All that aside, sometimes it seems like I've barely had any time to think, the second semester has been such a whirlwind of busyness - we have had excursions almost every weekend, so between that, my homework and my internship, I've had trouble keeping up. This will probably be a long post, so I'll get to it!
Veliky Novgorod - Великий Новгород
During the first weekend of the semester, the program arranged a trip to Veliky Novgorod, one of the most important cities in Russia's early history, a powerful city state in the 12th century with a democratic system of selecting princes to lead the city. As it turns out, it was significantly colder in Novgorod than in St. Petersburg. We spent nearly all Saturday traipsing around the city center, the Yurev Monastery and the Vitoslavlitsky open-air museum in 5 degree F weather. Since we were forewarned and well-prepared for the cold, it didn't actually bother me that much. In fact, it meant that we had the city center to ourselves in the morning, since everyone else was hiding inside from the cold. The frigid weather also caused the air over the river to fog up on an otherwise totally clear winter day, making for a magnificent view from the city center of the fortress looming through the fog. According to my parents, my pictures from Novgorod are very 'Dr. Zhivago-esque.'The fortress in Novgorod is impressive with St Sophia's bells and cupolas peeking out just above the walls. There are also a few art museums with in the fortress walls and an enormous bell-shaped statue, the Millennium of Russia Monument, depicting at least a hundred key figures in Imperial Russia's history, including statesmen, military heroes, scientists and authors.
Dmitri Likhachev revived the dream of medieval Novgorod as an emblem of civic justice in the twentieth century. In simple prose he explained the 'world significance' of this 'lecture-hall city'... He even sensed the human contact of the past in the constant wind that blows off Lake Ilmen, piercing as a sea wind; he called it the 'wind of Russian history', as though the wind carried the sharp thrill of memories of fourteenth-century Novgorod's links with the Black Sea and the Caspian to the south, and the White Sea and the Baltic to the north and west, trade links that extended from Scandinavia to Byzantium, further than those of Genoa or Venice...
Throughout that January day Novgorod seemed to stage a series of riddling tableaux about the cross-currents of preservation and loss that run though its own history, winding through human dramas, both public and hidden. As we walked down the straight boulevards towards the town centre in the flinty light and the grit and diesel smell of urban cold, the sun rose behind the five silver and gold domes of St Sophia.
In the nine centuries that have passed since St. Sophia was founded, no building was raised higher than this central palladium. St. Sophia, Likhachev said, was a meaningful reference point for the identity of the citizen of Novgorod; standing inside it, he would feel himself at the political centre of the powerful city-state. The citizens called it 'Lord Great Novgorod', emphasising that the town, rather than any person in it, was head of the state. (This was a piquant historical observation in a state which named its cities after Lenin, Stalin and Molotov.)
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| The city center in Veliky Novgorod - Yaroslav Court |
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| Overlooking the river from the city center |
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| Sledding near the fortress, or kremlin |
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| The morning sun low over the Volkhov River |
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| St. Sophia cathedral |
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| The Millenium of Russian history |
TheYurev Monastery and the Vitoslavlitsky museum were also picturesque, located on the banks of Ilem Lake. This sort of pristine beauty is what I've come to associate with the Russian countryside, probably because this is the way Russians describe their land. Granted, the cities may be loud and dirty, but the country is so vast, that you can always escape to some iced-over lake. Despite the beauty here, after having heard all about it at the museum, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want to live the life of a Russian peasant.
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| The Yurev monastery |
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| The Yurev monastery |
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| The Vitoslavlitsky museum |
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| The Vitoslavlitsky museum |
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| The Vitoslavlitsky museum |
Meanwhile, back in St. Petersburg
I've barely mentioned her here in the past, but my host mom is amazing. Her name is Nataliya and she is an ex-master gymnast who now is a trainer and physical fitness instructor at one of the universities in St. Petersburg. Not only is she energetic, generous and patient, with a great outlook on life, but she can do full splits quicker than you can say "Nichevo sebya!" ("No way!"). Her friends have been over a lot lately and spending time with them is a riot. Over champagne, they teach me dirty jokes and idioms, tell me St. Pete's urban myths, and, best of all, Russian folksongs. Most of these songs are very melancholy, about death or unrequited love (or both) and should be accompanied by accordion for full authenticity. Nataliya's friend Oxana has a beautiful voice and has tried to teach me many songs, but these are some of my favorites:
"Ой, Мороз, Мороз!" or "Oh, Frost, Frost!" is a song from the perspective of a man trying to get home to his wife during the winter, begging the frost not to freeze him or his horse, because his wife is awaiting him at home, jealous and worried.
"Виновата ли я" or "Am I Guilty?" is about regretting (or not regretting, depending on how you read into it) love. The text is:
| Виновата ли я, виновата ли я, Виновата ли я, что люблю? Виновата ли я, что мой голос дрожал, Когда пела я песню ему? Виновата одна, виновата во всем. Еще хочешь себя оправдать. Так зачем же, зачем в эту темную ночь Позволяла себя целовать? Целовал-миловал, целовал-миловал, Говорил, что я буду его. А я верила все и, как роза цвела, Потому что любила его. Ой ты, мама моя, ой ты, мама моя! Отпусти ты меня погулять. Ночью звёзды горят, ночью ласки дарят, Ночью все о любви говорят. | Am I guilty, am I guilty, Am I guilty, that I love? Am I guilty, that my voice trembled, When I sang my song to him? Guilty alone, guilty for all. Yet I still want to justify myself. So what for, why on that dark night Did I allow myself to kiss? He kissed, caressed, kissed, caressed, He said, that I would be his. And I believed everything, like a rose bloomed, Because I loved him. Oh, my mother, oh, my mother! Let me go out to walk. At night the stars glitter, at night caresses are given, At night all talk of love. |
This is a performance by a Japanese group, not a Russian group, but it was the best version I could find. Contemporary Russian folk groups have an unpleasant habit of backing their performances with pop or techno beats, that, in my opinion, completely destroys the feel of the songs, trying to make sad stories into upbeat dance tunes, which are totally at odds with each other. I felt that this version maintained the spirit of the song much better.
СКА vs. Трактор - The Piter Hockey Experience
A few weeks ago the program managed to get us hockey tickets to see the St. Pete team SKA play verses the Chelyabinsk (where the meteor fell) team Traktor. St. Pete won like 5-1 and in general it was just a blast, especially learning the cheers, chants and songs. In essence, it wasn't any different from seeing a hockey game in the states, even a lot of the songs were the same. But don't worry, fellow Buffalonians - I am not changing allegiances. Go Sabres!
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| The hockey teams have cheerleaders here |
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| The super-fans' section - they lead start cheers and play drums |
Swan Lake at the Mikhailovsky Theater: I prefer my Russians in tights
This goes waaayy back to last semester, but considering how much of a quintessential Russian experience it is, I figured that I had better mention it. On Thanksgiving some friends and I went and saw Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake at the Mikhailovsky Theater. This was the first time I have ever seen a ballet and I'm thrilled that had the chance to do so in Russia, what with ballet being something Russians are both proud of and famous for.
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| The poster for our showing, complete with 'sold out' caution tape |
Being students, we got the cheap seats in the theater in the front row of the highest level. This turned out to be a great spot, because you can see the dancers' formations as a group, which was fascinating for me. Although it might have been nice to see the soloists and intricate costumes up close, the geometric sequences made in the large group dances were mesmerizing to see from above.
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| The Mikhailovsky Theater from our nosebleed seats |
The literary countryside: Museums dedicated to Pushkin and Nabokov
A few weeks ago, we had an excursion out of the city to the family estate of Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita ring a bell?) and another museum devoted to one of Pushkin's stories. To be honest, I have only read a few of Nabokov's short stories, although his novels are on my to-read list - I have heard that Pnin is wonderful. The museum itself wasn't so fabulous, considering how very little we heard about Nabokov and how few of the artifacts in the museum actually remained from the Nabokovs' estate, since much of it was repurposed during Soviet times. Additionally, there had been a fire several years ago, from which the museum is slowly recovering.The highlight of the trip was traipsing through the snow across the estate to a cave and a spring, where the water supposedly possesses some sort of healing properties. I say 'supposedly', because I have heard this of about a vast number of springs in Russia, but I doubt that you can safely drink the water straight from these springs, given the pollution levels here. Nonetheless, many people take bottles to these springs and fill them up, especially if the spring is considered holy. Questionable fresh water sources aside, it was lovely to get out of St. Pete for a while and enjoy the fresh air and clean white snow in the countryside.
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| The Nabokov estate: Nabokov's grandfather's house |
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| The Orthodox church across from the estate, where Nabokov's relatives are buried |
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| Looking out back from the church cemetery toward the Nabokov estate |
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| Our freshwater springs |
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| The typical Russian town |
More Museums
I was also lucky enough to find time to go inside two of St. Petersburg's more stunning museums, the Erarta Modern Art museum and Spas Na Krovi (Savior on the Spilled blood).The Erarta museum is very close to my house, so I walk by it practically every day and I had wanted to go inside for a long time. It was definitely worth the pricey admission! I appreciated the amount of specifically Russian work in the Erarta museum, especially the pieces that explored the way Russian society and tradition relates to and is intertwined with the Soviet Union. As you might expect, many of these pieces were critical of Soviet powers, exploring oppression, poverty and waste in Russian society, but there were a number of positive and humorous pieces too. For example, there were a number of pieces using traditional Russian styles and patterns, but depicting Soviet life, construction workers building the subway. There were also pin-ups that played on clichés from Soviet propaganda that had me in stitches.
Spas Na Krovi was less interesting, since it isn't really a museum per say, but rather a restored cathedral, although I'm relatively certain that no religious services take place there. The detail on the mosaic icons covering every inch of the interior is incredible.
The strange things I have eaten lately
One of my favorite parts of traveling is trying new foods! Luckily, I've been doing that a lot lately! Check it out!A traditional Georgian dish that is sort of like sweet burrito filling, but I forgot what it's called. It's basically a bean paste with nuts, onions, and pomegranite seeds. As strange as it looks, it's pretty delicious. Georgian cuisine is very popular in Russia and I completely understand why.
Elk sausage in a salad that I tried at a friend's birthday party in a restaurant. The sausage was very good and a bit like venison, as you might expect. I also tried a friend's bear pirogies, but I was a bit disappointed, because the bear didn't taste much different from ground beef.
My host family's Old New Year's (New Year's according to the Russian Orthodox calendar) celebration included a whole stuffed roast piglet! And lots of traditional Russian salads (with the corresponding lake of mayonnaise).
Zlatoust: More cultural experience than work experience
Since one of the Flagship program goals is to completely prepare students linguistically and culturally for working in Russia professionally, the spring semester includes an internship at a Russian company. I am working at the Zlatoust Publishing House and Language School, which is one of the most respected publishers of Russian as a foreign language textbooks in the world. I'm working in the Language School department, mostly responsible for updating and formatting their website and, especially, editing and translating content for their English webpages. I am also leading English discussion hours to help my coworkers practice their English, both for their own interest and because they frequently work with foreigners whose Russian isn't quite good enough yet to discuss textbook orders, payment, etc. This may sound a bit strange, but the best part of my internship is a chance to talk to people who aren't Russian language teachers. We are so busy on the program that I barely have time to hang out with my few Russian friends. Interacting with people who aren't paid to talk to me is a lovely change of pace (not that I don't love my teachers - they are great and we have great conversations, but still).
Leading the English language table has been a bit of a challenge for me, but at the same time I'm learning a lot about both Russian culture and the challenges of teaching a foreign language (I already know plenty about the challenges of learning it). Initially, I felt like I was thrown into the position completely unprepared. I have tutored before, but almost only one-on-one and only for math, so I've never had to plan my own lessons like this. It was rocky at first, but things are going better now.
The first challenge is that all the employees I work with are a bit older than me, which makes me uncomfortable to push them to talk and ask questions. I learned quickly that if I don't do that, then the conversation doesn't get rolling and people don't bring up things they didn't understand.
The other big challenge is coming up with conversation topics. In my personal opinion, the most interesting type of foreign language lesson, especially if you're only meeting once a week, is to view and discuss some sort of culturally relevant material. Since I'm not very engaged in American pop culture to begin with, just coming up with something to watch can be hard for me. So far, the best strategy seems to be to present some questions before doing anything, to get things rolling and to provide motivation for watching whatever clip I've picked out. Our most successful sessions so far have been discussing the first episode of Downton Abbey and Oprah's interview with the Obamas. Maybe it's just our group's, but clips on politics have lead to a lot of good discussion. We even talked at length about the electoral college system (and how ridiculous it is). I really like these discussions, because they also teach me about the political systems and popular opinion in Russia and Belarus (one of my coworkers is from Minsk).
However, Seinfeld totally fell flat, because it can be hard to understand linguistically and the cultural context for the jokes is missing. At first, I thought comedy programs would be a good direction for the lessons, because it keeps things casual and fun. It turns out that comedy relies on too much cultural context to really be interesting to people who have never been immersed in the culture. In retrospect this makes sense.
Missing cultural context seems to be unavoidable though. For example, I had considered showing Oprah's exclusive interview with Lance Armstrong, thinking he was a controversial enough figure to provide a lot of fodder for discussion. WRONG. No one knew who he was. I was shocked, although I really shouldn't have been too surprised by this. After all, how many Americans know Russian icons like Yuri Gagarin?
Leading the English language table has been a bit of a challenge for me, but at the same time I'm learning a lot about both Russian culture and the challenges of teaching a foreign language (I already know plenty about the challenges of learning it). Initially, I felt like I was thrown into the position completely unprepared. I have tutored before, but almost only one-on-one and only for math, so I've never had to plan my own lessons like this. It was rocky at first, but things are going better now.
The first challenge is that all the employees I work with are a bit older than me, which makes me uncomfortable to push them to talk and ask questions. I learned quickly that if I don't do that, then the conversation doesn't get rolling and people don't bring up things they didn't understand.
The other big challenge is coming up with conversation topics. In my personal opinion, the most interesting type of foreign language lesson, especially if you're only meeting once a week, is to view and discuss some sort of culturally relevant material. Since I'm not very engaged in American pop culture to begin with, just coming up with something to watch can be hard for me. So far, the best strategy seems to be to present some questions before doing anything, to get things rolling and to provide motivation for watching whatever clip I've picked out. Our most successful sessions so far have been discussing the first episode of Downton Abbey and Oprah's interview with the Obamas. Maybe it's just our group's, but clips on politics have lead to a lot of good discussion. We even talked at length about the electoral college system (and how ridiculous it is). I really like these discussions, because they also teach me about the political systems and popular opinion in Russia and Belarus (one of my coworkers is from Minsk).
However, Seinfeld totally fell flat, because it can be hard to understand linguistically and the cultural context for the jokes is missing. At first, I thought comedy programs would be a good direction for the lessons, because it keeps things casual and fun. It turns out that comedy relies on too much cultural context to really be interesting to people who have never been immersed in the culture. In retrospect this makes sense.
Missing cultural context seems to be unavoidable though. For example, I had considered showing Oprah's exclusive interview with Lance Armstrong, thinking he was a controversial enough figure to provide a lot of fodder for discussion. WRONG. No one knew who he was. I was shocked, although I really shouldn't have been too surprised by this. After all, how many Americans know Russian icons like Yuri Gagarin?
Well, I'll sign off now! I'm hoping to a few more posts in before the end of the semester. We have a few more trips planned and several important Russian holidays just past, so I would love to write a bit about those soon!
