30.10.2008
So, this is my last entry before I go to Moscow -- Next time I'll update is ... Wednesday or Thursday. Not sure. Which is ... exactly a week. Hm..
Sadly, this may be a scant entry. SO YOU'LL ALL HAVE TO SAVOUR EVERY LAST WORD OF THIS ONE BEFORE I DISAPPEAR FOR A WEEK.
I didn't bother updating yesterday because there really wasn't much to say. I've stayed in most all week, reading, watching TV, and studying. Recuperating from dealing with people. Nice and relaxed, really -- I don't regret not doing anything all week. It's what I needed.
Last night I was watching a Russian historical document on the leaders of the Cheka/KGB/etc throughout the Russian history, and it had a lot of video clips, which was neat. At one point they were showing Finnish soldiers during World War I skiing in formation! It was fantastic. I had read about the skiing Finnish soldiers in my contemporary Russian history class a year ago, and couldn't believe it. BUT NOW I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT.
Also, from this video, I have discerned that the Russian military has not changed its uniform for about sixty or seventy years. Since I've been here I've been trying to distinguish the different military and paramilitary divisions, but it's difficult, and now I'm all confused because they've changed into their winter uniforms. Which is to say, they've traded in their saucer caps for USHANKI! So now I see columns of Russian military men (by "men" I mean "16 year old boys"...) marching down the street in long double-breasted black coats and fur hats.
I had planned on going shopping today but I forgot my debit card and didn't have much money, so I'm going to go, tomorrow... If I can't find a suitable jacket and hat for Moscow I guess I'm going to wear my heavy fur coat and my new ushanka. If I do that I'm going to get a lot of photos of me being a stereotypical Russian on Red Square, or something. I don't know.
I'm fairly excited for Moscow. Well, except the weather is supposed to be absolutely miserable, and we're taking a WALKING TOUR OF THE CITY. Which will probably be HELL. I couldn't load the itinerary, so, I'm not entirely sure what'll be going on. We're staying in a HOSTEL, which will be weird... Hmm.. Tatyana's birthday is on Tuesday, I think, and I'll be gone, so I'm going to buy her a gift in Moscow, and I think I'm going to buy her chocolates or something before I leave. II'm also going to try and shop for gifts for other people while in Moscow. And so on.
I've started trying to sort out my schedule for Goucher, next semester, and it's already hell. I left my entire written out plan on what I was going to do to fulfill the rest of my Gen Eds, so I'm kind of lost. I already know that my usual practise of cramming up on classes on MWF and leaving TuTh open and free is ... not going to happen -- All the Russian classes are MW and MWF, and all the Poli. Sci. courses are TuTh. Which I guess is good from the perspective that basically nothing I want to take conflicts, but not good from the fact that everything is SPREAD OUT AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY so my productivity may be at an all-time low.
What I am most terrified about going back to Goucher is the living situation, though, which is apparently more hellish than it's ever been. If I don't get a single I'm going to be mad as hell. I know that sounds terribly bratty, but for God's sakes I've already had to deal with two years of awkward and obnoxious living situations, and on top of that I'm a Junior, so I should have SOME seniority. I'm sure there are a massive amount of UNDESERVING FRESHMEN who have singles in some of the best halls. I've already told Brendan that I'm going to go live in his room if they try to put me in a double. He thought it was a joke. LITTLE DOES HE KNOW. So basically my living situation depends on how many people DROP OUT this semester and how many go abroad next semester. We'll see what happens. I need to shoot an e-mail over to Community Living to make sure everything is at least in order, document-wise...
I really should get to bed, since I'm waking up earlier than I need to in order to receive vocabulary tutoring, tomorrow morning. I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping, lately, though, and I'm not sure why that is. maybe all the TEA I'm drinking. the MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF TEA. Despite this, I'm in a good mood. Good mood, indeed. My shopping trip tomorrow might elevate or depress that. We shall see.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
In Which Ukraine is Discussed... But not really.
28.10.2008
Another fairly unexciting day. Phonetics (which, for some reason I keep spelling as "fonetics") was particularly painful because we had a substitute (again) today, and I don't like her. Mostly because she's tremendously awkward, and not in a good way. I feel more comfortable with the other teacher, who apparently is returning next week. After that I had my Razgovornaya exam, which was much easier than I thought it would be. After we finished she made us sit as she went through and marked our mistakes on the paper... then she turned it back to us to give us a second chance to correct it. Which was strange. But, I had few mistakes, and most of the mistakes I made I knew how to remedy. So, whoo.
After that I went to Bobrinskij palace in order to discuss my presentation topic with Professor Vertkin. After a lengthy discussion, I think I'm going to do my presentation on the position of Ukraine in the relations between Russia and the U.S. It's really bizarre because basically all of my research is going to have to be on the internet, and I haven't used GOOGLE for god's sakes to research something for an ACADEMIC PAPER since I entered college. But, we simply don't have the resources for anything else. So, there's that..
I stopped by the bookstore to try and find pens and pencil lead... I failed. For some reason writing utensils are absurdly difficult to come by in this country. I'm down to three sticks of lead in my pencil, and a blue pen. I think I'm going to start saving my pencil for exams and such.. so the rest of my notes and my homework is going to be in BLOO. exciting.
That was basically MY day... hm...
Oh, alright, so. There's this guy who's started waving to me when he sees me. But, uh, I don't really know him. I mean, I saw him at a lecture on the U.S. elections. That's been the full extent of our ... interaction. Which is to say, none. So perhaps I shall introduce myself to him next time I see him. So that I may make friends. Or something.
Well, luckily, I have very little homework tonight, so I'm going to read a bit then... I don't know. I''m so tired, but when I try to go to sleep I can't. Maybe it's just pure exhaustion. But it's not like I'm DOING much., right now. Maybe it's the tea dependence, or something. Hell if I know.
Oh, so, while I was talking with Professor Vertkin today he said that the Philological Faculty bookstore is actually one of the better bookstores in the city, and if I want to find anything halfway interesting I should go there instead of Dom Knigi. So, I'm going to do that, sometime... soon... maybe. before the weather gets so godawful that I'd rather stay inside all the time. Speaking of shopping, I think I need to go out and buy a hat and a jacket before going to Moscow. Yes, one would think I should wait and maybe try to buy said things in Moscow, but... Apparently it might SNOW while we're there. So I need to be prepared. I don't really want to take my gigantic fur coat, because I can't MOVE while wearing it, and I don't want to take my ushanka because I kind of feel like a jackass wearing it. Of course, it's not like it even gets cold enough in the U.S. (Or, at least, in Maryland/California) that I would need to wear it there. Plus, someone at Goucher might try to douse me with paint, since it's made of FOX FUR (I think). But at the same time I have had a hard time trying to find a hat that looks halfway decent, here. Everyone wears those knitted caps, which (in my opinion) look like hell on ANYONE and EVERYONE. So I'd like to avoid getting one of those. We'll see what happens.
I've run out of junk to say. So... yep
Another fairly unexciting day. Phonetics (which, for some reason I keep spelling as "fonetics") was particularly painful because we had a substitute (again) today, and I don't like her. Mostly because she's tremendously awkward, and not in a good way. I feel more comfortable with the other teacher, who apparently is returning next week. After that I had my Razgovornaya exam, which was much easier than I thought it would be. After we finished she made us sit as she went through and marked our mistakes on the paper... then she turned it back to us to give us a second chance to correct it. Which was strange. But, I had few mistakes, and most of the mistakes I made I knew how to remedy. So, whoo.
After that I went to Bobrinskij palace in order to discuss my presentation topic with Professor Vertkin. After a lengthy discussion, I think I'm going to do my presentation on the position of Ukraine in the relations between Russia and the U.S. It's really bizarre because basically all of my research is going to have to be on the internet, and I haven't used GOOGLE for god's sakes to research something for an ACADEMIC PAPER since I entered college. But, we simply don't have the resources for anything else. So, there's that..
I stopped by the bookstore to try and find pens and pencil lead... I failed. For some reason writing utensils are absurdly difficult to come by in this country. I'm down to three sticks of lead in my pencil, and a blue pen. I think I'm going to start saving my pencil for exams and such.. so the rest of my notes and my homework is going to be in BLOO. exciting.
That was basically MY day... hm...
Oh, alright, so. There's this guy who's started waving to me when he sees me. But, uh, I don't really know him. I mean, I saw him at a lecture on the U.S. elections. That's been the full extent of our ... interaction. Which is to say, none. So perhaps I shall introduce myself to him next time I see him. So that I may make friends. Or something.
Well, luckily, I have very little homework tonight, so I'm going to read a bit then... I don't know. I''m so tired, but when I try to go to sleep I can't. Maybe it's just pure exhaustion. But it's not like I'm DOING much., right now. Maybe it's the tea dependence, or something. Hell if I know.
Oh, so, while I was talking with Professor Vertkin today he said that the Philological Faculty bookstore is actually one of the better bookstores in the city, and if I want to find anything halfway interesting I should go there instead of Dom Knigi. So, I'm going to do that, sometime... soon... maybe. before the weather gets so godawful that I'd rather stay inside all the time. Speaking of shopping, I think I need to go out and buy a hat and a jacket before going to Moscow. Yes, one would think I should wait and maybe try to buy said things in Moscow, but... Apparently it might SNOW while we're there. So I need to be prepared. I don't really want to take my gigantic fur coat, because I can't MOVE while wearing it, and I don't want to take my ushanka because I kind of feel like a jackass wearing it. Of course, it's not like it even gets cold enough in the U.S. (Or, at least, in Maryland/California) that I would need to wear it there. Plus, someone at Goucher might try to douse me with paint, since it's made of FOX FUR (I think). But at the same time I have had a hard time trying to find a hat that looks halfway decent, here. Everyone wears those knitted caps, which (in my opinion) look like hell on ANYONE and EVERYONE. So I'd like to avoid getting one of those. We'll see what happens.
I've run out of junk to say. So... yep
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
In Which ... I don't know, I'm tired
27.10.2008
Today wasn't particularly exciting, as most Mondays aren't. I had my mid-term exam for my grammar course, which seemed fairly easy, so I hope I did well on that. I have my mid-term for my speaking practice class tomorrow (which, ironically, has no speaking section!)
Aaand I spoke with Andrei Vladimirovich (my Human Rights teacher) about my mid-term for THAT class.. I didn't entirely understand THAT discussion. I understand that he wants me to write an 8000 character paper (which I think is about five pages) about ... something. He said we would 'think about it' and he'd give me a topic shortly. I think he wants me to do something connecting a Human Rights issue in America with one in the U.S., or contrasting them or something. Or maybe he wanted me to do that for my FINAL paper? I don't know, he was jumping around a bit. Does anyone know of any major human rights issues in America about which I could write? I could think of a few, but the thing is, it's not a 'huge thing' in IR to criticise the U.S. for human rights abuses or anything... Despite what a stroll through Baltimore could reveal.
Oh, another amusing thing -- A guy joined our class, today ... ? It's, what, eight weeks into the semester, and someone joins the class? What the hell is up with that? I couldn't really understand anything he was saying throughout class because the acoustics in that room are terrible and he was speaking quietly. I hope that doesn't continue. He seems like an average Russian guy, which is to say, a terrible person. But, here I am, judging people again. But then again, it's fairly rare that I meet a guy my age who ISN'T a terrible person, so that doesn't extend just to Russia.
BUT THAT DOESN'T NEGATE THE FACT THAT HE JOINED THE CLASS EIGHT WEEKS IN. And the first question he asked Andrei Vladimirovich was how old he was. Andrei responded,
How old do you THINK I am?
New guy (whose name I don't know): Hmm.. 20.
Andrei: *sigh, rolling of the eyes* 25.
I feel sorry for him -- it's clear that no one takes him seriously, but he seems much more ... together, stable, and enthuastic than most of the other professors. Ah well. Oh, right, and, amusingly, I didn't understand half the lecture, which I told him after class, and I told him I'd just read up on the conflict he was talking aabout and he was like, "Oh, no, don't bother, it's fine!" Which I find mildly strange. Of course, he's done that a few times -- if I didn't finish a reading he tells me I don't need to do any more, and so on... If I were in America, I'd be EXPECTED to go that extra mile. Maybe he's just thankful that I come to every class (Anya didn't come, today) and that I have been in the class since the beginning...?
So, going to Romeo and Juliet on Friday, then leaving for Moscow on Saturday night and not coming back until Tuesday morning. Oh, and this is the Russian idea of a holiday: Monday is a holiday, right? So, we have no classes on Monday. You'd think, "whoo, three day weekend!", right? Wrong. We have our Monday classes the previous SATUDAY instead. Yep. Which is why we're leaving for Moscow on Saturday NIGHT. Good job, Russia. (Actually, that's probably a Soviet holdover, like everything else in this damned country that doesn't make any sense)
The course list for next semester will be available in a couple of days, which is mildly terrifying, because it's the THIRD TO LAST TIME I WILL BE MAKING COURSE SELECTIONS FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDY!! AAAAAH. I was actually confused earlier today and thought it was already up, so I was looking at the fall '08 course selection, which was really sad and uninteresting. But when I realised that it WASN'T the spring '08 course selection, I was happy that I missed such a shitty semester in the first place. In any case, I looked over all the gen. ed. requirements, and it seems to me that I only have a couple more to fulfill? I don't know, it doesn't seem right to me because I thought that I still needed to take four more gen. ed. classes. Who knows.
I'm sure that little blurb was interesting to read... right. At this point I'm just blathering on because I don't want to do my homework. But, I better get to it...
Today wasn't particularly exciting, as most Mondays aren't. I had my mid-term exam for my grammar course, which seemed fairly easy, so I hope I did well on that. I have my mid-term for my speaking practice class tomorrow (which, ironically, has no speaking section!)
Aaand I spoke with Andrei Vladimirovich (my Human Rights teacher) about my mid-term for THAT class.. I didn't entirely understand THAT discussion. I understand that he wants me to write an 8000 character paper (which I think is about five pages) about ... something. He said we would 'think about it' and he'd give me a topic shortly. I think he wants me to do something connecting a Human Rights issue in America with one in the U.S., or contrasting them or something. Or maybe he wanted me to do that for my FINAL paper? I don't know, he was jumping around a bit. Does anyone know of any major human rights issues in America about which I could write? I could think of a few, but the thing is, it's not a 'huge thing' in IR to criticise the U.S. for human rights abuses or anything... Despite what a stroll through Baltimore could reveal.
Oh, another amusing thing -- A guy joined our class, today ... ? It's, what, eight weeks into the semester, and someone joins the class? What the hell is up with that? I couldn't really understand anything he was saying throughout class because the acoustics in that room are terrible and he was speaking quietly. I hope that doesn't continue. He seems like an average Russian guy, which is to say, a terrible person. But, here I am, judging people again. But then again, it's fairly rare that I meet a guy my age who ISN'T a terrible person, so that doesn't extend just to Russia.
BUT THAT DOESN'T NEGATE THE FACT THAT HE JOINED THE CLASS EIGHT WEEKS IN. And the first question he asked Andrei Vladimirovich was how old he was. Andrei responded,
How old do you THINK I am?
New guy (whose name I don't know): Hmm.. 20.
Andrei: *sigh, rolling of the eyes* 25.
I feel sorry for him -- it's clear that no one takes him seriously, but he seems much more ... together, stable, and enthuastic than most of the other professors. Ah well. Oh, right, and, amusingly, I didn't understand half the lecture, which I told him after class, and I told him I'd just read up on the conflict he was talking aabout and he was like, "Oh, no, don't bother, it's fine!" Which I find mildly strange. Of course, he's done that a few times -- if I didn't finish a reading he tells me I don't need to do any more, and so on... If I were in America, I'd be EXPECTED to go that extra mile. Maybe he's just thankful that I come to every class (Anya didn't come, today) and that I have been in the class since the beginning...?
So, going to Romeo and Juliet on Friday, then leaving for Moscow on Saturday night and not coming back until Tuesday morning. Oh, and this is the Russian idea of a holiday: Monday is a holiday, right? So, we have no classes on Monday. You'd think, "whoo, three day weekend!", right? Wrong. We have our Monday classes the previous SATUDAY instead. Yep. Which is why we're leaving for Moscow on Saturday NIGHT. Good job, Russia. (Actually, that's probably a Soviet holdover, like everything else in this damned country that doesn't make any sense)
The course list for next semester will be available in a couple of days, which is mildly terrifying, because it's the THIRD TO LAST TIME I WILL BE MAKING COURSE SELECTIONS FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDY!! AAAAAH. I was actually confused earlier today and thought it was already up, so I was looking at the fall '08 course selection, which was really sad and uninteresting. But when I realised that it WASN'T the spring '08 course selection, I was happy that I missed such a shitty semester in the first place. In any case, I looked over all the gen. ed. requirements, and it seems to me that I only have a couple more to fulfill? I don't know, it doesn't seem right to me because I thought that I still needed to take four more gen. ed. classes. Who knows.
I'm sure that little blurb was interesting to read... right. At this point I'm just blathering on because I don't want to do my homework. But, I better get to it...
Monday, October 27, 2008
In Which Two Dinners and Desert are Eaten
24.10.2008 - Weekend Entry
The cat won't leave me alone. She kept meowing at my door while I was changing, then ZOOMED into the room when I finally opened it. Now she's lying in my lap purring and won't go away. Oh well.
I went to Nevsky on Friday to walk down the street and take a video, very INCONSPICUOUSLY, but it kind of failed. Apparently I didn't hold the camera steady enough while I was walking, so it's kind of dizzying, but I guess I'll keep it anyway. I had planned on going to Sennaya Ploshchad' and shopping for clothes, but instead I just ended up going to Dom Knigi (huge bookstore on Nevsky). Originally, I was just going to walk around the bookstore to see what they had, then leave. But, instead, I bought a new dictionary and a collection of short stories by Tatyana Tolstaya (Tolstoi's great granddaughter or something like that) - Ночь (Noch' - Night). I figured I'd get something to read for recreation in Russian to build vocabulary, since all the texts I read have to do with International Relations, and that kind of limits my vocabulary acquisition. I don't really want to go around sounding like a politician, personally.
In any case, I decided to just come home and do work, since I was in the mood for reading Russian things and such, as a contrast to my earlier feelings... I figure I may as well exploit the change in mood.
Then I went to Central Station in the evening, and it was ... Disappointing, to say the least. I'm not really going to get in to it, but, yeah. Strangely, very very few people were there. Not sure why that was. In any case, I would have like five dates now if I were into creepy older men who fail even harder when they try to speak English than when I speak Russian. The first one kept trying to buy me drinks, and he kept putting his arm around me. At least he got the picture when I forcefully shoved the offending appendage away.
Oh, and, while wandering around on the 3rd floor I came across something interesting. It was tremendously dark around the side staircase, and normally, I just feel my way through the corridor but I almost tripped and DIED so I decided to use my cell phone to light the way. Well, when I did that, I noticed two side corriders wiith a bunch of little plastic signs on the wall next to them. Intrigued, I shined my cell phone on them, and they were all signs of icons with red lines through them (like “No Smoking”); one was a martini glass, another a cigarette, a camera, and a cell phone. Next to these were signs of icons without a red line through them – one I couldn't identify that looked like a tea pot, and the other a ... condom? Apparently Andrei wasn't kidding when he said the “dark rooms” were on the third floor. Anyway, I walked by, but my cell phone light was still on so it shined into one of the corridors, and I saw someone in there. For some reason that freaked me out and I ran off.
And one more amusing anecdote. There were these two straight guys there, with the clear purpose of preying on the girls who come to the club to ESCAPE people like them. Well, they started dancing with these two girls on the second floor dancefloor, and after the song ended one of the girls walked out to find one of her friends or something, and the straight guy she was dancing with followed her out. Her and her friend converged in the other room and she turned around – at this point, she saw the guy, and I guess realised he was straight and not gay. He was in her way, so she just kind of shoved him out of her way, when he was clearly trying to make conversation or something. I lawl'd. Because those guys were jackasses, basically.
Aaand all Saturday I basically just lied around inside. But I don't regret it. I got a lot of vocabulary study done, and I really just had zero desire to go out, today. Tatyana went to the museum and shopping, so I was basically alone all day, and it was nice. I also got a lot of reading done. Unfortunately, I didn't really do any homework. BUT! I went through all the words I have been writing down, and checked off all the ones I've already memorised through useage and glancing over them every now and then, and I've memorised about five pages of ten. Which isn't terrible, I guess. But I think I've only really half memorised them – in that I can recognise them when I see them in writing and when I hear them, but I can't recall them. But, oh well.
The good news is that I think I have a good grasp of all case adjectival and noun endings. Knowing them is one thing – I've known them all for over a year now. But, having them memorised and being able to recall them in speech is entirely another. I bet this sounds terribly exciting, doesn't it?
ACTUALLY. I have a complaint I would like to submit. Alright:
To turn off – выключать / выключить (vykluchat' / vykluchit')
To turn on – включать / включить (vkluchat' / vkluchit')
What, the fuck? I actually just got this sorted out – I used to just get completely confused and think it was one word, and that I just didn't know its antonym. But now I know I am not just going insane, because I would always look them up and not understand why I didn't get them. I mean, the prefixes в- and вы- are opposite, so that's fairly regular through the verbal system, but usually it's easy to tell which useage it is through context. NOT IN THIS CASE. It sounds almost the same in speech. And it's annoying. (P.s.: вход, vkhod – entrance; выход, vykhod – exit. Yep.)
Sunday also sat around doing a little work. Got more actual homework finished, and studied for a test. In the evening, I went to dinner – but before that, I told Tatyana that I was going to dinner, and she didn't need to worry about fixing dinner for me... To which she asked,
Tatyana: When are you leaving?
Me: Around six.
Tatyana: Well, you can eat around four, then.
Me: ... (silence, not sure what to say)
Tatyana: Didn't understand?
Me: Uhm, I understood, but, why would I eat before, if I'm going to eat at a restaurant?
Tatyana: So that you don't need to eat much at the restaurant! It's expensive!
Me: I think it's free...
Tatyana: Ooooh, well then... But you THINK! You don't KNOW!
Me: .... (silence.)
I figured she was just joking, but around four she called me in to eat dinner, much to my chagrin. So, dinner at the cafe wasn't that great, because I was already full. DESPITE THIS, desert was DELICIOUS.
The cat won't leave me alone. She kept meowing at my door while I was changing, then ZOOMED into the room when I finally opened it. Now she's lying in my lap purring and won't go away. Oh well.
I went to Nevsky on Friday to walk down the street and take a video, very INCONSPICUOUSLY, but it kind of failed. Apparently I didn't hold the camera steady enough while I was walking, so it's kind of dizzying, but I guess I'll keep it anyway. I had planned on going to Sennaya Ploshchad' and shopping for clothes, but instead I just ended up going to Dom Knigi (huge bookstore on Nevsky). Originally, I was just going to walk around the bookstore to see what they had, then leave. But, instead, I bought a new dictionary and a collection of short stories by Tatyana Tolstaya (Tolstoi's great granddaughter or something like that) - Ночь (Noch' - Night). I figured I'd get something to read for recreation in Russian to build vocabulary, since all the texts I read have to do with International Relations, and that kind of limits my vocabulary acquisition. I don't really want to go around sounding like a politician, personally.
In any case, I decided to just come home and do work, since I was in the mood for reading Russian things and such, as a contrast to my earlier feelings... I figure I may as well exploit the change in mood.
Then I went to Central Station in the evening, and it was ... Disappointing, to say the least. I'm not really going to get in to it, but, yeah. Strangely, very very few people were there. Not sure why that was. In any case, I would have like five dates now if I were into creepy older men who fail even harder when they try to speak English than when I speak Russian. The first one kept trying to buy me drinks, and he kept putting his arm around me. At least he got the picture when I forcefully shoved the offending appendage away.
Oh, and, while wandering around on the 3rd floor I came across something interesting. It was tremendously dark around the side staircase, and normally, I just feel my way through the corridor but I almost tripped and DIED so I decided to use my cell phone to light the way. Well, when I did that, I noticed two side corriders wiith a bunch of little plastic signs on the wall next to them. Intrigued, I shined my cell phone on them, and they were all signs of icons with red lines through them (like “No Smoking”); one was a martini glass, another a cigarette, a camera, and a cell phone. Next to these were signs of icons without a red line through them – one I couldn't identify that looked like a tea pot, and the other a ... condom? Apparently Andrei wasn't kidding when he said the “dark rooms” were on the third floor. Anyway, I walked by, but my cell phone light was still on so it shined into one of the corridors, and I saw someone in there. For some reason that freaked me out and I ran off.
And one more amusing anecdote. There were these two straight guys there, with the clear purpose of preying on the girls who come to the club to ESCAPE people like them. Well, they started dancing with these two girls on the second floor dancefloor, and after the song ended one of the girls walked out to find one of her friends or something, and the straight guy she was dancing with followed her out. Her and her friend converged in the other room and she turned around – at this point, she saw the guy, and I guess realised he was straight and not gay. He was in her way, so she just kind of shoved him out of her way, when he was clearly trying to make conversation or something. I lawl'd. Because those guys were jackasses, basically.
Aaand all Saturday I basically just lied around inside. But I don't regret it. I got a lot of vocabulary study done, and I really just had zero desire to go out, today. Tatyana went to the museum and shopping, so I was basically alone all day, and it was nice. I also got a lot of reading done. Unfortunately, I didn't really do any homework. BUT! I went through all the words I have been writing down, and checked off all the ones I've already memorised through useage and glancing over them every now and then, and I've memorised about five pages of ten. Which isn't terrible, I guess. But I think I've only really half memorised them – in that I can recognise them when I see them in writing and when I hear them, but I can't recall them. But, oh well.
The good news is that I think I have a good grasp of all case adjectival and noun endings. Knowing them is one thing – I've known them all for over a year now. But, having them memorised and being able to recall them in speech is entirely another. I bet this sounds terribly exciting, doesn't it?
ACTUALLY. I have a complaint I would like to submit. Alright:
To turn off – выключать / выключить (vykluchat' / vykluchit')
To turn on – включать / включить (vkluchat' / vkluchit')
What, the fuck? I actually just got this sorted out – I used to just get completely confused and think it was one word, and that I just didn't know its antonym. But now I know I am not just going insane, because I would always look them up and not understand why I didn't get them. I mean, the prefixes в- and вы- are opposite, so that's fairly regular through the verbal system, but usually it's easy to tell which useage it is through context. NOT IN THIS CASE. It sounds almost the same in speech. And it's annoying. (P.s.: вход, vkhod – entrance; выход, vykhod – exit. Yep.)
Sunday also sat around doing a little work. Got more actual homework finished, and studied for a test. In the evening, I went to dinner – but before that, I told Tatyana that I was going to dinner, and she didn't need to worry about fixing dinner for me... To which she asked,
Tatyana: When are you leaving?
Me: Around six.
Tatyana: Well, you can eat around four, then.
Me: ... (silence, not sure what to say)
Tatyana: Didn't understand?
Me: Uhm, I understood, but, why would I eat before, if I'm going to eat at a restaurant?
Tatyana: So that you don't need to eat much at the restaurant! It's expensive!
Me: I think it's free...
Tatyana: Ooooh, well then... But you THINK! You don't KNOW!
Me: .... (silence.)
I figured she was just joking, but around four she called me in to eat dinner, much to my chagrin. So, dinner at the cafe wasn't that great, because I was already full. DESPITE THIS, desert was DELICIOUS.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
In Which a Movie is Watched
21.10.2008
Alright, so, before I write about anything else... I just watched the movie "Mongol," which I was anticipating for a while because I even saw it advertised in the U.S. And, I'm PRETTY sure it's a Russian film... I'm going to check IMDB tomorrow... but, I was a bit surprised when it was in a language other than Russian (I'm going to assume Mongolian, or whatever language it is that they speak in Mongolia -- excuse my ignorance), DUBBED OVER in Russian. Like, maybe that just doesn't make sense to ME... but... I don't know. I know there has been a trend in American films to film the movie in the original language of the setting or whatever (if that makes sense) and then subtitle it ... but what the fuck? You could HEAR the Mongolian language under the dubber, who, as I've noted before, is ONE voice actor doing ALL the dubbing for the entire movie -- female characters, male characters, narrator. Without any emotion. But in any case, luckily I could understand him, but the dialogue wasn't exactly that profound. Indeed, I was overall disappointed by the movie, but ah well.
And unfortunately I had to change the regional settings on my laptop to even PLAY the movie, WHICH I CAN ONLY DO FIVE TIMES!!! So I guess I'll keep my laptop at region 5 for my stay here, and try to only buy DVDs that have no regional setting. Which shouldn't be difficult since most are pirated anyhow.
Oh, I think I've mentioned this before, but the stray dogs here are SO ADORABLE. I would totally take them all in if I could. There are usually a lot laying around outside the metro when I come home from the university, and a lot of the time I'll see two of them playing out in front of one of the stores -- Well, like, one is lying down trying to sleep, and another is pawing and nipping at the one lying down, trying to get him to play. From afar it kind of looks like they're mauling eachother, but when you get close it's obvious they're just playing. IT'S SO CUTE. I want to feed them, but then I'll have a pack of stray dogs following me home. So I'll leave the feeding to the old ladies.
I spent another absurdly long day at Smolny, so I don't really have anything exciting to impart. I took two exams this week, two classes were cancelled... blah blah... I finally feel like I'm really improving in my language, but at the same time I feel as though my RSL classes aren't contributing to that in the least. DEFINITELY not in dialogue. Maybe a TAD bit in grammar. But that's about it. Indeed, that's my only real complaint about the program -- I sorely dislike the RSL program itself. Ah well.
Yura called me today to discuss going to the ballet. I told him I was going to buy the tickets, and he didn't need to worry about it, etc, and we got into an argument about that. Thankfully, I could understand most everything he was saying, but I got flustered because he started to tell me HE was going to buy the tickets because I don't have money or something (I don't know where he got that idea), and I just started speaking really fast... and by "speaking" I mean I spewed out a string of Russian words that were neither declined nor conjugated, so I can't imagine what it would've sounded like to him. Probably entirely incompehensible. In any case, it's still unresolved, but I'm buying tickets tomorrrow, regardless. He said he's going to send me a message or something. We'll see what happens.
Tatyana said that I needed to get warmer pants for the winter... I'm not sure what that means ... ? What exactly are 'warmer pants'? Ah well. I guess my legs will freeze, or something.
Update on 22.10.2008:
For some reason, right now, I'm just feeling completely and totally anti-Russian in every sense. I hate everything, right now. I think a great deal of it is frustration. I'm really just wanting to drop everything, give up, and go home (though clearly, I can't). I don't know... It's probably temporary, but for now, I just want to stab something.
Of course, and this starts at a rather inconvenient time. It's still fairly early and my homework is complete, so I have plenty of time to go over vocabulary or read Russian articles for recreation, or watch TV or something. But I really just want to withdraw from that. Yeck.
Of course, and it doesn't make much sense... Two classes (including my LEAST FAVORITE) were cancelled this week, I had a very easy exam in one class.. I don't know. It should have been a good week (indeed, it went by ULTRA FUCKING QUICK), but it was not. Truly, it was awful. And I go to Moscow next weekend.
Last night it really hit me that I only have two more months, really... Which at one relieves and terrifies me. Mostly it terrifies me because this experience has pissed me off so much that I feel like I really need to come out on top by the end, and I'm not sure I can do that within the next two months. Despite my doing more goings-out every WEEK than I would be doing in MONTHS while in the U.S., I still feel like I'm not doing ENOUGH. I don't know.
Alright, so, before I write about anything else... I just watched the movie "Mongol," which I was anticipating for a while because I even saw it advertised in the U.S. And, I'm PRETTY sure it's a Russian film... I'm going to check IMDB tomorrow... but, I was a bit surprised when it was in a language other than Russian (I'm going to assume Mongolian, or whatever language it is that they speak in Mongolia -- excuse my ignorance), DUBBED OVER in Russian. Like, maybe that just doesn't make sense to ME... but... I don't know. I know there has been a trend in American films to film the movie in the original language of the setting or whatever (if that makes sense) and then subtitle it ... but what the fuck? You could HEAR the Mongolian language under the dubber, who, as I've noted before, is ONE voice actor doing ALL the dubbing for the entire movie -- female characters, male characters, narrator. Without any emotion. But in any case, luckily I could understand him, but the dialogue wasn't exactly that profound. Indeed, I was overall disappointed by the movie, but ah well.
And unfortunately I had to change the regional settings on my laptop to even PLAY the movie, WHICH I CAN ONLY DO FIVE TIMES!!! So I guess I'll keep my laptop at region 5 for my stay here, and try to only buy DVDs that have no regional setting. Which shouldn't be difficult since most are pirated anyhow.
Oh, I think I've mentioned this before, but the stray dogs here are SO ADORABLE. I would totally take them all in if I could. There are usually a lot laying around outside the metro when I come home from the university, and a lot of the time I'll see two of them playing out in front of one of the stores -- Well, like, one is lying down trying to sleep, and another is pawing and nipping at the one lying down, trying to get him to play. From afar it kind of looks like they're mauling eachother, but when you get close it's obvious they're just playing. IT'S SO CUTE. I want to feed them, but then I'll have a pack of stray dogs following me home. So I'll leave the feeding to the old ladies.
I spent another absurdly long day at Smolny, so I don't really have anything exciting to impart. I took two exams this week, two classes were cancelled... blah blah... I finally feel like I'm really improving in my language, but at the same time I feel as though my RSL classes aren't contributing to that in the least. DEFINITELY not in dialogue. Maybe a TAD bit in grammar. But that's about it. Indeed, that's my only real complaint about the program -- I sorely dislike the RSL program itself. Ah well.
Yura called me today to discuss going to the ballet. I told him I was going to buy the tickets, and he didn't need to worry about it, etc, and we got into an argument about that. Thankfully, I could understand most everything he was saying, but I got flustered because he started to tell me HE was going to buy the tickets because I don't have money or something (I don't know where he got that idea), and I just started speaking really fast... and by "speaking" I mean I spewed out a string of Russian words that were neither declined nor conjugated, so I can't imagine what it would've sounded like to him. Probably entirely incompehensible. In any case, it's still unresolved, but I'm buying tickets tomorrrow, regardless. He said he's going to send me a message or something. We'll see what happens.
Tatyana said that I needed to get warmer pants for the winter... I'm not sure what that means ... ? What exactly are 'warmer pants'? Ah well. I guess my legs will freeze, or something.
Update on 22.10.2008:
For some reason, right now, I'm just feeling completely and totally anti-Russian in every sense. I hate everything, right now. I think a great deal of it is frustration. I'm really just wanting to drop everything, give up, and go home (though clearly, I can't). I don't know... It's probably temporary, but for now, I just want to stab something.
Of course, and this starts at a rather inconvenient time. It's still fairly early and my homework is complete, so I have plenty of time to go over vocabulary or read Russian articles for recreation, or watch TV or something. But I really just want to withdraw from that. Yeck.
Of course, and it doesn't make much sense... Two classes (including my LEAST FAVORITE) were cancelled this week, I had a very easy exam in one class.. I don't know. It should have been a good week (indeed, it went by ULTRA FUCKING QUICK), but it was not. Truly, it was awful. And I go to Moscow next weekend.
Last night it really hit me that I only have two more months, really... Which at one relieves and terrifies me. Mostly it terrifies me because this experience has pissed me off so much that I feel like I really need to come out on top by the end, and I'm not sure I can do that within the next two months. Despite my doing more goings-out every WEEK than I would be doing in MONTHS while in the U.S., I still feel like I'm not doing ENOUGH. I don't know.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
In Which a Day is Wasted
20.10.2008
Today was needlessly long. But it was mostly my own fault. I already want this week to be over, in either case.
So, I have this stupid habit of going to the Philological faculty at 10 in the morning every morning even when I don't have class until 1. Because I have some absurd idea in my mind that I must use the internet for hours every morning, but then I get to the computer and entirely forget about what I planned on doing.
In any case, went to class, had a test at about 4, then found out that I didn't have Human Rights today after I had already walked to Bobrinskij. Which was annoying, and I COULD HAVE just gone home but I decided to go to a lecture (by an American) on the U.S. elections and its impact on IR with Russia. Which was actually tremendously boring because, unfortunately, I didn't learn anything I didn't already know.
But... in the middle of this lecture, I realised something that actually took me off guard. I am an Obama voter. (Oh, yeah, by the way, I voted yesterday) Normally I find myself entirely detached from the American political goings on... I'm not really sure why. But, while thinking of the PROPOSITIONS!! on which I voted, I have a sense of pride. Since I voted AGAINST banning gay marriage in California, FOR several energy saving propositions, and FOR the rehabilitation of non-violent drug offenders (in stead of imprisonment). However, when thinking of the voting I did for the federal elections, I don't feel pride... I just feel kind of strange and uncomfortable. I don't know if this is due to for WHOM I voted, the fact that the American electoral system is absurd and fucked up and therefore my vote counts for very little to none, or a mix of the two.
Well, anyway, other than that, I really have no cultural observations for today. I have a lot of homework that needs to be done, but that's about it. Oh, and I'm planning to go to either Swan Lake or Romeo and Juliet at the end of the month (next week...? HOLY SHIT.) ... MAYBE I'LL GO TO BOTH. Actually, that's not an awful idea. They're on the 30th and the 31st, which are a Thursday and a Friday. I want to see Romeo and Juliet mostly because of the music, and I want to see Swan Lake because ... well, I'm in St. Petersburg, so I kind of need to see Swan Lake while I'm here. I sent a text to Yura asking if he'd like to go, but if he doesn't, then I think I'll just go alone. Or something. Maybe I'll find a boyfriend in the Marinskij theatre bathrooms.
Today was needlessly long. But it was mostly my own fault. I already want this week to be over, in either case.
So, I have this stupid habit of going to the Philological faculty at 10 in the morning every morning even when I don't have class until 1. Because I have some absurd idea in my mind that I must use the internet for hours every morning, but then I get to the computer and entirely forget about what I planned on doing.
In any case, went to class, had a test at about 4, then found out that I didn't have Human Rights today after I had already walked to Bobrinskij. Which was annoying, and I COULD HAVE just gone home but I decided to go to a lecture (by an American) on the U.S. elections and its impact on IR with Russia. Which was actually tremendously boring because, unfortunately, I didn't learn anything I didn't already know.
But... in the middle of this lecture, I realised something that actually took me off guard. I am an Obama voter. (Oh, yeah, by the way, I voted yesterday) Normally I find myself entirely detached from the American political goings on... I'm not really sure why. But, while thinking of the PROPOSITIONS!! on which I voted, I have a sense of pride. Since I voted AGAINST banning gay marriage in California, FOR several energy saving propositions, and FOR the rehabilitation of non-violent drug offenders (in stead of imprisonment). However, when thinking of the voting I did for the federal elections, I don't feel pride... I just feel kind of strange and uncomfortable. I don't know if this is due to for WHOM I voted, the fact that the American electoral system is absurd and fucked up and therefore my vote counts for very little to none, or a mix of the two.
Well, anyway, other than that, I really have no cultural observations for today. I have a lot of homework that needs to be done, but that's about it. Oh, and I'm planning to go to either Swan Lake or Romeo and Juliet at the end of the month (next week...? HOLY SHIT.) ... MAYBE I'LL GO TO BOTH. Actually, that's not an awful idea. They're on the 30th and the 31st, which are a Thursday and a Friday. I want to see Romeo and Juliet mostly because of the music, and I want to see Swan Lake because ... well, I'm in St. Petersburg, so I kind of need to see Swan Lake while I'm here. I sent a text to Yura asking if he'd like to go, but if he doesn't, then I think I'll just go alone. Or something. Maybe I'll find a boyfriend in the Marinskij theatre bathrooms.
Monday, October 20, 2008
In Which Rain Drops Fall Upon My Head
Weekend of 18.10.2008
Basically I didn't get a damned thing done, yesterday, which is distressing because it was my day of work for the weekend. Well, and I'm supposed to do a bunch today, too, but instead I'm writing my journal and recuperating from last night.
When I left for the Sonne Hagal and Of the Wand & the Moon concert, it was pouring down. Weather was absolutely awful. Thankfully I didn't forget my umbrella, and somehow my hair kept its shape despite the extreme wetness. I found the club ("Club Revolution") fairly easily, but got lost once I got IN the club, because it was so damned huge. I went up to a room with a bunch of ... youngsters standing around listening to hip hop, and some strange blonde white Russian guy in ghetto clothes trying to dance in front of a gigantic mirror. I literally exclaimed aloud to myself, "Wrong room!" and flounced back down stairs, where I found the area in which the concert was to be held.
I just sat around until the concert started, after that. Of the Wand & the Moon was first... It was just two people -- a singer with an acoustic guitar, then a guy doing sound effects + tribal drumming and other various things. Now, I have never seen either of these bands because they don't have photos of themselves anywhere. From what I've seen. Of course, I didn't look too hard. But in any case, the singer looked as I would have expected... tall, mildly heavyset and bald with a long scraggly red beard. They were pretty damn good. I was pleased. I've never been that big on them in particular, but this changed my opinion.
Sonne Hagal was next, and .. well, the singer from Of the Wand & the Moon was doing the background synths and special effects, here, while the guy doing the special effects for Of the Wand & the Moon was the SINGER/acoustic guitarist for Sonne Hagal... Plus they had a keyboardist and a bassist. The singer... looked MUCH different than I thought he would... as he was small and unassuming. I don't know. It was strange.
Anyway, they were FANTASTIC. I was THOROUGHLY pleased. The crowd loved them, too, and we got them to come out and play a few more songs. The last song they played is one of my favorites, too! And the Runes Are Still Alive.
A note about the crowd. It was ...kind of strange; I was expecting a very eclectic looking crowd, but I guess that's what I get for expecting anything. Everyone was pretty average looking. As the band was finishing up, this middle aged Russian woman was going around trying to collect their autographs on her disc before they left the stage. I mean, there were SOME of what you would expect -- guys with long hair wearing all black. But they were the definite minority. Oh, and there was some crazy ass guy right up next to the stage who 'danced' to both bands' entire sets. And when I say he 'danced,' I mean, he waved his arms around in shamanistic ecstasy. After Sonne Hagal left the stage, he crawled up on stage and started kissing the frontman's guitar. That was interesting.
After that, I left to meet Maneka + others at Tri El', aaand... that was a nightmare. I didn't know how to get there, so when I got off the metro station I asked someone how to get to that particular street -- Unfortunately, I scared the hell out of her when I asked, when I came up to her... I think she was quite bitter, because the directions she gave me sent me the EXACT OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF WHERE I WANTED TO GO. AND I ENDED UP WALKING IN THE POURING FUCKING RAIN IN UNLIT AREAS OF ST. PETERSBURG FOR THE WORST PART OF 40 MINUTES. Eventually I stopped by in a 24 hour produkty to look at my atlas, and found my way to the club. With very wet feet. And somewhere along the way I lost a bobby pin. The tragedy.
I'm not going to even bother explaining the rest of the nights' events. They're not that exciting.
Ballet was tonight – My first time in the Marinskij Theatre. It was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. The theatre, that is. Well, the ballet was, too. But to be honest I enjoyed the music more than I enjoyed the dancing – Prokofiev's Zolushka. The dance was contemporary, though. Most all the main dancers were great, but I didn't like most of the guys in the performance. To show the passage of time, they had four guys playing the four seasons, and their costumes were ABSOLUTELY HIDEOUS. It really detracted a lot for me. But in any case, my favorite favorite dances were the huge group dances for the ballroom scenes, in which there were pairs of males and pairs of females dancing with eachother in the back and periphery – scandalous!! Oh, and when I went into the bathroom I recalled how many articles and book I've read that mentioned the Marinskij theatre bathrooms as a common meeting place for homosexuals in Russia. So, I was wary of them thar pederasts.
Sunday:
It wasn't too windy or cold, today, so I went to the Udel'naya market as planned. And I am glad that I did – It was a nice break to myself (not that the past couple of days haven't been breaks), and I bought things. Unfortunately, I bought expensive things, so I have very little money right now.
Basically, I went in with the intention of buying:
-Gifts for people
-A jacket and a hat for myself
-A passport holder, and a student card holder
I ended up buying one gift, a hat, and the document holders. I saw a jacket I liked, but it was way too large. I was going to ask the guy if he had a smaller one but he was busy with other people and I just arrived, so I decided to shop around a bit. Unfortunately, when I was walking through the huge back yard flea market area, it started to rain, so everyone was packing up their stuff to leave, except for a few stubborn people left behind. I was seeing a lot of Orthodox stuff, so I was like “OH! I'll buy a gift for Ben!” Every time I asked for a price on something, it was absurdly expensive. I almost bought this one thing that was 20 dollars, but it was a huge gaudy metal Orthodox cross plate thing... and I realised Ben probably wouldn't even want that. So there that went.
I also saw a REALLY awesome ring, that had a latch where you could adjust its size and whatnot. I was going to buy that for Aislyn, but it was fucking 2500 rubles (100 dollars). No. Fucking. Way. On that note, I was having an absurdly difficult time trying to find a ring for her, despite the massive amount of ring vendors at the market. Ah well.
On my way out, I had bought a gift, and the holders, so I figured I'd buy a hat, and stop by the jacket vendor if I had money after that. Well, I saw a nice looking woman selling ushanki, and she was pleasant... (Ushanki, for those who don't know, are those classic fur hats with the ear flaps). Well, it was ... very expensive. I know they're expensive, but I thought since I was at a market it would be less expensive. Maybe she ripped me off. Maybe not. Either way, I'm glad that I bought it, though it is a TAD small. Also, it's not black... I thought it was black when I bought it. I might end up buying a second one and giving this one to my mom.
I'm still determined to buy a jacket, and I still need to buy more gifts, so I'm going to go back next week, depending on the weather. I saw something I wanted to get for Brendan, but the vendor had put plastic over it to protect it from the rain when I came back through a second time, and I didn't want to bother with that, so I'll probably see it next week. Who knows. I also saw a pair of underwear coloured as the Russian flag with РОССИЯ printed across the waistband, and I wanted to be ultra tacky and get those, but they too were covered by plastic on my way back.
All in all, it was a good trip. Basically, I really just wanted to go and shop at least ONCE before it got too cold – and now, even if I never get to go again I won't really regret it. But, again, I'll probably be able to go next week, and I think I'll be more prepared this time.
That was my Sunday. Well, really, my weekend. Now to spend the rest of my day and night doing homework.
Basically I didn't get a damned thing done, yesterday, which is distressing because it was my day of work for the weekend. Well, and I'm supposed to do a bunch today, too, but instead I'm writing my journal and recuperating from last night.
When I left for the Sonne Hagal and Of the Wand & the Moon concert, it was pouring down. Weather was absolutely awful. Thankfully I didn't forget my umbrella, and somehow my hair kept its shape despite the extreme wetness. I found the club ("Club Revolution") fairly easily, but got lost once I got IN the club, because it was so damned huge. I went up to a room with a bunch of ... youngsters standing around listening to hip hop, and some strange blonde white Russian guy in ghetto clothes trying to dance in front of a gigantic mirror. I literally exclaimed aloud to myself, "Wrong room!" and flounced back down stairs, where I found the area in which the concert was to be held.
I just sat around until the concert started, after that. Of the Wand & the Moon was first... It was just two people -- a singer with an acoustic guitar, then a guy doing sound effects + tribal drumming and other various things. Now, I have never seen either of these bands because they don't have photos of themselves anywhere. From what I've seen. Of course, I didn't look too hard. But in any case, the singer looked as I would have expected... tall, mildly heavyset and bald with a long scraggly red beard. They were pretty damn good. I was pleased. I've never been that big on them in particular, but this changed my opinion.
Sonne Hagal was next, and .. well, the singer from Of the Wand & the Moon was doing the background synths and special effects, here, while the guy doing the special effects for Of the Wand & the Moon was the SINGER/acoustic guitarist for Sonne Hagal... Plus they had a keyboardist and a bassist. The singer... looked MUCH different than I thought he would... as he was small and unassuming. I don't know. It was strange.
Anyway, they were FANTASTIC. I was THOROUGHLY pleased. The crowd loved them, too, and we got them to come out and play a few more songs. The last song they played is one of my favorites, too! And the Runes Are Still Alive.
A note about the crowd. It was ...kind of strange; I was expecting a very eclectic looking crowd, but I guess that's what I get for expecting anything. Everyone was pretty average looking. As the band was finishing up, this middle aged Russian woman was going around trying to collect their autographs on her disc before they left the stage. I mean, there were SOME of what you would expect -- guys with long hair wearing all black. But they were the definite minority. Oh, and there was some crazy ass guy right up next to the stage who 'danced' to both bands' entire sets. And when I say he 'danced,' I mean, he waved his arms around in shamanistic ecstasy. After Sonne Hagal left the stage, he crawled up on stage and started kissing the frontman's guitar. That was interesting.
After that, I left to meet Maneka + others at Tri El', aaand... that was a nightmare. I didn't know how to get there, so when I got off the metro station I asked someone how to get to that particular street -- Unfortunately, I scared the hell out of her when I asked, when I came up to her... I think she was quite bitter, because the directions she gave me sent me the EXACT OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF WHERE I WANTED TO GO. AND I ENDED UP WALKING IN THE POURING FUCKING RAIN IN UNLIT AREAS OF ST. PETERSBURG FOR THE WORST PART OF 40 MINUTES. Eventually I stopped by in a 24 hour produkty to look at my atlas, and found my way to the club. With very wet feet. And somewhere along the way I lost a bobby pin. The tragedy.
I'm not going to even bother explaining the rest of the nights' events. They're not that exciting.
Ballet was tonight – My first time in the Marinskij Theatre. It was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. The theatre, that is. Well, the ballet was, too. But to be honest I enjoyed the music more than I enjoyed the dancing – Prokofiev's Zolushka. The dance was contemporary, though. Most all the main dancers were great, but I didn't like most of the guys in the performance. To show the passage of time, they had four guys playing the four seasons, and their costumes were ABSOLUTELY HIDEOUS. It really detracted a lot for me. But in any case, my favorite favorite dances were the huge group dances for the ballroom scenes, in which there were pairs of males and pairs of females dancing with eachother in the back and periphery – scandalous!! Oh, and when I went into the bathroom I recalled how many articles and book I've read that mentioned the Marinskij theatre bathrooms as a common meeting place for homosexuals in Russia. So, I was wary of them thar pederasts.
Sunday:
It wasn't too windy or cold, today, so I went to the Udel'naya market as planned. And I am glad that I did – It was a nice break to myself (not that the past couple of days haven't been breaks), and I bought things. Unfortunately, I bought expensive things, so I have very little money right now.
Basically, I went in with the intention of buying:
-Gifts for people
-A jacket and a hat for myself
-A passport holder, and a student card holder
I ended up buying one gift, a hat, and the document holders. I saw a jacket I liked, but it was way too large. I was going to ask the guy if he had a smaller one but he was busy with other people and I just arrived, so I decided to shop around a bit. Unfortunately, when I was walking through the huge back yard flea market area, it started to rain, so everyone was packing up their stuff to leave, except for a few stubborn people left behind. I was seeing a lot of Orthodox stuff, so I was like “OH! I'll buy a gift for Ben!” Every time I asked for a price on something, it was absurdly expensive. I almost bought this one thing that was 20 dollars, but it was a huge gaudy metal Orthodox cross plate thing... and I realised Ben probably wouldn't even want that. So there that went.
I also saw a REALLY awesome ring, that had a latch where you could adjust its size and whatnot. I was going to buy that for Aislyn, but it was fucking 2500 rubles (100 dollars). No. Fucking. Way. On that note, I was having an absurdly difficult time trying to find a ring for her, despite the massive amount of ring vendors at the market. Ah well.
On my way out, I had bought a gift, and the holders, so I figured I'd buy a hat, and stop by the jacket vendor if I had money after that. Well, I saw a nice looking woman selling ushanki, and she was pleasant... (Ushanki, for those who don't know, are those classic fur hats with the ear flaps). Well, it was ... very expensive. I know they're expensive, but I thought since I was at a market it would be less expensive. Maybe she ripped me off. Maybe not. Either way, I'm glad that I bought it, though it is a TAD small. Also, it's not black... I thought it was black when I bought it. I might end up buying a second one and giving this one to my mom.
I'm still determined to buy a jacket, and I still need to buy more gifts, so I'm going to go back next week, depending on the weather. I saw something I wanted to get for Brendan, but the vendor had put plastic over it to protect it from the rain when I came back through a second time, and I didn't want to bother with that, so I'll probably see it next week. Who knows. I also saw a pair of underwear coloured as the Russian flag with РОССИЯ printed across the waistband, and I wanted to be ultra tacky and get those, but they too were covered by plastic on my way back.
All in all, it was a good trip. Basically, I really just wanted to go and shop at least ONCE before it got too cold – and now, even if I never get to go again I won't really regret it. But, again, I'll probably be able to go next week, and I think I'll be more prepared this time.
That was my Sunday. Well, really, my weekend. Now to spend the rest of my day and night doing homework.
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