My Final Days
Today is, well, would you look at that, I have finally posted on the day the blog thinks it is - May 26th 2011. As the title suggests, I am reaching my final days in Moscow. Am I sad or happy? How about a mixture of feelings. I am going to miss a lot about Moscow such as the friends and good relationships I made here, some of the food like Pelmeni (not that I can't make it at home, but it's so nice to be able to go to the freezer section of the store and buy a bag!), and borscht. I am also going to miss being able to speak in Russian everyday with all sorts of different and interesting people. When I go back to SUNY Albany and the Russian class isn't completely taught in Russian, well, I'm afraid that it may be disappointing, and my heart will be longing for Russia.
One thing I have learned is that the people here are not as scary as what foreigners make of Russia. When you are unfamiliar with the language, it may sound like Russians are always angry and shouting and screaming at you and others. Most of the time, it is just the way they talk. If you want a Russian to understand you when you speak their language, you need to be just as loud as they are, put away your timid and polite side, and push yourself for a boost of confidence - or at least fake it. You'll be fine. Throughout my adventures on the metro and just walking around Moscow, people are polite and willing to help you if you are lost or want to know where something is located. From the outside a group of Russian girls or men may look intimating, even when they aren't drunk, but you have to be willing to raise your head up high (Do not talk to the ground...), use formal language, and look at them as equals. If you can do that, you'll see a side of them that may take down some of the nasty stereotypes of Russians. Sometimes it is possible to run into some Russians that know English well enough to help you out. Once Rachel and I were going out for lunch, got off the metro, and had no idea whether to go right or left. A Russian man heard us speaking in English and immediately pointed us in the right direction and wished us Приятно Аппетит! (Have a pleasant meal!)
To backtrack a few of the things that have been going on, I think I'll start with Wednesday May 18th. It was the week before my finals. It started out like all my Wednesdays, early. I made it through grammar, got all the information I needed for the final, and then on to my Russian speech writing class, same deal. When it came down for the Russian practice class with my professor Маяковская (Ma-yakovskaya), she came into class and surprised everyone in the room with a final exam. I think everyone died a little bit that day. No one studied or prepared, and we all voiced in protest to the exam being that day, but was no good. The professor gave a tiny review of some aspects on the exam, but it was nothing to help get a good grade on the final. I probably bombed it, but most likely the other students didn't do so good on it either. *sigh*
Friday May 20th,
A lot of the people from our group of friends were heading home during the next week, because they already took their finals, Rachel and Oleg were going to Turkey for a week, and it was Rachel's birthday. So what else was there to do except party and say goodbye? We went to Chili's at Novi Arbot around 8:30pm. About 20 people showed up for the event. After everyone had something to eat, and Rachel took a birthday shot, she opened her presents which included her own personal white Russian hat, and Oleg bought her 9 roses. Why only 9? Well, because in Russian tradition even numbers means that someone died, so it had to be an odd number, because he didn't want to be wishing her dead on her 20th birthday!
Later in the evening, around 11:30pm we headed back to the metro station, said a few goodbyes, and headed off to Мастерская for clubbing. Unfortunately I was one of those who had to say goodbye early since my leg had gone numb from sitting for so long, and I knew any amount of dancing wouldn't do my knee any good. It didn't really click that I wouldn't ever see some of those people ever again, and honestly, it still hasn't. Being in Moscow is something like an alternate dimension, and my life in the USA is reality, which is something I'm looking forward to returning to, but I'm seeing this time in Russia has been perhaps some of the best months of my life.
For the rest of the weekend I was hard at work writing my essay for literature on the Russian Soul through classical literature. I didn't have class the day before, so I did all my planning out on paper, and spent the entirety of Saturday typing it out. Sunday started my preparation for my two finals on Wednesday. I never thought that I could possibly be more disorganized. Back at my home university, I was always so careful with having a specific notebook and folder for each subject, and then I would later organize loose papers into a binder with labels to make finding things really easy. Here in Moscow...HA. I had 3 notebooks with notes for the classes I needed in all 3, and hundreds of loose papers. Because we didn't have textbooks, the professor would have us make copies of pages from their own book or workbook. All of Sunday afternoon and evening was dedicated to organizing everything, and what a mess that was. Monday and Tuesday I spent long hours in my room bent over my notes, studying all sorts of Russian grammar and specific letter writing. I was really nervous about the grammar class, but felt confident about the speech class.
Wednesday May 25th, I woke up at 9am, made myself eggs sunny side up, and had some bread. I always try to take care of myself right before finals, best to be nice and fully functional for those things. The first final was really hard, I felt like the two days I spent studying did absolutely nothing to aid me in the final. There were 10 sections and each one was a different aspect of Russian grammar, the worst part was that the sections were really short, so if you got a few answers wrong, it would really hurt the end grade. yuck. However, I knew that I tried my best, and felt at least like I did a decent job on the exam. The next final was just as I predicted, not at all difficult. This made me very happy, as well as the other students. We were given a prompt to write a letter of complaint to a company, and then to write a letter to company saying I wanted to work for them, and basically making a resume. After that, I felt free, and very happy that I would never have to walk back to our faculty building ever again.
And now, that brings us to today, Thursday May 26th. I slept in until 11am, got dressed, and headed out of the door for an adventure. Even though my leg was still hurting, and now even my left knee has started giving me issues, there was no way I was going to stay inside during my last few days in Moscow. I met up with Natalia, the Russian girl I wrote my paper with on: The Image of Typical Students in the USA and Russia. She took me to a beautiful park called Коломенское (Kolomenskoye). My Russian teacher from high school used to talk about this place all the time, and I was so happy that I was finally going to be able to see it for myself.
There were so many trees, flowers, a nice walking path that was brick and easy to walk on. The park was free to get into, and was totally worth taking an afternoon stroll in. There were quite a few churches made in the 16th and 17th centuries there, and were surrounded by a fortress. One of the churches was made out of wood, and is said to have been built without a single nail!
We stopped once and a while overlooking some pretty areas and rested on park benches. It gave my knees a break, but also gave us time to sit, chat, and breath in the sweet air that took the scent of all the flowers, trees, and grass. The Moscow river followed along the path, and looked so pretty. There was a spot that had a small waterfall, in which black and white swans took residence.
Natalia and I came along the path where there was a long line of lilac trees. Nearby an older woman was taking the fully bloomed flowers off and putting them in a basket. Natalia asked me if I wanted some, and wouldn't take no for an answer. She picked a bundle of lovely lilacs for me which are now making my dorm room smell so nice.
After our trip to Kolomenskaya, we started walking back to the metro, but along the way there was a (Квас) Kvas stand. Квас is a drink that very much tastes like beer, only without the alcohol - except sometimes there is a little bit. It's made from the same stuff beer is to say the least. I had my first taste of this popular Russian drink, and it certainly was refreshing. Natalia told me that people drink Квас a lot at their Dachas, because when it's hot out it helps cool you off fast, and it has a nice taste, that is if you like the taste of beer. We hopped on the metro and were hungry, so we decided to go back to the university station and go to Планета Суши (Planet Sushi). Their prices on sushi are good, and I recommend that if you really want sushi in Moscow to go there. Service is as good as it is in all Russian restaurants, meaning not so good. BUT the sushi, tea, and desserts are delicious! We sat around there talking for a few hours, then said goodbye around 5:30pm. I was sad to say goodbye to Natalia, we only hung out twice alone, but during those two times, I felt like I learned so much from her. I told her that if she ever ended up in NY or PA to look me up, and she said likewise and that I knew where to find her.
I still have plans to go back to Измайлово (Izmailova) tomorrow to finish up my souvenir shopping, and enjoy the last bits of Moscow. Saturday is completely dedicated to packing, dealing with paperwork, and relaxing...then I'll be on my way home to the good US of A.
One thing I have learned is that the people here are not as scary as what foreigners make of Russia. When you are unfamiliar with the language, it may sound like Russians are always angry and shouting and screaming at you and others. Most of the time, it is just the way they talk. If you want a Russian to understand you when you speak their language, you need to be just as loud as they are, put away your timid and polite side, and push yourself for a boost of confidence - or at least fake it. You'll be fine. Throughout my adventures on the metro and just walking around Moscow, people are polite and willing to help you if you are lost or want to know where something is located. From the outside a group of Russian girls or men may look intimating, even when they aren't drunk, but you have to be willing to raise your head up high (Do not talk to the ground...), use formal language, and look at them as equals. If you can do that, you'll see a side of them that may take down some of the nasty stereotypes of Russians. Sometimes it is possible to run into some Russians that know English well enough to help you out. Once Rachel and I were going out for lunch, got off the metro, and had no idea whether to go right or left. A Russian man heard us speaking in English and immediately pointed us in the right direction and wished us Приятно Аппетит! (Have a pleasant meal!)
To backtrack a few of the things that have been going on, I think I'll start with Wednesday May 18th. It was the week before my finals. It started out like all my Wednesdays, early. I made it through grammar, got all the information I needed for the final, and then on to my Russian speech writing class, same deal. When it came down for the Russian practice class with my professor Маяковская (Ma-yakovskaya), she came into class and surprised everyone in the room with a final exam. I think everyone died a little bit that day. No one studied or prepared, and we all voiced in protest to the exam being that day, but was no good. The professor gave a tiny review of some aspects on the exam, but it was nothing to help get a good grade on the final. I probably bombed it, but most likely the other students didn't do so good on it either. *sigh*
Friday May 20th,
A lot of the people from our group of friends were heading home during the next week, because they already took their finals, Rachel and Oleg were going to Turkey for a week, and it was Rachel's birthday. So what else was there to do except party and say goodbye? We went to Chili's at Novi Arbot around 8:30pm. About 20 people showed up for the event. After everyone had something to eat, and Rachel took a birthday shot, she opened her presents which included her own personal white Russian hat, and Oleg bought her 9 roses. Why only 9? Well, because in Russian tradition even numbers means that someone died, so it had to be an odd number, because he didn't want to be wishing her dead on her 20th birthday!For the rest of the weekend I was hard at work writing my essay for literature on the Russian Soul through classical literature. I didn't have class the day before, so I did all my planning out on paper, and spent the entirety of Saturday typing it out. Sunday started my preparation for my two finals on Wednesday. I never thought that I could possibly be more disorganized. Back at my home university, I was always so careful with having a specific notebook and folder for each subject, and then I would later organize loose papers into a binder with labels to make finding things really easy. Here in Moscow...HA. I had 3 notebooks with notes for the classes I needed in all 3, and hundreds of loose papers. Because we didn't have textbooks, the professor would have us make copies of pages from their own book or workbook. All of Sunday afternoon and evening was dedicated to organizing everything, and what a mess that was. Monday and Tuesday I spent long hours in my room bent over my notes, studying all sorts of Russian grammar and specific letter writing. I was really nervous about the grammar class, but felt confident about the speech class.
Wednesday May 25th, I woke up at 9am, made myself eggs sunny side up, and had some bread. I always try to take care of myself right before finals, best to be nice and fully functional for those things. The first final was really hard, I felt like the two days I spent studying did absolutely nothing to aid me in the final. There were 10 sections and each one was a different aspect of Russian grammar, the worst part was that the sections were really short, so if you got a few answers wrong, it would really hurt the end grade. yuck. However, I knew that I tried my best, and felt at least like I did a decent job on the exam. The next final was just as I predicted, not at all difficult. This made me very happy, as well as the other students. We were given a prompt to write a letter of complaint to a company, and then to write a letter to company saying I wanted to work for them, and basically making a resume. After that, I felt free, and very happy that I would never have to walk back to our faculty building ever again.
And now, that brings us to today, Thursday May 26th. I slept in until 11am, got dressed, and headed out of the door for an adventure. Even though my leg was still hurting, and now even my left knee has started giving me issues, there was no way I was going to stay inside during my last few days in Moscow. I met up with Natalia, the Russian girl I wrote my paper with on: The Image of Typical Students in the USA and Russia. She took me to a beautiful park called Коломенское (Kolomenskoye). My Russian teacher from high school used to talk about this place all the time, and I was so happy that I was finally going to be able to see it for myself.
There were so many trees, flowers, a nice walking path that was brick and easy to walk on. The park was free to get into, and was totally worth taking an afternoon stroll in. There were quite a few churches made in the 16th and 17th centuries there, and were surrounded by a fortress. One of the churches was made out of wood, and is said to have been built without a single nail!
We stopped once and a while overlooking some pretty areas and rested on park benches. It gave my knees a break, but also gave us time to sit, chat, and breath in the sweet air that took the scent of all the flowers, trees, and grass. The Moscow river followed along the path, and looked so pretty. There was a spot that had a small waterfall, in which black and white swans took residence.
Natalia and I came along the path where there was a long line of lilac trees. Nearby an older woman was taking the fully bloomed flowers off and putting them in a basket. Natalia asked me if I wanted some, and wouldn't take no for an answer. She picked a bundle of lovely lilacs for me which are now making my dorm room smell so nice.
After our trip to Kolomenskaya, we started walking back to the metro, but along the way there was a (Квас) Kvas stand. Квас is a drink that very much tastes like beer, only without the alcohol - except sometimes there is a little bit. It's made from the same stuff beer is to say the least. I had my first taste of this popular Russian drink, and it certainly was refreshing. Natalia told me that people drink Квас a lot at their Dachas, because when it's hot out it helps cool you off fast, and it has a nice taste, that is if you like the taste of beer. We hopped on the metro and were hungry, so we decided to go back to the university station and go to Планета Суши (Planet Sushi). Their prices on sushi are good, and I recommend that if you really want sushi in Moscow to go there. Service is as good as it is in all Russian restaurants, meaning not so good. BUT the sushi, tea, and desserts are delicious! We sat around there talking for a few hours, then said goodbye around 5:30pm. I was sad to say goodbye to Natalia, we only hung out twice alone, but during those two times, I felt like I learned so much from her. I told her that if she ever ended up in NY or PA to look me up, and she said likewise and that I knew where to find her.
I still have plans to go back to Измайлово (Izmailova) tomorrow to finish up my souvenir shopping, and enjoy the last bits of Moscow. Saturday is completely dedicated to packing, dealing with paperwork, and relaxing...then I'll be on my way home to the good US of A.
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