How to hold your ground when you meet a Grand Fubar
Something I had failed to mention in my earlier posts was that, whenever we had somewhere important to go, we'd meet up with Marina, she would never tell us what it was, what to bring or anything that could possibly make our lives a little bit easier. I would get a text message from her saying "Meet us in the front of your security sector at 10am." Nothing else, like bring a jacket, because we are going to be going out into the freezing cold, or bring your passport and Справка ( a spravka is basically a piece of paper saying that we live here, it's an addition to our student ID) because you'll be needing it to do more paperwork. Such is Russian culture. Monday and tuesday had gone by without any problems, but now, well, the drama begins.
Wednesday February 16th
Today had to be the longest day of my life in Moscow thus far. I started out the morning with waking up at 7:30am. Everyone has a mandatory class called Russian Studies Seminar. It's never on the same day or the same time, I was really surprised that we received an actual schedule of it the day before. Tara and I walked to class at 8:20am to make sure that we'd get there on time for the 9am class. It was beyond freezing. As we were walking, we stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for it to turn green, I look at Tara whom is African American, and her hair that was sticking out of her hood was completely white. In other words, yes, her hair turned into delicate icicles. I also suffered a similar fate, but because my hair is blond it wasn't nearly as obvious, however, a ring of ice appeared on the collar of my jacket. Lovely.
We finally made it to the building, looked at the time, and started sprinting up to the third floor. We arrived at exactly 9am. We saw the rest of our group waiting outside of the classroom. I looked at Chris, and asked him, "What's going on, why isn't class starting?" He responds, "We got kicked out because our English was too good." Evidently, a different professor who teaches English to Russian students took over our classroom. Will chimed in and said that if he had known it was an English class he would have loved to just sit in and looked like he belonged, but then really impress the teacher with his English. He imitated the professor speaking English robotically, "Go-od Morn-ing class, how arre youuu?" Spencer: "Fine thanks, yourself?"
After goofing around, and no sign of our professor, we decided to try the 5th floor, because that is where next week's lesson was supposed to be. Well, that door was locked, but we found a room full of giant bean bag chairs, which we quickly claimed. I attempted calling Marina, however, after several failed attempts from other members of our group, it was clear that her phone was broken or out of service. While the rest of us were comfortably reclining, Spencer did the responsible thing, and went to talk to the dean. He had no idea, and told us to go back to the dorms unless we had another class.
Groups 1 and 2 left me all by lonesome. I had an hour to kill, and was not in a good mood. I felt even more that the efficiency of the program really wasn't the best. I bought a sandwich for later and a cup of black tea to help wake me up. It was ten minutes before my class started so I went into the empty classroom, and took out my notes. People little by little started to file in. A few moments later, a women came into the classroom, and asked for me. She took me out in the hallway and said, "Group 3 is a very large group. It has 14 kids, and possibly will be 16. This is too much for the professors to handle, and doesn't allow them to work with students on a more personal basis. Stephanie, we know that you are just a little bit below the level of everyone else. (At this point, I must have been glaring at her) I come in peace! I mean you no harm, Stephanie, but I advise you to try Group 2, they only have 4 students. It's difficult for the professors to have such a large class, and someone who is just a little bit below everyone." Instead of arguing with her, I cleared away the color of red I saw behind my eyes, and unclenched my fists, smiled, and politely said, "Ok."
I still went to my class, because Group 2, wasn't going to start until 2:30, and it was only 10:50am. Of course, after being told that I was not good enough, I had difficulty paying attention, but luckily, this was the professor I liked, it was Практический which means Practice. Once that class was over, I pulled out my sandwich and started stuffing my face with angry thoughts passing through my head. The reason why this upset me so much was, because I came to Russia to make progress. Throughout studying Russian, there were so many times, where I had felt I wasn't learning anything. Senior year in high school for example, which btw, was no fault of my teacher, it was because of the school board. They combined juniors and seniors. Everything I learned was a review, which was the only reason why I came out of that class with a 105 GPA. Once I started college, I was put at junior level standing in Russian language, because of how much I learned in high school and my knowledge of the grammar system. For a year and a half, I really never got to practice the language, and I know that is what that woman in the hallway saw in me as a problem. The not being able to comprehend everything and answer immediately.
My next class, Письменная Речь (Writing and Speech), Marina I found to my surprise was the professor. She asked me how was the Russian Studies Seminar Class. I explained what we went through this morning and she apologized a million times for the mix up. She called up the professor, and the woman said she completely forgot and thought it was next week. Because class wasn't starting for another 10 minutes or so, I brought up what the woman in the hallway said to me. Marina said that she did not agree with her. She explained the situation with all the students, and said it's difficult to give personal attention to students when there are so many, which I understood perfectly. She went on to say, that she feels Group 2 would be too easy for me, but she said to go ahead and just try a class, and if you hate it, come back to Group 3.
That is exactly what I did. After class with Marina, we had another 20 minute break, and I then met up with Group 2 and explained the situation to them. I wanted to shoot myself, and bang my head into a wall multiple times. Six years of a language, and I'm getting demoted to learning family relations, and words for marriage. Wow, so exciting, it's not like I didn't learn that back in 9th grade or anything. I kept a cool head, and participated in class. The only benefit of that class was the fact that the professor spoke entirely in Russian. So, I was able to work on my comprehension and speaking, but I honestly wasn't learning anything.
After that class I had my English elective of Russian literature. It was really good, and the professor seems to be very knowledgeable. He hooked us up with a list of short stories we'd be reading for the next 8 weeks, starting with Pushkin's "Queen of Spades." That was something I could look forward to at least. It was past 6pm, I was tired, upset, and hungry. Time to go home.
I ranted to my mother and my boyfriend, and they both said, "Only you can know what's really best for you. If the professors are not complaining and saying that you are a liability, you do what you think you have to. You have never backed down from a challenge before, so why start now when you goal is to learn?"
Wednesday February 16th
Today had to be the longest day of my life in Moscow thus far. I started out the morning with waking up at 7:30am. Everyone has a mandatory class called Russian Studies Seminar. It's never on the same day or the same time, I was really surprised that we received an actual schedule of it the day before. Tara and I walked to class at 8:20am to make sure that we'd get there on time for the 9am class. It was beyond freezing. As we were walking, we stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for it to turn green, I look at Tara whom is African American, and her hair that was sticking out of her hood was completely white. In other words, yes, her hair turned into delicate icicles. I also suffered a similar fate, but because my hair is blond it wasn't nearly as obvious, however, a ring of ice appeared on the collar of my jacket. Lovely.
We finally made it to the building, looked at the time, and started sprinting up to the third floor. We arrived at exactly 9am. We saw the rest of our group waiting outside of the classroom. I looked at Chris, and asked him, "What's going on, why isn't class starting?" He responds, "We got kicked out because our English was too good." Evidently, a different professor who teaches English to Russian students took over our classroom. Will chimed in and said that if he had known it was an English class he would have loved to just sit in and looked like he belonged, but then really impress the teacher with his English. He imitated the professor speaking English robotically, "Go-od Morn-ing class, how arre youuu?" Spencer: "Fine thanks, yourself?"
After goofing around, and no sign of our professor, we decided to try the 5th floor, because that is where next week's lesson was supposed to be. Well, that door was locked, but we found a room full of giant bean bag chairs, which we quickly claimed. I attempted calling Marina, however, after several failed attempts from other members of our group, it was clear that her phone was broken or out of service. While the rest of us were comfortably reclining, Spencer did the responsible thing, and went to talk to the dean. He had no idea, and told us to go back to the dorms unless we had another class.
Groups 1 and 2 left me all by lonesome. I had an hour to kill, and was not in a good mood. I felt even more that the efficiency of the program really wasn't the best. I bought a sandwich for later and a cup of black tea to help wake me up. It was ten minutes before my class started so I went into the empty classroom, and took out my notes. People little by little started to file in. A few moments later, a women came into the classroom, and asked for me. She took me out in the hallway and said, "Group 3 is a very large group. It has 14 kids, and possibly will be 16. This is too much for the professors to handle, and doesn't allow them to work with students on a more personal basis. Stephanie, we know that you are just a little bit below the level of everyone else. (At this point, I must have been glaring at her) I come in peace! I mean you no harm, Stephanie, but I advise you to try Group 2, they only have 4 students. It's difficult for the professors to have such a large class, and someone who is just a little bit below everyone." Instead of arguing with her, I cleared away the color of red I saw behind my eyes, and unclenched my fists, smiled, and politely said, "Ok."
I still went to my class, because Group 2, wasn't going to start until 2:30, and it was only 10:50am. Of course, after being told that I was not good enough, I had difficulty paying attention, but luckily, this was the professor I liked, it was Практический which means Practice. Once that class was over, I pulled out my sandwich and started stuffing my face with angry thoughts passing through my head. The reason why this upset me so much was, because I came to Russia to make progress. Throughout studying Russian, there were so many times, where I had felt I wasn't learning anything. Senior year in high school for example, which btw, was no fault of my teacher, it was because of the school board. They combined juniors and seniors. Everything I learned was a review, which was the only reason why I came out of that class with a 105 GPA. Once I started college, I was put at junior level standing in Russian language, because of how much I learned in high school and my knowledge of the grammar system. For a year and a half, I really never got to practice the language, and I know that is what that woman in the hallway saw in me as a problem. The not being able to comprehend everything and answer immediately.
My next class, Письменная Речь (Writing and Speech), Marina I found to my surprise was the professor. She asked me how was the Russian Studies Seminar Class. I explained what we went through this morning and she apologized a million times for the mix up. She called up the professor, and the woman said she completely forgot and thought it was next week. Because class wasn't starting for another 10 minutes or so, I brought up what the woman in the hallway said to me. Marina said that she did not agree with her. She explained the situation with all the students, and said it's difficult to give personal attention to students when there are so many, which I understood perfectly. She went on to say, that she feels Group 2 would be too easy for me, but she said to go ahead and just try a class, and if you hate it, come back to Group 3.
That is exactly what I did. After class with Marina, we had another 20 minute break, and I then met up with Group 2 and explained the situation to them. I wanted to shoot myself, and bang my head into a wall multiple times. Six years of a language, and I'm getting demoted to learning family relations, and words for marriage. Wow, so exciting, it's not like I didn't learn that back in 9th grade or anything. I kept a cool head, and participated in class. The only benefit of that class was the fact that the professor spoke entirely in Russian. So, I was able to work on my comprehension and speaking, but I honestly wasn't learning anything.
After that class I had my English elective of Russian literature. It was really good, and the professor seems to be very knowledgeable. He hooked us up with a list of short stories we'd be reading for the next 8 weeks, starting with Pushkin's "Queen of Spades." That was something I could look forward to at least. It was past 6pm, I was tired, upset, and hungry. Time to go home.
I ranted to my mother and my boyfriend, and they both said, "Only you can know what's really best for you. If the professors are not complaining and saying that you are a liability, you do what you think you have to. You have never backed down from a challenge before, so why start now when you goal is to learn?"
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