From Russia with Love

Back at RGGU

Здравствуйте из России! Hello from Russia! I’ve been in the Motherland for about a week now. Moscow is quite gloomy during this time of year (the weather, not the Russian spirit). In fact, it is raining right now. The view outside my bedroom window, with the Stalinist architecture located just across the courtyard and the dark clouds hanging from the sky, reminds me of a scene from a Cold War film. I am just waiting for the fog to clear, revealing a KGB agent dressed in black and ordered to keep an eye on this “Americanetz.” Okay, enough of the imaginative. No more Cold War, and no more Soviet Union. This is the Russian Federation after all!

So what have I been up to? What a great question! Here are the most important (and interesting) things:

My flight to Moscow: Long. I first flew from D.C. to Frankfurt, Germany, where I had a six hour layover before my flight to Moscow. In the spirit of adventure, I decided to explore this European city for a few hours. While riding the metro, I met a gentleman from Angola, who told me all about his business adventures in South Korea and China. As it was also his first time in Frankfurt, we decided to put our heads together in an attempt to master the German metro. Despite our best attempts, we had to ask the locals for help. Thankfully, many of them spoke English and were more than happy to show us the way. When we reached the center of the city, we said our goodbyes, leaving me to wander around the city on foot and take some pictures before returning to the airport for a traditional German meal: beer and sausages with a side order of potatoes. Thus went my mini German adventure. Next stop, Moscow!

First night in Moscow: I landed in Moscow at 8pm Moscow time. By this time, I was completely exhausted and highly delirious from lack of sleep during my nearly 24-hr travel ordeal. Thankfully, I did not have to take the metro to my new home – my cultural adviser met me at the airport and accompanied me on my 40-min drive to the apartment. As I slipped in and out of sleep in the back seat of the taxi while listening to the Russian pop music playing on the radio, I caught the occasional glimpse of this beautiful city. I saw the Kremlin lit up in all its glory, Red Square,  Arbat, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and other classic sights in Moscow. The city is truly magical in the evening; it’s no wonder there’s a song appropriately titled “Moscow Nights.” Suddenly I saw fireworks exploding across the sky. Am I hallucinating? Are these manifestations of my imagination, or of my delirium for that matter? Then it hit me – today is Moscow’s 865th birthday, and the city is erupting in celebration. I then arrived at the apartment, where I was greeted by my host mother. After my fill of tea, potatoes and vegetables (kindly prepared by my host mother), I slept…. No, I crashed… and for 14hrs.

Rest of the week: The remainder of the week was less eventful. I slept a lot to minimize the effects of jet lag. I practiced my Russian at the nearby open-air market, where I bought fresh bananas, apples and blueberries from a lady who kindly complimented my Russian. During my next trip there, she told me about her grandson, who is learning English at a nearby elementary school. On Monday, I took a placement exam at the university. And on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I had review sessions with three different professors at the university. Formal classes begin on Monday. The rest of the week was filled with trips to Red Square and Gorky Park, as well as trips to the store. I also studied grammar and vocab words to prepare for classes on Monday. The evenings were filled with cooking sessions and unforgettable conversations with my host mother.

Needless to say, I am excited to begin classes tomorrow. I look forward to getting back into an academic routine, and I am excited to meet new people. I already had the privilege of being introduced to students from Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Japan when I went to the university’s international students’ office. Yeah, I can already see that this is going to be a great year.

*Note below: (top left corner) Me signing the language pledge. The six pictures after that (going from left to right) were taken in Germany, while the remainder of the pictures were taken in Moscow.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 9th, 2012 at 9:14 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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