Russia
So, I've been here for almost exactly a week. Things have been so bizarre and stressful and busy that I feel really out of touch from email and from communication with the outside world in general. Now that I have a minute though, this is a little about what its been like.
We had a 2 day orientation in Washington DC before flying to St Petersburg as a group. The orientation was very smoothly run and I enjoyed meeting everyone on the program, but the tone of the orientation seemed to be "How not to die in Russia" and left me wondering why I had had to decide on this language and country in the first place. In case you were wondering, ways to die in Russia include giardia from drinking the water, taking 'gypsy cabs', being run over by out of control traffic, being mugged, getting aids (10% of the population of St Petersburg is HIV positive, or getting mysteriously sent to jail by the police, who are notoriously corrupt.
Now that I'm here its obvious that its not THAT scary, but its still a little scary.
My host mom is an elderly lady, Alla Beniaminovna, who works as a quality-control engineer at a factory. She's nice, sometimes a bit abrupt, but overall I think it will work out well living with her. Her appartment is reasonably nice on the inside, from the outside just one of millions of other soviet-era cement blocks. As for the location, unfortunately its a full hour commute from the university. Its not that I mind commuting in itself so much, but this one in particular is bad since the metro is really dirty and crowded, so my attention is focussed on not getting mugged or pushed over, and I can't make use of the hour in any pleasant way.
So far the only touristy things I've seen are the Church on Spilled Blood, Kazansky Cathedral, and of course I've walked up and down Nevsky Prospect dozens of times. Its very busy and fashionable and lined with shops and restaurants. On Sunday I'm going to the Hermitage with Robyn and Misha, which I'm really excited about.
Classes have been really good so far. We were all placed by ability in small groups and I really love the people in mine. I'm taking Pronunciation, Grammar, Russian Literature, Conversational Russian, and Mass Media. So far my favorite is Pronunciation...I love the idea that I may be able to get rid of my accent : )
Some general observations:
*Russian food is actually really delicious. Everything seems to have onions and mushrooms in it, so I'm glad that I learned to like them both in the past few years.
*Russian women dress like they are going to a ball if they walk across the street to the supermarket. Its bizarre to see them navegating the potholes and dust in the road in stiletto heels.
*Things happen here, and no one knows why. Like some days the metro will close, and other days the supermarket won't have a certain thing, and sometimes you'll go into an empty, open restaurant, and they'll tell you to go away. If you order something on the menu, they invariably won't have it. To my outsider eyes there's no rhyme or reason to anything, so I just shrug and move on.
We had a 2 day orientation in Washington DC before flying to St Petersburg as a group. The orientation was very smoothly run and I enjoyed meeting everyone on the program, but the tone of the orientation seemed to be "How not to die in Russia" and left me wondering why I had had to decide on this language and country in the first place. In case you were wondering, ways to die in Russia include giardia from drinking the water, taking 'gypsy cabs', being run over by out of control traffic, being mugged, getting aids (10% of the population of St Petersburg is HIV positive, or getting mysteriously sent to jail by the police, who are notoriously corrupt.
Now that I'm here its obvious that its not THAT scary, but its still a little scary.
My host mom is an elderly lady, Alla Beniaminovna, who works as a quality-control engineer at a factory. She's nice, sometimes a bit abrupt, but overall I think it will work out well living with her. Her appartment is reasonably nice on the inside, from the outside just one of millions of other soviet-era cement blocks. As for the location, unfortunately its a full hour commute from the university. Its not that I mind commuting in itself so much, but this one in particular is bad since the metro is really dirty and crowded, so my attention is focussed on not getting mugged or pushed over, and I can't make use of the hour in any pleasant way.
So far the only touristy things I've seen are the Church on Spilled Blood, Kazansky Cathedral, and of course I've walked up and down Nevsky Prospect dozens of times. Its very busy and fashionable and lined with shops and restaurants. On Sunday I'm going to the Hermitage with Robyn and Misha, which I'm really excited about.
Classes have been really good so far. We were all placed by ability in small groups and I really love the people in mine. I'm taking Pronunciation, Grammar, Russian Literature, Conversational Russian, and Mass Media. So far my favorite is Pronunciation...I love the idea that I may be able to get rid of my accent : )
Some general observations:
*Russian food is actually really delicious. Everything seems to have onions and mushrooms in it, so I'm glad that I learned to like them both in the past few years.
*Russian women dress like they are going to a ball if they walk across the street to the supermarket. Its bizarre to see them navegating the potholes and dust in the road in stiletto heels.
*Things happen here, and no one knows why. Like some days the metro will close, and other days the supermarket won't have a certain thing, and sometimes you'll go into an empty, open restaurant, and they'll tell you to go away. If you order something on the menu, they invariably won't have it. To my outsider eyes there's no rhyme or reason to anything, so I just shrug and move on.
posted by Julia | 6:10 AM
2 Comments:
Fabulous! I miss Russia sooooooooo much! If you crave English though, Dom Kneegi has book in Angleeski! Have fun! I am so jealous! I loved Petersburg!
hi julia,
sorry but your russian accent will always exists since you are learning the language after puberty, when the langauge acquisition aspect of the left hemisphere has declined. but you can become very good in that language, vladimir nakabov comes to mind, as he writes fantasticly in english but if you heard his accent it is sssoooo thick. good luck
leo
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