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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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