The date for moving out of the dorms keeps getting pushed back, which is why I haven't posted anything yet. But I'm pretty sure I will have information by the end of this week.

Today I spent several hours after school with my tutor, Nastya. It was the first time we have met and hung out since the river cruise where everyone met their tutors. In my opinion, we really click. I mentioned before she wants to be a speech therapist, but that's not entirely true. Her first major in college was speech therapy, and she's currently working at a hospital doing something with speech therapy. But she wants to eventually be a psychotherapist. I think her second major in college was psychology, and she's currently taking exams to hopefully get into grad school for psychology. Today she had to drop some papers off at the hospital and took me along because she thought I'd want to see it. It's the first time I've seen a Russian hospital. She told me it was considered one of the better hospitals because it's clean and has good machines. This surprised me somewhat because, from what I'm used to seeing of American hospitals, it looked considerably more shabby. But looks are deceiving, especially in Russia. I sat on a bench in the section of the hospital where they train people who have had strokes or brain injuries to relearn tasks like cooking and whatever. I'm not sure what the term is in English, or I forget. Like physical therapy but for the mind. We also saw a man walking back and forth down the hall, and Nastya explained that his injury was not physical, but mental. I wouldn't have known this just by seeing him. I'm SO glad she took me. We have the opportunity to see stuff like this over the course of the program, during excursions and whatnot. But it's always in a big group of Americans, so I feel like I'm just on a tour sight-seeing. This time I felt like I was really gaining insider access.

Later we went to a cafe because Nastya wanted my help for her last exam tomorrow. It's an exam on English, and I was really excited she asked for my help. I'm tired of constantly asking other people for help, it was nice to help someone else for a change. She went over a list of vocabulary, all technical terms regarding psychology. She said she wanted to practice pronouncing the words, and asked me to correct her. It was kind of funny to hear her speak English for a change. Then we started sort of talking linguistics. I asked her what her favorite word in English is and her answer was "washing machine" because of all the "sh" sounds. I realized that, having studied speech therapy, she must also be interested in phonetics and such, which is great for me. She said she tries to listen to English-language songs and understand them, but she can't. She demonstrated by singing "My Humps" and, needless to say, I was quite taken aback by hearing her try. I don't know, it was just a lot of fun.

At one point I asked her if it would be a bad idea to try the blintzes with red caviar at the fast food place I like. She said she didn't know cause she never had it there, but it was better to buy caviar in a store and make it yourself. Then later when we were discussing Russian movies, she said that I should come over to her apartment sometime so she could make me blintzes with caviar and we could watch one of her favorite Russian movies, Admiral. Personally, for me, it sounds like the perfect plan. She lives with her fiance and a female roommate, apparently. She wants to meet again on Friday to visit St. Isaac's Cathedral.

She just sent me a text thanking me for getting her fired up about the English language.

Walking down a street in St. Petersburg, discussing the functions and names of various parts of the brain in Russian with a girl born under the Soviet flag. As a 7-year old kid from Maryland dreaming of becoming a veterinarian, how could I possibly have seen this coming? There are just some moments that seem so bizarre you step outside yourself and think "is this really my life?" Those are the moments I live for.

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As a sidenote: there comes a special time in every blogger's life where he/she realizes people are actually listening to and caring about what he/she is saying. Stemming from this pleasant and initially humbling realization, the blogger understands the power inherent in having a voice. I'm about to abuse this power. The following is intended neither to educate nor provoke thoughtful consideration of foreign cultures. Indulge me.

1) What is Kanye West's problem?

2) I've been listening to this guy's album on repeat for the last week. The artist is A.A. Bondy and the song is "Black Rain, Black Rain". I can't not share.

At home in America, at home in Russia, or in the Russian dorms, it makes no difference. Wherever I'm living, some lady is inevitably going to come into my room and clean it without my permission. I wasn't really aware this would happen in the dorms, but I was very surprised to come home today and see that my bed had been made. All valuables are safe, and I guess I'm just amused. As always.

A few quick things to mention: I somehow forgot to say I went to the Hermitage on Saturday for the first time. We didn't stay long but it was a good introduction. I'm guessing there will be many more trips. Host family thing should be resolved, and I should have a permanent home (wherever that may be) by the end of the week, so I'll update then.

Also, here's a shoutout to my Grandma for being so cute.

Gina's MacBook died today. I'm writing about this because it just reinforces my point: when you go to Russia, things will not work out the way you planned. You may be thinking, well, this could have happened in any country. It was simply a bad turn of events that has nothing to do with Russia. You're wrong. However, Gina just so happens to know a young man of a nature geeky enough to fix the problem. Which reinforces my other point: don't worry, because things will work out anyway. Maybe I am the only one who sees the connection between hard drive failure and the Russian Federation, or Matt Parelman and a determined faith in the successful resolution of life's problems, but you're not the one with the blog. So don't worry about it.

The following videos are a bit longer than the last and I regret to say lack flow as well. But, in my opinion, they’re more entertaining and interesting. For the first video, the first girl you’ll see is my tutor, Nastya. She’s from a small town near Moscow, I forget the name, and is getting married in October. She’s 25. All of the students and their tutors were on a little boat tour of the city. It was beautiful and fun. Nastya is very nice and studying to be a speech therapist, so she’s perfect as a tutor. We get along well.

The first video has more scenes from the city. The second shows some friends. I had a bunch of people over to my dorm room for drinks before we went to the jazz club. Everyone you’ll see is studying here in my group, except for two. Eric introduced himself to us after walking past us on the street and hearing us speak English. Benny is the German I mentioned in my previous post. Enjoy.

I love studying abroad because, no matter what you’re doing at any given moment, as long as you’re speaking Russian while you’re doing it, it becomes an intellectual exercise. This is why, when I woke up this morning and remembered starting a conversation with the Russian stranger standing behind me in line for the bathroom at the jazz club last night (after perhaps one too many vodka tonics), I could be proud instead of embarrassed. All I really remember of the conversation is that she was born in St. Petersburg and I told her my life story. I’m amused to say that I genuinely do feel proud. I also feel proud for stealing a roll of toilet paper from the bathroom, but not because I was speaking Russian while doing it. Danny and I just needed some for the dorm.

The jazz club, called The Other Side, had a blues band last night. But as it was a Russian blues band, the music had a unique twist to it. I’m used to listening to Russian bluegrass, and there are just certain genres of music that, when sung in Russian, just sound completely different from what you’re accustomed to. It was still awesome, so we returned again tonight for some acoustic Cuban music and have plans to go back next weekend as well to see a band that the bar describes as “post folk”.

Tonight I went to dinner at an Azerbaijani restaurant with a few friends from the program and a few new ones as well, Benny and Kostya. Benny is a German also here studying Russian. We met him in the dorms when he was also asking for help using the internet. Kostya, Benny's roommate, was born in Tajikistan during the Soviet Union but lives in Germany now, so he speaks fluent Russian and German. Since Kostya doesn’t speak English and Benny doesn’t speak Russian well enough yet, all three languages were being spoken at various points during dinner, depending on who was talking to who. Kostya is a very interesting guy and impressed us all by drinking an endless amount of vodka during dinner. I’m happy with how many friends we’ve made here from outside the ACTR program. Russians and international students alike. That also didn’t happen (for me) in Vladimir. It’s amazing to me that I could have a delicious dinner with wine and friends, having fun and, again, since I’m speaking Russian, I end up learning as much as if I had been in class that whole time. I came out of dinner with some new vocabulary and explanations of Russian cultural habits, courtesy of Kostya.

I was really excited about posting some new videos but I’ve been having some problems uploading them and am too tired to deal with it right now. I will try again tomorrow. I did manage to get one online, which is very short. I just happened to catch on video the happiest moment of my entire life:




Tomorrow I will probably do homework and maybe another solo walk around the city. My first impressions of Peter have held up: it definitely feels like home.

I guess I should post, it's been a few days. Honestly though the past few days have just felt like more of the same. Except for that I know all my teachers now and have met my peer tutor. Her name is Nastya. I like having the videos explains things for me. It just gets tiring trying to convey all these details with actual words. I will have a new video up probably tomorrow. Again nothing very interesting but you will get to see more people (proving I have more than one friend here), some scenery, my tutor, my dorm room and various other things. In the meantime I can say that I love all my teachers. Big surprise. When do I not love all my Russian teachers? My classes are speech practice, grammar, phonetics, politics/modern Russia and an elective. I chose a syntax class, as it came highly recommended by my friend Bridgett who studied here last semester.

I don't know why it seems as though I understand Russian speech significantly better than when I was here in the spring. I think it can simply be attributed to an increased level of confidence. I don't freeze up every time I hear a single word I don't know. Everything is just smoother. I do feel that classes are in actuality easier than in the spring but I have been enjoying them so far. The university building is much nicer than the one in Vladimir. The teachers are very nice and very good here but the teachers in Vladimir really were a lot more maternal and familiar with us. So I miss them of course.

Tonight I am going to a jazz club and tomorrow probably Peterhof so we can see it before the fountains are turned off. There's so much to do here. And it really doesn't feel like school, more like a really long vacation. I mean, studying Russian is fun, so really where's the work?

St. Petersburg does not feel like Russia. Or at least the Russia I came to know earlier this year. I am enjoying myself and have ample opportunity to practice my Russian, but I am feeling a lack of Russian cultural education. No offense to Peter, I love the culture of this city, but it is so western. Occasionally I feel something lacking in Peter that I expected to find upon my return to Russia, but I can't really explain what. Again, I resented it when politicians used the term "real America" during last year's election and I don't want to say that Peter is anything other than "real Russia". But it is different. I now know why all my friends in Vladimir chose to stay in that city after their initial stays in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Being in Peter, even more than Moscow, makes me realize how rich my experience was in Vladimir. The next time I am in Russia, under whatever circumstances and for whatever reason, I think I should aim to live in a smaller town again. (Though if I were to choose a city in which to live, based purely on personal preference, St. Petersburg is an easy winner.)

I'm far from an expert, but at this point, having now been to all 3 locations of ACTR study, I am in a much better position to recommend where a student should study their first semester. St. Petersburg would make a much easier transition from one culture to another, but you won't fully know Russia until you've been elsewhere as well, so I wouldn't really recommend it to those seriously interested in Russian culture (by culture I mean behavior and norms, not the arts. Peter might actually be a better place for artistic culture). Vladimir might be the most immersive and authentic experience, but if you're like me and get bored in small towns, you'll have to be willing to make that sacrifice. I've never actually lived in Moscow but based on what I know so far, I think it's a good compromise between St. Petersburg and Vladimir, if it's your first time in Russia. If it's not your first time in Russia, go to Vladimir. Period.

Oh also I should mention that on Wednesday I ate dumplings filled with chopped up cow hearts. Really good.

I'm on the third floor lobby of my dorm stealing wifi from the hotel across the street, and just ran into three Chinese students trying to do the same. They were having trouble so they approached me to ask how. But they speak basically no English and very little Russian. Their computers were all in Chinese characters. So helping them proved a challenge. But I got at least one of them online. That's the great thing about this dorm, there are students from all over the world studying Russian. Definitely an interesting experience.

We went to school for the first time today. All we had was testing so they can place us in groups according to our level tomorrow. Today I got lucky and my oral assessment went perfectly. I understood everything she said and responded reasonably well.

I have a friend who used to go to GWU named Ben. Ben once introduced me to another student living in his dorm who he knew was studying Russian. Yesterday, as I walked into a meeting with the whole group, I ran into this other student, named Matt. I knew he was in St. Petersburg but still, this was a great surprise. In addition to this, he's already friends with a girl here who I've been spending a lot of time with, named Gina. And finally, Matt, Gina and I all live extremely close to each other. Really right around the corner. At least, when I move into my real home we will. This is great because Matt knows the city very well and is a very advanced Russian speaker. He's studying here on a Fulbright scholarship. Last night he took us around to help Gina find an adapter, and then we went back to his (huge and dirt cheap) apartment with a few drinks. He invited me to attend Yom Kippur services with him and said he could get me into a real Shabbat dinner with some Russians. He also knows cool jazz clubs and pretty much just everything anyone could want to know. It really is weird, the Russian-studying student population in the US is a really small world. The more programs I do, the more I find that I know someone who knows someone else. It's happened several times over the course of orientation.

My phone number is +7 921 794 5379.

This is probably gonna be the least cohesive and uninteresting video I will post here, but I have nothing but time on my hands and wanted to show you what I’ve filmed so far. Some of it’s just us hanging around the dorm. Some of it is on the streets of Peter. Nathan, our resident director, is also shown at about 53 seconds into the video.



Honestly it's a pretty terribly video but I thought it would be fun to see some of the people I'm here with and just generally see where I've been. I promise there's better to come.

The most important thing I could ever tell anyone planning to study abroad in Russia is that you should never go to this country expecting things to work out the way they’re supposed to. That’s not what Russia does. Maybe you’re better off in Germany. If you have a good sense of humor and a spontaneous side, you could really thrive here. That being said, I think Russia is perfect for me.

Everything’s been wonderful so far. Don’t get me wrong. What you might mistake for complaining is more like amusement. Today would have been the day I would have met my host mother and got to know my new home. Instead I’ve moved into a different room in the dorms and I’ll be here indefinitely, though supposedly not long, until she gets better. I have a double room to myself. My suitemates, with whom I’ll be sharing a bathroom, are two other boys from our program, Daniel and Michael. Daniel had chosen to live in the dorm and will be all semester. Michael’s family is doing renovations and aren’t ready for him to move in. But he has gone on to meet them and see the home. So at the moment, Nina and I are the only pair to be currently unacquainted. I’m sure she’ll be worth the wait.

I’m very happy with the situation now, though, because I’ll be living pretty independently for the next few days. In the lobby on my floor, we can get free wifi most of the time from the hotel across the street. There’s a TV in my room with, among other channels, Russian MTV. I’m not worried about a lack of home cooked meals because Теремок, the Russian fast food chain, is basically my new favorite thing ever and they’re all over the city. I live near the center. All the students here are great, and I really like a lot of them, but the introvert in me is dying for some time alone and, since we have the day free and it’s been raining all morning, this looks like the perfect opportunity to just lay around and relax. Last night I managed to sleep from the relatively normal times of about 1 AM to 10. I was shocked to realize how well I slept, but it’s only 1:30 PM now and I’m already exhausted.

Yesterday, in the early evening, I went out with some people from our program: Gina, Cameron and Katie. Gina was meeting up with a friend of hers who she met on her first study abroad trip (to Vladimir 4 years ago, actually, funny coincidence) named Clare. Clare is studying in Peter with the Bard-Smolny program. Clare also brought with her a Russian girl named Regina who she met on the street at one of those Michael Jackson things where everyone does a synchronized dance on the street. We sat outside at a café talking and walked around a little. Then Clare, Gina and I split off so Clare could show us her neighborhood on one of the islands, I forget which one. We walked down a very charming street with musicians playing on all sides, and I thought of New Orleans (which is also like Russia because drinking on the streets is allowed). I said to Clare that Petersburg seems to have a lot of hipsters and she enthusiastically agreed. Outside of a Carl’s Jr. in the center we saw a girl with blue hair, spiked bracelets and a torn Sex Pistols shirt get kicked out for being drunk and then starting a fight with the security guard. I like this city.