One year on

I’ve realised that people are still reading this blog, even after I’d long abandoned it, which I really appreciate. I hope that it has helped people going on their year abroad 🙂

It’s now been over a year since I returned from my year abroad in Russia, which is hard to believe. I’ve now graduated with a 2:1 degree in Russian, and am looking for a job.

My last few weeks in Russia were not the best time I’ve ever had. I was feeling quite lonely and struggled to keep myself motivated. However, I survived, helped by the fact that my family were able to visit me for a few days.

My last day in Russia was absolutely horrendous, and (through no fault of my own whatsoever, I must add), I ended up in a Russian police station with no clue what was going on, wondering if I would ever get my belongings back as we were locked out of the apartment. Luckily I’d had the sense to grab my passport and phone before we were forced from the flat by some very frightening people, and I was able to keep calm thanks to the woman I spoke to at the British Embassy. This was a terrifying experience that I don’t like to remember, and I was so so glad to be on that plane and travelling back to safety.

Having said all of that, my year abroad was an amazing and eye opening experience. I came back so much more confident, with better Russian, and a belief in myself that others could see as well. I gained experience working for a tourist magazine, and 5000 roubles payment, as my boss was impressed with how I’d worked, which was great to hear. I also finally bought myself a Fabergé egg, which I’d wanted ever since I saw one of my first trip to Russia back in 2007!

While I was there, I realised that it wasn’t that I was homesick for my home specifically, but actually for my country. Just the ability to go into a food shop and know exactly what it is that you’re buying is something that you take for granted until you can’t do it any more!

There are many things I miss about my time there, for example being surrounded by amazing culture, and buildings, such as the Winter Palace, and the white nights (although not having sunset was quite annoying at the time), the food (particularly the blinis at Teremok and the raspberry Lipton Ice Tea which you can’t get here), and their metro system, which is much better than the London Underground.

A year abroad is a great experience. I had been dreading mine since I applied for university back in 2010, and it seems so silly now that I wasted so much time worrying about it. Yes, stepping on that plane and travelling far far away from all you know is scary, but it’s definitely worth it and I’m glad I stuck it through, because I think that I am a better person for it 🙂

Losing my way…

Apologies for not updating my blog in a while – I don’t really have an excuse. I started three different posts and haven’t been able to finish any of them because I lost my way (yes, even on the one titled ‘Finding Yourself’ – brilliant!) and I couldn’t see where they were going.

I also started a post yesterday that was going to be all about how I was feeling… which was rubbish. I mean, I was feeling rubbish, not that the post was rubbish (although it probably was). Originally I was going to hide my low feelings, but since this is a blog about travelling, I should probably be truthful!

I felt so bad yesterday I started looking up plane tickets home. Yep. I don’t know what it was, maybe a combination of the intense heat (it’s now +30 degrees every day and I don’t handle heat well), and the fact that I’ve been here for what feels like ages, but there is still so long to go. I looked up homesickness on Google,  hoping it would help, but it had the complete opposite effect and actually made me feel worse. Also, as soon as I get home, I have to say goodbye to one of my best friends for a whole year, which is sad (although I am very excited for you!!), and I wish I had more than a few hours to say it!

When I arrived at work yesterday, I’d got myself into a foul mood, which was not helped by the guy who has to let me in the building giving me an absolutely filthy look, like I just spat on him or something, when all I wanted was a smile!

Anyway, I’m feeling more optimistic today. I got some messages from friends coincidentally yesterday – they didn’t know I was feeling like this so having spontaneous messages was very uplifting!

Furthermore, I emailed the Third Year Abroad website to ask if they would feature this blog on their site, which they not only agreed to, but asked if I would write a piece for them as a St Petersburg ‘mole’! So that brightened up my day as well.

Tomorrow will mark half way through my time here, and it’s been my milestone to look forward to for a very long time now, so I’m glad it’s finally almost here! The second half of my time here should be better – my uncle is visiting with his school for 10 days next week, so I should be able to meet up with him, and then my parents are coming for 2 days in early August! They are currently applying for their visas, and I think they are having to eat humble pie – they used to think I was so silly for getting so worked up about visa applications, but now they understand just how ridiculous the whole process is!

I’ve also had some of my reviews posted on the In Your Pocket website! Here is my review for my new favourite place ‘Lemonade’: http://www.inyourpocket.com/russia/st-petersburg/Restaurants-in-St-Petersburg/vegetarian/Lemonade_117320v, as well as the CoCoCo restaurant: http://www.inyourpocket.com/russia/st-petersburg/Restaurants-in-St-Petersburg/Russian-and-Ukrainian/Cococo_117319v. I also wrote an article about Raketa, the oldest factory in Russia: http://www.inyourpocket.com/russia/Raketa,-the-oldest-factory-in-Russia_73143f.

I’ve also been updating some of the sections on their website that were missing information. It’s nice to see the results of my work!

So anyway, to try and drag some kind of theme out of this post, here’s some tips to try and get out of feeling homesick:

– Try and contact home, or friends – remember that someone somewhere cares about you!

– Watch some of your favourite TV shows, listen to music, or read a book, escapism is a great way to focus on something else!

– Go for a walk – fresh air always seems to help me a little (also, it reminds you that people are actually friendly in your new surroundings!)

– Eat/drink something comforting (I brought lots of my favourite tea from home and drink it with milk, much to the Russians’ confusion!)

– Try and keep busy. I find that work is a good distraction.

– Write it down (in blog or diary form). That way you can look back and remember how far you’ve come and what you’ve achieved.

I’m feeling much more motivated, and I have a day off tomorrow, so I’ll get working on those posts that are waiting in my drafts!

And something to keep in mind:

‘When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable’.
– Clinton Fadiman

Thank you!

So a few days ago I wrote a post with some quotes I found and liked about being alone (https://vickystravellerdiaries.wordpress.com/2013/06/08/some-quotes-about-being-alone/).

I liked one in particular because it really spoke to me; I felt like I completely understood it and it applied to me in my current situation. This is the quote:

“Real travel is not about the highlights with which you dazzle your friends once you’re home. It’s about the loneliness, the solitude, the evenings spent by yourself, pining to be somewhere else. Those are the moments of true value. You feel half proud of them and half ashamed and you hold them to your heart.”– Tahir Shah, In Arabian Nights.

I hadn’t heard of Tahir Shah before, but as I said, I really liked the quote. Anyway, a few days later, I came across his facebook page, and found this:

“Some Quotes About Being Alone. Many thanks for the mention!”

Unbelievably, the author actually found this little blog, and then shared the address on facebook and twitter! Suddenly I’m getting views from all over the world and it’s amazing!

So this is a post to say thank you, it was very much appreciated! (And I still can’t believe it happened!)

Just a quick update…

I just want to say thanks for all the follows and likes I’ve had over the past few days! It means a lot, so thank you.

I have started my internship at the In Your Pocket magazine. My first day did not go well… but then does anyone’s first day at a new job goes well? I did a few things wrong, and I couldn’t get any lunch because I didn’t have a pass card for the door. So I had to stand and look through the glass door into the cafe at the people who were allowed to go in, which was a bit depressing if I’m honest. Oh well.

I’ve also moved into my new apartment, which is nice, but very far from the metro station (it takes me about an hour to get into work). I also now have to cook for myself, so I ventured into a Russian ‘supermarket’ yesterday, only to come back with some bananas, a very cheap bag of pasta, and some tomato puree. Hmm. It wasn’t exactly well-stocked! So today I am going after work to try to find a better supermarket to buy some vegetables at least! I also haven’t seen my flat mate yet, which is strange, since I’ve now been there for 3 days, so I’ve had to figure things out for myself, such as the hob.

But things are looking slightly up – I managed to finally buy some milk (not proper English milk, but then I expected that), and made myself a cup of tea with the chai teabags I’d brought from home. My previous host kept laughing at me and saying that I was a very strange English girl because I didn’t drink much tea, but that was only because they don’t put milk in tea here, so I didn’t drink as much as I would at home. Anyway, I was feeling (I’ll admit it), absolutely rubbish and homesick yesterday, so the comforting tea helped a bit. Also, my dad kept me entertained by performing magic tricks over Skype!

But I’ve tried to give myself a stern talking to. Yes, there are times when I would do anything to be back home instead of this strange country that doesn’t understand me when I am too tired to speak properly, and that doesn’t have simple things like tinned tomatoes or fresh milk, but then I remember that firstly, there is an end to this, secondly, this is a great experience, and thirdly, there’s so much to see and do here it’s amazing. As I read somewhere, you make your own happiness. Little things like drinking some warming tea, re-watching The Vampire Diaries (don’t judge me), and watching anime with my best friend over the internet keep me happy, or at least not a crying mess, and that’s enough for now!

I’ve worked out that I get homesick when I lose control over a situation. I was incredibly homesick during my first week at university because it was so disorganised and out of my control, it was terrifying. Then I was homesick my first night here because I had no control over what the following weeks would bring, and then these past few days because I had no idea what to expect from my new job. So, hopefully, once I settle in and have some sort of schedule, it should get better. That’s the plan, anyway.

Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, I can’t access my blog, or anyone else’s blog on WordPress for that matter, in my new apartment (I’m writing this at work). I’ve looked at the support information but nothing seems to work. So I will type up my posts and then email them to either myself to upload at work, or to my sister to post for me! Hopefully this will be sorted soon (if anyone knows how to possibly fix this, please leave a comment below, I would be very grateful!).

I have lots of ideas for other blog posts, but I’ll keep this to just an update for now, and hopefully I’ll be able to post new blogs whenever I’m at work! Thanks for reading!

Some quotes about being alone

“I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.” – Audrey Hepburn

“I think it’s very healthy to spend time alone. You need to know how to be alone and not be defined by another person.” – Oscar Wilde

“If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself.” – Paulo Coelho

“Real travel is not about the highlights with which you dazzle your friends once you’re home. It’s about the loneliness, the solitude, the evenings spent by yourself, pining to be somewhere else. Those are the moments of true value. You feel half proud of them and half ashamed and you hold them to your heart.”– Tahir Shah, In Arabian Nights. (It’s how you deal with the solitude, and the homesickness, that helps you find out more about yourself.)

And one about writing:

“Writing is something you do alone. Its a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don’t want to make eye contact while doing it.”

– John Green.

Going native…

Obviously the main reason for the year abroad is to improve your language skills; to learn how to speak like the natives do, in natural settings rather than stuffy classrooms and lecture halls.

I’m struggling with this a bit. Sometimes I think that I’m definitely improving, and then I’ll feel as if I’m back in year eight again when I first started learning Russian. (Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean!)

So far, I’ve been told by two Russians that I actually look Russian, not English, so as long as I put on my grumpiest face (and boy is that depressing to do everyday), and try not to smile at people who happen to catch my eye, as I would normally do at home, I can get by as a native.

However, little things when I speak mark me out as being English, or at least foreign at any rate, such as the amount of times I say thank you – once, if at all, is enough here! I thought I was doing okay today in Teremok (blini restaurant), until right at the end when he said “enjoy your meals” (either his English was slightly wrong, or he was implying that I was eating too much… I’m going with the first one!).

On the other hand, I did have a very long (very annoying) conversation with an incredibly persistent man named Slava (seriously, he forced me to take his number, kept stroking my face, and tried to kiss me… and this was in the middle of the afternoon in the Summer Gardens!), and I was able to speak naturally without thinking about what I was trying to say first, so that was quite good. Although I would have happily not had that conversation, but never mind!

Last August I met this man when I was with my family in Middlesbrough (in the north of England), and we just had a conversation about different things. It wasn’t until the conversation was nearly over that he mentioned that he was Belgian. We were completely shocked; firstly because his English was so good, with the right accent, and even our particular ways of speaking and expressing things, secondly, his in depth knowledge of northern England architecture, and thirdly that he was even in Middlesbrough at all, since it’s not exactly a tourist hotspot!

So that would be a goal to set myself; to become as completely native as to fool actual natives, the way this guy managed to! Although that does feel a long way off at the moment.

Today I bought three films in Russian, and I am hoping to buy a good grammar exercise book in Дом Книги (House of Books – love that name!).

Tomorrow is my last day of school – I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone, on Sunday I will have been here for a month already! I am moving to my new apartment near the Marinsky Theatre on Sunday, which I am very happy about. I’ve tried really hard not to complain about my host family, but little things that they constantly do begin to grate! A few examples…

– Constantly coming into my room when I’m not here (I know they do this because they move my things around!)

– The whole see-through glass bathroom door issue (and further to that, the toilet door handle is also now broken!)

– The fact that they always watch me when I eat. And also their strange idea of portion sizes; they give me a normal sized dinner plate with a whole load of food (too much in fact), while they eat like sparrows from tiny side plates – and the daughter is pregnant so I really don’t understand! Especially as they always give me a drink, but never seem to drink anything themselves, and it’s been 30 degrees here these past few days.

– Not making me feel particularly welcome. I feel like I’m not allowed to be here, since when I had a bit of a relaxing day in doors on Saturday, she kept coming into my room and asking if everything was okay. So today, I deliberately stayed out until just before dinner time, and even that was wrong! She has a habit of seeming to disapprove of everything I do.

– The fact that I am not allowed to touch the curtains. It’s nearing the White Nights here (a couple of weeks of constant twilight), so the sun isn’t properly setting at the moment. It’s very light at night, and not being allowed to close my curtains means that I am not getting much sleep.

I also live on the 8th floor, and there is no lift, but it’s like a free workout every day (at least, that’s what I tell myself anyway…) And there is one benefit to living so high up – the mosquitoes which plague the city don’t seem to fly this high. I don’t understand why, but whatever the reason, I’m grateful!

Oh well, just three days until moving day!

Thanks for reading 🙂

“Why are you so quiet?”

(Yes I know, I promised no more of these personal posts, but the reaction to the last one was so lovely, and also I’ve been doing some research and thinking into being an introvert, which firstly confirmed that yes, I definitely am an introvert, and also showed me that there are many others like me who are misunderstood!)

People never get tired of asking me the many variations of “why are you so quiet?”, such as “I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard you speak!”, “why don’t you ever talk?”, or my all time least favourite: “she speaks! It’s a miracle!” after I’ve just made a point.

Do they not understand that this is just plain rude? Firstly, if I don’t know you that well, then I will only speak if I have something to say that will genuinely add to the conversation. This may be because of self-esteem issues, shyness, or the fact that I hate attention and therefore usually actively avoid it.

Secondly, how would they like it if I asked them “why are you so loud?”, or “why don’t you ever stop talking?” Nobody would ever ask these questions, so why ask the opposite?

Apparently only 25-40% of the population are introverts, so I can understand that people don’t understand – I know I don’t really understand extroverts! However, the difference is that I don’t judge people, or make them feel bad, for their choices. But they seem to think it’s okay to judge me for not wanting to do certain things. At uni, I am happy to go clubbing with my close friends (just not that often), but in a foreign country, with people I’ve only met three weeks ago, it’s just not going to happen. I just don’t enjoy it, and I wish people could accept that and let me be, without me feeling guilty all the time for having to make excuses.

Another thing that annoys me is when people see me sitting alone, they assume I must be lonely, and attempt to ‘cheer me up’. I don’t need cheering up, I just need to recharge for a bit! Large gatherings wear me out. For example, yesterday after school I went out with my new boss and  colleagues for the day, followed by drinks in the evening. I knew I was going out this evening, so I’ve decided not to do anything during the day just so I can recharge!

I have been described, amongst other things, as ‘aloof’ by a close family member. I have a large family, mainly made up of people with strong personality types, so it’s difficult for me to fit in and be heard, because I don’t speak loudly enough. I just want to say that I am in no way ‘aloof’, I just think more than I say things!

I’m not broken, it’s just that society is now focused around extroverts and there doesn’t seem to be much room for introverts. Employees nowadays look for ‘people skills’, and expect people to contribute during brainstorms etc, so I have literally no idea how I will survive in that world in the coming years!

However, in some ways it’s good to be an introverted traveller. I can go places without needing to find someone to come with me, and I am happy to stay in alone with a film, or catch up on some TV. Yeah, maybe people will tell me that I’ve ‘missed out’, and should have partied more, but really, it’s MY year abroad, so I can spend it how I choose!

I’m not going to apologise, as I normally would, for ranting, because I’ve been wanting to say this for years.

A cultural week

I’ve been either too busy or too tired to update for a while, so here’s what I’ve been up to!

18/05

After spending the day indoors, I then wanted to watch Eurovision! I watch Eurovision every year without fail, so I wasn’t going to let a little thing like time difference get in the way! I managed to find the Eurovision website to watch it on, without commentary. It would have been very strange to have no commentary at all, but luckily Christine and Charlotte were online and watching too, so they could fill me in on everything that Graham Norton said! My programme was slightly delayed, but otherwise it was pretty good to have simultaneous trans-European Eurovision watching! It would have been a slightly duller experience (there were still strange costumes to laugh at etc) without them, so thanks you two 🙂

19/05

I woke up still feeling slightly unwell, so originally I wasn’t going to go to Pushkin, but I’m glad I did in the end! Tsarskoe Selo (in the town of Pushkin) was the Summer Palace of the Tsars, and it really is beautiful (and huge):

Last time I went, we looked in the palace (one of the highlights is the room with walls covered in amber, very pretty), but this time we walked around the grounds, which are beautiful, and there is so much to see! We had lunch overlooking the huge lake, and even saw an otter (or was it a vole?!):

We also saw some other people from school, so that was funny. It was a very nice, relaxing, sunny day, and after that we looked at a market across the street, where I bought a watch for £6, just because I don’t like having to keep taking my phone out to check the time, especially on the metro!

20/05

After school, we had lunch at Штолле, where they have an amazing variety of pies, savoury and sweet. I then joined some students on a trip to some of the shopping centres at Sennaya Ploshad, where we had a look round in an attempt to find some actual Russian brands (we managed to find one shop, out of two shopping centres!)

21/05

When I got out of class, everyone had left already, so I was left with the decision of heading home, or being brave and doing things on my own. I chose the latter option, which you can read about in my previous post! Here’s a picture of the inside of the Hermitage (the outside is being renovated, so I will wait to take a photo of that to show it in it’s full glory!):

I also saw the countdown clock to the Winter Olympics in Sochi:

22/05

After school, I was invited to have lunch with two other girls. We went to a restaurant which is kitted out to look like a plane, with curtains acting as doors to the kitchen, and to the toilets, as well as departure and arrival boards for Pulkovo airport! The restaurant is called Две Палочки, which I didn’t understand at first, since my dictionary gave me the translation of ‘stick’ or ‘wand’… neither of which made sense! After googling it, it turns out it means ‘2 Chopsticks’. That doesn’t really fit with the theme, but it fits with the food; they sell a mixture of sushi, curry, and Chinese food. I didn’t get what I actually ordered, but I was too British to make a fuss, and actually it was better than what I’d originally ordered!

23/05

After lunch at Teremok, one of my friends said she was going to the Dostoevsky Museum, and invited me along too. I’ve read some of Dostoevsky’s works at Uni, so it was interesting to see where he once lived! Although I have to say, it was a lot smaller than what we were expecting. But I’m glad I went anyway!

24/05

In class, we watched a really sweet film called Piter FM, about a woman who loses her phone, the man that finds it, and their struggles to meet each other so that he can return the phone. Very cute, and set in St Petersburg, so there were some recognisable places! We then went to have lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Tres Amigos. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mexican food in Russia, but, although it was slightly different to what I’d have at home, it was very good! There was so much food, we couldn’t actually finish it. But I’d definitely go back again. After the disaster that was last Friday, and with a developing headache, I decided not to go out in the evening (I hate trying to get home in this city at night, no fun).

25/05

I had no enthusiasm to do anything this morning, especially as it started raining, but eventually I forced myself to leave the house. I ended up at Galeria (a big shopping centre on one of the main streets), and headed to the cinema, where I saw Великий Гэтсби (The Great Gatsby), which I’d wanted to see before I left, but annoyingly they kept pushing back the release date! So I watched it in Russian, but, since I know the story well, having studied it for my English Lit A-Level, I got by! And yes, I went by myself to another place I’ve never wanted to go to alone! I deliberately chose a seat at the end of an aisle, since the film was just about to start and I didn’t want to disturb anyone, and when I got into the screen, it was already dark, and there were people sitting next to me, so I didn’t feel self-conscious about being alone at all, and I don’t think anyone really noticed (or cared)! Very happy, and I definitely would go to the cinema alone again, since I didn’t have to worry about anyone else not enjoying the film that I’d chosen! Also, despite the bad reviews this film has got, I think it was actually pretty good. I loved the way they revealed Gatsby (there was a collective sigh from all the females in the room when Leonardo DiCaprio turned round), and originally I wasn’t sure about using modern music, but I think it was okay! I also wasn’t sure about Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, but she was pretty good I must admit (even though of course I didn’t hear her attempt the accent since the film was dubbed!) I also loved the costumes of course!

I then wandered round Galeria for a bit, and even found an Accessorize. After a while, I got slightly overwhelmed by the amount of people wandering around and constantly walking into me without apology, and by that time it was nearly dinner time anyway, so I made my way back, where a very nice bowl of vegetarian борщ (beetroot soup) was waiting for me!

So overall a good few cultural days! I’m not sure what I’m doing tomorrow, and I am hoping to move class because it was ridiculously simple this week, so we shall see! Thanks for reading 🙂

Alone, but not lonely.

I have done a lot since I last updated this blog, but I’ll leave that for another post. Today I just want to talk about doing things alone.

I have always been a very self-conscious person. I don’t know why this is, but it really does hold me back sometimes in certain situations. I’m also a complete introvert, which means that socialising and things takes a lot out of me, and I can find it exhausting, whereas extroverts gain energy from these experiences. It also means that I would pick a night in with a film over a night on the town, for example. I’m usually happy to be an introvert, because it means that I can be by myself and not get bored, and I think it makes me a good listener, but sometimes it can be annoying.

Anyway, there are many things that I have always never wanted to do alone, for example, eating out alone, or sightseeing alone etc. There’s many reasons for this, but the main one is of course the massive social pressure: what will other people think of someone sitting alone in a restaurant? Obviously, if you went out for dinner alone on Valentine’s Day, for example, you probably would get strange looks, but in general I don’t think it’s as bad as people assume! I can say this from experience, because today, I had lunch by myself, which was a big thing for me! I did some work whilst I waited for my food so I wasn’t just staring at nothing, and I also sat next to the window so I could people watch. And guess what? No one cared that I was alone! In fact, there were other people sitting alone as well. So I think that if you’re scared, you should try just going to a cafe for lunch, and I’d recommend taking something to do, or read, and you’ll realise that people are so bothered about how other people view them, they aren’t actually judging you! There are benefits to eating alone as well: you don’t have to have a conversation, and you can take as long or as short a time as you want.

After my solitary lunch, I then decided to walk to the Palace Square by myself. It was a lovely sunny day today, but the tourists haven’t really started arriving properly yet, so the Square wasn’t as busy as I have seen it in summer. It was nice to be able to decide where I wanted to go on a whim, even if I did get hassled by some man trying to sell me tickets to Petergof (I told him no, so he took this as an invitation to start speaking to me and ask why ‘a pretty girl is walking alone’, and where exactly I was going etc – he didn’t seem to understand that I was just wondering around, even though I did use the Russian word for ‘strolling’! Honestly). In the end, I decided to pay a visit to the Hermitage, because I get free entry with my student card! I’ve been to the Hermitage three times before, but it was nice to wander around by myself, because I could do exactly what I wanted. I should explain that the Hermitage is so big that they’ve estimated that it would take someone about 11 years to see every single piece of art in there, which is how I managed to see things I hadn’t seen before there today! I even found a painting that actually made me cry, and that has never happened before. (It’s called Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin. I think it’s the emptiness and stillness that I found so sad, and scary – I’ve never felt like that about a painting before! Also, I just found out that it was Hitler’s favourite painting…)

I also managed to get to Russia by myself, which is a massive thing for me, particularly as I had to transfer at Düsseldorf  which caused me a lot of anxiety in the days leading up to it, but was actually fine on the day! I had a slight problem with my ticket, because it wasn’t validated or something, but the people at the desk were very helpful and nice, and the main thing is that I didn’t miss the plane!

So overall, after worrying about doing things alone, it turns out it’s actually okay! No one cared, and I actually enjoyed it, and didn’t feel lonely at all. So although I really like spending time with my new-found friends here in St Petersburg, I now know that I can rely on myself as well, and I think that’s an important lesson learned!

Sorry to be slightly philosophical, and a bit personal, normal service will resume in the next post!

A Trip to the Beach and a Night on the Town…

These past few days have been a complete whirlwind, and I can’t believe that I have already finished my first week at school! It’s gone incredibly quickly.

On Wednesday, after I successfully managed to navigate my way to school on time, I was invited by some of my new friends to go to the beach for the afternoon! Some people (my sister) don’t know that St Petersburg is near the sea, but it’s actually by the Gulf of Finland. This was mentioned in my guide book, and the picture looked so pretty that I had to see it for myself! So after classes, we headed to very distant metro station, where we bought some lunch in a supermarket. (I was very proud – I managed to find a cheese salad sandwich with only a slightly weird mayonnaise sauce!) We then managed to find the right marshrutka (minibus) number, and began our journey. One of the girls had been there before on an assignment with her internship, and she said that the journey was only about 40 minutes. It was slightly longer than that, but we had seats, and the views on the way were very pretty! We got off the bus in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. I didn’t realise, but before heading to the beach, my friend wanted to show us the artist Repin’s estate (the whole town of Repino is named in honour of him). I’d never heard of him before, but his estate is really pretty. Unfortunately the actual house was closed for reasons we didn’t understand – my friend had checked beforehand to make sure it was open, and the sign said it was only closed on Tuesdays, but while we were standing outside, a woman opened an upstairs window and shouted at us – luckily thanks to my time in Orion I understood the Russian word for timetable because we were given one everyday, but we had checked the timetable and it should have been open! However, we went for a walk around the grounds instead, where there are lots of lakes, little rivers, and bridges, and we also saw Repin’s grave.

Pretty grounds in Repin’s estate

Repin’s grave

After, we then crossed the road, walked through some woods, and came across this amazing view:

The beach was beautiful, there was no one else around (it wasn’t a touristy spot!) and we had a great afternoon in the sun!

After a while, it got colder, and windy, and we headed back to the bus stop. We stopped the first bus which passed us, not knowing the route it would take us back to St Petersburg, so it took about an hour, but I made it back home in time for dinner. I think this was my favourite day so far 🙂

On Thursday after class, everyone had disappeared so I thought I would be getting lunch on my own. Luckily I bumped into two guys from my class, and they invited me with them to try shashlik (Russian kebabs). It definitely wasn’t my thing, but I’m glad I tried it anyway. I then went home to do my work before supposedly heading to a bar that evening. Unfortunately my host chose that day to be very late home, and, as the company rules dictate, I have to tell them if I’m going to be out late (which is fair). By the time they got back and had cooked my dinner, it was already nearly 9, the time I was supposed to be meeting them. I also didn’t have a Russian phone at this point, so I couldn’t contact them! So I finally arrived at the meeting point at about 9.40, only to find that they’d given up on me, so I headed back home and caught up with The Apprentice instead…

Yesterday (Friday) after class I was invited with some of the girls I went to the beach with to go to KFC. I hate KFC, but I went along anyway. Then I remembered exactly why I hate KFC, and luckily the other girls agreed! That’s a mistake I won’t be making again. It was strange as well because there were lots of people staring at us, and we weren’t being loud or anything. I also didn’t like it in there because the cleaners hover at your table so they can pounce on your tray and take it away as soon as you’ve finished eating – not good!

It was pouring with rain on the way back to the metro station, but luckily I was prepared with my umbrella – I remembered how I’d been caught out in a storm the last time I was in St Petersburg, and got completely drenched!

On the way home I decided to finally buy a Russian sim card. In Russia for some reason sim cards only work in the regions where you buy them, so although I’d bought a sim card when I was in Orion, it wouldn’t work here. I chose Megafon, which I’m glad about, because the woman was very helpful, and also didn’t speak much English so it was good practise! I decided to buy a new phone as well, since the phone that I have (not my usual UK phone because that’s not unlocked) often cuts out, so it was fine in Orion when I only used it once a week, but since I’ll be using a phone everyday here, I thought I’d get a new one. This might sound extravagant, until you hear the price! It cost me 990 roubles for the card and phone – which is roughly £20! There’s also 200 free texts for joining, which is good. It’s a Samsung phone, very light, but also nothing flashy so I don’t think anyone would want to steal it! Also, it means that I can text in Russian and English, which will be handy.

I then headed home to get ready for my first night out in SP. We didn’t end up going to a club at all. I think it was possibly the weirdest night of my life. We started in a bar called 1703, then moved to some predrinks some of the guys from school were having, and then ended up in a very small, smoky bar with some Russians. This was quite good in some ways, as I got to practise some Russian! I also got talking to the cutest Russian woman I’ve ever met – she was so adorable, and very, very excited to meet someone from London (she had a Union Jack bag and purse). It’s been her life-long dream to visit London, so she asked me lots about it, and when I mentioned landmarks like Big Ben, I thought she might cry! It was also very helpful because she got me to speak in Russian, and she replied in English, so we both could practise! By this point, it was nearly 3, and the metro closes at midnight, so I wasn’t sure how I’d get back. At this point, I thought I’d be going out early the next day (today), so I didn’t really want to stay out until past 5 when the metro opens again. I also didn’t want to get into a random taxi because they are definitely not safe, especially for women travelling alone. Luckily, the lovely Russian I met was more than happy to book a safe taxi for me! She then waited outside the bar with me, and we chatted some more (mostly about her confusion over when to use ‘excuse me’ and ‘I’m sorry’ in English – obviously you should say sorry all the time in the UK, very British!). When the taxi arrived she made sure everything was okay, and gave me a hug. I said ‘спасибо большое’  a lot (thank you very much) because I was so glad she helped me, to which she replied something along the lines of ‘it gave her great pleasure’ to help me – so nice! Definitely goes against the typical Russian stereotype (which has already been proved wrong many many times). I was still slightly worried about the taxi, having heard so many warnings about them, but he was very nice, and even attempted to translate the fare into English when he thought I hadn’t understood (I had, I was just struggling to find the correct change in the dark) – it was 260 roubles, so he said ‘it’s twenty six… ten’. I then had to very quietly attempt to open the four doors to get back into the apartment – no easy feat in complete darkness! Luckily my new phone has a ‘torch’ setting (the screen goes white).

I wasn’t sure what time breakfast would be this morning. However, I was woken up at about 6.30 (having gone to bed at 4) by the sound of my host’s daughter singing opera in the kitchen – she’s a very good singer but it wasn’t appreciated at that time in the morning! It turned out that today is her birthday, but since she is (I think) now about 26, I don’t really know why she was quite so excited to be up so early! I got up at 8.30, since that’s the time of breakfast on a weekday, and everyone seemed to be up by that point, but Galina told me it wasn’t til 9. I was served kasha, for the first time here! It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t great either. But it did lead to a conversation all about Sochi, which was interesting! They all went out to celebrate the daughter’s birthday.

Originally I was going to be going to Pushkin today with some people from school, but it’s been postponed to Sunday, which is lucky since I’m not feeling very well today so I’ve spent the day in my room. It might sound boring, but it’s the first downtime I’ve had since arriving, and I really need it, especially as I couldn’t face going outside today!

Thanks for reading, sorry for such a long blog! 🙂