper class, so part of their work is to encourage these people to support the community so that they can have their own benefactors, instead of always using foreign ones.
This past Saturday I had lunch at the people’s house where I had dinner the Friday before. There, I got to meet some of these Jewish businessmen and other Jews in the community. Menachem and his wife always invite a wide variety of people to their house for Shabbat. This lunch included: me, a woman from Chicago who was here visiting, a couple from Canada (originally from South Africa) who were also visiting, 3 Russian businessmen, a secretary from the JDC (who was never an active Jew but saw an advertisement for a Jewish secretary 13 years ago and has been working there since), and a Jewish, Russian violinist who was very fun to talk to. It was an interesting combination of a traditional Shabbat meal and a traditional Russian one, with the men taking shots of vodka and toasting to various things. Everyone is excited to meet me and very thankful that I want to volunteer, even though I haven’t done anything yet.
Also this week I met with a new viola teacher, since I hadn’t really been enjoying my 1st one. This guy seems good, we’ll see how my next lesson goes. He’s a teacher in the conservatory and my lesson was actually in the conservatory this time. It was interesting to go inside the conservatory and observe the students and the environment compared to Oberlin’s. It definitely made me notice the lack of musical environment that I am in this semester (although I went to two orchestra concerts this weekend). The best thing about the lesson was that I got there by marshutka, which is a small minibus that runs on a more specific route, but is harder to take because it stops wherever you want it to, therefore you need to know where you want to go. But, I got to and from my lesson successfully, so now I am less afraid of that mode of transportation.
Tomorrow I am going to check out a string orchestra in St. Petersburg University that I might play with. Hopefully that will be good. All in all, I’m glad to be able to participate in things I’m interested in – I think it will really add to this semester.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Saturday-Monday
I don't know if I had mentioned that this entire past week (Sunday-Sunday) was the Russian festival of Maslenitsa. This is their version of Carnival, when they pig out of bliny (russian pancakes) until the beginning of Lent when they have to give them up. This is also the last remaining pagan holiday, so their are old pagan elements left over. The holiday also represents the end of winter, so at the end of the holiday, they burn a big straw doll to end winter and welcome the spring.
We had been told that there would be bliny everywhere, but truthfully, we didn't see them. Saturday afternoon, I set out with my friend Margo, wanting to find wooden bliny carts in parks and street corners everywhere. Sadly, we found none, and had to go to a restaurant and order bliny. Nice walk though...
Saturday night, I was supposed to go to a Mussorsky concert with my friend Katie who loves "Pictures at an Exhibition." It was performed at the Mariinski concert hall, which is very modern and actually not so nice inside. Also, the magazine we had read advertising the concert failed to mention that it wasn't the full orchestral version of the piece, so we listened to scenes of an opera, and a brass ensemble version of "Pictures" in a mostly empty auditorium.
Oh, Saturday was also International Women's Day, which means all the women get flowers and technically men are supposed to do all the work. As there are no men in my household, this didn't affect me.
Sunday was a bit more exciting. We had heard that there was actually an end of Maslenitsa festival on this island that is mostly a park. It's kind of far outside of town, but as we traveled further out on the metro and saw hundreds of kids also headed that way, we knew we were correct. The festival was crazy -- basically a carnival, but held in snow and freezing temperatures. There were stages with dancing, contests (like which woman can dance best with a broom, perfect to recreate gender roles the day after Women's Day), bliny eating contests, blacksmiths, etc. There were also rides, stands selling straw dolls to be burned, and kids on sleds everywhere. It was really fun to get to see, although we were so cold we couldn't stay until the doll burning. I have pictures of things, but my camera sadly isn't cooperating with my computer right now, but hopefully I'll fix it soon. It felt like a true Russian experience.
Today was fantastic! 40 degree weather and blue skies! I hung out with Katie on the icy, snowy waterfront near our house, basking in the sun in our down coats. Still fun. There were people walking all over the frozen water. It was so nice to have pretty weather, it made us very excited for the spring.
Also, forget to tell you the story my friend had about seeing a man hail an ambulance on the street. Turns out you can do that in Russia.
Ok, well I should go. I'm not sure if I'm addressing all the things that people are interested in, so if you have any topics you'd like me to cover, please, comment on my blog and let me know!
We had been told that there would be bliny everywhere, but truthfully, we didn't see them. Saturday afternoon, I set out with my friend Margo, wanting to find wooden bliny carts in parks and street corners everywhere. Sadly, we found none, and had to go to a restaurant and order bliny. Nice walk though...
Saturday night, I was supposed to go to a Mussorsky concert with my friend Katie who loves "Pictures at an Exhibition." It was performed at the Mariinski concert hall, which is very modern and actually not so nice inside. Also, the magazine we had read advertising the concert failed to mention that it wasn't the full orchestral version of the piece, so we listened to scenes of an opera, and a brass ensemble version of "Pictures" in a mostly empty auditorium.
Oh, Saturday was also International Women's Day, which means all the women get flowers and technically men are supposed to do all the work. As there are no men in my household, this didn't affect me.
Sunday was a bit more exciting. We had heard that there was actually an end of Maslenitsa festival on this island that is mostly a park. It's kind of far outside of town, but as we traveled further out on the metro and saw hundreds of kids also headed that way, we knew we were correct. The festival was crazy -- basically a carnival, but held in snow and freezing temperatures. There were stages with dancing, contests (like which woman can dance best with a broom, perfect to recreate gender roles the day after Women's Day), bliny eating contests, blacksmiths, etc. There were also rides, stands selling straw dolls to be burned, and kids on sleds everywhere. It was really fun to get to see, although we were so cold we couldn't stay until the doll burning. I have pictures of things, but my camera sadly isn't cooperating with my computer right now, but hopefully I'll fix it soon. It felt like a true Russian experience.
Today was fantastic! 40 degree weather and blue skies! I hung out with Katie on the icy, snowy waterfront near our house, basking in the sun in our down coats. Still fun. There were people walking all over the frozen water. It was so nice to have pretty weather, it made us very excited for the spring.
Also, forget to tell you the story my friend had about seeing a man hail an ambulance on the street. Turns out you can do that in Russia.
Ok, well I should go. I'm not sure if I'm addressing all the things that people are interested in, so if you have any topics you'd like me to cover, please, comment on my blog and let me know!
Jews in Russia
First of all, while the US has switched to daylight savings time, Russia has not, so we are only 7 hours apart for all of those who are dying to call me. Keep that in mind.
One big thing that has happened in the past few weeks is that I have started to explore the Jewish community in St. Petersburg. Two weeks ago I found the website for the Jewish community center here and saw that there is a reform synagogue housed there. I found this about an hour before Friday night services were supposed to start, so I trekked over there (about a 45 minute walk from my school) and found the building. The YESOD center, as it’s called, is a huge, gorgeous building, which was mostly financed by the Cleveland Jewish community. I got there but couldn’t quite figure out where services were located. So, like I would do in any synagogue, I found an old man wearing a kippah, and asked him where to go. He gladly directed me into this main room in the building. As soon as I entered, a woman who works with the congregation came up to me, asked me where I was from, etc. Everyone was so excited to have a young person visiting, especially from the states.
At the beginning of services, the Rabbi announced that there was a guest and started saying everything in both Russian and English (until someone told him that I understood Russian). In general, the service was a basic reform service, full with a keyboard player and a slightly out of tune cantor. It’s not really to my tastes at all, but it was nice to be in the community. There were probably about 20-25 people there, mostly older, but everyone who was there was really into being there. It was nice to see a congregation of dedicated people, even if most of them haven’t been practicing Judaism for very long.
After services, there was a small buffet of food (really popular with the older pensioners). One woman came over with a full plate of food for me since I was a guest, which I felt bad about eating, but did so as I was very hungry. I ended up talking to an American family (well, husband is American, wife emigrated to the US in 1989) who works with the US commerce department in Russia. They have been going to this synagogue for a few years and have really enjoyed it. In conclusion, I gave my name to people at the synagogue to get on their mailing address and hopefully be involved in the future.
Then, my parents found out that a friend from our synagogue is related to the person who is in charge of the FSU portion of the JDC (an organization that works with building diaspora Jewish communities). So, through this long chain I recently hooked up with the JDC in St. Petersburg. The representative had me over to his house for this last Shabbat, which was fantastic. They are Israeli, and the wife had cooked homemade everything: challah, gefilte fish, 10 different salads, chicken, meat, a non-dairy ice cream fantasy dessert, etc. We spent the night talking about everything; they told me a lot about their past 13 years of living in the FSU, from the days when the women in stores used abacuses to calculate the price total. They welcomed me back to their house at any time, and the husband is also going to arrange meetings for me with the heads of the YESOD so I can find volunteer opportunities, etc.
It’s been really nice to find a Jewish community because it’s a very easy place to fit in. Now I feel much more comfortable with the upcoming holidays, etc. It’s also nice to be making so many connections that might be useful for my future.
One big thing that has happened in the past few weeks is that I have started to explore the Jewish community in St. Petersburg. Two weeks ago I found the website for the Jewish community center here and saw that there is a reform synagogue housed there. I found this about an hour before Friday night services were supposed to start, so I trekked over there (about a 45 minute walk from my school) and found the building. The YESOD center, as it’s called, is a huge, gorgeous building, which was mostly financed by the Cleveland Jewish community. I got there but couldn’t quite figure out where services were located. So, like I would do in any synagogue, I found an old man wearing a kippah, and asked him where to go. He gladly directed me into this main room in the building. As soon as I entered, a woman who works with the congregation came up to me, asked me where I was from, etc. Everyone was so excited to have a young person visiting, especially from the states.
At the beginning of services, the Rabbi announced that there was a guest and started saying everything in both Russian and English (until someone told him that I understood Russian). In general, the service was a basic reform service, full with a keyboard player and a slightly out of tune cantor. It’s not really to my tastes at all, but it was nice to be in the community. There were probably about 20-25 people there, mostly older, but everyone who was there was really into being there. It was nice to see a congregation of dedicated people, even if most of them haven’t been practicing Judaism for very long.
After services, there was a small buffet of food (really popular with the older pensioners). One woman came over with a full plate of food for me since I was a guest, which I felt bad about eating, but did so as I was very hungry. I ended up talking to an American family (well, husband is American, wife emigrated to the US in 1989) who works with the US commerce department in Russia. They have been going to this synagogue for a few years and have really enjoyed it. In conclusion, I gave my name to people at the synagogue to get on their mailing address and hopefully be involved in the future.
Then, my parents found out that a friend from our synagogue is related to the person who is in charge of the FSU portion of the JDC (an organization that works with building diaspora Jewish communities). So, through this long chain I recently hooked up with the JDC in St. Petersburg. The representative had me over to his house for this last Shabbat, which was fantastic. They are Israeli, and the wife had cooked homemade everything: challah, gefilte fish, 10 different salads, chicken, meat, a non-dairy ice cream fantasy dessert, etc. We spent the night talking about everything; they told me a lot about their past 13 years of living in the FSU, from the days when the women in stores used abacuses to calculate the price total. They welcomed me back to their house at any time, and the husband is also going to arrange meetings for me with the heads of the YESOD so I can find volunteer opportunities, etc.
It’s been really nice to find a Jewish community because it’s a very easy place to fit in. Now I feel much more comfortable with the upcoming holidays, etc. It’s also nice to be making so many connections that might be useful for my future.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Adventures in Russia...
Ok, I thought I was done blogging for this week, but the most ridiculous thing just happened. I went with some friends to this café Dol’ka, which is near the dormitories where two of them live. This café has replaced our old favorite “Alyosha’s” which was basically the most miserable café in Petersburg. But, I had a soft spot for my month’s worth of memories in café Alyosha, and everyone had been trying to convince me to switch my loyalty to this new place. After tonight, we’ll have to see . . .
We arrived, sat down, ordered drinks, and pulled out our homework (which always looks awkward in café/bars). Next to us was a table of extremely drunk Russians. One of the women started staring at my friend Andrew and asked him to go outside with her. For some reason, he went, but ran back inside 5 seconds later after she had grabbed his neck and tried to make out with him. He literally had done nothing in this situation other than walk outside behind her.
5 minutes later, a really drunk guy comes up, runs into our table and tries to throw a punch at Andrew, who had apparently “called his sister a prostitute” (nothing of this sort happened). Another woman tried to convince him that that never happened, but for a good 10 minutes we thought we were in danger. He eventually left, only to come back again and try to start a fight once more. The same woman calmed him down again, and apologized to us for about 15 minutes, offering to buy us all ice cream.
10 minutes later, this guy comes back with two beers, apologizes to Andrew and gives him one. They clink glasses and drink. The rest of their party starts talking to us and apologizing profusely (they were very proud that they could say “I’m sorry” in English). Eventually, a different guy gets up and says he is going to dedicate a song to us, goes to front and starts singing karaoke to some song about friendship. From this, the night went downhill to my friend Natalie being serenaded, everyone up there dancing to the karaoke, and to a round of vodka shots for the table, with toasts to “understanding.” (Earlier one guy had given Andrew a shot of vodka, and when Andrew asked what they were toasting to [you don’t drink in Russia without a toast], the man thought for a minute and decided they were toasting to “the 8th of March, International Women’s Day.”
Basically, in an hour and a half, we quickly acted out an entire drama, from violence to friendship. I guess this is what happens in Russia on a Monday night . . .
We arrived, sat down, ordered drinks, and pulled out our homework (which always looks awkward in café/bars). Next to us was a table of extremely drunk Russians. One of the women started staring at my friend Andrew and asked him to go outside with her. For some reason, he went, but ran back inside 5 seconds later after she had grabbed his neck and tried to make out with him. He literally had done nothing in this situation other than walk outside behind her.
5 minutes later, a really drunk guy comes up, runs into our table and tries to throw a punch at Andrew, who had apparently “called his sister a prostitute” (nothing of this sort happened). Another woman tried to convince him that that never happened, but for a good 10 minutes we thought we were in danger. He eventually left, only to come back again and try to start a fight once more. The same woman calmed him down again, and apologized to us for about 15 minutes, offering to buy us all ice cream.
10 minutes later, this guy comes back with two beers, apologizes to Andrew and gives him one. They clink glasses and drink. The rest of their party starts talking to us and apologizing profusely (they were very proud that they could say “I’m sorry” in English). Eventually, a different guy gets up and says he is going to dedicate a song to us, goes to front and starts singing karaoke to some song about friendship. From this, the night went downhill to my friend Natalie being serenaded, everyone up there dancing to the karaoke, and to a round of vodka shots for the table, with toasts to “understanding.” (Earlier one guy had given Andrew a shot of vodka, and when Andrew asked what they were toasting to [you don’t drink in Russia without a toast], the man thought for a minute and decided they were toasting to “the 8th of March, International Women’s Day.”
Basically, in an hour and a half, we quickly acted out an entire drama, from violence to friendship. I guess this is what happens in Russia on a Monday night . . .
Classes
Finally, after 3 weeks of the normal semester, I’ve decided which classes I’ll be taking. First of all, I have 8 hours a week of Russian as a Second Language classes (RSL). RSL is comprised of grammar, speaking, phonetics, and mass media classes. They are generally enjoyable (although phonetics last week was embarrassing because I’m the only person in my class who can’t roll my R – oh well), but sometimes the homework can pile up.
I’m also enrolled for three classes in Smolny Institute. What’s interesting about my study abroad program is that we have this chance to directly enroll in classes. Smolny is an experiment for Russia, being its first liberal arts college, so the classroom experience that the students receive (small classes, discussion based, etc) that seems so normal to us is extremely new and surprising for them. It’s really interesting to be able to take these classes alongside Russian students; not only does it help with language acquisition, but it also gives you a better look into Russian academic life.
My first class is extremely hard – so hard that I’m auditing it. It’s called “Can Russia be a nation-state?” and is taught by two professors, one history and one political. These professors pride themselves on being like Western academics and teachers to the point where the classroom expectations are far beyond what anyone would ever expect in the US. There is a ton of reading, a lot of papers and tests (that I will not be taking), and DISCUSSION. Classes in Russia are 3 hours long with a 20 minute break. This class sometimes is a little awkward because the professors are so set on class participation, but for many students, this is the first time they are being expected to analyze and discuss concepts (a normal Russian education consists of reading and repeating facts). This will be a great class to audit – already from the readings I’ve done, class has become much easier to understand since I’m familiarizing myself with the vocab.
My second class is taught in English and there are actually no Russian students in it. It is taught by a Russian professor, (who talks like Mr. Bean, so sometimes I have problems paying attention) and is about the relationship between Russia and the US in the 20th century, focusing on international security concerns. It’s interesting, and the reading is in Russian, so that is an academic bonus, I guess. I was a little on edge about taking a class with just Americans, but it’s nice to have a normal classroom experience that I can participate fully in.
Lastly, I have just decided to take World Music. This class is enjoyable, the people in it are wacky, all in all, it’s a fun choice. I’ve actually only been to one class so far, but it looks like the teacher lectures for an hour and a half, and then we listen to music for the second section. This week we learned about Indian music and listened to the sitar for a while. I was surprised by how little Russians are accustomed to world music – the sitar was a completely new experience for most of them. It will be interesting to hear their reactions, (one kid asked “so, how do people actually listen to this?) and I’ll also be able to meet some music students this way.
So, those are my classes! It won’t be too stressful, but I think I’ll get plenty out of it to make this semester worthwhile.
I’m also enrolled for three classes in Smolny Institute. What’s interesting about my study abroad program is that we have this chance to directly enroll in classes. Smolny is an experiment for Russia, being its first liberal arts college, so the classroom experience that the students receive (small classes, discussion based, etc) that seems so normal to us is extremely new and surprising for them. It’s really interesting to be able to take these classes alongside Russian students; not only does it help with language acquisition, but it also gives you a better look into Russian academic life.
My first class is extremely hard – so hard that I’m auditing it. It’s called “Can Russia be a nation-state?” and is taught by two professors, one history and one political. These professors pride themselves on being like Western academics and teachers to the point where the classroom expectations are far beyond what anyone would ever expect in the US. There is a ton of reading, a lot of papers and tests (that I will not be taking), and DISCUSSION. Classes in Russia are 3 hours long with a 20 minute break. This class sometimes is a little awkward because the professors are so set on class participation, but for many students, this is the first time they are being expected to analyze and discuss concepts (a normal Russian education consists of reading and repeating facts). This will be a great class to audit – already from the readings I’ve done, class has become much easier to understand since I’m familiarizing myself with the vocab.
My second class is taught in English and there are actually no Russian students in it. It is taught by a Russian professor, (who talks like Mr. Bean, so sometimes I have problems paying attention) and is about the relationship between Russia and the US in the 20th century, focusing on international security concerns. It’s interesting, and the reading is in Russian, so that is an academic bonus, I guess. I was a little on edge about taking a class with just Americans, but it’s nice to have a normal classroom experience that I can participate fully in.
Lastly, I have just decided to take World Music. This class is enjoyable, the people in it are wacky, all in all, it’s a fun choice. I’ve actually only been to one class so far, but it looks like the teacher lectures for an hour and a half, and then we listen to music for the second section. This week we learned about Indian music and listened to the sitar for a while. I was surprised by how little Russians are accustomed to world music – the sitar was a completely new experience for most of them. It will be interesting to hear their reactions, (one kid asked “so, how do people actually listen to this?) and I’ll also be able to meet some music students this way.
So, those are my classes! It won’t be too stressful, but I think I’ll get plenty out of it to make this semester worthwhile.
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