Life in Irkutsk

This time round in Russia is actually pretty great. This is due to many different factors. One of them is that I now know not to dress like this while in Russia. Here's a picture of me on my first day in Russia two years ago when I saw where I would be studying (please note the look of apprehension bordering on terror beginning to bloom on my face--I love this picture for so many reasons).

By Russian standards I am the epitome of the slovenly foreigner. Although I do love that coat. <.<

My point is that this time round I know a lot more about Russian culture and that alone makes things much easier. Russia without the lens of extreme culture shock and seasonal depression is a totally different place. That was more or less what I was starting to figure out during the Spring semester last time I was here and why I was willing to come back and give life here another shot. I'm glad I did!  Granted, Irkutsk is the strangest place I've ever lived in and I make an ass out of myself literally every day---but that's besides the point. I'm having a good time and that's really all that matters. 

I have a place to live: 

This is my room. It is extremely Russian. Note the semi-nude portrait of J-Lo hanging above my couch.

It demanded a close up. Everything about this picture is the epitome of class and I love it. 

My living situation isn't the greatest part of my Irkutsk experience despite the fabulous decor of my room which should, in theory, make up for literally anything. But really, it's not all that bad. My host just happens to be pretty focused on my uncanny ability to produce rent money in crisp $100 bills and is convinced that I'm secretly very rich (despite all outward appearances) and sees this as an excuse to try and get extra money from me where she sees fit. Just a tip for anyone ever thinking of living in Russia--$50 a month for laundry is in no way a fair price. Not even if you're a secretly rich American graduate student like me. What my host didn't foresee is that I'm actually insanely stingy by any standards and am willing to just throw all of my laundry in the bathtub, spend $2 on laundry detergent, and do it by hand. I don't want to complain too much about anything so I'll follow this up by noting that my host has a cute dog named Alisa who is by far my favorite member of the household. Here she is sleeping on the couch while my host is out for her afternoon broom ride around Irkutsk.

My Russian "talking to dogs voice" is the same as my English one. Aaawwwwrrrrrr. 

 I will note that the whole "secretly rich American" idea really isn't as far fetched as it seems (not that it makes it right to try and rip me off). As one of my professors here put it, Americans are less likely to show off wealth than their Russian counterparts. By this, she meant that most Americans dress much more casually than their Russian counterparts (and by this she meant that most of the American students that come to the foreign university dress like slobs--or more or less how I'm dressed in the above picture). I've done a much better job of dressing like a Russian this time and it's amazing how different a reaction I get from people. FYI, all you need to do to dress like a Russian is the following: 

Take this quote by Coco Chanel about dressing with accessories "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off" and replace with "Put at least one or two more things on. Maybe three. Also at least one item should be bedazzled. This is Russian law." Done. That's all it takes. So my original point was that even if you as an American don't dress all that flashy, people still assume that you may be totally loaded and are too jaded by your mountains of cash to care. As a cultural note, if you're Russian people just assume you're poor and feel bad for you--this is not me saying this, this is coming directly from one of my professors. Take it how you will. I've made a point of telling my host that this is not the case and a spur of the moment trip to Thailand isn't really in my immediate future but apparently I can just ask my parents for the money when I go home for break. I can't believe that never occurred to me. So, parents, if you're reading this, I would prefer a manilla envelope of $20 bills to pay for the trip. Thanks! 

The situation with my host is literally the only somewhat negative thing about my time here so in the scheme of things, I have nothing to complain about. As a whole, people here have been really nice to me so I don't want you to think that behavior like that is the norm. Just the other day I was at the train station buying tickets for my trip later this week (more about that later) and ended up having a hilarious interaction with the man selling me my tickets that resulted in me obtaining a free houseplant. 

 I can't make things like this up. I need to come up with a name for him/her/it. 

Yes, a random ticket vendor gave me a houseplant just because he was impressed with the fact that I could speak Russian. He also may have been suspicious of this fact (hence the brief moment of "Your Russian is good!--long pause--where did you get such good Russian? And why are you here...?") but his love of Obama and Nicolas Cage movies was enough to soothe these suspicions and give me a free houseplant. This is the truest example of Siberian hospitality I have encountered yet and counteracts any other negative experiences I've had. In all seriousness, the people that I know the best here, my professors and my Russian friends, are all really great, kind people and have made me feel very welcome so I have no excuse to complain. 

I also have non-Russian friends who I hang out with. Compared to St. Petersburg, Irkutsk has relatively few foreigners as a whole but that isn't to say that they're a rare commodity. There are actually a lot of foreign students here--even other Americans, although they study at another university in town so I rarely, if ever, see them. Most of the time at my university, I'm the first American anyone has ever met...I'm sorry other Americans. The one thing I'll admit to is drinking coke far more frequently in Russia than I do in America which makes me a walking stereotype and doesn't help any of us. I'm sorry. I only noticed this because literally every time I buy a coke when I'm with Russians (or other non-Americans) everyone immediately gets this knowing look on their face and asks me how long it's been since my last fix. Or how many cokes I drink a day, is it a law in America, etc. etc. The best response would probably be to only drink coke when I'm alone in my room and act superior in public but I refuse to succumb to public shaming. I'm just waiting for the day when one of these people eats borsht in front of me. Game. On. (At least there's not a McDonalds here because I would be there literally every day, shaming our people and getting monstrously fat because Russian McDonalds is fabulous and has the cheapest, decent quality coffee around...) 

Right, before I got distracted, I was talking about the other foreign students I know here. It's actually been an unexpected bonus getting to meet so many different people from all over the world here in Irkutsk. We all speak Russian together--at least when I'm around because they've accepted my crazy, Russian-only ways--and have a lot of fun navigating the ins and outs of life here. It's great having people to appreciate the absurdity of life here with. Sometimes there are moments that only another foreigner can truly appreciate. Since there aren't any other Middlebury students here this semester, I usually end up having to appreciate these moments by myself and then having to try not to smile or show any sort of joy or amusement. Because that would be insane. Next semester will be a lot of fun when the new students come, especially considering that they're all Russia first-timers. Oh god, it will be wonderful. 

Some of my foreign friends (and me) at the sketchy looking Uzbek restaurant we found in the Chinese market. It was as delicious as it was sketchy. Which is to say it was insanely delicious. 

It's always interesting talking with other Americans who are in Russia for the first time and hearing their take on things. A lot of the things that freaked me out last time don't really register as being all that weird my second time round so it's interesting to hear what really jumps out at other people. Another American described it to me like this, "I don't know how to say this in Russian, but everything here is sketchy.". Upon first glance, this may or may not be true. Then you realize that beyond that sketchiness lies delicious Uzbek food and free houseplants and you begin to come to terms with it. 

Speaking of things that terrified me in Russia last time--I present you with the poodle face that hung over my bed. This was probably the root of all of my problems in Russia. 

In short, I'm having a much better time in Russia this time round and that's mostly due to the fact that I'm embracing the absurdities, focusing on the positive, and getting regular sunlight. Occasionally though, it's good to let loose and embrace your inner American-ness. When Phillip and I were on our Trans-Siberian trip, we rented an apartment in one of the cities and the second the Russian land-lady left, there was a quick pause before we had a "The Russians are gone!" moment and turned into complete and utter lunatics. In this case, that meant opening all of the windows (because Russians love stuffy rooms) and in my case, reveling in the fact that I didn't have to wear house shoes. Different people have different methods of embracing their American-ness. Some people like practicing rhythmic gymnastics. I prefer dancing crazier than a Southern Baptist to Queen in my room when no one is home and scaring the dog with my artistic renderings of Bohemian Rhapsody. To each his own. The most important thing is that you let loose from time to time because there's definitely a difference between acceptable behavior around Russians and how you would act on a normal basis if left to your own devices. That's at least how I keep from going insane. So on that note I'll leave you with my favorite "Russia" song. 

Snow!

It's finally snowing! And by that I mean it snowed for the first time a couple days ago and I've been too lazy to update.

See? SNOW. It's magical. And totally unexpected in Siberia.

Like I said, the long awaited snow has finally hit and Irkutsk is much prettier for it. The downside is that traffic is even worse than it was before, especially in my part of town, and there's a whole new level of difficulty getting around on public transportation. If I thought it was hard before figuring out what stop to get off at, it's even worse with the windows being frosted over because you can't see anything unless you carve a little hole in the ice to peer out of. Which is pretty much impossible if you're packed into a bus or marshrutka and can't get to a window. Siberian problems. 

Anyway, I don't want this blog to turn into a "complain about Irkutsk transport" blog (which it very easily could, oh yes, yes indeed) so I'll just leave it at transport here is hell. Hell, I tell you. 

Right. Snow. This is especially exciting for me since it's pretty much the first snow I've seen since last time I was in Russia. At that time snow and I needed to take a break from each other and see other people. We've had a long enough separation that I'm happy to see it again. 

I'm sure I'll look back at this moment in time a couple months from now and laugh bitterly. But seriously, right now I'm still basking in the glow of my first snow in Siberia, something I've always wanted to experience-- roughly since this time last year when I looked on a map and realized that Irkutsk gets more sun than any of the other cities in Russia I could have chosen to go to. Anyone who doesn't understand the reasoning behind this clearly wasn't in contact with me the last time I was in Russia. My general level of misery in Russia is way less now that I'm living somewhere with regular sunlight. (And yes, there is always some level of misery associated with living in Russia. Please refer to any piece of literature ever written by a Russian if you don't believe me.) That's it for now! 

A picture taken the last time the sun was seen in St. Petersburg, Russia. 

When I left Russia last Spring, it was with the understanding that whereas I would definitely want to visit again, under no circumstances would I ever, ever, ever want to live in this country again. Ever.

Thus begins my first blog post from Siberia. For those of you who don't already know, I'm spending the 2012-2013 academic year in Irkutsk, Russia through Middlebury College where I'm working towards an MA in Russian language. The decision to come back to Russia was made about this time last year after spending roughly six months back in the US and coming to the realization that I was utterly and completely bored. I had had my fill of clean restroom facilities, outstanding customer service, and lack of wild dogs in the streets. And then the dangerous thinking started--why not go back to Russia? Lots of people were more than happy to answer this question for me. This is in part due to the fact that my first semester in Russia was a disaster, mainly due to extreme cultural shock and lack of sunlight. Once I came to terms with the fact that Russia is a completely different beast than America (and bought a portable sunlamp to combat my seasonal depression) things got much better and I actually found myself really enjoying the absurdities that come with living here. Most of the time.

It's with that sort of thinking that I applied to the Irkutsk program and shipped myself off to Siberia. The experience thus far has been way better than I thought it would be and I'm really enjoying myself. I've been getting great immersion, mainly due to the fact that I'm the only Middlebury student here this semester and the only other American I'm in contact with is the Midd Resident Director, Phillip, with whom I only speak Russian. As a general rule, I'm only allowed to speak Russian while I'm here (LANGUAGE PLEDGE!!!) so it's really helpful to speak with another American who knows the language way better than I do and can correct my mistakes. Which are as varied as they are stupid. That's another reason why I wanted to come back to Russia for another year---Russian is hard. But definitely worth learning! Seriously, it's a cool language and totally worth the time and effort to learn. Plus it makes the Spy Museum in DC even more fun to visit.

Me in the center of the city with Lenin. FYI, the city is now covered in snow. It was fun while it lasted.

For those of you who have a FaceBook, you've probably seen the billion or so pictures I've posted already and seen for yourselves how beautiful Siberia is. I'll wait a little bit longer to post the specifically Irkutsk pictures...this isn't to say that I don't like the city. If anything, I'm finding that I like it here much better than St. Petersburg. There's sunlight, it's easier to meet people, and it's a really cool cultural experience living outside of a European-style international hub like I did last time. On the other hand, it's absolutely insane here. If I had come here two years ago instead of to St. Pete, I'd probably be curled up in a fetal position in total and utter cultural shock. Or maybe dead because transportation here is a nightmare. Here is a strange, provincial place where metros do not exist. This means that traffic is worse than any city I've ever been to in the US and you have to rely on above-ground transportation which is always interesting, to say the least. I pretty much avoided buses/marshrutkas (think like a really rundown, ghetto minivan that fits about 15 of your closest friends)/trolleys when I lived in St. Pete but the times that I did have to take them weren't bad at all. The stops were announced and it was pretty clear where you needed to get off. That is not the case in Irkutsk. You have to intrinsically know when to get off since the stops aren't announced/marked in any way (save for maybe a handful). This is made even more difficult when you're packed into a marshrutka and have to alert the driver which stop you need to get off at. It's been fun. Lots of fun. But I'm getting the hang of it and get lost less and less every day.

My fellow foreigners, Sarah and Karin, reveling in the otherness of Russia.

I'm not sure what exactly to touch on for this first post other than that I'm back in Russia and enjoying myself. The first month has been really busy since I've been trying to fit in as many outdoorsy type activities before it gets into the negative digits as well as attending pretty much every class the university has to offer in order to find something interesting. Russian universities are not run like American ones. Students have no choice in the classes they take and have a pretty rigid schedule starting from their freshman year. There are no online postings of class schedules so you as a foreign student have to show up and try to somehow glean where and when the classes you want to take are actually taking place. Plus there are no descriptions anywhere of what the class is actually about so it takes some effort to actually find interesting classes. I was lucky enough to stumble onto one good class on my own. The other I only found out about by showing up to a really boring lecture and having the students warn me to get out before the professor arrived and go to another lecture down the hall. That worked out pretty well since it was my last day to pick classes and I still had one more slot to fill. That sort of sums up my approach to Russia this time round--things will somehow or other fall into place. There's absolutely no point in trying to cling to the sort of structure you'd find in the US and it's easier (and better for your sanity) to just sort of go with the flow. Such is the zen of Russia.

A local bar, Bar Acabama. Note the mohawk. Classic. Why is this not in DC?

Anyway, that's all I've got to say for now. I'll try to make a more interesting post next time. It was easier last time thinking of things to talk about since everything was new, exotic, and terrifying. Now that I've drunk the kool-aid, these things don't phase me quite as much. If you've got any questions about life here, let me know!