As my last 12 hours in Russia are upon me, I reminisce on the times that I had and the things that I experienced. I still do not think my mind believes that I am in Russia and for 4 months I was surprised daily by odd occurrences, cultural differences, and just plain bizarre events. The best way I could sum up a 120 day blitz of Eastern Europe is through, you guessed it, a TOP TEN LIST!
Top 10 things I will miss:
1.) The ability to drink wherever, whenever. A common activity when club hopping during any given night would be to stop in a 24-hour "Prodooktee" (basically a convenience store specializing in alcohol) and get a drink to sip on whilst walking to the next club at 3:30 in the morning. That's right. No open container laws in these streets.
2.) The hilarious death-stares given by anyone and everyone in public. Quite normal, really.
3.) My host mom's borscht. This beet soup is literally the best soup I have ever had in my life. Gonna miss that purple concoction.
4.) Academics that require 2 essays and 1 quiz for an entire course. Such is the Russian way of higher education, and it fits quite well with the lazy tendencies of Russians.
5.) Public Transportation- For 25 rubles - 80 cents or so - I could get anywhere in the city via the subway in under 30 minutes. Part of this was my super-central location smack dab in the middle of the city, and part of this is the always on-time Metro system of St. Petersburg
6.) Watching FC Zenit games with the host dad. While I have been led to believe that he has been in and out of rehab for alcoholism, (information given to me by my host brother - quite the alcoholic himself) this did not stop us from watching a soccer game on a 10-inch fuzzy TV and drinking vodka for 90 minutes.
7.) Corrupt law enforcement. The one day I forget my documents when going out to do who-knows-what, I was stopped by a police officer in the Metro for a routine document check. While this is utilized to catch illegal immigrants, it so happened that that day I was the illegal. Luckily that was nothing 500 roubles couldn't fix. Roughly a 10 dollar bribe and I was on my way. So easy, so efficient.
8.) Gypsy-cab rides. These are cabs that operate without license, and which are driven by Central-Asian immigrants who speak very little Russian. These are always an adventure due to them trying to charge you more than you agreed on when you entered. I have been threatened and locked in the cab until I pay more. Regardless, the rides never cost more than 7 dollars- and it is literally an amusement park ride between interacting with crazy Kazakh drivers who think they are Jason Statham in the Transporter- except they drive a rusted-out hatchback.
9.) Teremok. This is a fast-food chain which specializes in "Bliny". Bliny are basically Russian crepes. They are thin pancakes wrapped burrito style around basically anything you can think of. My favorites- the banana and chocolate, the cheese and ham, and of course the caesar-salad blin- which tastes like a Big Mac.
10.) Conversational Russian Skillz! While I did not learn as much as I hoped in my academic classes, being out in public, asking for directions, ordering food, making small talk in bars and discussing cab fares are all actions which I feel increased my Russian far more than sitting in a desk in front of a chalkboard. Why? I was forced to speak the language if I wanted a desired result. That in itself, I believe, is the beauty of living in a foreign country.
That's all folks! I will have one or two last posts regarding Russia, and what my home stay was like, and maybe a few pictures from my travel-week to the UK and Ireland. But those places aren't nearly bizarre enough to blog about.
Russia- I will miss you. I will miss your frigidness, both literally and figuratively. I will miss aspects of life here which no one from America could ever begin to understand without experiencing first-hand. I feel a sense of accomplishment for having survived here for a semester. That in itself relates the ridiculousness of this crazy, crazy country.
42 hours till America. Let it begin, and let my hectic and awesome journey come to an end.
Top 10 things I will miss:
1.) The ability to drink wherever, whenever. A common activity when club hopping during any given night would be to stop in a 24-hour "Prodooktee" (basically a convenience store specializing in alcohol) and get a drink to sip on whilst walking to the next club at 3:30 in the morning. That's right. No open container laws in these streets.
2.) The hilarious death-stares given by anyone and everyone in public. Quite normal, really.
3.) My host mom's borscht. This beet soup is literally the best soup I have ever had in my life. Gonna miss that purple concoction.
4.) Academics that require 2 essays and 1 quiz for an entire course. Such is the Russian way of higher education, and it fits quite well with the lazy tendencies of Russians.
5.) Public Transportation- For 25 rubles - 80 cents or so - I could get anywhere in the city via the subway in under 30 minutes. Part of this was my super-central location smack dab in the middle of the city, and part of this is the always on-time Metro system of St. Petersburg
6.) Watching FC Zenit games with the host dad. While I have been led to believe that he has been in and out of rehab for alcoholism, (information given to me by my host brother - quite the alcoholic himself) this did not stop us from watching a soccer game on a 10-inch fuzzy TV and drinking vodka for 90 minutes.
7.) Corrupt law enforcement. The one day I forget my documents when going out to do who-knows-what, I was stopped by a police officer in the Metro for a routine document check. While this is utilized to catch illegal immigrants, it so happened that that day I was the illegal. Luckily that was nothing 500 roubles couldn't fix. Roughly a 10 dollar bribe and I was on my way. So easy, so efficient.
8.) Gypsy-cab rides. These are cabs that operate without license, and which are driven by Central-Asian immigrants who speak very little Russian. These are always an adventure due to them trying to charge you more than you agreed on when you entered. I have been threatened and locked in the cab until I pay more. Regardless, the rides never cost more than 7 dollars- and it is literally an amusement park ride between interacting with crazy Kazakh drivers who think they are Jason Statham in the Transporter- except they drive a rusted-out hatchback.
9.) Teremok. This is a fast-food chain which specializes in "Bliny". Bliny are basically Russian crepes. They are thin pancakes wrapped burrito style around basically anything you can think of. My favorites- the banana and chocolate, the cheese and ham, and of course the caesar-salad blin- which tastes like a Big Mac.
10.) Conversational Russian Skillz! While I did not learn as much as I hoped in my academic classes, being out in public, asking for directions, ordering food, making small talk in bars and discussing cab fares are all actions which I feel increased my Russian far more than sitting in a desk in front of a chalkboard. Why? I was forced to speak the language if I wanted a desired result. That in itself, I believe, is the beauty of living in a foreign country.
That's all folks! I will have one or two last posts regarding Russia, and what my home stay was like, and maybe a few pictures from my travel-week to the UK and Ireland. But those places aren't nearly bizarre enough to blog about.
Russia- I will miss you. I will miss your frigidness, both literally and figuratively. I will miss aspects of life here which no one from America could ever begin to understand without experiencing first-hand. I feel a sense of accomplishment for having survived here for a semester. That in itself relates the ridiculousness of this crazy, crazy country.
42 hours till America. Let it begin, and let my hectic and awesome journey come to an end.
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