Observations

I've noticed a few random things in Russia. Just little quirks that you don't think about until you really think about them (does that make sense). And they're definitely different from what I've experienced at least in my neck of the woods!

1. Stray dogs travel in packs of three or alone. Seriously, I have yet to see either a pair of stray dogs or a pack of four!

2. Dauchsaunds and schnauzers are the most common dog that I see (that is owned). I see one or the other almost everyday.

3. People here are very talented, walking wise. They walk very very fast and on thick, slippery ice. It takes talent.

4. It's impossible to read cashiers. Sometimes they want exact change and ask you for it. Other times when you try to give them exact change they look really annoyed. So don't even bother.

5. A lot of people don't use strollers here. If they do then the strollers are extreme and have these giant snow wheels! But most people use little sled type things. We all freaked out from the cuteness of it all the first time we saw one.

6. SUVs? Forget about it! Everyone has small, normal sized cars. And everyone drives their cars in the snow! It's crazy awesome! Oh and guess what. I haven't been in a real car in about a month. Seriously.

7. Everyone rides the bus. Or walks. A lot of bus riding and walking happens in this city.

8. No one talks on the metro or the bus. It is dead silent most of the time. Which is creepy and serene all at once.

9. People are super paranoid about getting sick. I was saw a woman on the bus move away from another woman because she started coughing. And when people are sick they'll stay in for a week. Not like America!

10. Dairy products are different. You don't notice at first but after time you will see. (I feel like that's a Disney song. Someone help me out!) The sour cream is way better here. Not quite as sour. And the ice cream is super tasty. Kind of like frozen yogurt but not. I don't know, it's just different.

11. Did I mention I haven't been in a real car in a month? I did? Oh yeah. So weird to me!!

Not about Russia...so you might as well skip it.

Okay, I'm sorry but I just don't have it in me to blog about Russia right now. I was totally intending to do a Russia post right this very second but I shan't. Instead I am going to blog about poetry. Most of this comes from the fact that I spent approximately one hour in the Hermitage (oh hey, there's a mentioning of Russia!) just chilling and writing poetry. Yeah, closet poet nerd. That's me. Too bad there isn't a closet poet nerd voice you can make to mock me. So let's rewind for a second.

This week I have been consistently in a crabby mood everyday. Not every hour of everyday but definitely everyday this week I've had a few minutes or hours of being a toddler and just getting all angry. And no, it's not because I'm "a girl," it's because I'm a human being! So it just so happened that yesterday it happened once again. As we were walking around the city I became instantly ticked about something. And what better thing to do while angrily trudging through slush and snow in downtown St. Petersburg than to write poetry in your head? Let me tell you, I definitely loved it. It was so refreshing! I'm not going to post what I have so far because it's not done and that would just be inappropriate. Instead I'll give you a little taste of what has inspired me in my closet poet pursuits.

1. ee cummings. Definitely one of my favorite poets. Because I want to make it look like I'm writing less than I actually am I'll just give you a link to the poem that was inspiring me at the moment right about...here! Oh it excites me so much! The explicit absence of punctuation, the combination of words into a slurred phrase, the simplicity in his statements packing a huge punch! Humor me, for a minute. Pretend that you like it.

2. James Joyce. Unexpected? Most definitely. I would usually say no thank you to this dear man. But a class once forced me into his little mind (and by little I actually mean ridiculously huge). We read this work by him and since I know you're not going to read any of that I'll give you a condensed idea here. Aren't links so mysterious? Okay, you're probably not going to read either of those, are you? Why must you make me waste my time? It's all good, I forgive you. Long story short, People go to a party, people mingle at party, people people-watch at party, people leave party, people see snow outside party, Joyce makes this point about how snow is an equalizer around the land because everything is covered and fresh and new and death is the same way. There you go. And there is a lot of snow here. And I was trudging through it angrily so I though of Joyce. My train of thought and you are now a passenger!

3. As usual, this man's songs inspire me a ridiculous amount. (Mini shout out to Tasha) I'm not entirely sure what the details are on the background of this song but what the main idea is, based off of simply reading the lyrics, there is someone (assuming his father because he writes about him pretty often) who comes around only for Christmas and the kids are so excited when he comes. So they wait for him "covered in snow" and hope that he comes each year. Who knows, maybe it's about Santa?! Just had that thought. I kind of doubt it though. Anyway, when I get snow on me, and this sound pretty dumb so be warned, I immediately start singing in my head the line "covered in snow" over and over again!

Now you've had a little glimpse into my mind! If you're lucky and I get bored enough maybe I will post the poems I wrote while I was trying to get rid of my writer's block. Yep, I'm definitely bored enough. New post, here I come!

Russian Entertainment

So here in Russia they do have their own form of Russian music. However, what I have heard I am not a big fan of. Let's just say it includes a lot of accordion and I just can't handle that. But when you're cruising the grocery store it is about 100% likely that you will hear at least one American or English speaking song that you know. Oddly enough I had never heard this song playing at a single store in America but now I come here and I've heard it twice...

There's also this variety show that is on every Friday night. It kind of looks like a mix between SNL and America's got Talent. I can't entirely figure it out but it is pretty fun to watch. And then there's the soap operas. Grandma is pretty consistently watching this one that looks like it takes place around WWII. The main idea is that there is this one main character girl and it looks like these two soldier guys are in love with her and fighting for her affection. It honestly looks like One Tree Hill meets Days of Our Lives meets Russia. We do enjoy watching that as well though. But my favorite so far has been Spongebob Squarepants...in Russian! During the day they have various cartoons on TV that just have Russian voice overs. It's fun because I can totally get what's going on if I've seen the episode before. It makes me feel just a little more at home here!

How to be Russian

This is an easy "how to" guide for how to be Russian when you're really American. Follow these instructions and you are guaranteed success!*

*Note: Success may not be guaranteed if you open your American mouth and speak English

How to be Russian in 8 easy steps!

Step 1: Wear stylish coats. This coat should include but may not be limited to: a fur hood, a real fur hood, full length fur, lining with fur, not make you look like you're homeless.

Step 2: Wear stylish boots. These boots should be forming to your leg. Also, It is recommended that you wear form fitting pants and tuck said pants into your boots. Stilettos not required but still recommended.

Step 3: Either sound really angry when you speak or speak so quietly that it's nearly impossible to hear. However you do not actually have to be angry when you speak, just have the appearance of anger.

Step 4: Speak Russian. Simple phrases go a long way. Necessary words include thank you, yes, no, and I don't know. However use caution when saying, "I don't know" as random people on the bus might mock you for saying it responding with sarcastically and angrily saying, "You don't know!"

Step 5: Look mad all the time. Anywhere you go don't forget to wear your sour face! Why should you look stoked to see someone who you won't ever see again?

Step 6: Smoke like there's no tomorrow. Literally everyone else is doing it. So why not? And when there's a make shift ash tray right outside of your apartment made out of an old canned peaches can it becomes even easier!

Step 7: Be obsessed with things being on the ground. Was your backpack just on the ground? Don't even think about putting it on the table. Ten seconds rule? Nope. Zero second rule. Actually, it's more like a negative ten seconds rule.

Step 8: Cuddle on the escalator. On the way down to the metro why waist that two minutes of your life? Spend it doing some intense PDA!

There you have it! Follow these and you won't have any problems at all. In fact, you'll blend right in! I guarantee it!

...there are no guarantees in Russia.

And the days go on

I'm having a great time in Russia. I really am. The city has so much to offer, the students are smart and eager to learn (for the most part) and my fellow teachers have been amazing to work with. But I seem to have a smidge of a problem. I feel like everything is going so fast that I don't have any real feelings about anything. Yeah, I see the irony in this statement. Move past that for a minute. Example. We went to the Hermitage on Saturday. It's one of the biggest and grandest buildings/museums in the world. And I just couldn't appreciate it. I love art, I love emotion, I love things that make me think. But I felt none of that while I was there. Example 2. I have a couple of students (see previous post) that are not good students. I don't mean they're dumb, they just like to make the teacher's lives miserable. But I don't care. I say whatever, make my life miserable punk. And this is a frustrating school of thought.

So if anyone has a cure for apathy, I would really love to hear it!

How the teaching is going...

I’ve been having people ask me how the teaching is going here in Russia. Here’s the funny thing, and the other teachers agree with me on this…we kind of forgot for a while that we were coming here to teach. Seriously, we got all excited about being in Russia that we spaced the whole point. So once we started teaching it was like getting hit by a bus; it was a lot to handle at once! Imagine jet lag from a ten hour time difference, culture shock, living with a new family, and teaching a bunch of little kids how to speak English. I’ll elaborate now. For one hour everyday for the past two weeks I have spent time with 6-8 energetic Russian children ranging from 3-5 years old. There are some very cute ones who raise their hand, repeat what they’re told to, and act very sweet. Then there’s Vanya. The devil. He ignores what we say, distracts the other kids, picks fights, and talks back. He’s super smart so he gets a little bored with the other kids. Oh dear, he is my challenge!

After I finish with those little “sweethearts,” two days a week I spend two and a half hours teaching six kids that are 7-9 years old. They are also trying, but in a different way. They get bored very easily because sometimes I will say things that they just don’t understand. So I’m trying to find ways to teach them and challenge them but still keep them engaged. Last time I had two of the boys misbehave…a lot!! By the end of class they were so annoyed with me that they literally ignored everything I said. But it was okay because I was really annoyed with them as well. I asked one of them to pop a balloon and he just turned around and walked away. That was not a fun day.

I do have a favorite student though. His name is Gregory. On the first day, during their break, he came up to me with an equation written on a paper, 10^6 X 3. Then he asked me what the answer was. I had to think for a minute (or two) and then I said very hesitantly, “Three million?” To which he replied, “Correct!” He then continued to tell me that the sixth meant that was the degree. Holy heck! Smart kid! He totally goes off into his own world sometimes, but he is just a doll when he’s listening! One time we were playing hangman and I asked him to choose a word. His word? Squirrel. Have you ever heard a Russian kid say the word squirrel? It’s pretty funny and cute. So yeah, this kid is awesome. And those are my teaching adventures so far. I’ll update when there is more to say!

Tales of a Russian Grandmother

For the first little while I felt like my new grandma could always find something new to chastise me and my “roommate” Sarah for. At first it was little, typical things that you would expect. Then it was just more and more! In our training they warned us that the little Russian Babushki would come after us if they saw us not wearing a hat or sitting on the ground or something. I didn’t realize that was true! So I decided to make a bit of a “list” of some of the things I have been chastised for doing or not doing.

Not finishing a meal

To stop eating during a meal

Drinking water instead of juice

Not wearing a hat

Not wearing a scarf

Not buttoning your coat all the way up

Not eating fruit

Having lint on your skirt

Having dirty boots on Sunday

Coming home late

Leaving home with wet hair

Having a wrinkled shirt

She’s such a sweet lady and she’s really just concerned about us. As my mom put it, I’m getting a soft spot in my heart for her. Yesterday night she went to Moscow and didn’t get back until tonight. I actually really missed her! She’s just so happy. This is how our routine goes. We wake up in the morning and she says, “Good morning” and we say it back. Then she says something along the lines of “Kushit, kasha!” Which means “eat, cereal.” And cereal could be anything from oatmeal to dry cereal to cream of wheat. And it’s usually a giant bowl. And it usually includes a “sausage” aka a hot dog on the side. After we eat or when we’re finishing up she says “Girls, I go to work. Bye bye.” Then she leaves. When we get home we say hello and hear her say “Hullo! How are you?” To which we either say not bad or average. Then we go to our room. Sometimes she brings us fruit to eat before dinner. Then just before dinner she comes in and says, “Girls. Wash hands, come eat.” Then we eat and chat. Then she says, “Rest.” And we go to our room and get ready for bed. She’s really a lovely woman! My favorite is when I say something in Russia and she gets this big smile on her face and says “Molodyets Nicole!” Which means good job. This woman is fantastic!