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| Каждый День: My Life in Russia By: Emily Long There is no such thing as an average day in Russia. Every day is unpredictable and full of surprise and confusion and excitement, but this is what I came to love about my semester abroad. When I left the warm weather and comfortable atmosphere of Georgia for the St. Petersburg unknown on January 25th, I couldn't picture what the next 16 weeks would entail. So, when I landed at the dark, snowy, and cold Pulkovo airport, I was incredibly nervous. Petersburg is Russia's cultural center, built as Peter the Great's «Window to the West». The city is beautiful both when covered in snow and during the warm and sunny spring. I moved in with a family on Vasilevsky Island, only a 10 minute walk from the university at which I was studying. I had my own room next door to two other foreign students, one from England and one from Austria. We formed a sort of bond, and their friendship was one of the keys to my early adjustment. My other close friend was Megan, a student from Cornell who was also on my abroad program; we were in the same class and hung out together often. We attended class together for 3 hours every morning with other students from around the world, and because we were the only native English speakers in our group, class was conducted entirely in Russian. I am still in awe that the only common bond and means of communication we had was this difficult language, and I am positive that complete immersion is the only way to improve language skills. We studied a range of subjects, from vocabulary and grammar to newspaper reading and essay writing. When I first arrived, I was afraid to speak in response to even the most basic questions, but every day was a test of my oral ability, and by the final class I was confident in those skills and able to carry on a comfortable conversation. On Monday and Tuesday afternoons, we returned to school after lunch to study folklore and history. These classes were open to everyone, not just students at our language level. This was difficult because the professors lectured using words we didn't know. On Thursday evenings I taught English conversation to several groups of Russian students. I was responsible for picking the topics and planning the lessons, and I discovered how difficult it is to be a teacher. My host mother, Elena, fixed both breakfast and dinner for me every day. Breakfast, which was usually blini (little pancakes), cereal, fruit, and yogurt, was waiting on the table before I left for school. I loved Russisan yogurt and milk! Dinner was served promptly at 7. Russian diets are extremely different from ours, and although by the end of the semester I had had my fill of sour cream, meat cutlets, and oil, I really enjoyed borscht, blini, salads, and pelmini dumplings. The challenges I faced in Russia, like the extremely short winter days, the April snow storms, and the frustrated attempts to order tea or a sandwich at a café, were eventually overcome by the amazing things I experienced, like the beautiful «White Nights», talking at length about a topic in class, and finding delicious restaurants and fascinating museums and theater performances, and I left St. Petersburg with a great sense of accomplishment and the desire to return someday soon. |
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