Oh Right I Still Have A Blog...

Novgorod was okay, and cold. The countryside was beautiful, and we went to a wooden construction museum which was created as a parallel to colonial Williamsburg, so there were people walking around in costume haha. Shot of vodka in the middle of the day made the cold bearable, which was good. It started to snow, but it snowed for the first time the night before so it was kind of old news. Our tour guide was amazing and so eccentric. Her name was Natalya and she had a British elitist accent, but she wasn't trying to be elitist which is why it was amazing haha. She was a bitch to the driver, but to us she was nice and kept calling us American popsicles since we were all so damn cold haha. Best quote: "The population of Novgorod the Great is 215,000, but this is not correct."

Uh what else...Sunday's plan to go to the flea market was a bust since my group had to meet with some Vassar alumni who are on vacation in Europe at the Peter and Paul Fortress. They were nice, and I met a woman named Becky who graduated in '45 and was an architectural history major at Vassar. We actually had an interesting conversation about renovation and restoration of historic sites, and how while some places like the Ise Temple in Japan will recreate the temple using the same materials and techniques every 15? or so years, Americans would rather keep the facade, but then change the interior to last longer with new materials and style. But yeah, free dinners both days were very welcome.

Monday was meh. Tuesday was eh. Wednesday was :D and -_- at moments. The -_-: paying 4 dollars for a coke at lunch (never again.), the rain, the line at the Hermitage, getting lost at the Hermitage, STILL not deciding what to write about for my paper, and realizing "ladies' dance" was in fact not ballroom. But the :D overpowered all the -_-s like

- having my Russian professor be her wonderful self and suggest going to the ballet, and bringing me to her datcha one weekend in November.

- seeing the Rubens and the amazing second floor of the Hermitage

- running into Natalya, our tour guide from Novgorod, at the museum and having her ask me how "the talkative boy" is doing haha.

- bento box :O (though really the $4 coke ruined it for me)

- ladies' dance turned out to be good exercise and a nice time to just dance like a fool without feeling like a fool. yay women's self-empowerment through modern and jazz dance! and the music was great, it was all gotan project and celine dion and christina aguilera hahaha

- lols the movie 2012 playing on mute while the pianist was playing music

- jazz club was. amazing. the pianist was cool, and the three people i met were great characters:

Aleksei (aka Obelisk) - 24, camo bandana, lanyard with keys and usb hanging around his neck, fingerless leather gloves, sleeveless sweatshirt, crazy eyes; definitely a strange character, i dont even think it was fully the alcohol esp since he only had like two beers. he first approached me asking what kind of asian i was in russian, only i didnt realize it until he said "koreahna? yaponiya?" and i was like "oh...niet, ya kitaika" and he was very amused that i knew almost no russian. i was very amused he knew almost no english except at one point he was remarking something at the next table and said "holy shit, motherfucker!" hahahah. he got into a cute tussle with another dude over who could get into the bathroom first, and it was just. lols on many levels. he was nice, he invited me over to his table and was very animated. offered to walk me home but i told him i was close and he backed off like a gentleman haha. before he left, he took both my and Alice's hands and kissed them, and then gave me a little kiss on the cheek before he left. haha what a character

Dmitri (aka Brahjah) - 28, tall lanky awkward looking guy, bowl cut; very much embarrassed that he didnt know a lot of english, and he kept trying to ask me things but totally failing. ended up saying "i love you" a lot to me without fully realizing what it meant hahaha. things like "i love you fight," "i love you music," "i love you deutsch." apparently is learning (and struggling with) german. not as much of a character as aleksei, but talkative and nice haha. made me a nice napkin rose since aleksei wanted to know how to make one himself.

and finally,

Alice - 18, college freshman, russian hipster :O since she was wearing red converses, jeans, and hipsterish glasses and was constantly on her blackberry haha; when i sat at the table, it was between her and dmitri, and she kept looking at me up and down without saying anything. i started feeling awkward but then i was like oh fuck it and turned to her and asked what her name was in russian. then she responds "Alice. Do you speak English?" and i was like HOLY SHIT YES I DO, HELLO :D instant bond. hahah she's an international studies major at Smolni Institute, which is where the other international study abroad program is based, so she's met some other people from abroad. she had pretty good english and she doesnt drink alcohol, but smokes. she's also bi and has a girlfriend in Moscow, which is where she's originally from (and then the woman behind us at the next table was like "oh my god me too, we're like neighbors!") she also knew the pianist since he's also a student, and she helped translate some of the questions obelisk and dmitri had for me. she also told dmitri what "i love you" meant and he was like O_O OH and then looked away all embarrassed hahahaha. she was super friendly and also gave me a kiss on the cheek before she left. gotta love russian customs which essentially is sitting with strangers and talking to them as though they've been old chums haha

i got all three of their numbers but i dont think i'll ever see any of them again unfortunately :( but the whole experience was just. excellent.

best decision ive made since being here :)

i am so happy.

i just had korean food for the first time in months and it was orgasmic, i dont even care that i paid $15 and ate by myself. it was just that good.

i had to do it because i am tired of trying to find ballroom shoes, and being bitten out by mosquitos. x-x;

swiss center english classes have been good, i hope both girls don't drop out -_-;

long week ahead, so many excursions and meetings and outings..

"Korean Hamburger Time!"

three things today:

my russian professor is the nicest woman in the world. today we were supposed to have an epic 4 hour class (11am to like 2:40pm with a break), but when I asked to clarify what time we would get out, she asked me if I had plans later. I told her I wanted to go to the Hermitage and pick an object for my final project. And her response? "Oh okay, that sounds good, we can end earlier. But don't you need to drop off your bag at home?" And I told her that I would just leave my textbooks at the University for tomorrow and she goes "Oh so then I can't give you homework...it's okay, you can just do it over the weekend!" When we approached 2pm, she then was like "Oh no, we went a bit over time, do you want a ride? I'm driving near that same area anyway." Uh. Yes. lol her car has a stickshift, and it was just so interesting watching her drive. Not as crazy dangerous as I thought it would be, and we talked about driving in general. I also go to look at her college students' English workbooks, which were really colorful and looks like something for an elementary school. During class, we even talked about Sex and the City and how Baryshnikov played "Aleksandr Petrovski" lol she's so great.

When I got to the Hermitage, it was amazing. So many rooms and I nearly died seeing all the famous Gauguins, Matisses, Cezannes sitting just rooms apart. Their Asian art was pretty good, but kind of awkward since they also have like. Asian armor and swords next to statues of Buddha and scroll paintings...

Our group ran into two reporters from the Toronto Star, who are in Russia to do some pieces on Saint Petersburg. They were both from Poughkeepsie, even! They recognized Vassar College, and even mentioned that last night they were at a bar where they met more Vassar people, who are actually part of the other Russian study abroad program through Bard. They also wanted our opinions on the Hermitage. I mean really, crazy coincidence on so many levels.

After the Hermitage we went to get some coffee and snacks at a bar right next to the first Korean restaurant I've spotted here. Would've loved getting Korean, but it was so expensive. Saw a lot of Koreans sitting and eating though which is a good sign. It's just nice knowing there is a korean restaurant somewhere near me (about like an hour away) and that it also has karaoke. Ahhhh I must go at some point.

recap

pavlovsk was amazing. i love the fall and all the photos i took there, it was absolutely gorgeous

gregoriev was definitely in his element and was very happy today being in the print room. so interesting seeing the storage at the hermitage, filled with albums and portfolios from as far back as the 17th century just sitting on these huge shelves. i did cringe a lot since he kept touching the prints with his ungloved hands--but he's the head of prints and knows what he's doing i guess haha.

uhhh yeah

fun weekend, more fun to come, yay.