Finally Getting used to Things
It is Thursday March 3rd, and as the title suggests, I am starting to get used to having all my classes in Russian, and overall being able to understand most of what is being said. However, there is that occasional awkward moment where a professor will put me on the spot, and I'll completely misunderstand what they were asking me.
Wednesday was my long day of classes, I started at 10:50am and finished around 6pm. Even though it was super long, I really enjoyed my classes and the day in general. My first class started out with my favorite professor, the nice lady as some of us are starting to refer to her. After that class, the day got progressively easier, in the fact that I felt more comfortable answering questions, and just being myself. Typically, in a classroom I have difficulty being myself, perhaps is just how hard I've been disciplined over the years or just some sort of crazy mentality that I get into. I have always felt that teachers deserve the utmost respect, in other words, do not speak unless spoken to directly, and don't be messing with things while the person is speaking. Now however, if the teacher says some words I don't recognize, I whip out my dictionary and figure it out. I'm able to have a conversation with my professor during class like I would a friend. For example, sometimes the professor will go around asking us "What's new, what have you seen?" I find myself being able to say more than just a few words now. It's turning slowly into a more comfortable conversation. Yay, for progress!
After class with the nice lady, I had class with Marina, in which I really do enjoy her class too. We went over some questions on a homework assignment, then took some time to look at a different article on the possibilities of our futures, and how we would like our kids to be raised, and where. For the next hour and a half I met Мараковская. She was very nice and her class was fun too. We had a small debate, in Russia on a few topics. It was pretty cool, although I was having a hard time understanding quite a bit, mostly because of my lack of vocabulary, but it's starting to build the more time I'm here. I didn't have her last Wednesday because classes were canceled, and the week before that I was trying out Group 2. Can you believe it, this was the first time that a professor didn't ask me about being "moved" to group 2? I liked that lady from the start!
While I was busy doing homework, I checked my UAlbany email to find that housing sign up was today, March 3rd, and I had to be there in person to pick out my room number. I was so lucky to have such a wonderful boyfriend. He called Res-Life for me, and made sure that they would take care of it. I almost want to say, getting back to real life when talking about my home back in the States, but that would be incredibly wrong, because this is real life...Just a break from what I know and love. So, why do I want to say this isn't real life? Perhaps the best term to use would be, my other world. Time never stops, it keeps going, we are all under the same sun and stars, just at different points of the day. How strange it is to think of home like another life...Of how many people there are on planet Earth is purely mind blowing.
Today went by very slowly, unlike my ridiculously long day on Wednesday. I had Чтение и Понимание Текста. I understood almost everything she was talking about, but, as I sat there, I started to get this horrible sinking feeling that she was going to start picking on me, because I really wasn't talking much. We had gotten back our tests and she was going over them, I knew at some point in the near future she'd be done going over words and what would have made better synonyms to use, and I'd be in trouble. Just like I thought, she looks at me, and starts rambling away at me in Russian. She asked me, "What homework did you do today?" I was really confused, because it was just after 12, I never do homework in the morning. So, I figured ok, she just wants me to give her an example. I told her I did an assignment on verbal aspect. She looks at me funny, and says, "No not in this class! What did you do today?" At this point, I was very confused, and the only thing I did today was eat lunch, so that's what I said to her in Russian. She laughs, and goes on saying, "Stephanie, you didn't eat lunch here," she gave me a few seconds to think it over then says in English, "What was the homework due here today?" I felt incredibly stupid. I missed a preposition that she had spoken aloud and took it as something completely different. I then felt even more embarrassed, because it had been 2 weeks since I saw her, and I couldn't remember what it was. It turned out that I did do it, so I didn't actually get in trouble per-say...
After that class came political structure. Oh boy...Most boring 3 hours of my life. I had no idea what he was talking about. He started to talk about Gorbachev, but then started getting into personal stories about how he knew him personally, and how he just turned 80 years old the other day. If there was a point to his tangent, I completely and utterly missed it. When the bell rang at the 1 hour and a half mark for a 20 minute break, I was thrilled. BUT...(there's always a but, isn't there?) he wouldn't stop talking. I wanted to smack my head on the desk in bored frustration. After the 20 minutes, he heard the second bell, and stops mid-sentence, "Shall we take a break?" Everyone all shouted "YES!" and couldn't run out the door fast enough. When we returned for the next hour and a half, he went on talking about various websites and their usefulness to us. Too bad I have no interest in that sort of thing...Don't get me wrong, the professor is extremely knowledgeable, and most of the time I can listen to lectures no problem, but there has to be a main point, I need hard, cold, facts...They could be theories for all I care, but it has to be something that I could, oh I don't know, actually take notes on. I honestly I have no idea how we are supposed to get a final out of this class. I'm not so sure that the professor even knows what his main points are. On the other side, we do have a midterm paper that is due a week before April. It needs to be 10 pages and a topic of our choosing. I decided to write about the distribution of power among the president, the prime minister, the Дума (Duma), the oligarchs, and the media. I might knock out the last two and just work on the main workings of the government. I have always managed writing ten page papers by having 5 different sub-topics and devoting 2 pages to each one. It keeps things easy and to the point. We'll just have to see how this works out.
After class, the boys and I decided to skip out on cafeteria mystery meat, and check out one of the local restaurants. We went to this place called Трактир (Tractor). It was very nice, very old fashioned looking with wooden tables, a fire place, candles (electric) on the walls, and a brick pattern along the edges of the wall. The boys all ordered beer, but I decided to go with their tea. They served it to me in this very cute and unAmerican way: I apologize for the blurriness. There is a little tea light candle in the glass bowl underneath the tea pot to keep the tea warm. It surprisingly worked really well. The leaves are secured in a little glass filter inside of it. When the waitress brought out the glass dish of sugar cubes, Dan dared me to eat them all, and if I did, he would pay for my dinner. Unfortunately, there was no way that I could stomach the challenge. I ordered Fettuccine Mar Canto. It was pasta with broccoli, peas, mushrooms, and tomatoes. It wasn't a huge helping either, but man oh man was it delicious or what. I was so happy that I decided to spend a bit more money on a dinner like that. We wasted 2 hours there, hanging out, talking, eating, and just overall enjoying each others company. The boys are a lot of fun, but sometimes, it sucks being the only girl!
One thing I forgot to mention on Sunday, was that this week was the start of Maslenitsa. Масленица is a Pagan festival that Russians still celebrate today. It's their way of saying goodbye to winter, and welcoming spring. However, Russian Orthodox people use it as a way to eat as much dairy products as possible before lent. That means, a lot of blini (Russian pancakes). Meat is already forbidden at this point. The women in the cafeteria were all wearing the tradition headdress of the women of old Russia. They were all different and bright colors. During lent, Orthodox Christians really are not supposed to party and have fun. It's a time for self-repentance and strengthening their relationship with God. Maslenitsa serves as the last HOO-RAY for them until Easter. There are many traditions that go along with this holiday, for example, schools take time to have everyone go outside. They go sledding, have snowball fights, and eat lots of blini. They then dress up a large doll with traditional clothing, and set her on fire towards the end of the celebration! I was invited to one of these celebrations back when I was in high school. They unfortunately did not light her on fire, but instead attached balloons to her, and cut them loose. Which I guess is a bit more safe...For anyone who has never had blini, I suggest to try them out! They are so good, and could be stuffed with cottage cheese, jams, meat, mushrooms, cheese, fruit, cabbage. Just about anything. Super yum. They are like a pancake, but very thin, and very delicious.
Wednesday was my long day of classes, I started at 10:50am and finished around 6pm. Even though it was super long, I really enjoyed my classes and the day in general. My first class started out with my favorite professor, the nice lady as some of us are starting to refer to her. After that class, the day got progressively easier, in the fact that I felt more comfortable answering questions, and just being myself. Typically, in a classroom I have difficulty being myself, perhaps is just how hard I've been disciplined over the years or just some sort of crazy mentality that I get into. I have always felt that teachers deserve the utmost respect, in other words, do not speak unless spoken to directly, and don't be messing with things while the person is speaking. Now however, if the teacher says some words I don't recognize, I whip out my dictionary and figure it out. I'm able to have a conversation with my professor during class like I would a friend. For example, sometimes the professor will go around asking us "What's new, what have you seen?" I find myself being able to say more than just a few words now. It's turning slowly into a more comfortable conversation. Yay, for progress!
After class with the nice lady, I had class with Marina, in which I really do enjoy her class too. We went over some questions on a homework assignment, then took some time to look at a different article on the possibilities of our futures, and how we would like our kids to be raised, and where. For the next hour and a half I met Мараковская. She was very nice and her class was fun too. We had a small debate, in Russia on a few topics. It was pretty cool, although I was having a hard time understanding quite a bit, mostly because of my lack of vocabulary, but it's starting to build the more time I'm here. I didn't have her last Wednesday because classes were canceled, and the week before that I was trying out Group 2. Can you believe it, this was the first time that a professor didn't ask me about being "moved" to group 2? I liked that lady from the start!
While I was busy doing homework, I checked my UAlbany email to find that housing sign up was today, March 3rd, and I had to be there in person to pick out my room number. I was so lucky to have such a wonderful boyfriend. He called Res-Life for me, and made sure that they would take care of it. I almost want to say, getting back to real life when talking about my home back in the States, but that would be incredibly wrong, because this is real life...Just a break from what I know and love. So, why do I want to say this isn't real life? Perhaps the best term to use would be, my other world. Time never stops, it keeps going, we are all under the same sun and stars, just at different points of the day. How strange it is to think of home like another life...Of how many people there are on planet Earth is purely mind blowing.
Today went by very slowly, unlike my ridiculously long day on Wednesday. I had Чтение и Понимание Текста. I understood almost everything she was talking about, but, as I sat there, I started to get this horrible sinking feeling that she was going to start picking on me, because I really wasn't talking much. We had gotten back our tests and she was going over them, I knew at some point in the near future she'd be done going over words and what would have made better synonyms to use, and I'd be in trouble. Just like I thought, she looks at me, and starts rambling away at me in Russian. She asked me, "What homework did you do today?" I was really confused, because it was just after 12, I never do homework in the morning. So, I figured ok, she just wants me to give her an example. I told her I did an assignment on verbal aspect. She looks at me funny, and says, "No not in this class! What did you do today?" At this point, I was very confused, and the only thing I did today was eat lunch, so that's what I said to her in Russian. She laughs, and goes on saying, "Stephanie, you didn't eat lunch here," she gave me a few seconds to think it over then says in English, "What was the homework due here today?" I felt incredibly stupid. I missed a preposition that she had spoken aloud and took it as something completely different. I then felt even more embarrassed, because it had been 2 weeks since I saw her, and I couldn't remember what it was. It turned out that I did do it, so I didn't actually get in trouble per-say...
After that class came political structure. Oh boy...Most boring 3 hours of my life. I had no idea what he was talking about. He started to talk about Gorbachev, but then started getting into personal stories about how he knew him personally, and how he just turned 80 years old the other day. If there was a point to his tangent, I completely and utterly missed it. When the bell rang at the 1 hour and a half mark for a 20 minute break, I was thrilled. BUT...(there's always a but, isn't there?) he wouldn't stop talking. I wanted to smack my head on the desk in bored frustration. After the 20 minutes, he heard the second bell, and stops mid-sentence, "Shall we take a break?" Everyone all shouted "YES!" and couldn't run out the door fast enough. When we returned for the next hour and a half, he went on talking about various websites and their usefulness to us. Too bad I have no interest in that sort of thing...Don't get me wrong, the professor is extremely knowledgeable, and most of the time I can listen to lectures no problem, but there has to be a main point, I need hard, cold, facts...They could be theories for all I care, but it has to be something that I could, oh I don't know, actually take notes on. I honestly I have no idea how we are supposed to get a final out of this class. I'm not so sure that the professor even knows what his main points are. On the other side, we do have a midterm paper that is due a week before April. It needs to be 10 pages and a topic of our choosing. I decided to write about the distribution of power among the president, the prime minister, the Дума (Duma), the oligarchs, and the media. I might knock out the last two and just work on the main workings of the government. I have always managed writing ten page papers by having 5 different sub-topics and devoting 2 pages to each one. It keeps things easy and to the point. We'll just have to see how this works out.
After class, the boys and I decided to skip out on cafeteria mystery meat, and check out one of the local restaurants. We went to this place called Трактир (Tractor). It was very nice, very old fashioned looking with wooden tables, a fire place, candles (electric) on the walls, and a brick pattern along the edges of the wall. The boys all ordered beer, but I decided to go with their tea. They served it to me in this very cute and unAmerican way: I apologize for the blurriness. There is a little tea light candle in the glass bowl underneath the tea pot to keep the tea warm. It surprisingly worked really well. The leaves are secured in a little glass filter inside of it. When the waitress brought out the glass dish of sugar cubes, Dan dared me to eat them all, and if I did, he would pay for my dinner. Unfortunately, there was no way that I could stomach the challenge. I ordered Fettuccine Mar Canto. It was pasta with broccoli, peas, mushrooms, and tomatoes. It wasn't a huge helping either, but man oh man was it delicious or what. I was so happy that I decided to spend a bit more money on a dinner like that. We wasted 2 hours there, hanging out, talking, eating, and just overall enjoying each others company. The boys are a lot of fun, but sometimes, it sucks being the only girl!One thing I forgot to mention on Sunday, was that this week was the start of Maslenitsa. Масленица is a Pagan festival that Russians still celebrate today. It's their way of saying goodbye to winter, and welcoming spring. However, Russian Orthodox people use it as a way to eat as much dairy products as possible before lent. That means, a lot of blini (Russian pancakes). Meat is already forbidden at this point. The women in the cafeteria were all wearing the tradition headdress of the women of old Russia. They were all different and bright colors. During lent, Orthodox Christians really are not supposed to party and have fun. It's a time for self-repentance and strengthening their relationship with God. Maslenitsa serves as the last HOO-RAY for them until Easter. There are many traditions that go along with this holiday, for example, schools take time to have everyone go outside. They go sledding, have snowball fights, and eat lots of blini. They then dress up a large doll with traditional clothing, and set her on fire towards the end of the celebration! I was invited to one of these celebrations back when I was in high school. They unfortunately did not light her on fire, but instead attached balloons to her, and cut them loose. Which I guess is a bit more safe...For anyone who has never had blini, I suggest to try them out! They are so good, and could be stuffed with cottage cheese, jams, meat, mushrooms, cheese, fruit, cabbage. Just about anything. Super yum. They are like a pancake, but very thin, and very delicious.
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