The Thaw and Refreeze

After the record snow fall which Muscovites haven't seen the likes of in over 50 years, the temperature has begun to reach above freezing. This is the first time I've walked by the Metro station Университет (Universitet) and not seen a negative sign in front of the temperature. This is great because that means spring is on its way, but this is also terrible because the 4 feet of snow is starting to melt and if anyone has dealt with slush and melting snow they know how disgusting it is. But of course this is Russia and nothing is too easy, so the temperatures today dropped. Everything is frozen again and all the gross slush is now slippery ice.

So on Tuesday it was Defenders of the Fatherland Day which replaced the old Red Army Day from the Soviet times. This is essentially "men's" day. Women are supposed to give the men in their lives flowers and celebrate them and their service to the country. Not knowing how to properly celebrate "Men's Day", Amitesh, Angela and I took a trip to the New Tretyakov Gallery. This art gallery focused on the 20th and 21st centuries in Russian art which was very convenient since I had taken a course about this less then a year ago. We got lost in the immense collection of art for over 2 hours and didn't even realize how much time had gone by. The sad part was we even skipped some exhibits. But it was so great getting to see the real masterpieces by constructivist Tatlin (Tatlin's Tower), neoprimativist and suprematist Malyevich (Black Square) and many other works by artists such as Goncharova, Kandinsky and Repin.

On Wednesday I was able to prove myself as a true Russian on the ice skating rink by doing moves that Evgeni Plushenk wouldn't even dare to do. Even though this might be slight exaggeration, I had never been ice skating on an outside rink or gone ice skating so cheaply before.

Thursday and Friday are blurred together but I do know that on one of these days we traveled out of the city to visit an old monastery. Коломенское or Kolomenskoye was originally a small village outside of Moscow which was loved by the aristocrats. The Tsars soon began to build in the area a palace, monastery and things of that sort. So Amitesh, Sasha and I metroed out to the area and took a nice walk through the slush to these stunning old orthodox churches.






Later that evening we went to a hilarious Tex-Mex restaurant called "La Cantina" which was located down the street from Red Square. Going to a Mexican restaurant in Moscow kind of killed a dream of mine to be the first to open one up there, but it was still a very nice reminder of home. Inside was hanging American, Texas and Mexican flags as well some unexpected ones like Germany, Austria, Argentina, etc. Their idea of nachos is a little different then ours, especially the salsa. There was really no spice to it, only bell peppers and a ketchup taste. The enchiladas that I ordered really weren't too bad, plus they were a good size portion which is rare here. My favorite part of the whole experience was the lady who professionally walked around wearing cowboy boots, hat and short shorts from table to table explaining what tequila was and then charging people to take a shot with her. I fondly name her Tila Tequila.



This is a really awkward group picture in front of the Mexican restaurant, but I think it's awesome.

Over the weekend we went to an Indian restaurant on top of a hotel that looked over Moscow State University and the Moskva River. And we're also trying to deal with a lot of issues and problems regarding KEI (my study abroad program) and the coordinator here in Moscow. But other than these few bumps, everything is sailing along fine.

Da Svidaniya!

Snow Storm

It's been snowing like crazy in Moscow the past few days. The plows and professional shovelers are having a difficult time keeping up, not to mention its a holiday weekend as well. After class on Friday everything was pretty clear, but then the snow started. Sasha, Amitesh and I wanted some pictures and stuff so we went out to Храм Христа Спасителя (Khram Khrista Spasitelya) which means Cathedral of Christ the Savior.



It's currently the tallest Eastern Orthodox church and a lot more impressive in person than I ever imagined. It was originally built in the late 1800's but after the Soviets moved the capital back to Moscow, they wanted that prime location next to the Kremlin and Moskva River for themselves. So in 1931 it was razed to the ground in hopes of building the "Palace of the Soviets" in its place.



This horrifying building (yes, it was to be topped with Lenin) was to be the tallest in the world and even beating out the newly constructed Empire State Building. But due to the poor foundation next to the river and falling economic conditions leading up to WWII the whole plan was scraped. Years later Nikita Khrushchev turned it into a public swimming pool. After the Soviet Union collapsed, The Russian Federation gave permission to the Orthodox Church to rebuild the church, which was completed in the late 90's.

Well I hope you enjoyed that little history lesson. Everyday that I go out, I learn something new and fascinating like that!

Due to popular demand, I will finally talk about my observations of the Olympics and Russians. First of all, so many people are wearing Russia themed clothing, it's actually really cool to see. Everyone seems to have sweatshirts, hats, scarfs dealing with supporting Russia in Vancouver. Also, the Russians are more in love with Evgenii Plushenko then I thought they could be. He's on advertisements and magazine covers all over. That's also another reason no one is happy about his loss. I haven't talked to anyone about him yet, but being from the US, I'll give it a couple more days. Last night we went to the cafe within the dorm and watched the Russia vs. Czech Republic Hockey match (which Russia won 4-2). It was packed with people at midnight who were all intensely watching the game and cheering at every goal. I imagine that Russians love their hockey team like Brazilians and Soccer.
Another big thing I've noticed is the large amount of advertisement and pride in the 2014 Winter Olympics which will be held in Сочи (Sochi), Russia which is in the very south on the Black Sea between Ukraine and Georgia. This is the first time the Russian Federation has ever hosted the Olympics. It was in Moscow, USSR in 1980 for the Summer Games, but many western nations including the US boycotted the games and didn't attend plus the were in the Soviet Union and people here don't count that apparently. Anyways, there are signs and clothing dedicated to Sochi everywhere and that is something I would love to attend. Speaking of Olympic clothing, we went to the official Russia Olympic gear store in GUM only to find jackets for 49,000 rubles or 1,600.00$. Umm, no thanks.

So we took lots of pictures in the snow in Red Square and at the University. I'm not sure why, but I think we were all in a really big picture taking mood, so I have more from this day than any other. If you compare the pictures of Red Square from those posted 2 weeks ago, you'll notice how much snow came down in less then a day. Plus they are constantly plowing it.





Then on Saturday we went to find a graveyard where many famous Russians (Yeltsin, Khrushchev, Shostakovich, Chekhov, Prokofiev etc) are buried but kind of failed. We got so close, but then got confused and cold. We then went back home. But we did see a really awesome convent called Novodevichiy. The grave yard is associated with this church but next to it, not in it like we thought.






The last two days have been pretty relaxed. We've been playing a Russian card game called "Durak" which means idiot. I'm pretty good and will challenge anyone in the States.

Till next time,
Justin

The Bureaucracy of Collectivization

You may be thinking that this is a strange blog post title, but as I've been living here in Russia, I've noticed a few things that are either left over from the Soviets or that still mimic Soviet life.



The first of these realizations came last night as I was walking to the dorm. I was gazing at the MSU Stalinist skyscraper (shown above) when I thought "man, it is so cool that all the students live under one roof in a school this big" at that moment I saw the hammer and sickle which still adorns the top of the tower. I suddenly realized that this was the exact thing that the Soviet government was going for. I had a horrible flash to the really depressing novel "The Foundation Pit" by Platonov, who wrote about this very subject of building one huge structure to house all the "proliteriates" or workers and the terrible things that happened to these people because of the collectivization of their farms.

The next one of these moments happened today when I was a the super store called Ашан pronounced as a-shawn, but because its French it's spelled as Auchan. Well as I was there today I bought a чайник or chai'nik, I don't know what to call this in English but you plug it in and it boils water. Anyways, I bought this thing and the lady tells me I need to go around to another place after I pay. But of course she said it all so fast, I just couldn't follow her at all. Plus the idea of paying for something then returning to the store was completely foreign to me. So, I decided to just leave. But they stopped me naturally and made me return to this "technology" desk which was just a table near the exit. Here a lady took my chai'nik, opened it, plugged it in and turned it on to make sure it worked. After it turned on, she pulled out a piece of paper from the box and started to fill it out. Once she was done she grabbed a huge stamp and stamped the paper. From there she passed the paper to me and made me sign as well verifying that the 10$, plastic, cheapest thing I could find, American made chai'nik worked and I had one week to return it. Ugh. It was so much work just to make tea.

The second thing that happened which was ridiculous was when I wanted to buy an 30 ruble (99 cent) ice cream bar from the little convenience store in our sector. I went up to the register that I always use, with the same cute Russian girl who works there every night. But tonight was different,I had ice cream and not water. Therefore, she looked at me sadly and told me I had to go to a different register on the other side of this store the size of my bedroom and pay for the ice cream there. I still can't comprehend why certain registers can only check certain items out of 1 store, especially when I only pay in cash and spend 1$! What if I had bought water and ice cream, would I have to check out at 2 spots?

Well everyday I have questions like this to think about. But, I'm still having a blast. The people I have interacted with have been amazing. Today I went to two museums. The first was about and at the house of author, poet, painter Lermontov and the second was at the apartment and about the composer Scriabin. In both of these places they didn't speak any English which was great, and the old babushkas who worked there were all so sweet. They all spoke slowly and coherently and took me around their respective museums. They told me jokes and were asking what I was doing in Moscow. It was a great day and I would recommend anyone to make a stop by those two places.

So that's how I have been. Russian classes are still going well. I can feel slight improvements in my skills everyday which is awesome. Next week we start our Soviet history class which we're taking with a group of Russians. I'm really excited about this and the opportunity to make some good Russian friends! (plus talk to them about their opinions about the USSR and things like that). Everything occurs when it does here and there is no real organization that people live by. I've embraced this so who knows what I'll experience in the next few days!

Until then,
Пока! (poka or informal goodbye)

Settling in Moscow

(My student ID that I have to present to guards like 50 times a day)

The last few days I've just been settling into my new environment. Since nothing here is done easy, the only way I could get internet in my room is by going to another student who lives in my dorm. Apparently this guy is the most useful guy ever. Not only does he control all the internet but also sells tobacco and alcohol. He has quite the business set up in his room. Anyways, once he came down to my room, he pulled out the Ethernet cable that comes into my window. And yes there is no internet wiring inside our building it's all outside going from window to window like a huge spiderweb. But after paying about 20$ I now have internet from now until I leave.



So yesterday was our first "Russian Seminar" class which is every Saturday. It's just covering Russian Culture which is something I consider myself to be very knowledgeable about. So I didn't learn too much new. Plus our teacher's English isn't the best, or at least that's what I'm hoping after she said things like "This is Ivan the Terrible, he was our most cruel and mean Tsar, he did a lot of cruel and mean things"... yeah. But one cool thing about the class is that after each lecture we take an excursion to a museum of some sort. Like yesterday we went to the History of Moscow Museum.

Later that evening, our friend Bernadette who has been studying here since last September told us about a great Georgian (the country not the state) restaurant. So once we got there we went up to the second floor of this building and found a casino in what used to be a restaurant. This comes a day after Bernadette had led us around downtown Moscow next to Mayakovskaya Station to find a shopping mall that didn't actually exist either.

But even though we didn't find those original places we were looking for, we did find some things that were still pretty cool. For example, we went to Patriarch's Pond which is that location of the first scene of Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita". Then instead of a Georgian restaurant we found a great pirogi place which sold really cheap and good food.




One of the last really fun things that we did was buy ice cream from ГУМ (the huge shopping mall that makes up one entire side of Red Square, pronounced as goom) and go outside in the 10 degrees to eat it. The best part was that it doesn't melt while walking around. So you could be out there with your ice cream for hours with no problems at all.

Lessons of the First 3 Days

Here is a list of things I've learned in just the first few days.

1) Styling hair is absolutely useless. I might as well throw the gel out. First of all it pegs me as a foreigner. Second, how am I supposed to take hats on and off all day with out messing it up....impossible.

2) Put drinks and other items that need refrigeration between the first and second layers of windows. This does the job quicker and more eco friendly.

3) Make sure not to leave said drinks in the window too long. The become super cooled and turn to ice instantly when you start drinking it.

4) There is no reason to put on 4 layers of clothing when going from the dorm entrance to the main building. Its best just to run.

5) Dogs live everywhere, they are homeless but loved by all Russians. They actually do no harm and look sweet. They have full access to the Metro and it is not uncommon to have the dogs riding from station to station. It's even been said that they know how to get on at one station travel around all day and return to the same place later on.

6) If Moscow truly has the title of the "Most expensive city in the World" then why do I spend an average of 50 rubles or 1.60 USD on all my meals(including meat, potatoes, pastry and a drink).

7) I have an American accent.

8) People warned me that cars don't stop for you if you're crossing the street. This is officially a fact. As I crossed a street the little green walk guy turned red. So cars went...but, I was still in the road.

8.5) Snow plows don't stop either. Even on sidewalks.

9) Slipping on ice and snow is more common than you'd hope.

10) Students are students and make due with what they have, and if that includes playing soccer at 9pm outside in 10 degrees on the ice, making goal posts out of snow, slipping and sliding for the ball...so be it.

11) MSU might as well be a school/ shopping mall with all the little stores including clothing shops, candy shops and flower stores that are throughout the building.

12) New snow is actually a good thing. It allows you to get better grip than when it is ice.

Well those are some of the major ones so far. I learn new lessons everyday.

Finally here are a few more pictures from the past couple days. Notice the significant increase in snowfall since Monday!



These people wearing those big green jackets are everywhere constantly shoveling snow at the university. Can you imagine being a professional snow shoveler?



Me in front of one of many Pushkin statues.



The Russian Foreign Ministry. Notice how it looks similar to Moscow state and the nice adornment of Communist propaganda.



A view of the front of Moscow State, some argue this is the back. It's identical so nobody really knows (but I do think its the front).

Until next time,

Джастин - (Justin in Cyrillic)

Arrival in Moscow

Yesterday I left Toby in Frankfurt and flew to Moscow! But before I go into detail about that, I would like to talk about my last 2 days with Tobias.
On Thursday, Toby had a meeting in Munster, Germany. We first went to Mirle's home village in the center of the Netherlands where we dropped her off. Once Toby had dropped me off in Munster, I quickly realized how much I had already knew about the city from my history classes at A&M. First thing was the Peace at Westphalia which was signed in their town hall. The second was 3 cages that hung from the main church's spire. These are significant because the held the bodies of 3 antibaptist in the early 17th century as a warning to other antibaptists not to go against the church.




One great thing about traveling in Europe in the winter is the lack of other tourists. The problem with traveling in Europe is that you soon become the tourist attraction. For example, While in Munster, I took a city tour, on a bus, alone. The worst part was that the bus was split in two parts with a hitch thing connecting the two. And I wasn't even in the part with the driver... It was hard to look at things when all the people were looking at you too.



Next we drove to Frankfurt am Main. Toby had another meeting, this one for a venture group he is helping to create. So I had the day to explore. I had a feeling that there wouldn't be too much to do there. At first it had reminded me of a German Houston. But I was luckily wrong and there were plenty of fascinating sites to see. I was able to tour the Goethe House, which was home to the famous writer who wrote such things as "Faust". I also saw a Picasso art gallery which made me feel cultured.





Lastly that evening, Toby, two German guys both named Thomas and I went to the second ever "Hooter's" in Germany. And I can proudly say that it doesn't even compare to the worst Hooter's in the US. Service was bad, (I mainly take Toby and the other guys advice on that since I couldn't understand her) and food was cold. Also, I don't think they really knew how to make my quesadilla properly.

Finally Toby and I said our goodbyes at about 7 am the next morning right before I boarded my flight to Moscow.





Ok, so after I fought my way through the people at customs, I at last was in Russia. I found my driver (who spoke no English) and when to is Soviet styled Лада-(Lada) He was very friendly, asking me questions about where I was from, what I was studying, what type of car I drive. He also asked me some questions I did not understand.
Once at Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова - Moscovskii Gosudarstvennii Universitet imeni M. V. Lomonosova or Lomonosov Moscow State University I met up with Irina who is our very nice and helpful coordinator. She helped me get registered for the dorm (I'm on the second floor, which is sad since there are about 10 floors in my dorm and at A&M I never got below third in four story buildings), university, Russia and things like that. She also showed us where we can eat, how to get around campus, and things of that sort. I also got to meet two more of the guys in my program, Jack from NC State and Amitesh from India who recently graduated from UT. Later that night we tried to take some pictures of the university but almost froze to death after almost being ran over.





As you can see, our rooms are tiny, which isn't too bad since we don't have roommates, but the beds are even smaller! Today we explored more of the University and took some Russian tests to see what levels we are at. After looking at our tests and talking to us, they saw that the three of us understand grammar really well but really need to focus on speaking and conversation skills, which is exactly what I wanted. We start classes tomorrow and they will be for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. So I expect to improve quickly.

Lastly we explored the Moscow Metro. I will leave you with some pictures of the things I saw. Sorry for the long post, but there's just so much that's been going on!

More in Maastricht

The last two days have been pretty relaxing. After my last post we went out to one of these old churches that have been converted to a very modern hotel. A group of us including Toby, Mirle, Moritz and his girlfriend Natalie sat down for a nice glass of wine to end the day. Below is the church which has been converted to a book store.



Since the weather has finally cleared up, we have been able to check out more of Maastricht. Toby and I walked around town as he pointed out the most important areas. For example, the city hall, which is where Toby believes they signed the Treaty of Maastricht that created the modern EU and Euro in the early 1990's.



I also had the chance to try some authentic Dutch food which includes a lot of meat and potatoes. In the evening, Toby, Moritz and I went to a bar where we ordered many types of beer for us to try. We even ordered a couple plates of bitterballen(pictured below), which were great. It's like a breaded ball of mashed potatoes with meat mixed in it which you dip into mustard, kind of like crab cakes or something like that.



Today I received the rest of my complete tour of the area. We drove over the border and got gas in neighboring Belgium.



Well today was my last day in Maastricht. Toby says that they have a great European Studies Masters program in Maastricht, I think this would be a great place to live and study. Tomorrow at about 6am, Toby, Mirle and I will be driving to Mirle's village to drop her off. She leaves for Beijing on Monday to study Chinese amongst other things until the summer. From here, Toby and I will drive to Münster, Germany where he has a meeting and I will try and do some sightseeing.

Only 2 more days till Moscow!

Catching up on Sleep

Basically two days of moving houses and two days of straight travelling caught up to me yesterday. After Toby, Gerhard and I left the airport, we went to Essen to pick up Toby's car. Then we drove to Maastricht, Netherlands. But Toby and I were having such good discussions, he got distracted and drove an hour and a half in the wrong direction. We didn't arrive to his flat until 3am.

Therefore as soon as I laid down, I crashed for like 18 hours. I finally got up for real after 7pm and ate some dinner. We then went to see Sherlock Holmes. Luckily the Dutch don't dub over movies, the just put subtitles down at the bottom. Some interesting facts about Dutch movie theaters include alway putting an intermission in the middle of the movie. So it just randomly stops so everyone can get up, use the bathroom, buy drinks and return. Also, cup-holders don't exist.

Today we went into Maastricht, where we ate some lunch and had free espresso. One cool thing that they do in Maastricht is turning old churches into places that are more useful to modern times. For example, one is a bookstore, one is a hotel and another is a night club. They make them so nothing can touch the walls and everything must be removable. Apparently espresso is a big deal in Europe. They have espresso "bars" where they make only espressos for you. I never knew that you could get one of 20 different flavors of espresso.

I've been doing a lot of hanging out with Toby, his girlfriend Mirle, brother Fred and roommate Moritz. They are a lot of fun and are teaching me many different cultural things.

Well it is time for dinner, before I go, some more pictures.