Miss: Peanut butter
Like: Fresh, flavorful bread
Miss: Air-conditioning
Like: Roadside stands, especially the one that sells blini (!)
Miss: Barbecue
Like: Borscht
Miss: Home church and college friends
Like: Experiencing a new type of church and meeting people there
Miss: my laptop
Like: Doing more reading (partly in Russian)
Miss: coffee
Like: new flavors of tea, like Keemun and rosehips
Miss: Room to just ramble around
Like: The metro
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Pictures...
...are on Facebook--finally!
It's been an intellectually stimulating week. I got soem Russian books that I'm working through on my own, and I've developed a decent method for getting through them. I'm enjoying that. I'm reading a short story by Chekhov, a famous author, and also the Gospel of Matthew. I was surprised to find that the books of my Russian New Testament aren't in the same order as the books in my English Bible.
Each week we have a lecture in Russian on part of Russian history. They've been really tough to understand, and I though this week's was going to be awful because it was on WWII and tanks. But it was great. The professor talked about tanks to illustrate the differing mentalities of the Germans and Russians durning the war. He went at an easy pace, and I actually followed it and understood the main points! Yay! Understanding is such a great feeling.
It's been an intellectually stimulating week. I got soem Russian books that I'm working through on my own, and I've developed a decent method for getting through them. I'm enjoying that. I'm reading a short story by Chekhov, a famous author, and also the Gospel of Matthew. I was surprised to find that the books of my Russian New Testament aren't in the same order as the books in my English Bible.
Each week we have a lecture in Russian on part of Russian history. They've been really tough to understand, and I though this week's was going to be awful because it was on WWII and tanks. But it was great. The professor talked about tanks to illustrate the differing mentalities of the Germans and Russians durning the war. He went at an easy pace, and I actually followed it and understood the main points! Yay! Understanding is such a great feeling.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Russian superstitions and customs
It's bad luck to leave an empty bottle standing up.
If you see a wedding, it's good luck.
Don't hold a conversation or give something to someone over a threshold; it suggests the severing of the relationship (Maria reminds me of this everytime she drops something off at my room)
If you leave home and have to come back for something, glance in the mirror.
If a knife falls, a man will soon come; if a fork falls, a woman will come.
Don't give flowers in even numbers and don't give yellow flowers--these are only used for funerals.
If you find a coin lying face down (with the value not showing), pick it up for good luck.
If you see a wedding, it's good luck.
Don't hold a conversation or give something to someone over a threshold; it suggests the severing of the relationship (Maria reminds me of this everytime she drops something off at my room)
If you leave home and have to come back for something, glance in the mirror.
If a knife falls, a man will soon come; if a fork falls, a woman will come.
Don't give flowers in even numbers and don't give yellow flowers--these are only used for funerals.
If you find a coin lying face down (with the value not showing), pick it up for good luck.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Living the Moscow High Life (for a weekend)
Well! I had what I would call a rather classy weekend this past week. Saturday evening we dressed up and went to the Bolshoi Theater, a very renowned theater in Moscow, and saw three ballet performances. I was rather unclassy and bought 7-Up instead of champagne (but it came in a glass bottle). The ballets were very nice, although I don't think I'll remember much detail from them. I did get pictures of the theater, which is lovely.
On Sunday I ventured out on the metro by myself for the first time and made my way to St. Andrew's, an international Anglican church. I stayed for the worship service and was warmly welcomed by people afterwards--at one point I had several Americans around me giving me their phone numbers "in case I ever need anything." It was so good to be back at church--I felt almost like I was home. Afterwards a British lady that works at the embassy invited me out to lunch and an American lady joined us. We went to a rather expensive place where I had beef stroganoff. I learned a lot from the two women about life in Moscow. I'm looking forward to going back to St Andrew's.
Sunday evening the OSU group went on a boat ride on the Moskva River. We had dinner, paid for by our program fees. I had salmon shashlik with baked potato and vegetables, borscht, and fresh apple juice. Fresh, frothy, expensive, and incredible apple juice. I felt rich. I also took some very nice pictures from the boat. I'll try to put them on Facebook at some point.
This weekend we're going outside Moscow to Vladimir and Suzdal, two ancient Russian towns. Should be interesting.
What's new in your life?
On Sunday I ventured out on the metro by myself for the first time and made my way to St. Andrew's, an international Anglican church. I stayed for the worship service and was warmly welcomed by people afterwards--at one point I had several Americans around me giving me their phone numbers "in case I ever need anything." It was so good to be back at church--I felt almost like I was home. Afterwards a British lady that works at the embassy invited me out to lunch and an American lady joined us. We went to a rather expensive place where I had beef stroganoff. I learned a lot from the two women about life in Moscow. I'm looking forward to going back to St Andrew's.
Sunday evening the OSU group went on a boat ride on the Moskva River. We had dinner, paid for by our program fees. I had salmon shashlik with baked potato and vegetables, borscht, and fresh apple juice. Fresh, frothy, expensive, and incredible apple juice. I felt rich. I also took some very nice pictures from the boat. I'll try to put them on Facebook at some point.
This weekend we're going outside Moscow to Vladimir and Suzdal, two ancient Russian towns. Should be interesting.
What's new in your life?
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