Hey everyone! So the time has come to unveil my next blog for my time in Korea. If you’re interested in following that, please head over to The Wandering Waygookin and click the “Follow” button on the right side. Then, you’ll be notified every time I update!
See you there!
-K
(Bet you all weren’t expecting this notification in your inbox, huh?)
Well, there has been a lot going on in my life right now and I thought I would update you all on what’s happening!
Again.
I’ve been a busy little bee, as usual. With graduation approaching quickly and my future still a little unclear, I had spent a lot of time these past few months doing research and writing applications for all sorts of jobs. Most of you know that I have always wanted to work in the government and use my language skills. Unfortunately, those jobs are difficult to come by and caused me to consider some other options. I had spoken with a few friends who pointed out that teaching English abroad was a great opportunity (and living abroad is always recommended for government jobs). It was something new to consider – not exactly the typical route for that career – but the more I thought about it the more I decided it was something I wanted to look into. I had experience working with young kids when I volunteered at People Serving People as a teacher’s assistant, and I’ve certainly had my hands full growing up with Jack.
Let me just say that after a few days of researching it fully, I was hooked by the idea. The job sounded like a dream. Housing paid for, incredible benefits, flight paid for, settlement allowance and a severance package, an opportunity to live and travel abroad again, tax free, working with kids, sharing my love of learning languages, and the chance to save up money for when I return. Where is this magical land?
Destination: South Korea
SURPRISE!
It’s an incredibly secure position since it is sponsored by the government, meaning my contracts are set in stone and I cannot be dropped midway through. Not to mention, this type of job opens up a whole new set of doors and opportunities for me elsewhere. Well, after months of preparation, sending out documents, and then nervously prepping for an interview I received the news… I passed. I passed.
Now, this doesn’t mean I have the job yet. I have to mail all my documents out to South Korea, then I have to wait a few weeks for a school to choose me. This means I won’t be notified of my placement or have a contract until about mid-July, at the earliest. If I am picked by a school I will leave mid-August for a week long orientation. Classes will start September 1st. However, I am pretty much going to South Korea. 🙂
Now, I’m sure you all have questions for me, but I’ll answer the most important one right now:
Yes, I will be writing a blog while I’m abroad.
I won’t be posting it up until I find out where I am placed, but I will make sure to post the link here, on Facebook, and also send it to my family to spread amongst everyone else.
Hope you’re all as excited as I am to hear about my new upcoming adventures!
Well, it was a long journey. Five months ago I wrote about my fears before going abroad, and now I am back in my apartment in Minneapolis a heck of a lot wiser and chock-full of some amazing memories. I had been a little skeptical about starting this blog back in August, but, I must admit, it was the best decision I made.
I wanted to thank everyone who had left me a comment while I was abroad. Your words made home seem a little less far away. Knowing that there were others interested in my adventures made me more excited to share them! I was amazed at the number of people who read this across the world.
Thank you thank you thank you to each and every one of you.
So many of you have said such positive and inspiring things about this blog, but sometimes you have to know when to end something on a high note! This page will not be deleted, and I am still happy to answer any of your questions, but it will no longer be updated regularly. This blog was about my life abroad and now that time is over. I appreciate how much you guys supported me, and if I am ever to write a blog again (or live abroad again!) I will be sure to post a notice here. Best of luck to anyone going abroad in the future!
Hugs and Kisses,
Kay
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
Home home home! It has been wonderful. I spent two full weeks with family and friends catching up on all the things I’ve missed and just spending time relaxing with them. It’s been marvelous and everything I’ve hoped for. They have been thoughtful, understanding, loving, and supportive of my experience, and I’m truly lucky. But…
I still miss St. Petersburg. A lot. In fact:
25 Things I Already Miss About St. Petersburg
There are, however, many things I appreciate more now that I have returned home, such as: water pressure in the showers, large towels that cover your entire body, drinking tap water and getting water for free in restaurants/bars, not needing to use a converter for everything, high sanitary standards, and an efficient post office/mail delivery service (just for starters). A pet peeve of mine at my host’s, particularly since I grew up in the dairy state of Wisconsin, was that she would leave cheese sitting open in the refrigerator, which caused it to get hard and stale within a day or so.
As a Sconnie, that is just sinful.
But I must warn anyone returning back from a long trip abroad: reverse culture shock is very real. (Heads up, this post is about to get serious. I’m going to be completely honest about everything and I encourage anyone who has experienced reverse culture shock to leave me a message with their thoughts on how they went through it and moved passed it.) There are exceptions, I’m sure, and everyone suffers from it under varying degrees but it exists. And from what I’ve gathered through other friends, reverse cultures shock is even worse than the original. The best explanation I can give is one I read on a fellow tumblr site.
“Why is reverse culture shock worse? Well, unfortunately, I do not have an exact answer for this, but my guess would be something along these lines: When you go abroad, everything is new and different and exciting. People understand that this is strange to you. It’s not like that back home. You may have been off changing, but you’ll find that the people back home have been living more or less the same life. And their idea of you, who you are, has remained more or less the same as well. They’re going to be expecting the you that left so long ago, but you’re not going to fit into that box anymore.”
I’ve read that there are two periods of it: the first was the clear shock stage right after getting off the plane, while the second took place 6-8 months after returning home. I have only experienced the first so far, so I can give my personal account of that.
The first is when the really obvious differences are going to be confusing and probably bug the crap out of you. I had expected the jet lag struggle (it’s very real), the readjusting to processed foods (I threw up for the first 3-5 days. Spicy foods in particular, until my stomach finally accepted it.), and the peculiar mannerisms from strangers. I was not expecting to find myself growing annoyed with people who were close to me. Friends, family, neighbors… It wasn’t their fault – they hadn’t changed, I had – but there it was. I found myself grinding my teeth when I was constantly interrupted in the middle of a sentence (Americans are notorious for this). I found that I would personally get hurt feelings when friends and family would ask “How was Russia?” but only cared to listen for the first 3-5 minutes before they grew bored with the topic. To me, it came off so insincere a question that I stopped bothering to answer it with more than a, “Great! Hard to sum it up in just a few sentences.” I’d wait to see if that actually cared to ask more. Some people did. See, in America, questions such as, “How are you?” or “How was ____?” are normally asked as a greeting rather than actually wishing for a long-winded response. I had grown used to the Russian approach to this question, however, which was a you-better-sit-down-because-you’re-going-to-be-here-for-a-while sort of thing. I had forgotten that not everyone wanted to listen to my adventure, and sometimes that was hard to swallow. It was okay, they were entitled to that, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sting a little. Things such as foot/shoe etiquette (which is very different in Russia from America, where feet are considered generally cleanish rather than Untouchables), the appropriateness of kissing friends in greeting, hearing “This is completely unacceptable.” in a Starbucks line, mean-muggging anyone who is whistling indoors, and forgetting the English equivalent for the word I wanted to say would would frustrate me more than I had planned. Stereotypical comments such as, “Are you a communist now?” or “How’s our little Russian spy?” or “God, I hope our country never turns out like that.” – usually meant in good humor – would cause me to roll my eyes and get defensive. There were a lot of things that Americans could learn from Russians, just as there were a lot of things Russians could take note on from Americans. We both have things we could work on, but, in my mind, who were they to judge this other culture when they hadn’t had the experience that I had? What I realized was that there are going to be some common misconceptions about the place you were, so it may be a good idea to prepare short answers to frequently asked questions. This way you won’t be caught off guard when people ask you questions that may sound ignorant (“Does everyone drink vodka for breakfast, lunch, and dinner”) or somewhat offensive. I had read an article before I had left about trying to refrain from saying, “Well, when I lived ______” or “Well, over in ________ …” so as not to come off as “pretentious” or that I was “bragging”, so I tried to keep silent about my experience unless someone asked. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why it could get a little annoying to hear “When I was in Russia…” over and over. I mean, I was only there for four months right? How could I not just snap back into my American life like the flip of a light-switch? But it’s the truth. A lot happens in four months, in both the US and Russia. I found that not sharing my trip, more than anything, was the most frustrating because I couldn’t relate to anything that had gone on in the past few months in the United States. I hadn’t been here.
As bad as I make it all sound, though, it really wasn’t. It’s more of an internal struggle where you have to watch what you say and think about how you’re going to approach a situation. Social interactions in America differ than in Russia. You have to remember that most people don’t mean to hurt your feelings or annoy you. It’s just happening because social interactions were not like this in your host country. So just recognize it for what it is and work through it. You’ll readjust before you know it.
The second phase that takes place a few months later is something that I’ve only read about. I’ll let you all know if I feel the same way come mid-June. As a fellow blogger wrote,
“This is a much deeper discomfort—the kind you might not be able to put your finger on for a while, a general antsy-ness, a feeling of distance or displacement. You might find yourself lashing out against your native culture or attempting to recede into your adopted one. Personally, I remember feelings of otherness, as if I had lost my own culture and my place in it but hadn’t fully integrated into the second. I had nowhere. No culture. That was the worst.”
Let’s face it, it’s hard moving back home to your previous life after having such an adventure abroad. It seems a little anti-climatic after what you’ve just experienced. Basic things such as missing your old routine, FaceTiming friends who are still over there or abroad, accidentally forgetting words from your native language, reading about historical sights and tours that you missed, and feeling lost and out of sorts back home in your native country are normal. I’ve already slipped into using Russian on a day to day basis because I fear that I will forget it all now that I’m not constantly surrounded by my adoptive language. I once read that a second language is like a muscle that you must work constantly or it will atrophy. It’s made me paranoid.
My best advice is to plan in advance. Research the heck out of reverse culture shock. It sounds silly, but it helped me to move past it when I recognized what it was. Take lots of pictures and bring back mementos that mean something to you rather than those chintzy, cheap souvenirs that you could find on eBay. Don’t always take photos of buildings or artwork either. Take photos of your walk home from school or work, of your favorite restaurant and foods, of the people that you pass on the street. It will remind you of more than tourist attractions. Make sure to get addresses, phone numbers, emails, VK, and Facebook contact information from all your friends abroad too. Maybe even try to plan a trip to return for a visit, if you have the means! Save up and bring your family/friends with, so that you can share your experience with them. Another great way to share your trip with them, minus the non-stop commentary, is by cooking up some traditional dishes or watching a movie you enjoyed abroad. I know I’m going to attempt making borsch for my family and khatchipurri for my roommate. (Pictures to come on the result.)
At the same time, don’t compare and contrast your home with your host country. Just like your own country can frustrate you at times, your host country isn’t without its problems. Each has their positives and negatives, and it can be easy to forget that once you’ve returned home. It’s okay to miss it, though. Even cry over it. I know I get teary-eyed when I think back to my life in Petersburg, and I haven’t even been gone long. Just try to remember that your responsibilities are now back in your native country. Embrace your study abroad experience, but don’t forget that your life is no longer there and you cannot live in the past. There are many wonderful things going on in your life here, and those are the things you need to focus on. In all reality, life has probably moved on without you being there and not everything will seem familiar. You will have to readapt to the positive and negative changes that occurred, but remember that, despite the sacrifices you made going abroad, it was definitely worth the experience.
Finally, and most importantly, don’t forget to remind your family that they were missed. Because they were. A lot. (Remember Thanksgiving? Yeah. You better shower them with love.) Make sure to ask about their lives and their semester, any new updates you missed while you were gone, and take notice of new furniture of decorations around the house. Your family will appreciate it, trust me. They missed you a lot, so be sure to give them the attention they deserve. If you’re like me, you may want to just block out an entire week or so before going off to see friends. Also, remember that not everyone has the opportunity to study abroad and factor this in to your conversation so that you sound appreciative about your experience, not snooty.
I hope this post didn’t come off as negative. It was merely to caution anyone who is going to go abroad for a while because this is a reality you’ll have to face upon returning. Honestly, my readjustment went great. Jet lag was gone in a week, I was eating Mexican food within five days, and I was falling into my American habits by the time New Years Eve came around. You should have seen my face when I saw my parents’ refrigerators.
100% accurate
I still have some bad Russian habits I’m trying to break, and some good ones I’m trying to keep. Time is the best cure. You just have to ride it all out until it takes hold.
Know what I found out helps a lot? Starting a blog.
Проживай каждый день будто последний. Наслаждайся каждым мигом, каждой секундой своего существования. Впитывай каждую каплю радости и счастья, улыбок и прикосновений. Занимайся тем, без чего жить не можешь. Люби безоглядно, обнимай крепче стали. Цени прошлое, смотри в настоящее. И будь счастлива. В конце концов ты этого достойна.
“Live each day like the last. Enjoy every moment, every second of its existence. Absorb every drop of joy and happiness, smiles and touches. Tend to those whom you cannot live without . Love recklessly, hug stronger than steel. Appreciate the past, look to the present. And be happy. After all, you deserve it.”
(And just in case this post was a little heavy, here is an image of Putin playing with balloon animals. Yes, you read that right.)
Well, everyone has a a hobby.
This blog post might not be as exciting as others for my regular readers, but I figured since I’m now on my last week here in St. Petersburg I should gather up all the lists I’ve made about things I’ve learned here – advice, favorite places, general expectations, suggestions – and gather them into one giant compilation . I know I googled this a thousand times before I left, and there weren’t too many blogs offering much advice. I’ll do my best not to repeat too much! For those of you reading this that have been to Petersburg before, speak Russian fluently, disagree/noticed a mistake, or have anything to add please feel free to let me know in the comments!
So first, imma break some stereotypes down real quick: There are no bears roaming the streets here. Nobody owns an AK-47. Or a matryoshka doll, for that matter. It’s not terribly cold (unless you’re in northern Siberia). Russians are not angry people (perhaps a little pessimistic, but that is their culture and their history). However, there are some rather accurate ones: The women here are very beautiful, thin, and stylish. You’ve been warned. They do drink a fair amount, but don’t always bank on vodka. Baltika beer is quite cheap here. Dash cams do not lie. Borsch is delicious.
Favorite Restaurants/Bars/Clubs/Cafes
Vodka. Grenadin. Tobasco. Taste the magic for only 100 rubles.
Open til 6am, this place is wonderful for having a relaxed atmosphere with friends until the metro opens, and is a great place to meet locals your age! GO THERE. Check out their VK page here.
What to Pack for Russia (Clothing Only)
I actually feel I am quite equipped to answer this. I grew up in the bitter cold of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and let me say that if you’re a native from either of these states visiting Petersburg you’ll be fine. Really. I heard someone complain the other day that it was cold out when it was 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
It was -15 degree in Minneapolis. Same day. That didn’t include the wind chill dropping it to -36 degrees.
I also found, now that I’m on my last few days here, that I actually underpacked rather than over. Truthfully, this was easier since I do not have to ship anything home or pack an extra bag, and I was also able to buy a few special things here in Petersburg.
Some quick advice on clothing before you leave:
– Girls, if you live in the north buy your tights here in the States. I know you can buy them in Petersburg, but let me tell you that Calzedonia is on my hit list for having the shittiest tights ever made in existence. They will tear and snag if you breathe wrong, I swear. So, bring a pair or two from home if they’re of good quality. You will need tights, though, if you plan on wearing any skirts/dresses. If not, you are considered to be a prostitute. They’re also useful for layering during the cold months. Do not forsake the tights.
– Pack light.
– Bring a duffel bag for overnight trips.
– Choose clothing that can mix and match. If it’s an outfit that you go, “Well I don’t wear it often, but I wore it those couple of times-” STOP. Don’t bring it. You know your wardrobe. Bring only what you rewear every week or so.
– Generally, Russian wardrobes stick to darker colors. Feel free to keep this in mind.
– Bring an umbrella
– Russian women do not wear t-shirts in public. Nor are sweatpants publicly acceptable.
– UGGs are warm and comfy and perfect for winter weather. However, they’re not incredibly popular here. I brought mine and I do not regret it, but I did not wear them as often as I thought I would purely so that I would fit in more. Bring at your own discretion. If you’re unsure, leave them.
Seriously, that’s it. That’s all I brought. You will want to buy a lot here anyway because Russians are very stylish. I certainly added a couple pieces to my wardrobe. Be warned, shopping is very expensive here, but it usually is of high quality.
Most Helpful Phrases to Know
Basics:
Thank you = Спасибо (Spa-SI-ba)
Please/You’re welcome: Пожалуйста (Pa-ZHA-luh-sta)
Where is the bathroom? (always important to know!): Где туаллет? (G-DE tu-a-LYET?)
Top Tourist Attractions to Visit
Hidden Gems of St. Petersburg
25 Things I Missed Most About America While Studying Abroad
I thought about writing “What I Will Miss About St. Petersburg”, but I think I’ll have a better list once I’ve been back in the States for a bit!
General Advice
But really, if there was one piece of advice I could give a study abroad student, it’s this:
St. Petersburg is the most beautiful city in the world, in my opinion, so make sure you just enjoy it. I’ve been to Paris, Venice, Rome, London, Budapest, Vienna, New York, San Fransisco… None of them compare.
Or maybe I’m just biased. 🙂
So go have that shot of vodka with some Russians. They’ll welcome you with open arms. Go climb to the top of Isaac’s when the sun is out and see how the city shines. Walk along the Moika embankment at night, take a canal tour, and peek inside the courtyards of old houses. You never know what you’ll find.
**Last six photos out of the twelve were borrowed from Urbanize, Olga Shuruht, Alexander Petrosyan, and St. Petersburg Guide**
It’s so hard to believe I’m down to less than two weeks left in St. Petersburg. (Twelve days, to be exact.) I must admit, it’s a strange feeling knowing that I will be leaving this beautiful city so soon. I’ve grown used to my daily routine – buying my vanilla and chocolate флейнта at the Буше bread truck, the morning metro commute, walking the halls of the Smolny convent for class, heading to Счастье cafe to do some homework with Ryan, exploring St.P on the weekend – it is going to be strange returning to the States where things are so different. A girl in my program said that one of the strangest experiences upon her return to the U.S. after being abroad was the ability to read and understand everything without having to translate it in your head. While I’m able to read Cyrillic quite easily, just being able to look at a street sign and understand it will come as naturally as breathing back home in America. I’m certain there are a few other things I will have to readjust to after living in the Motherland for four months. Because of this, I’ve decided to compile a list – some borrowed from other websites or tumblrs – of daily sights and activities that I’ve grown accustomed to here that might not be the same back in the U.S.
20 Signs You’ve Been Living in St. Petersburg
I have been putting my spare time to good use, however! This past week I visited more museums and palaces than I think I did the entire first month I was here. First, I had the opportunity to travel and hour south of St. Petersburg to the suburb of Pushkin to see the famous Catherine’s Palace. Not even the clouds and the footpaths that were covered with six inches of ice could diminish the glory of the Great Palace of Царское Село.
The famous “Amber Room” of Catherine’s Palace.
This weekend I also had the chance to visit Menshikov’s Palace, which was once the home of the Russian statesman Alexander Menshikov. Despite the allegations of fraud against him, which were brushed under the rug thanks to his close friendship with Peter the Great, Menshikov’s story is that of a peasant who rose to one of the highest positions of power during that time period. This was due to Peter the Great’s decision to have nobility based on merit rather than birthright. While his palace was certainly large and exquisite, it was no where near the extravagance of Peterhof or Yusupov. It was a rather refreshing change to see a more modest palace!
“modest”
The Kunstkamera Museum (Aka: Peter the Great’s Anthropology and Ethnography Museum) and the Zoological Museum were fascinating! The Zoological Museum housed an actual mummified wooly mammoth calf that had been found in the Yamal region of Siberia, as well as models of almost every living creature that has been discovered so far on this planet. It was massive.
Two Minnesotans in their natural habitat.
The Kunstkamera museum was interesting and…disturbing. Peter the Great was incredibly interested in studying anatomy, something that wasn’t quite popular during that time. The walls of the Kunstkamera were lined with jars of mutated and deformed fetuses that Peter the Great had dissected and observed 300 years ago. After a couple of minutes, I felt a little sick to my stomach…
And, finally, the last museum I had a chance to visit was the massive Russian State Museum. It was a founded in 1895 by Nicholas II and is the largest depository of Russian fine art in St. Petersburg. I thought it was incredibly interesting to see the progression of art in Russia, starting with icon paintings and working our way up to more contemporary art. I was actually so enthralled with the different paintings that I forgot to take pictures! Here are a few of the ones I snapped on my phone:
This weekend was also the perfect time to explore the city! It snowed a bit, but the nights were rather clear and I was able to snag a few photos along the Neva river and the Moika embankment.
Moika Embankment
The Hermitage lit up at night.
Kunstkamera Museum
It also gave me the perfect opportunity to go and explore inside Спас на крови or “Church on Spilled Blood”, as it is more popularly known. I felt that it would be a huge disappointment to leave Petersburg without having been inside the most well known church! Let me say, it was beautiful. I’ve been in MANY churches while in Russia, but Спас на крови was one of my favorites. The colors were so vibrant, and the holy gates were extravagant but not gaudy. Take a look for yourself below!
As I mentioned before, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and we were able to celebrate it in style here in Russia. By the end of the night I was stuffed full of turkey, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and a sweet potato souffle! While I certainly missed spending time with my family, this was the next best thing. I’m so thankful that I had such wonderful friends to share a traditional American holiday meal with while abroad. It felt as if we had carved out our own little section of America there at Smolny.
Alright, you guys have waited long enough if you’ve read all the way to here. I’m sure you’re interested in hearing about the most Russian thing I did this past weekend: the Banya. I’ll be honest – I don’t know if I will be able to properly put into words how strange and awesome the Russian banya is, but I will do my absolute best. First, let me start off by saying that I went with my best girl friend on the program, Ryan, and our wonderful Russian friend, Anya. I felt a little better knowing that there would be no problem with the language barrier. It’s hard enough trying to properly formulate a sentence in Russian. Now add being naked.
And I don’t mean kinda naked. I mean as naked as the day you were born. Yeah, so go with people you’re comfortable with.
Because nothing says friendship quite like strippin’ down and beating each other with branches…
As an American, the blatant nakedness was kind of a shock. Sure we were separated from the males, but most Americans are not that open or comfortable with such exposure, and usually attempt a little decency by wrapping themselves in a towel at all times while walking around. Even at the YMCA everybody would turn toward a wall and keep their eyes down while changing. Well, in Russia, you need to get over that awkwardness ASAP because it only gets stranger/more awesome from there.
So after stripping down and wrapping myself in a gown I swear to God, it was a bedsheet…. we then proceeded to the wet sauna, which was about 130-140 degrees, and the air is so thick with moisture that we were quickly dripping with sweat and condensation. After about 20 minutes, we left that and immediately jumped into the cold pool, which was about 65 degrees Fahrenheit. It is the most shocking sensation to go from such intense heat to such a cold temperature! My muscles felt all loose and relaxed after the first dip, so we went and laid down alongside of the pool for a couple of minutes before prepping ourselves for the most exciting part of the banya: the birch branches.
Now, I had thought the wet sauna was hot, but I had had no idea what was coming. The most famous part of the banya looks like a little wooden cabin, has a humidity of 60-70%, and temperatures that exceed over 200 degrees Fahrenheit. No, you read that right.
If Hell had a travel brochure.
Before we could enter the banya, though, we had to put on these funny wool hats to protect our hair from the intense heat. Then, we grabbed our birch branches and climbed up onto the wooden racks. I felt like a slab of meat put over a grill, it was so warm, and I thought my eyes were melting out of their sockets.
With all this going on, it was pretty easy to forget you were buck naked in a room full of old women and your two friends.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the birch branches, but I have to say that it was rather enjoyable. It was a strange stinging sensations, but it wasn’t painful. Let me say that Anya went to town on my back. The birch branches aren’t used to gently brush your friend’s back, no. These leafy bundles, called venik, are used for the purpose of trying to improve blood circulation, intensifying capillary activities, and improving metabolism. Venik leaves release phytoncides – biologically active substance that kills or depresses the growth and development of pathogens – and the essential oils released prevent aging.
So you beat the living hell out of each other.
After this, we quickly ran back to the cool pool to shock our bodies one more time. It was as if the outside of our bodies had quickly cooled but the insides remained warm. We did this three more times before finally calling it quits. It was hard to believe that we had spent four hours at the banya. I could have spent the whole day there!
My final review? The banya is wonderful. If you ever visit Russia, make sure you go. Leave your discomfort at the door or else you will miss out on an amazing Russian experience. Plus, my skin felt silky smooth and rejuvenated once I left.
If you haven’t gotten tired of reading this post yet, I will leave you with a few other random thoughts and observations before I finish!
* (Another girl on the program did something similar to this, so I decided to give it a go!) Here’s a little attempt at math for you: My daily commute from my apartment to school and back is about 3 hours. This includes the walk to my bus stop, the bus ride I take to the metro, the 5 minute ride purely on the escalator to go more than 200 ft underground, the metro ride itself, back up the escalator, and then either walking to a shuttle bus and riding that to school or taking the trolley and walking from the bus stop. I make this trek four times a week, but we will round it up to five since I’ll include time spent traveling on weekends (although, I probably spend even more time on the weekend, but for simplicity’s sake we will keep it to five). By the end of this trip I will have been in Russia 105 days. Three hours = 180 minutes x 5 days a week x 15 weeks that I am here in Petersburg. Guess what this equals? 13,500 minutes. Guess what that is in days?
9.3.
By the time I leave Petersburg I will have spent about 10 days just riding the transportation around the city. It’s no wonder that Russians travel with books in their hands! You can get a lot of reading and work done during that much time!
* Pandora music channel doesn’t exist here. Neither does Netflix. I’m telling you: Get a VKontakte. It will save your life over here.
* A kopek is the worst thing to see in your wallet because it is equal to .03 of a US penny. I didn’t think something so useless could exist, but it does…
* To explain from my list above, shaverma is the shadiest but most delicious food you can find when you’re drunk for cheap in Russia. The problem is that some places aren’t the safest. NEVER eat street food shaverma from the trucks or the little street stands because you’re probably not eating chicken like they’re advertising, and I can almost guarantee that they follow zero health code regulations. ALWAYS buy it from an actual shaverma restaurant. Specifically, the one on the corner of Dumskaya and Lomonosov. It’s magical.
I kid you not. This is safer than street food.
* English gets harder the longer that I am here. I’m either trying to speak more Russian, or I am around Russians who are not always quite fluent in English. I find myself forgetting how to spell certain things that are not in cyrillic, or floundering to find the correct word for translation. Please forgive any grammatical mistakes I make while writing these. (It’s 1:30am here.) Instead of improving at a second language, I now just feel like I suck at two. Ужасно!
* There is nothing worse than the metro during rush hour.
* I’ve lost a fair amount of weight in Russia. Yay for defying statistics!
* While I know I’ve mentioned the chivalrous, sometimes verging on misogynistic, men in Russia, I feel I’ve failed to mention the creepy/aggressive ones that will sometimes harass poor young girls.
Them:
Me:
So, here is a rather uncomfortable but necessary piece of advice. As creepy as they are, and believe me I know, I cannot stress this enough: Do not engage with them. If a Russian man is harassing you on the street, ignore him. Put on your coldest, haughtiest Russia face and keep walking. Do not awknowledge, not even to snear disdainfully at him. These men are five year olds. Ignore them and they’ll move on. If you do not, they might follow you home. As much as you might want to, do not smack, flip off, or insult them. The only thing that might do is make matters escalate, quickly and aggressively. I’m thankful that the one time I couldn’t hold my tongue nothing happened, but it is not a situation you should go on the offensive. Russians don’t fight the same way we do in America. It will hurt, and you will lose.
I hate to leave it on that note, so here is a picture of Jake, myself, and a very kind Russian police officer who rode the marshrutka (a mini shuttle bus) and metro back home with us from Pushkin.
Anyway, I have to go MC a talent show at a nightclub in Russia now. Leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts!
Люблю,
Кайла
Боже мой! It certainly has been some time since my last blog post. I guess there is a bit of catching up I need to do!
These past couple weeks I’ve had the opportunity to tour some of the most famous historical sites in St. Pete’s. (I know, you’re probably thinking ‘But isn’t all of St. Petersburg pretty much one famous historical museum or monument after another?’ The answer is yes. They seem to have an endless supply of museums, galleries, monuments, and memorials.)
Last weekend I visited the island of Кронштадт (Kronstadt) with some friends. You might remember me mentioning this island in a previous post. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1704 to serve as Russia’s main seaport and Naval base. I was lucky to be given a tour by my Russian friend, Anya, who had grown up on the island and still had family living there! In fact, she not only took us on a complete tour, but she even brought us over to her grandmother’s house where we were served a three course traditional Russian meal! I was so happy and grateful that I hugged her mother. The island itself was actually quite small! We were able to walk from one end to the other in under 45 minutes. I bet we could have even shaved off ten minutes if it weren’t for the 38mph wind!! I managed not to get blown away, but I can’t say the same for my mittens. 😦 I hope they enjoy their new home at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland.
My friend, Emily, drinking her чай after a hearty Russian meal!
St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral at Kronstadt – The 2nd largest church in all of Russia!
Kronstadt Lighthouse
Nearly blown away!
I also had two excursions with my program in the last two weeks. The first was the State Historical and Memorial Museum of Smolny, which has been occupied by the state government since the 1920s. In this building we were able to see Lenin’s office and living quarters before he moved to Moscow, an exhibition on the building’s history (it began as a school for girls of noble birth), and the famous assembly hall where the victory of the October revolution was proclaimed in 1917.
Lenin’s private quarters
The actual phone used by Trotsky and Lenin during Soviet times. I touched a piece of history, even if it was a rather dark era.
We also toured the famous Yusupov Palace!! I had been looking forward to this one for a while. For those of you who didn’t know – but, honestly, I have no idea how you would not know this – I’m a huge bookworm, and every now and then I get addicted to a certain topic where have to read everything there is to know about it. Well, when I was about ten years old, I started reading more about the Bolshevik uprising, Rasputin, and, of course, the Romanov family’s demise. Part of this was probably due to Don Bluth’s “Anastasia” movie that came out in 1999.
Completely accurate.
Anyway, my fascination with the last royal family has never faded, and I finally had the opportunity to visit the site where the infamous Rasputin was murdered. In case you aren’t as familiar with the story: The Yusupovs were one of the five major noble families of that time (the others being Scherbatovs, Golitsyns, Bobrinskois, and Sheremetevs) and had acquired a vast amount of money and land, making them one of the wealthiest families in all of Russia. Aristocrat Felix Yusupov married Princess Irina Felixovna, the niece to Tsar Nicholas II. The Tsar’s son, Alexei, suffered from hemophilia, which was impossible to cure at that time. The Tsarina had countless doctors see to her son – all of this kept a secret from the public, of course – but none was able to make any difference except a peasant from Siberia named Grigori Rasputin. He was a gifted preacher and hypnotist, and the Tsarina believed that he was essential to relieving her son’s suffering. His “gift” made him a regular visitor of the royal family, and seeing this peasant on such familiar terms with the royals sparked confusion and anger in many of the aristocratic families, many of whom had to wait months just to schedule a meeting with the Tsar. As I said, they had no idea why he was so familiar with the family since Alexei’s condition was known only by the immediate family members and Rasputin. On December 16th, 1916, Felix Yusupov, along with Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, lured the Romanov’s healer to the palace where he was ultimately killed. There are still many questions regarding his death – Why he didn’t initially die from the cyanide poisoning in his tea? Why, when Yusupov shot him, he still did not die? Did he, in fact, die from drowning in the Neva River where they had disposed of his body? Despite these questions, it was quit surreal to stand on the exact spot where Rasputin had fallen after he had been initially shot by Prince Felix Yusupov.
Rasputin’s Official Death Certificate
The last remaining descendent of Rasputin, his great-great granddaughter, lives in the United States.
However, even if you’re not a history buff like myself, you would have loved the Yusupov Palace. Much of their private art gallery is now on display in museums across the world, but their private theater – it was almost like a little Mariinsky Theater – was a sight to behold.
Another fun activity CIEE offered was a chance to try out my master chef skills in a Georgian cooking class! I, along with eleven other CIEE students, had an absolute blast making khachapuri (it’s like the best cheesy bread you’ll ever have), kharcho (the Russians thought it was a ‘spicy soup’, but they have a rather skewed idea of what spicy is… Best thing I ate, though!), an eggplant/pomegranate spread, and Chakhokhbili (a chicken and tomato dish). I think my roommate will be pleased with the new recipes I picked up to bring home.
Finishing some khatchapuri!
Our handsome chef, Aleksander
Looks like dog food, tastes like magic.
Aside from these fun little excursions, I’ve had some time to just enjoy St. Petersburg with friends. It’s frightening to think that my study abroad experience will be coming to a close so soon! There is so much that I still want to see, and so little time to do it! It can be hard to motivate yourself to get outside on days off when you’re hungover, especially with this crappy weather here. I feel like I need to explain just how awful St. Petersburg weather can be. Most of you reading this are from Wisconsin or Minnesota, so you know that winter can be brutal. In fact, I watched the Badger/Minnesota game and the Packer/Vikings game, and I saw it was a nice balmy 15 degrees Fahrenheit (although with windchill it was 5 degrees Fahrenheit). While I pity you suffering under those frigid temperatures, I also saw that the sun was shining that day…
… I hadn’t seen the sun in over 13 days. Today was the first day it has come out. In fact, we went two days without it even being LIGHT out. It looked like this, permanently:
10 a.m. on my way to school…
This isn’t like a “Oh, it’s a bit cloudy and dark out, but I can see that the sun is hiding behind there!” NO. It’s pitch black. It’s disorientating and, frankly, depressing.
Which leads me to my last topic – homesickness. Never thought I’d be the one to get a little homesick, especially since my parents are divorced – meaning I grew up used to only seeing each parent half the week – and I only come home to visit my family a couple times a year anyway when I live in Minneapolis, but whaddaya know! It happened! I think it’s hitting a bit harder now that the holidays are coming up. It all started when I had some free time to clear out old photos from my phone and came across pictures from last Christmas. It got me thinking about Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) at my grandparents’ houses and how I will be missing both dinners for the second year in a row. I will be thinking about how I will be watching the Lions/Packers game alone instead of with my family. In the back of my mind I also brood over how my Uncle will have complete access to the sweet potatoes, but I’m trying to repress those thoughts…Thankfully, CIEE is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for us students, so I will at least get to celebrate the holiday with my fellow Americans. I think it’s important to admit that it’s happening, though, instead of trying to ignore it. Recognizing it makes it easier to remember that I have so many great things happening here to enjoy first before I can think about my trip home. Trust me when I say that it’s not a crippling pain, like some people have described when going abroad for long periods of time. I like to think of it more like I’m appreciating how lucky I am to be so close with such an amazing family, and realizing just how important spending time with them is over family get togethers like the holidays.
I’m now down to 26 days left here in Petersburg, however, and I will not be spending them moping over the piss-poor weather or my slight pangs for home. December 21st will get there soon enough, and when that time comes I’m sure I will be thinking about how I’m already missing my life back in Russia! Instead, I’ll keep exploring and sharing my adventures with you! I love the comments that you all leave. Taking the time to do so means a lot, since I sometimes feel like I’m just rambling to myself and boring you all.
Всего наилучшего,
Random Observations
1. Manual cars suck. Or perhaps Russians are just not the best drivers. Either way, all forms of vehicles here are manual, and the constant shifting and downshifting of gears in heavy traffic makes me nauseous.
2. I saw my first rat the other day outside the produkti near my apartment. Honestly, at first, I thought it was a squirrel or a small rabbit.
3. I get a strange sense of satisfaction from cutting Russian women off on the escalators that are going aboveground from the metro. There is a massive wall of people trying to squeeze through this tiny, gated space, and then you get these insert expletive here who try to cut the entire line and squeeze their way in after you’ve waited your turn. OH HELL NAW. I whip my elbows out and send death glares like it’s my job.
— 3a. After going to Western Europe, I’ve realized I’ve picked up some other bad habits regarding metro/transportation ettiquette that I will have to break back in the U.S.
4. Went to a really cool Lights Festival in an area of St. Petersburg my friend Anya lovingly referred to as “the Bronx/Harlem/Brooklyn of St. Petersburg”. (Glad I get to experience every side of Petersburg, I guess?) Anyway, my friends and I saw some sort fire show in the distance and decided to check it out. As we got closer, we noticed this:
10 points to those of you who guessed “flamethrower”
5. Had the opportunity to check out some contemporary art at the Erarta museum. It houses the largest non-governmental contemporary art collection in Russia.
Which, I guess, includes this tapestry of Snoop Dogg/Lion…
And this gem.
I’m sure the deeper meaning to this is hidden just behind the scrotum.
Cheers~
Phew.
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, but I’m finally back home in St. Petersburg. Let me first say that traveling abroad was a refreshing change after being cooped up in dark, dreary Petersburg for so long. It made me appreciate the city and people all over again.
I suppose you’re all curious how my travel week went after ending my last post so abruptly, right? Well, let me tell you, it was fantastic.
It sounds silly, but being able to overcome all the minor obstacles that came up – as they always do when you’re traveling – by myself, without any phone calls to family for help, really was an incredible feeling. Having such responsibility over myself really made me feel as if I was finally taking another step in the direction of adulthood. I think the trip was not only good for myself, but for my family as well since they now know I’m not helpless abroad without their advice. (Although, it will always be appreciated.)
I think the last post left off with me in my hostel in Budapest, correct?
Well, Budapest was by far my favorite of the cities we visited. We actually ended up skipping our daytrip to Bratislava (one of the girls we roomed with just came from there and said the castle – the only major attraction – was closed, and that it was a rather dull visit) to stay another day in Hungary. DEFINITELY a good choice. Camille didn’t arrive until the afternoon, so we didn’t actually get to our hostel until the evening. We were both so exhausted after being up all night the previous evening that we ended up going to bed by about ten o’clock at night! I can’t even remember the last time I went to bed that early. The next couple days we spent the afternoons and evenings exploring the city. We loved touring Buda Castle and the rest of Castle Hill so much that we ended up spending two days up there!
But, if I had to pick my favorite part of the trip it would be the five hours we spent soaking in Budapest’s famous Szechenyi Bath House. We even splurged on a Thai oil massage for an hour. It was the most relaxed I’ve felt in a long time. It was hard to believe that I was actually sitting in my swimsuit outdoors in the middle of November!
I was a little adventurous and tried some Hungarian goulash, but I think the best food I ate was a simple chicken sandwich at the Boom & Brass restaurant. Is that bad? Maybe I’ve just grown weary of pelmeni and am just craving the pleasures of food from home.
It was a bit weird looking at Nick Cage’s face while I ate…
Camille and I also had the opportunity to visit Budapest’s oldest cemetery, Kerepesi, which happened to be the largest cemetery in all of Europe. We strolled amongst the weathered tombstones to see how far back the dates went, and we even stumbled upon the formidable “Pantheon of the Working Class Movement” monument – a tribute to Soviet rule. The grounds looked absolutely breathtaking at sunset, so I had to snap a couple of photos.
It was rather difficult to get us to leave Budapest, partly because we didn’t want to go and partly because buying a train ticket to Vienna was an ordeal in itself. /frustrated sigh/ But, in the end, we managed to get ourselves to Austria and our new hostel. This one wasn’t nearly as nice as our hostel in Budapest, which had seemed more like a hotel, so we were happy that we were only spending two nights there. It, unfortunately, rained the entire time we were there, but we did manage to take a tour of Schönbrunn palace and the city center!
Inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the city center.
This was the room where Mozart performed his first concert when he was 6 years old. I think I forgot to breathe for a second, I was so in awe.
All in all, I had the most wonderful time traveling abroad with my friend. We weren’t the type of travelers who tried to fit every famous statue, monument, or church in our day just so we could snap a picture or two of it. Instead, we wanted this vacation to be exactly that… a vacation. We toured the city at our own pace, and I think that’s what made it most enjoyable. I hope that I will have the opportunity to do that again soon! Perhaps I will take on Iceland, Norway, Thailand, or Cambodia next…
Now, however, I’m back in SPb to finish up my last six weeks here. I can’t believe it’s gone by so fast! I’ll be honest, though, I’m really starting to look forward to returning home. I’m registering for classes for my final semester this weekend, which is hard to believe. Did college really go by so fast? Am I really going to have to face the real world a few months from now? The academic chapter of my life is coming to a close, and soon I will have to find myself a big girl job. It’s a bit scary to think about!
…but after this little 4-month adventure I’ve had? I think I can handle it. 🙂
С наилучшими пожеланиями,
That’s right. It’s travel week for me!! I’m writing to you right now from Warsaw, Poland! (I have a 9-hour overnight layover so I’m curled up on a nice little bench.) In a few hours, I will be flying out to Budapest (Hungary) where I will begin my travel week with my good friend, Camille. We both study Russian together at my university, and I am so excited to see a familiar face from home again. She is an expert traveler, so I know that the two of us will have an amazing time! We’re spending a couple days in Budapest, then taking the train down to Bratislava (Slovakia) for a day, and finally finishing up the rest of the rest of the week in Vienna (Austria).
BUT, that’s not what I’m going to write about now because I just saw two amazing cities these past couple days.
This past Wednesday I flew out of St. Petersburg at the asscrack of dawn early in the morning, and then landed in Kiev that afternoon. We immediately left for a bus tour of the city, where we had the opportunity to see some beautiful churches, barter for souvenirs, and then have some free time to explore the city on our own! Some of you might not know this, but “borscht soup” is originally from the Ukraine, so I immediately went out to find a bowl.
Guess what? It was delicious.
The best part about the Ukraine (besides the ridiculously attractive men) is that everything is dirt cheap. The Ukrainian grivna is about 1/8th of the USD. I had to resist going out and spending all my money there. The next day was pretty rushed since we had to get to our train later that evening that would take us to Moscow, but we managed to see this amazing museum dedicated to the Great Patriotic War during WWII (to be more specific: 1941-1945, when the eastern campaign between the Soviet Union and the Nazis began). We also had the opportunity to visit a monastery and its catacombs, which date back to the 11th century. Truthfully, I felt like we could have spent a couple more days in Kiev. We really were quite rushed, and the people there were so kind that I didn’t want to leave!
That night we took a 14-hour overnight train from Kiev up to Moscow. Let me just say, riding platzkart (where there are 6 fold out beds in one compartment) was quite a trip, but it was lots of fun since I had great company. Five others along with myself grabbed a compartment and had a great time laughing and telling ghost stories for the first half of the trip. We were stopped at the border to have our passports checked around 1 a.m., which is a very serious affair. I might have to touch on this again in a later post, but Russia lacks efficiency in many areas. One of them is the amount of paperwork you have to keep on you at all time when traveling abroad, so I triple checked before getting on the train to make sure I had everything in order. I’d rather not be detained by the Russian police in the middle of night nine hours away from Moscow…
Americans taking over platzkart
We pulled into Moscow around 9 a.m. tired, hungry, and rockin’ the worst bedhead I’ve ever had in my life, but everything seemed to be okay because the sun was out. That probably sounded strange to most of you since the sun is pretty much always there, right? Well, the week before we left for Kiev I had not even seen the sun. It just rained. For days. Part of this was due to the storm in Northern Europe sending high winds and even more rain our way, but not seeing the sun is something I’ve grown used to while living in Petersburg. I never realized how much I missed it and how much it perked me up. I think I had an actual bounce in my step for the entire trip. Of course the sun had been out in Kiev, but that had been expected. But in Moscow? It was fantastic. Despite our last day there being a rainy one, those first two days of sun had really made up for it.
Photo Cred: Caroline Wood. I was so jealous of your beautiful view!
From the train station we went immediately to the hotel for some breakfast (hungry college kids are not fun) and then on a bus tour of the city. I can’t stress enough the sheer size of Moscow. Picture New York. Now picture something bigger. Moscow still is probably bigger than whatever it is you imagined because it’s difficult to picture 11 million people in one space. I had mixed feelings about the city, and my friends and I actually ended up using a point system by comparing it to Petersburg. Here are a few of the biggest ones:
Metro: So everyone had been super hyped up about the Moscow metro system, saying that it was the most beautiful one they had ever seen. Perhaps it was because I hadn’t gone around the entire Golden Ring, but I was not that impressed. Yes, I understood they were over seventy years old, but I was not wow-ed the way most tourists were. Perhaps I had been spoiled (or biased) because all of Petersburg’s metro stops seem to be a tad more modern, cleaner, and beautiful. The ride in Moscow seemed much more unstable than in Petersburg. I constantly had to brace myself against the wall or grab a handle to keep from being tossed around In St. P’s, apart from some spots on the purple line, most of the rides are very smooth, and it is very easy to do the “no hands metro dance”. Another fault was that the wait was just a tad longer than in Petersburg, but it was also understandable that Moscow covered a much greater distance. They did gain points for not being so obnoxiously crowded, even on the weekend. Perhaps I just had gone at a good time, but I was impressed with the lack of bodies crushing me against the door. Still, in the end:
Petersburg: 1 Moscow: 0
Beauty: Alright, so I might get a lot of hate for this, but we will see… As I’m sure you’ve seen in my pictures, Petersburg is positively gorgeous. Lots of fountains, gold plating, expert craftsmanship, and bright colors. IT’s beautiful, but after some time in can almost be overwhelming. I wouldn’t use gaudy… but I’d say lavish to the degree of being obnoxious. They really had put in a lot of effort to make themselves the Versailles and Venice of the North, which was why Moscow was a refreshing change. The buildings here were not plaited in gold, and 90% of them were not painted bright blue or gold (although, there are a few exceptions). Instead, the beauty came from the imposing sizes of buildings and with seeing how the ancient, tsarist decor and buildings meshed with Soviet ones. The best example of this would probably be in the Red Square – St. Basils, the Kremlin, the State History Museum, GUM (pronounced “goom”), and Lenin’s Mausoleum… it was a crazy blend of the ancient vs the modern times of Russia. However, you’re still able to see the gilded domes and the intricate frescos in Cathedral Square. I’m not saying St. Pete’s isn’t gorgeous! (Because it is. Much more so than Moscow.) I’m saying that it was a nice change. So, despite knowing I might have хлеб thrown at me for this…
Petersburg: 0 Moscow: 1
Weather: So this one is pretty obvious. Moscow has sun more often than Petersburg. It also rains a bit less. However, it was COLD AS FACK, and the rain on the last day did not help. Still, going to have to give this one to Moscow.
Petersburg: 0 Moscow: 1
The People: This one was difficult because there were plenty of exceptions to both cities. As a whole, though, I’d say that the people in Petersburg as a group might be nicer than in Moscow. It’s just like in New York. People who haven’t grown up in that city and atmosphere usually find them rude, unhelpful, and aggressive. The same goes for Moscow. I’d say that anyone who was older than 25 didn’t really want anything to do with us, and were very impatient with us practicing our Russian. Under 25, though? It was completely different from Petersburg. The students in St. Pete’s usually don’t go out of their way to ask me questions when they realize I’m an American. In fact, they usually ignore me. But in Moscow it was drastically different! Three separate times I ended up joining a group of Russians and talking with them, and all of them were so interested in what I had to say! They were kind, curious, and were patient with my Russian. Props to Moscow on that. (Fun side note: More people seem to know English here than in Petersburg. In fact, usually they automatically switch to English the moment they hear my accent.) Nevertheless, as a whole, Muscovites could be a bit… douchey. So props to Petersburg on their patience!
Petersburg: 1 Moscow: 0
Some Other Fun Things I Noticed in Moscow
* Instead of tons of flower beds, Moscow has dyed-mulch beds. I don’t mean just have a reddish mulch. I mean TEAL, YELLOW, PINK. It was just silly.
* My hotel came with a complimentary gas mask. I don’t know what to make of this.
* Russia doesn’t have milkshakes. They have flavored milk. It was very shocking to discover this the first time I ordered one in Petersburg, but GUESS WHAT? Thanks to a friend, we managed to find an American-style diner with the closest thing to real milkshakes you will find. I WAS SO EXCITED. Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshakes with Russian vodka! OMNOMNOMNOM GET IN MAH BELLAYYYY.
* I’ve finally found a place where I know when men are hitting on me. I suppose that’s because they come up to me and go “You’re pretty. I want to know you more.” As most of my friends and family know, that’s pretty much the only way to get the message through my thick skull. It was a real surprise when my friends pointed out that “Let’s hang out more. I will help you improve your Russian.” was, most likely, them dropping a line rather than actually wanting to study together. So, way to go Russia. Ninety percent of the time, you manage to get past the concrete barrier that is my obliviousness.
All in all, the trip was amazing. I just wish we had had more time in both cities! There was so much to do/see and so little time to do it! Anyway, I’ve officially arrived in Budapest. I’m finishing this post in my hostel while Camille is finishing some homework for one of her classes. We are ready to take this section of Europe by storm!!
Thanks again for all the special notes and comments from you all. Love you so much and can’t wait to share the rest of my adventure with you!
^ Legit quote from one of my Russian advisors. Makes me chuckle every time.
I know people have been wondering about the weather here, since November is just around the corner, so here is a brief summary: St. Petersburg (on some days) can seem like the butthole of the planet because we can go 6-8 days without ever seeing the sun. I don’t mean that the sun is hidden behind clouds. No, instead it looks like the sky has been painted completely grey. When it does manage to get off its lazy butt and make an appearance, the sun is only out for about eight hours a day. Usually, it rises around 9sh and disappears around 5 or 6pm.
The fog is a nice touch in the morning…
But, really, you should all ignore my sarcasm because I am still having a wonderful time here. I only get to be sassy because I’ve been here long enough that the glamour of being abroad has worn off. I’ve now had the chance to get to know “the real Mother Russia”, and her and I have had some ups and downs together. Overall, though, it’s been great.
This past weekend I toured Петропавловская крепость aka: “Peter and Paul Fortress”. It was incredible! The fortress was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and was meant to be a huge military base for the city. However, once Кронштадт (Kronstdat) was built Petropavlovsk lost most of its military importance. (Kronstadt is the main seaport on the island of Kotlin, and is also the main base for the Russian Baltic Fleet. It was the primary protector of St. Petersburg during wartime due to its strategic location.) Petropavlovsk was still the head of operations for offices and political prisoners, and is considered to be the original foundation of St. Petersburg. The fortress contains the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which was magnificent to behold up close. The cathedral is the burial place of all Russian tsars from Peter I to Alexander III, with the exception of Peter II and Ivan VI. The remains of the Romanov family were also interred there. Towards the end of 2006, the remains of Dowager Empress Maria Fedarovna, Anastasia Romanov’s grandmother, were brought from Copenhagen, Denmark (where she escaped to after the Bolshevik revolution and remained until her death) back to St. Petersburg so that she could finally rest next to her husband, Alexander III, as per her last wish.
The tomb of Maria Fedarovna, the last person to be buried in the cathedral.
Peter the Great’s tomb and bust.
Memorial room to the Romanov family.
We also had the opportunity to tour the fortress prison, which held many famous political prisoners. Leon Trotsky, the founder and first leader of the Red Army and Soviet politician, was imprisoned here after Stalin had successfully expelled him from the Communist party. After his imprisonment, he was banished from the USSR and moved to Mexico, where he was then assassinated under Stalin’s orders by Ramon Mercader.
I also had the opportunity to watch my first Russian hockey match – СКА vs. Riga! It was so intense! I think I might have to start following hockey, it was that exciting. We had fantastic seats, and it was even more exciting when St. Petersburg won after two overtimes and a shootout.
Unfortunately, on the way to the game, Mother Russia wanted to test my skills and decided to plant a big pothole in my path, cover it with water to disguise it as a puddle, and have 12,300 people swarm around me just to make it extra confusing. The result was that I fell in said pothole, banged my knee up bad enough that I couldn’t walk on it, and had to suffer one of the top ten most embarrassing moments of my life by having my friend carry me all the way to the stadium princess-style. My face had to be as red as a tomato. It was a pretty solid faceplant too. I actually had to miss the Olympic torch passing through Petersburg today because I was unable to do more than hobble around my apartment. I’m icing it and wrapping it, so hopefully it will be better before I leave for Kiev/Moscow and my European tour trip this Wednesday!
Russia: 1 Kayla: 0
Despite missing it, I was able to snag this pic of the torch passing through from another student on the program. (Thanks, Connor!)
Let it be known that the torch did NOT go out in St. Petersburg, unlike in Moscow…
This past Thursday I volunteered at a local animal shelter in Petersburg. It was both heart-warming and heartbreaking all at once. The conditions were quite decent for the size of the building (a five-story warehouse) and the small amount of people working there. According to my host, it is very strange to volunteer at a shelter. Most Russians would not do such a thing. It broke my heart to see animals left at shelters, especially the lot that were clearly abused. I just wanted to take them all home. I was able to play with both cats and dogs for a few hours, and will be returning after my two week vacation.
Стигма (Stigma), the three-legged dog who lost his limb in a car accident.
Лена (Lena), a sweetie who loved to curl up on my shoulders.
I’ve been trying to keep up with Russian news and current events here and there were two articles that caught my eye that I thought I’d share with you all:
1) A New Strain of HIV is Spreading Rapidly Through Russia – This past Wednesday, new studies have been conducted about a strain of HIV first discovered in 2006 in Novosibirsk, and the results have found this strand now accounts for 50% of new HIV infections in that region. The number of HIV-positive people living in the Novosibirsk Region has grown from about 2,000 in 2007 up to 15,000 in 2012. Even worse is that this new strain is not limited Siberia. It has also been found in patient lab tests in Chechnya, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. Unfortunately, Russia lacks the proper preventative measures to slow this, and the World Bank estimates that by 2020, Russia will lose 20,000 people per month to AIDS.
2) Terrorist Bombing in Volgograd – A female suicide bomber, allegedly the wife of a militant leader, detonated a bomb on a local bus in Volgograd that killed 6 and injured 37 others. Over forty people were on the bus and at least eight are in critical condition, including a 20-month old child. Russia’s Health Ministry indicated that most of the victims in the explosion sustained mine explosive-type wounds, caused by the bus’s paneling and the shattered glass. The bus route was primarily used by students of Volgograd State University and patients at the local Cardio Center. The incident has caused Putin to intensify security at Sochi, just north of the Caucuses, in preparation for the Winter Olympic games.
Heavy stuff, so here is a hilarious .gif of typical Russia to cheer you all up:
Click image for laughs
Last, but not least, I thought I’d leave with some random thoughts I’ve had throughout the week. This might sound like a stream of consciousness, but I hope you’ll bear with me.
Click to see all my sass summed up in one image.
“Brothers, love is a teacher; but one must know how to acquire it, for it is hard to acquire, it is dearly bought, it is won slowly by long labor. For we must love not only occasionally, for a moment, but forever. Everyone can love occasionally, even the wicked can.” – Father Zossima, “The Brothers Karamazov”
