The focus of the first half of our lesson today was emotions - how different feelings are written in Russian. We were reading the list one by one and when the teacher got to me, we were on the word, "OX." I said "okh" but apparently not with enough enthusiasm - for she started repeated it over and over, "Ooookh, ooookh, ooookh." Hehehe. Sorry for those of you who weren't exposed to the Fast Show when Laurie was in Dallas. Inside joke I guess.
Anyway, I found another difference between American and Russian universities. Apparently cheating is a lot more common. We spent the second half of class watching a video and talking about it - it was about a guy "preparing" for an examine (aka - making a cheat sheet). The teacher was asking us - "How do you cheat at home?" My answer - "I can't. The only way to cheat in a literature exam is to copy your neighbor and the teacher is bound to notice when two papers come back exactly the same." Of course, I said this suavely in my broken Russian.
Now I think I'll go to Teremok - world's best blini stand.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Trains
I was just looking into train ticket prices, as I have to start buying my tickets for the final leg of my journey. So here's the deal - do I pay $257 for a 2nd-class ticket in a four-berth coupe, or do I go the Russian way and buy the $93 3rd-class ticket in the "common car"? Hmmm. I think I may have learned my lesson at this point.
I'll make up for the price difference when I buy my bus ticket to Helsinki - a whopping $10! Woohoo - I see adventures upon the horizon.
And more luggage locks to be purchased.
I'll make up for the price difference when I buy my bus ticket to Helsinki - a whopping $10! Woohoo - I see adventures upon the horizon.
And more luggage locks to be purchased.
Friday, July 21, 2006
I finally found it...
That's right - I found a rountine. It's not terribly exciting, but it's nice to be back on a regular schedule for a change. Here is a brief outline of a day in the life of me...
7:30 - My alarm goes off.
8ish - I finally get out of bed, take a shower, and get dressed.
8:45ish - I catch the bus to school (as long as I get on by 9 I won't be late).
9:30 - 12:40 - Russian class at SPbGU. Mondays and Wednesdays are conversation, Tuesdays are reading, and Thursdays and Fridays are grammar. This means that by Friday (TODAY!) I'm ready for a break.
13:00ish - lunch somewhere. There's a cafeteria place down on Nevskiy Prospeckt that's pretty cheap and very tasty. And it's got the best name in the world - "Freakadelphi" Hehehe.
At this point I usually find someway to pass a few hours. My American roommate practices her viola until about 4 each afternoon, and while she is very good and it's nice to listen to, I like to leave her alone while she practices. I know how self-conscious I am when someone is listening to me play.
16:00ish - I catch the minibus back home* (A brief word on minibuses - to solve the problem of mobilizing a large population without too many overcrowded regular sized buses, the powers that be in St. Petersburg decided to have a fleet of "minibuses" - they're somewhere between taxis and buses. You can flag them down just about anywhere and they only stop when someone asks to get off. This means they get you where you're going very quickly. Of course, it also means that a ride in one of these fast moving vans can be one of the scariest experiences of your life, as the driver weaves in and out of rush hour traffic. Still, I prefer the 25 min ride on the minibus to the hour and a half ride on the regular bus in the afternoon).
Watch some tv, hang out with roomies and neighbors, and maybe do my homework (if I happen to understand what the assignment is for the day).
Midnightish - "Spakoinnye Noche"
Then it all begins again.
Of course, the weekends are a different matter - who knows what will happen then. The only plan I have for this weekend is a trip to the sushi restaurant at 6 this evening. Where I go from there, there's no telling.
7:30 - My alarm goes off.
8ish - I finally get out of bed, take a shower, and get dressed.
8:45ish - I catch the bus to school (as long as I get on by 9 I won't be late).
9:30 - 12:40 - Russian class at SPbGU. Mondays and Wednesdays are conversation, Tuesdays are reading, and Thursdays and Fridays are grammar. This means that by Friday (TODAY!) I'm ready for a break.
13:00ish - lunch somewhere. There's a cafeteria place down on Nevskiy Prospeckt that's pretty cheap and very tasty. And it's got the best name in the world - "Freakadelphi" Hehehe.
At this point I usually find someway to pass a few hours. My American roommate practices her viola until about 4 each afternoon, and while she is very good and it's nice to listen to, I like to leave her alone while she practices. I know how self-conscious I am when someone is listening to me play.
16:00ish - I catch the minibus back home* (A brief word on minibuses - to solve the problem of mobilizing a large population without too many overcrowded regular sized buses, the powers that be in St. Petersburg decided to have a fleet of "minibuses" - they're somewhere between taxis and buses. You can flag them down just about anywhere and they only stop when someone asks to get off. This means they get you where you're going very quickly. Of course, it also means that a ride in one of these fast moving vans can be one of the scariest experiences of your life, as the driver weaves in and out of rush hour traffic. Still, I prefer the 25 min ride on the minibus to the hour and a half ride on the regular bus in the afternoon).
Watch some tv, hang out with roomies and neighbors, and maybe do my homework (if I happen to understand what the assignment is for the day).
Midnightish - "Spakoinnye Noche"
Then it all begins again.
Of course, the weekends are a different matter - who knows what will happen then. The only plan I have for this weekend is a trip to the sushi restaurant at 6 this evening. Where I go from there, there's no telling.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Oh, I almost forgot...
I almost forgot to mention the coolest thing about this weekend - THE RETURN OF HOT WATER!!! I feel so fresh.
And by the way, I figured out how to call my cell phone from skype (I knew there was a way). Normally when calling Russia from ouside the country, you must use 8 as the country code. But if you lucky devils with skype are trying to reach me on my cell, you must enter the domestic country code - therefore making my phone number +79500035886 (if you are having trouble getting in touch with me using the +89500035886, maybe this will solve the problem). Crazy if you think about it - why have two country codes? Just to confuse us foreigners I guess. Because I finally figured this out (drumroll please) that means I was able to set up the call forwarding thingy on my SkypeOut account - which means for those of you unfortunate souls who don't have skype (or don't care), all you have to do to reach me is call 254-230-1818 (my skypeIn number) and it most likely won't cost you a dime.
Also, on a slightly more random note, I found a British couchsurfer living in Irkutsk - yay for random searches on random networks. Now I have someone who speaks English to show me around when I get to Siberia (btw, thanks to Inez for reminding me to join CS).
And by the way, I figured out how to call my cell phone from skype (I knew there was a way). Normally when calling Russia from ouside the country, you must use 8 as the country code. But if you lucky devils with skype are trying to reach me on my cell, you must enter the domestic country code - therefore making my phone number +79500035886 (if you are having trouble getting in touch with me using the +89500035886, maybe this will solve the problem). Crazy if you think about it - why have two country codes? Just to confuse us foreigners I guess. Because I finally figured this out (drumroll please) that means I was able to set up the call forwarding thingy on my SkypeOut account - which means for those of you unfortunate souls who don't have skype (or don't care), all you have to do to reach me is call 254-230-1818 (my skypeIn number) and it most likely won't cost you a dime.
Also, on a slightly more random note, I found a British couchsurfer living in Irkutsk - yay for random searches on random networks. Now I have someone who speaks English to show me around when I get to Siberia (btw, thanks to Inez for reminding me to join CS).
Monday, July 17, 2006
A thoroughly uneventful weekend...
I survived! Leaders from the world's major powers were all here this weekend, and it didn't even inconvenience me! That could be because I didn't do much - I only really left the dorm to check my email/chat with my buddies. I'm glad nothing happened. The special forces militia was making me nervous last week.
Anyway, I guess I should fill yall in with what did happen this weekend. Thursday was my last day with the guys from RISD (that's the Rhode Island School of Design, not Richardson Independent School District :-D). We had a nice little going away dinner - we rented out half of a little cafe and the staff of the youth center met us there. They even got their hands on some bottled wine (the shortage is starting to wane as they've finally released the new import stickers). We had every imaginable Russian dish heaped upon our table, and at the end of the meal the waiters brought out two MOUNTAINS (I'm being completely serious here) of ice cream. It was every little kid's fantasy come true. Aahh, so good.
After dinner, the youth center people and Elena said goodbye and went home, and I was left with my classmates to have a real goodbye. Elena arranged for me to have a cot in their dorm so that I wouldn't have to sleep on the floor again (good thinking, Elena - she knew perfectly well that I would want to hang out as much as possible with my buddies for their last night in Russia). After some debating we decided to hang out at the beach by the Peter and Paul Fortress. Unfortunately, after we bought our midnight picnic supplies and walked all the way over to Hare Island, the bridge was closed. This was especially odd since none of the bridges were going to raise this weekend (the ports are all closed for the summit, making the nightly bridge-raisings rather pointless). We decided to just have a seat on the embankment instead, and spent a good hour just talking and lamenting the fact that they would be leaving in the morning. Quite early in the morning, in fact. At that point, two of the girls decided to go back to the dorm to get some sleep. The rest of us, convinced that we were invincible and struck by the novelty of the fact that the bridges, for once, would not keep us from getting home at a somewhat reasonable hour (meaning before dawn) we set out for one last trip to the center of town.
It was a glorious end to the program in my book. I just hope that I get to visit some of them soon. I think I roadtrip to New England is in order for next spring.
I woke up early with the group on Friday and saw them off, then went back to my dorm and slept until late in the day. What else was I going to do? I wanted to stay as far from the center of town as possible. I went out to dinner with Lindsay (the American roommate) and a couple of our Polish friends from the dorm, who were leaving on Saturday. Other than I just sat and read more most of the evening. Saturday wasn't much different - though in the evening I went to the "beach" near my place with Lindsay and two of our neighbors - Charles, from Paris, and Stephan, from Switzerland (the German-speaking part). I put beach in quotations because it's more of a used-asphault dumping ground. But the sunset was very pretty (yes, we were out there that late), and a storm was coming in, so it was really cool and windy.
Yesterday was another lazy day. I went to a few DVD shops and ate lunch at some cafe, but didn't really do anything of any great importance. I talked to Liam and heard his tales of adventure from Mumbai (if you are one of our mutual friends, you need to read his blog).
Today I had my last class with Elena Romanovna, as I go back to group sessions starting tomorrow...at 9.30. It's going to be hard to get up. But then I didn't get much sleep last night (I have a bit of a cold), so maybe I'll get to bed early tonight. We'll see.
Hannah - out (for now, anyway).
Anyway, I guess I should fill yall in with what did happen this weekend. Thursday was my last day with the guys from RISD (that's the Rhode Island School of Design, not Richardson Independent School District :-D). We had a nice little going away dinner - we rented out half of a little cafe and the staff of the youth center met us there. They even got their hands on some bottled wine (the shortage is starting to wane as they've finally released the new import stickers). We had every imaginable Russian dish heaped upon our table, and at the end of the meal the waiters brought out two MOUNTAINS (I'm being completely serious here) of ice cream. It was every little kid's fantasy come true. Aahh, so good.
After dinner, the youth center people and Elena said goodbye and went home, and I was left with my classmates to have a real goodbye. Elena arranged for me to have a cot in their dorm so that I wouldn't have to sleep on the floor again (good thinking, Elena - she knew perfectly well that I would want to hang out as much as possible with my buddies for their last night in Russia). After some debating we decided to hang out at the beach by the Peter and Paul Fortress. Unfortunately, after we bought our midnight picnic supplies and walked all the way over to Hare Island, the bridge was closed. This was especially odd since none of the bridges were going to raise this weekend (the ports are all closed for the summit, making the nightly bridge-raisings rather pointless). We decided to just have a seat on the embankment instead, and spent a good hour just talking and lamenting the fact that they would be leaving in the morning. Quite early in the morning, in fact. At that point, two of the girls decided to go back to the dorm to get some sleep. The rest of us, convinced that we were invincible and struck by the novelty of the fact that the bridges, for once, would not keep us from getting home at a somewhat reasonable hour (meaning before dawn) we set out for one last trip to the center of town.
It was a glorious end to the program in my book. I just hope that I get to visit some of them soon. I think I roadtrip to New England is in order for next spring.
I woke up early with the group on Friday and saw them off, then went back to my dorm and slept until late in the day. What else was I going to do? I wanted to stay as far from the center of town as possible. I went out to dinner with Lindsay (the American roommate) and a couple of our Polish friends from the dorm, who were leaving on Saturday. Other than I just sat and read more most of the evening. Saturday wasn't much different - though in the evening I went to the "beach" near my place with Lindsay and two of our neighbors - Charles, from Paris, and Stephan, from Switzerland (the German-speaking part). I put beach in quotations because it's more of a used-asphault dumping ground. But the sunset was very pretty (yes, we were out there that late), and a storm was coming in, so it was really cool and windy.
Yesterday was another lazy day. I went to a few DVD shops and ate lunch at some cafe, but didn't really do anything of any great importance. I talked to Liam and heard his tales of adventure from Mumbai (if you are one of our mutual friends, you need to read his blog).
Today I had my last class with Elena Romanovna, as I go back to group sessions starting tomorrow...at 9.30. It's going to be hard to get up. But then I didn't get much sleep last night (I have a bit of a cold), so maybe I'll get to bed early tonight. We'll see.
Hannah - out (for now, anyway).
Thursday, July 13, 2006
A bit of business before I disappear...
So I'm definitely feeling the increased security here as the Summitt approaches. Cops with machine guns have started patrolling the subway during the day time now too. I nearly got stopped yesterday (I think it might have been the big bag I was carrying) but he stopped the guy next to me.
So I'm going to "disappear" for a few days. I've decided that the best course of action is to stay home, since going anywhere would require taking a bus or the metro. I can receive calls for free on my cell phone, so if you can find a cheap way to call me, I welcome messages from home (not just if you're wondering where I am, but if you just want to talk too) at +89500035886. Kindly remember the 9 hour time difference.
Also, my posting will probably be pretty scattered from here on out. The art program ends this week, so I don't think I'll be able to use the free computers any more. Sigh. I will find a way...
Oh, and Liam - you be careful too. As Dogberry once said, "Adieu. Be vigitant, I beseech you."
So I'm going to "disappear" for a few days. I've decided that the best course of action is to stay home, since going anywhere would require taking a bus or the metro. I can receive calls for free on my cell phone, so if you can find a cheap way to call me, I welcome messages from home (not just if you're wondering where I am, but if you just want to talk too) at +89500035886. Kindly remember the 9 hour time difference.
Also, my posting will probably be pretty scattered from here on out. The art program ends this week, so I don't think I'll be able to use the free computers any more. Sigh. I will find a way...
Oh, and Liam - you be careful too. As Dogberry once said, "Adieu. Be vigitant, I beseech you."
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
A very disorganized post...
I hate it when I neglect writing on my blog for several days then can't remember all that has happened since the last post. I think it's a combination of lack of sleep and super-busy-ness that has caused the lapse in memory this time. Saturday and Sunday were both days of relative relaxation. I finished editing the photos that I wanted in the show and messed around downtown all weekend while the others finished up their projects and starting hanging stuff in the exhibition space. Maybe I just can't remember what I did all day because I didn't do anything.
Anyway, I had a ticket for the ballet (at the Hermitage Theatre) on Sunday evening, so I decided to go home early (2-ish) and take a nap before the show. When I walked in the door, Tanya handed me a glass of champagne, annoucing that it was her birthday and we needed to celebrate. So began the celebration, and it ended with me having to leave early to sit through a very long ballet. It was gorgeous, as nearly everything in this city is, yet ballet is definitely not one of my favorite forms of entertainment. I'm more the opera type. But it was good, and more importantly, it was free. And we had pretty good seats.
Monday was kind of hectic. Last minute preparations for the show were going on. I had another language class with the other Elena (such a common name here), and I think I may have impressed her with my fairy tale reading ability. Then again, maybe not.
Tuesday (yesterday) was really one of the highlight days. We spent the morning frantically finishing up for the show opening. Gleb's finger was one of the casualities of the show - he sliced it pretty good with an X-acto knife while putting together his installation piece. (More on this later) We patched it up (temporarily) and had a great opening - lots of press and free box wine (they still haven't completely recovered from the whole import sticker fiasco - see last entry). We had to kick some homeless guys out at one point (we felt bad because they were nice, but they were getting drunk on the free beverages). I'm gonna try and get my hands on some of the Russian press. It really was a good show, if I do say so myself.
We had a mini celebration after the opening, since we felt like we had successfully completed our major task for the trip. We went to a nice pizza place on Nevskiy prospect, then just hung out for the rest of the evening until we were too tired to stay up. We had to take Gleb to the American Clinic to get his finger checked out, then he had to go back in the morning to get some stitches. Poor guy - it just wouldn't stop bleeding. But that's what happens when you play with knives...
This morning we visited this guy's house outside of town. He had an animation studio of sorts set up inside, and showed us a bunch of his work. He was really a cool guy, and talked to us for ever (we never got tired of it either). The house reminded me a lot of central Austin - a little run down lot resisting the encroachment of the big commercial constructions around it. So cool. It was almost like going to one of Leann's barn dances.
Anyway, I have to run - it's Ksusha's birthday today, and I promised we'd go play pool.
Anyway, I had a ticket for the ballet (at the Hermitage Theatre) on Sunday evening, so I decided to go home early (2-ish) and take a nap before the show. When I walked in the door, Tanya handed me a glass of champagne, annoucing that it was her birthday and we needed to celebrate. So began the celebration, and it ended with me having to leave early to sit through a very long ballet. It was gorgeous, as nearly everything in this city is, yet ballet is definitely not one of my favorite forms of entertainment. I'm more the opera type. But it was good, and more importantly, it was free. And we had pretty good seats.
Monday was kind of hectic. Last minute preparations for the show were going on. I had another language class with the other Elena (such a common name here), and I think I may have impressed her with my fairy tale reading ability. Then again, maybe not.
Tuesday (yesterday) was really one of the highlight days. We spent the morning frantically finishing up for the show opening. Gleb's finger was one of the casualities of the show - he sliced it pretty good with an X-acto knife while putting together his installation piece. (More on this later) We patched it up (temporarily) and had a great opening - lots of press and free box wine (they still haven't completely recovered from the whole import sticker fiasco - see last entry). We had to kick some homeless guys out at one point (we felt bad because they were nice, but they were getting drunk on the free beverages). I'm gonna try and get my hands on some of the Russian press. It really was a good show, if I do say so myself.
We had a mini celebration after the opening, since we felt like we had successfully completed our major task for the trip. We went to a nice pizza place on Nevskiy prospect, then just hung out for the rest of the evening until we were too tired to stay up. We had to take Gleb to the American Clinic to get his finger checked out, then he had to go back in the morning to get some stitches. Poor guy - it just wouldn't stop bleeding. But that's what happens when you play with knives...
This morning we visited this guy's house outside of town. He had an animation studio of sorts set up inside, and showed us a bunch of his work. He was really a cool guy, and talked to us for ever (we never got tired of it either). The house reminded me a lot of central Austin - a little run down lot resisting the encroachment of the big commercial constructions around it. So cool. It was almost like going to one of Leann's barn dances.
Anyway, I have to run - it's Ksusha's birthday today, and I promised we'd go play pool.
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