Bedtime Stories

Vodka -- Connecting People Everywhere

The other day as I was walking I noticed a shirt that said "Vodka - Connecting People Everywhere" or something similar, I couldn't help but laugh. I have seen the shirt a few more times and I definitely have to agree with it. Some of the best times I have had, okay let's be honest, all of the best times I have had with my roommates (both of whom are from Vietnam) have been while drinking vodka. For example; the other night I was sitting on my bed reading my homework. I heard Zung yawn and start stretching so I looked up at him and what do you think he said to me? "Vodka?" and that was all. We ended up eating and drinking together and got a pretty good conversation going. I must have been pretty charming because he even gave me his number and email and said that I had to call him if I ever go to Vietnam. So there it is, a prime example of vodka connecting people.

Cleaning Lady/Grandma

Living in the big city is amazingly dirty. I'm amazed at how much dirt a couple people can track into the entryway every day. Well, as a result of all the dirt it is actually really nice having a cleaning lady that comes to clean. However, there are a few things that are really nice to have if you have a cleaning lady, actually there's just one that I can think of at the moment: a working lock on the bathroom door.

I hadn't really thought of it before. Honestly, I had hardly even noticed the cleaning lady. That all changed in an instant.

I usually shower quite early in the morning so that I am able to get to class on time, but on this particular day I didn't have class and had decided to wait until after my roommates and neighbors had left. That meant that I needed to wait until around 10:30 to shower. As I was finishing my shower I heard the door from outside open and wondered to myself what my roommate could have forgotten and why he would wait so long to come back for it. I didn't have much time to think about it because as soon as I had opened the shower curtain my cleaning lady burst through the door. There was a split second where we both just sat there stunned and then there came a flurry of Russian as she quickly left.

I don't think she had ever said anything to me but the next day she said "hello". Go figure.

Foreigners Don't Understand Anything

The other day my friend Sini and I decided to go to the Pushkin museum. She was leaving that night and we had time to kill so we decided to go. We got our tickets and that is when we made our first mistake. They asked us whether we wanted the audio guide, obviously not thinking, we said no. Before going further it is important to know that in Russian museums there are old ladies in every room whose sole purpose is to watch you like a hawk and make sure that you feel uncomfortable. Ok, so the second we enter the second room of the museum the old lady of the room confronts Sini and I. She wanted to know why we weren't with our group. We tried to explain that we didn't have a group, we had simply bought the student ticket. She proceeded to talk really quickly (and angrily) then ask where our group was. Well unfortunately we couldn't understand the most important part of what she was telling us. Well, after realizing that we didn't understand her she let us stay in the room without our group, but she wouldn't let us continue on into the next room. Then two more people came into the room and unfortunately they were dumb foreigners as well (the guy had the biggest nose you have ever seen. They hadn't taken their coats off and I think it made the old ladies even angrier than when Sini and I didn't have our group.  Another one of the angry grandmas then came into the room and they proceeded to talk about how us dumb foreigners don't know anything and don't understand anything. Of course we were able to understand all the bad stuff just not what they were trying to tell us to do earlier. About halfway through the museum we realized that you needed to either have the audio guide or a tour guide, oops! Anyway, our little experience proved that Russians really don't like tourists and that we are stupid and don't understand anything. As if I didn't already know that.

The Arrival

Getting to St. Petersburg and my hotel was actually more exciting and full of adventure than I had envisioned. As I expected, nothing noteworthy happened on my flight from Salt Lake to New York but at New York I had to switch terminals. The second I got into the international part of the airport the whole atmosphere changed. It felt almost as if I had already stepped onto foreign ground. I found the line for Aeroflot airlines and immediately was surrounded by Russians. I was standing in line, patiently waiting my turn, when one of the airline personnel came up to me and motioned for me to follow. Apparently she had decided that she would help me before the other people in line. Ya, I don't know why. Basically from the time forward I only heard Russian in the airport since it seemed that I was the only American on the flight to Moscow.

After sitting in the airplane, which hadn't left the airport yet, for over an hour I decided to try to talk to the girl sitting next to me. She seemed to be in her 20's and looked nice so I gave it a go. We talked for maybe 2 minutes before I had exhausted my entire vocabulary. At this point we switched to English which she spoke perfectly. Thanks to her I actually had a very pleasant 10 hour flight and as we were landing she even gave me her number just in case I missed my flight since we were arriving late.

Going through customs/immigration is definitely a nerve wracking thing. When I went to Canada they grilled me about where I was going, what I would do, and even about how they hated the place I was going to. I expected the same from the Russians, only much much worse. After waiting in line for only a few minutes I was in front of the immigration officer wondering what would happen next. She looked at my passport then looked up at me. You could see in her eyes that something was wrong. She kept switching between me and the passport without saying a word. Finally she decided that the photo of the bearded, long haired hooligan in the passport was in fact me and let me through.

The next piece of excitement came when I arrived in St. Petersburg. I quickly bought a phone, which they promised could call the US (they lied), and called Anatoly. He picked me up with the craziest cab driver in the world. Actually, this cab driver seemed quite sane but he drove like he was trying to run from the cops. As I sat in the back seat I literally felt like I was in a Fast and Furious movie, it was both terrifying and exhilarating. Afterward, Anatoly told me that the cab driver had the “Russian gangster” style of driving. Well, after driving like that, I understand why people are so terrified of the Russian Mob.

After getting settled in my room with my two Vietnamese roommates Anatoly and I walked around the city. He gave me a quick overview of the center of the city and it was quite nice. I was exhausted from all the travel then all the walking but it didn't seem to be very late yet. Even though I thought it must only be 7 or 8 o'clock Anatoly took me back to my room. He said it was because I was going to get cold since I didn't have a jacket on. It wasn't until he made that comment that I realized something: I was literally the only person in the entire city who wasn't wearing a jacket. These Russians all wear a jacket and they all have some sort of bag. Even the men all have a bag, the man purse is alive and well here in St. Petersburg. Turns out we got back around 10:30, these white nights can be deceiving. It literally doesn't get dark until after midnight.

The next day I began the process of getting placed in a class and getting my passport registered. I walked to my class and was able to find what I assume is the director of classes. I talked to her for no more than 2 minutes before one of the teachers took me away. He was the teacher of group 5, which is the lowest level of study. We talked for about 20 minutes and I was amazed by the amount he knew about Salt Lake. He talked about the Utah Jazz and even knew about Kirilenko. He complimented me on my accent and then told me to try out the different groups to find out which one I was most comfortable in. After 20 minutes of group 5 I knew that there was no way I could be in any other group. When I got back from class it couldn't have been past 6:00pm but I instantly fell asleep. I woke up around 11 and my roommates invited me to eat with them. We had a dinner of something like ham, rice, bread, and vodka.

On Wednesday, Marguerite (one of my three classmates) introduced me to some of the other students. She is from Switzerland and has been here since February. When she showed up all she knew how to do was read, talk about being brave. Luckily, or perhaps unfortunately(?), all the international students speak English. This makes it so I actually have someone I can communicate with and it also means I don't have to speak Russian all the time. (In case you were worried, I can only speak Russian with my roommates since they are Vietnamese and only one of them speaks any English).

I think the general consensus among the foreigners is that the food in St. P sucks. Instead of saying that a restaurant has good food they say it isn't disgusting and overpriced. Talk about inspiring confidence. On that note, the other day Marguerite invited me to go to a restaurant called Teplo (warm) with her, Fanni, and some other people. (Both Marguerite and Fanni are Swiss). We shared a bottle of wine and bottle of water between the 5 of us, (yes you have to pay for water), and I order beef stroganoff and a chocolate dessert. It ended up being about 1000 ($33) rubles for each of us, which apparently is a pretty good price.

You know, I'm starting to believe that living in the hotel is a great way to not need to really know any Russian. Who knows if I will actually improve at all here in St. P but I'm having a great time exploring the city and getting to know these other foreigners. The Finns invited me to go to a bar with them later and watch a hockey game between Finland and Russia so I guess that's kind of Russia, right? Hockey and Russia.. it sounds very Russian to me.

Next up. Pictures.

До свидания мои друзья!