25 March 2009

So far this week is going well. Sunday I went to Pavlovsk with a friend (small town to the south of the city). We rented Finnish sleighs and rode around the ice for a while. That was fun. Its kind of like a razor scooter with ice skates. There are two long blades that come up in the front to form handles, and little rubber blocks on the bottom for you to put your feet on. You propel yourself with one foot at a time, switching feet to keep going straight. They go really slow, and if you try going downhill you speed up very quickly and fall on your face into the snow…several times.
Monday after class An and I went back to the political history museum. It turns out when I went with Jordan, we missed more than half the museum. It is split into two halves, and we rushed through the smaller half, thinking we had managed to see the whole place. There was a small exhibit on Yuri Gagarin, and I asked one of the women working there if there were any museums in the city with larger exhibits about him, and she told me she didn’t think so. I told her that can’t be true, because he’s a Russian hero. She said that a museum about him would be more likely in his hometown, probably somewhere in Latvia or maybe Moscow. I asked Juris…Gagarin was definitely not Latvian. I’ll ask around or look online.
Yesterday I finally started studying for the standardized test(s) I have to take before I leave. The ТРКИ (Test of the Russian Language as a Foreigner)is the Russian one I am preparing for, and the American version is the TORFL (Test of Russian as a Foreign Language). From what I understand, they are basically the exact same test; same format, same sections, just written by different people. I am told that the majority of students here take level 2 (talking about the Russian test) which is the general certification level. I would really love to try level 3. I think it will be hard, but it would be great for my qualifications if I can do it. I started studying testing materials yesterday, and I am going to speak to some of my instructors at the university about it. I started with the reading comprehension section, and I was able to get through and answer all of the questions, but I was going slower than the time allotted. It was encouraging, however.
Before we started studying, we went to the café in the university and had a quick lunch. It was me, my friend Pamela (from Italy), her friend Mirella (also from Italy) and Mirella’s roommate Caroline (from France). I heard people at the next table speaking in American English, and I remarked quietly to Pamela that our neighbors were Americans. She blushed, and said ‘what did you say?’ I repeated it, and she said “oh, ok, I thought you said….” And said something in Italian I didn’t understand, but it sounded like “Belgrade.” Then I was confused, and asked her what she was talking about. She repeated it, and I asked her why she was talking about the capitol of Serbia. Then she was confused again, and told me that she thought I said the Italian word for “beautiful girl.” I said “oh no, I didn’t, I was just talking about the Americans at the next table.” Then it was awkward for a minute or two, because I had just more or less said ‘no of course I wouldn’t say that.’
Caroline mentioned to me that her computer wasn’t working, and asked if I knew anything about computers. I suggested she ask one of the ten million Chinese kids studying at the university, so she put up a sign in the dorm. At the beginning of her roommate’s birthday party (description coming up) this guy Hung showed up. He is Brazilian, but also Chinese (I'm not sure either...). I like him. When we were discussing vegetarianism in my discussion class, he told the professor that its impossible to be a vegetarian in his country, because in Brazil the meat is like rain. Anyway, he started working on her computer, and I had a great time watching. Her Russian isn’t great, and his is better than his, but he was having a really hard time explaining the situation to her. It would go like this: “so, you had a virus. What were you doing when you got the virus? Meaning…imagine today you have a virus. Yesterday you didn’t have a virus. You go the virus today. What were you doing yesterday? How did you get the virus? Today you have it…yesterday you didn’t. what did you do yesterday?” and she would answer “my computer doesn’t work…” She kept asking me how to say things in Russian (she speaks some English) until finally I said “Why are you asking me? He speaks English…” and then they switched languages, and they got along a lot better. It wasn’t funny anymore, though. They must have gone back and forth in Russian for about twenty minutes. It was kind of like a Russian “who’s on first?” routine.
Yesterday was Mirella’s birthday, and the invited Sasha (my block-mate who studies Italian) and I to her birthday party. We went, and it was some experience. there were about 30 people (only four of which were actual Russians) crammed into a two-person bedroom. It was a great time- there was cake, champagne, singing, and I made a lot of new friends, including two other people going on the trip to Moscow. I’m not sure if I mentioned that- Pamela and Mirella invited me to go with them to Moscow for a weekend at the end of April. There is some group that sponsors foreign students to explore the country, and we can get a free train ticket to Moscow. We would take a night train there, spend the day (maybe two) in the city, then take the night train back. I’m pretty sure I’m going to go. I was also invited this week by my friend Marina to take part in a Taglit (program similar to birthright) trip to Poland the week before. For $250 I have my transportation, hotel, insurance, and all other expenses except food paid for (they cover visas too, but as an American I don’t need one) for a week in Poland. It was on my list of places I would like to go, but had taken it off because it was too far. With an opportunity like this, however, I think I will definitely go. It will be a long week though- two days on the train to get there, a week in Poland, two days on the train back, then I have a day and a half rest before I’m back on the train to Moscow. I’m not 100% sure what would be going on in Poland. The theme is ‘European Jewish Catastrophe’ so we would be going to concentration camps and hearing talks on the topic. I would miss a week of class, but I’ll be in a group of Russian students, so I will still be getting practice, and I had planned on travel anyway. This might have to be in place of either my Ukrainian or Belorussian trip, because I found out as an American I need visas for both countries, and they are somewhat expensive. I did however find out that I can go to Latvia without a visa, and that the train ticket is reasonably inexpensive. So perhaps I will get to spend some time with the Pupcenokses after all.
Other than that, Brittany is coming on Friday, so I am still getting everything in order for that. I am lucky that my friend Vova offered to give me a lift to the airport to pick her up. Coming from the university, I was worried that I might get there late via public transportation. I am still trying to figure out what to do getting back there for her flight home, however. Her flight is at 7:20 so she should be there around six am I am assuming, and public transportation doesn’t start until six. I got the number of a 24 hour cab service from a friend, and we might just do that. Its either that, or I am thinking about just offering a friend money to give us a ride.
That’s all for now.