Given that the conversations I’ve so far had with people have been just as I’m going to bed, I’m probably not giving a very enthusiastic impression of life in Russia. Therefore here are a few thoughts and general observances after my first few days here, written from a time when I am slightly more awake. I say slightly because I am still adjusting to the time zone. The others said they all started waking up at three and four in the morning and now it’s happening to me too. It’s not really helping my conversation skills.
Anyway, the first word I want to use to describe Tomsk is ‘old’; the whole place just feels like it has a lot of history. I’m not trying to say that it’s old fashioned (although there are certainly some parts that warrant that description) but it’s just not...modern? Western? Something like that. It definitely feels different.
There are a lot of wooden houses here as well which is apparently typical for Siberia, some of them look rather dilapidated and others look warmer than you’d think from a wooden house in Siberia. I even saw one that had burnt down in a fire and I’m sure there’s a proverb in there somewhere.
The other thing that characterises the streets here are the stray dogs; I don’t think I’ve seen so many dogs on the street before; I counted six in the space of a minute whilst walking home yesterday. It makes me wonder why people bother having other dogs as pets (which they do, I’ve seen them being walked on leads arguing with the strays) when there are so many just roaming, looking for homes.
The third thing that I’ve noticed on the streets is a lack of pavements, particularly on the back streets where the block of flats that I’m living in is. I’m wondering if they’ll appear again once the snow melts or if that’s just a thing. I’m pretty sure the road will emerge at least four inches lower down on account of all the ice that’s built up. Pretty much every Russian I’ve spoken to has lamented how dirty the streets are now and how happy they are that it will be warmer soon.
Speaking of the temperature, the cold is actually reasonably manageable at the moment. I think the average is somewhere around minus 10 at the moment but the sun is shining and my coat is very warm so I’m coping. I think the worst thing about breathing outside in temperatures below zero is feeling the mucus in your nose instantly freeze and thaw. At least I assume that’s what it is, it feels pretty icky regardless.
Other than that I’m just trying to cope with the language. I keep telling myself that I’ve only been here three days and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy and I knew it was straight in at the deep end but seriously, the learning curve is so steep, it’s a wall and I’m banging my head against it trying to get vocabulary to stick. I don’t know what it is about Russian words that makes them just not want to stay in my head. As I said though it has only been three days and I’m still a touch jet lagged, things will improve and I’ll try and stay positive.
Until next time then.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Friday, 24 February 2012
It's going to be all white
Ha, I made a pun! It's definitely very white at the moment because of all the snow that I saw as we were coming down into Moscow Domodedovo airport (I can actually pronounce that now :P).
I also reckon it's going to be alright because as we were flying bits of Russian kept coming back to me. However I still crumble when anyone actually talks to me, making me feel incredibly British and a traitor to my degree because most of the time on the plane I didn't even try and just looked stunned and confused. I'll get there though.
My first impression of Russia is provided by Moscow airport as I have a very long time to wait till my flight to Tomsk. It's not even appeared on the departure board at all yet, so you know it's going to be a while. Anyway, so far Russia smells of petrol and cigarettes. I have no idea why it smells so strongly of petrol in this airport but it's potentially a dangerous combination of things to be smelling.
I can also say that I definitely don't care enough about my appearance to pass as a Russian woman. The women definitely seem to dress better over here and the majority of them seem to be wearing a fair bit of make-up. It's a good thing I conceded and actually brought some with me.
I think for the first time I'm vaguely enjoying being in an airport though. Normally the confused mess of cultures that serves to give an airport no culture at all puts me off and makes me irritable. However this time I feel like it gives me an oppourtunity to hide for a bit. For a few hours I'm a traveller, the same as everyone else, but it won't be long before I start sticking out.
To change the subject to something lighter: I found a thing that made me smile in the airport: the fact that large western brands exist over here with the names transliterated into cyrillic. I know it's not really that amusing and also pretty obvious that the big brands are in Moscow airport but seeing 'Baskin Robbins' written as 'Баскин Роббинс' is amusing to me.
So these are a few muddled thoughts on initial impressions of Russia, or as much as you can tell from inside an airport anyway, which as I said before is effectively cultureless.
P.s. funny story from moving out in Germany, a few of the bulbs in the flat had blown which I hadn't really noticed but the landlord said they had to come out of the deposit and that they were 22€ a piece. I looked horrified and tried to tell him I hadn't even noticed and I'd only been there for 5 months etc. etc. Then when we got back to the office he handed me about 80€ and said that was the remainder of the deposit. I was rather confused until we realised that I had understood 22 instead of 2.20. Perhaps the German still needs some work...
I also reckon it's going to be alright because as we were flying bits of Russian kept coming back to me. However I still crumble when anyone actually talks to me, making me feel incredibly British and a traitor to my degree because most of the time on the plane I didn't even try and just looked stunned and confused. I'll get there though.
My first impression of Russia is provided by Moscow airport as I have a very long time to wait till my flight to Tomsk. It's not even appeared on the departure board at all yet, so you know it's going to be a while. Anyway, so far Russia smells of petrol and cigarettes. I have no idea why it smells so strongly of petrol in this airport but it's potentially a dangerous combination of things to be smelling.
I can also say that I definitely don't care enough about my appearance to pass as a Russian woman. The women definitely seem to dress better over here and the majority of them seem to be wearing a fair bit of make-up. It's a good thing I conceded and actually brought some with me.
I think for the first time I'm vaguely enjoying being in an airport though. Normally the confused mess of cultures that serves to give an airport no culture at all puts me off and makes me irritable. However this time I feel like it gives me an oppourtunity to hide for a bit. For a few hours I'm a traveller, the same as everyone else, but it won't be long before I start sticking out.
To change the subject to something lighter: I found a thing that made me smile in the airport: the fact that large western brands exist over here with the names transliterated into cyrillic. I know it's not really that amusing and also pretty obvious that the big brands are in Moscow airport but seeing 'Baskin Robbins' written as 'Баскин Роббинс' is amusing to me.
So these are a few muddled thoughts on initial impressions of Russia, or as much as you can tell from inside an airport anyway, which as I said before is effectively cultureless.
P.s. funny story from moving out in Germany, a few of the bulbs in the flat had blown which I hadn't really noticed but the landlord said they had to come out of the deposit and that they were 22€ a piece. I looked horrified and tried to tell him I hadn't even noticed and I'd only been there for 5 months etc. etc. Then when we got back to the office he handed me about 80€ and said that was the remainder of the deposit. I was rather confused until we realised that I had understood 22 instead of 2.20. Perhaps the German still needs some work...
Monday, 6 February 2012
Flights and Thoughts on Leaving
Today I booked flights to Tomsk and said goodbye to several teachers at one of my schools. That's pretty much the schedule for the rest of the week as well. Rack up the goodbyes then fly away.
Thinking about leaving does tend to make me sad but I think it does also show that so far this year has been a success of some kind. I have been able to cope so well in Germany that a large part of me doesn't want to go.
Leaving is also even harder when I'm so unsure as to when exactly I'll be back. I'd like to come back over the summer for a bit but nothing's certain. I'm going to try and focus on the positives though and not think about leaving as a cold, hard, severing of all new ties here. Facebook is, as ever, proving an incredibly useful tool for keeping in touch with people.
Other positives include the fact that yesterday I bought tattoo pens (just because) and I now have a tiny black lizard on my right hand, and also the head teacher at one school gave me a dvd about Leipzig 'to remember them by'.
I'm going to miss this crazy and wonderful country.
Thinking about leaving does tend to make me sad but I think it does also show that so far this year has been a success of some kind. I have been able to cope so well in Germany that a large part of me doesn't want to go.
Leaving is also even harder when I'm so unsure as to when exactly I'll be back. I'd like to come back over the summer for a bit but nothing's certain. I'm going to try and focus on the positives though and not think about leaving as a cold, hard, severing of all new ties here. Facebook is, as ever, proving an incredibly useful tool for keeping in touch with people.
Other positives include the fact that yesterday I bought tattoo pens (just because) and I now have a tiny black lizard on my right hand, and also the head teacher at one school gave me a dvd about Leipzig 'to remember them by'.
I'm going to miss this crazy and wonderful country.
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