Last Days of Being in Russia

So, yes, I've been quite busy preparing to come home from Russia. It will be a big change to come home to the United States. I've enjoyed the opportunity of teaching so many great students for the last nine months. I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends and family, but certainly it will be a big transition in my life. I guess it's strange to think that everything and everyone that I have known for the last nine months will suddenly be gone. As heartbreaking as that is, I know that many wonderful new opportunities await me. I do look forward to being home. Wish me the best of Luck!

Vladimir Lenin

I am going home in just over a week, and until now, I have yet to see one of Russia's central icons. Today, Ivan (my roommate) and I decided to see Vladimir Ilyich Lenin -- the man who started the Soviet Union. He died in 1924, but he was well preserved, and his body has been on display for over 80 years. Soviet citizens have long held this sight as an almost sacred pilgrimage. Today, the lines are not so long, but Lenin is still a unique piece of history that can be freely seen.

Observed at Moskva, RU

Heavy Rain Showers, reads the banner right above this post. Today was Sunday, and it was very sunny this morning, but the weather slowly changed during my very tiring five-hour marathon of teaching this afternoon. I sent the evening on a very wet walk with a friend at the Botanical Garden, a large forested park north of the All-Russia Expo Center (ВДНХ). The forest was lovely, but the weather was anything but cooperative. Still, it was fun though. :)
My issues class is over, at last! I will be home in 12 days also!!! It's hard to imagine that I am actually leaving Russia so soon! It feels like I haven't been here long, but yet, it feels like I've lived here forever. I'm leavin' on a Jet Plane. I don't know when I'll be back again.

Teaching the Teacher

Being a teacher, especially of adults, is an amazing experience. I have, in one of my classes, a rocket scientist, and a lady who works for a humanitarian NGO. In another class, I teach three
employees of the Russia branch of United Pictures, a large Hollywood cinema company. Occasionally, a celeberty visits to promote a new release. In the near future, a well know celeberty will be visiting us. Back to my point, teaching is a wonderful occupation, because it provides wonderful opportunities to meet interesting people from many diverse backgrounds. I have had many stimulating conversations about subjects such as politics, racism, economics, Soviet History, and ecology, to name a few.

Tourists often hear the advice which urges them to get to know the local people. Sit in a cafe, and chat, ask them about life, try to learn some of the language, know about the culture, etc. Teaching in a foreign land for a year is going even farther. I have lived in Russia, as Russian for almost 9 months now, and it has taught me many amazing things. Being a teacher gives one a chance to be something even more important: a friend. I am grateful for the many friends that I have made here, and I hope that I can continue to stay in touch with them after I return home.

С ДНЁМ ПОБЕДЫ!

Happy Victory Day! (Victory in Europe Day) I had a good holiday today. I watched the Red Square on TV, but for the evening, I went to Khimki and spent the evening with a family (some wonderful new friends of mine!). We walked through a park full of Soviet Tanks, and then returned to their house for a delightful conversation over tea and sweets. Finally, we went to the roof on an 18 story apartment building to watch the fireworks. It was quite spectaular! It was like the Fourth of July! We could see fireworks from all over Moscow. I have lots of pictures too!

Russia Stops Even the Rain

Sunday and yesterday, it was cloudy all day. This morning we awoke to sun -- not a cloud in the sky. You see today is 9 May -- Voctory Day -- the day after Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally. This is Russia's biggest military holiday. At 10 AM there was a massive military parade at Red Square (which I watched on TV, the only way possible, unless you are a VIP.)

The government doesn't take any chances for this hour long military parade. They send up an air force of jets armed with the most sophisticated weapons ever devised, to attack.... the clouds. In this all out assault in the wee hours of the morning, the menicing clouds looming around the capital were vanquished in an epic battle. Using special dust, dry ice, and iodide, the clouds were forced to dump their rain before reaching the city. Hence our beautiful clear morning. Now that it is about 14:00 in the afternoon, Moscow is once again flanked with gray, blue low clouds, seeking their vengence.

A Memoir of a Busy Day

This is a week between two holidays -- a week of vacation for many Russians. Not for me. No sir. I am working nonstop. It hasn't been a week of much sleep either.

Living with Ivan
Yesterday, my good friend Ivan moved in with Vitaly and I, as he needs a place for about a month. I really enjoy hanging out with Ivan, and we have similar interests like Subarus, Soviet Military Paraphernalia, and The Simpsons. I think it will be great fun having him live with us.

Three Hours of Sleep
Last night, I stayed up über-late chatting with friends (you know who you are ;) ), and talking to my uncle before he flew up to Alaska for the funeral of a good family friend of ours. Dan was well along in years, and cancer had slowly taken it's toll. He died peacefully, but it is still sad nonetheless that I will never again hear his kind and friendly words of encouragement. So, as I was saying, I stayed up until 4 AM doing all this. Then I had a shower and went to bed. My alarm was set for 10:00.

Early this morning, our doorbell rang, and some guy walked in. I just ignored it, thinking it was Ivan (the new flatmate). Then some unfamiliar face poked his head past my bedroom doorway and started talking to me. Half delusional from sleep, I thought for a second it was my cousin D.J. I had the sense to ask "who are you?". It was Dale, a former teacher who we were expecting to visit for a few weeks. I knew he would be staying with us, but I paid little attention to the date of his arrival. Dale was here. Today. Crap. He was supposed to be staying with me in my room. My room was a complete dump, as I had given no thought about the possibility of him arriving. I decided to get up, and introduce myself to him, while cleaning my room. I didn't go back to bed after getting up. Though his arrival caught me off guard, I like Dale. I have really enjoyed talking with him, and am happy to have him with us for a while.


Friends are Friends Forever
Today, something else happened, a milestone in my year in Russia. My good friend and colleague Navina went home to America. I call this a milestone because the idea of finishing my year of teaching seems so far off, but now that she has left, I see how soon my own departure will be. I don't mean to be selfish in putting it in those terms, by the way. I am quite sad about my friend leaving. Getting to know Navina, and spending time with her has been a privilege. She is a very talented, cheerful, inspirational person, who is so good at being a friend. I wish her the best of luck at Andrews next year, and I hope that her life of adventure takes her to the amazing places she only dreams of. So, if you read this, Navina, so long, счастливо, and пока! Thanks for the many good memories.

All in all, it's been a busy day, and I even forgot to mention spending three hours making pumpkin pies for Navina's going away party. And an hour after getting to the party, leaving to teach a three hour class at the school. Yeah, one class that lasted for three hours! :) I dread tomorrow morning, because I have to teach at 09:30 at a place 40 minutes away. Uggg...
But, as I write about yesterday, which died an hour ago, it was a good day, and it was successful, and for that I am grateful. Praise to the Lord.

Sankt-Peterburg | Санкт-Петербург

I'm back in Moscow now, recovering from a holiday trip to St. Petersburg. I wrote about this last night, but lost my writings and gave up. Oh well, here goes again. St. Petersburg was a very impressive city. The downtown buildings were themselves sculptures carved long ago, as if the viewer was walking in a huge outdoor museum. The center of the city has elegant facades, columned buildings, cathedrals of so many styles, and several canals. Peter the Great had in mind to build a "Russian Venice" when he drew plans for the city. On Sunday, we took a boat ride through the canals. It was a nice hour long tour, but all in Russia, leaving us to enjoy the sights of the city. We also visited several impressive Cathedrals, and spent some time at a bookstore. Dinner was at an enjoyable Italian restaurant. We stayed for three nights at a church with people that spoke not a word of English -- an interesting experience indeed!

Monday was the first day of May -- Labour Day. Thus, just about everything was closed, like the Hermitage museum, and the fortresses around the city. We spent the day walking about, and going to places like plaza squares, and the beach. The beach was made of chucks of bricks, concrete, and asphalt and some sand. The top of the beach was strewn with an uncountable number of bottles and pieces of trash. And we had to pay about a dollar to even walk up to the "beach". Fortunately, at low tide, you could walk out on to some sandy areas, and feel the water. The water was bloody cold! I guess that's to be expected of the Baltic Sea in Spring. Though this was technically, the Gulf of Finland, which is an arm of the Baltic Sea, this was my first time touching a part of the Atlantic Ocean, and it was literally the extreme eastern reach of the Atlantic.

Riding nine hours on the train was no problem either. We traveled by daylight, and returned in sitting class at night. I was able to sleep decently. The girls behind us continuously laughing at 2:00 AM did get rather annoying. So, all in all, it was a nice, but brief visit Russia's second largest city. It was amazingly beautiful, and the people were more friendly than Muscovites, but most importantly peanut butter was readily available at stores. We bought three jars of it to take back to Moscow. :)