суббота, 4 июля 2009 г.
понедельник, 25 мая 2009 г.
So last time i wrote in this thing i had a lil bit over 4 weeks left here. now im down to a little bit over two. cassel is leaving in a few hours to go on the trans siberian. weirdddd. we've been talking about this for like ever and now she's actually going. i'm scared for her/excited for her/fml for me. who am i going to hang out with for the next two weeks??? im actually going to have to call people. well i guess its good because i want to hang out with eunice and laura and lafen more. but eunice and laura are going to vladimir on tuesday and i can't go because of stupid Darya's class. which i have been writing a monster paper for. and i havent even started thinking about Vertkin's paper.
ughh... why do i have to leave so soon????? part of me is definitely excited to go home and see everyone but i have a strong feeling that once I get there and am there for like a month ill be like ok now when can i go back to russia? except i won't be able to!!! this is the first time that im going home and expecting to stay there for an extended period of time. ok im just going to repress these feelings until im on the plane. :(.
in other news its been so beautiful out. except of course, for part of the time we were on the boat cruise/final dinner yesterday. it started raining but thats ok. I can't believe all the smolny stuff is over and done with. (well besides the lame academic stuff). i feel like last semester felt so much more final....now i just feel like it has ended and i didnt realize.
so what do I go back to now that my year here is almost up? everything that i have left behind and/or neglected for the last year. family, work, home friends, richmond friends etc etc. im just a lil bit afraid that I've changed too much and i won't have the same connections with those people. I have had a long year full of experiences that none of them have had, and none of them can fully understand. its weirdddd. Althoughhhh im really excited to hang out with my people. and i can't wait to tell all of the bad stories from the past year that i have been saving for a time when they cant ban me from coming back to russia. so that will be fun.
oh st. petersburg...what will i do without you? I was walking with Katie yesterday and we were talking about life etc. just bullshitting pretty much. but one of the main reasons why i love russia so much is because of the ridiculousness of it all. even the hard annoying long lines and stupid uncongeniality is funny and I find myself laughing at it more than getting frustrated with it. I dont know what im goin to do when i go back and everything is so efficient again. For instance, we were on the trolley yesterday and it got stuck on the bridge, which was funny, and then it decided to end its route early because of construction or something making everyone get off at the beginning of nalichnaya. in the US people would so demand their money back. here its just normal, and i was sort of glad we had to get off because it was so nice out.
ps. i love vkontakte. its my new way to listen to music. <333
so much has happened since the last time i wrote here but i dont know how to put it all in a blog post. like i said, we had the end of semester dinner, and we also had the end of semester "awards lunch" at smolny with all the RSL teachers. I'm going to miss them. especially Ludmila Petrovna. she was crazy.
i've also been handing around my survey lately. i still have a bunch more to hand out though unfortunately.
well see you soon NJ (and its people) and almost goodbye to St. P (and its people)
ughh... why do i have to leave so soon????? part of me is definitely excited to go home and see everyone but i have a strong feeling that once I get there and am there for like a month ill be like ok now when can i go back to russia? except i won't be able to!!! this is the first time that im going home and expecting to stay there for an extended period of time. ok im just going to repress these feelings until im on the plane. :(.
in other news its been so beautiful out. except of course, for part of the time we were on the boat cruise/final dinner yesterday. it started raining but thats ok. I can't believe all the smolny stuff is over and done with. (well besides the lame academic stuff). i feel like last semester felt so much more final....now i just feel like it has ended and i didnt realize.
so what do I go back to now that my year here is almost up? everything that i have left behind and/or neglected for the last year. family, work, home friends, richmond friends etc etc. im just a lil bit afraid that I've changed too much and i won't have the same connections with those people. I have had a long year full of experiences that none of them have had, and none of them can fully understand. its weirdddd. Althoughhhh im really excited to hang out with my people. and i can't wait to tell all of the bad stories from the past year that i have been saving for a time when they cant ban me from coming back to russia. so that will be fun.
oh st. petersburg...what will i do without you? I was walking with Katie yesterday and we were talking about life etc. just bullshitting pretty much. but one of the main reasons why i love russia so much is because of the ridiculousness of it all. even the hard annoying long lines and stupid uncongeniality is funny and I find myself laughing at it more than getting frustrated with it. I dont know what im goin to do when i go back and everything is so efficient again. For instance, we were on the trolley yesterday and it got stuck on the bridge, which was funny, and then it decided to end its route early because of construction or something making everyone get off at the beginning of nalichnaya. in the US people would so demand their money back. here its just normal, and i was sort of glad we had to get off because it was so nice out.
ps. i love vkontakte. its my new way to listen to music. <333
so much has happened since the last time i wrote here but i dont know how to put it all in a blog post. like i said, we had the end of semester dinner, and we also had the end of semester "awards lunch" at smolny with all the RSL teachers. I'm going to miss them. especially Ludmila Petrovna. she was crazy.
i've also been handing around my survey lately. i still have a bunch more to hand out though unfortunately.
well see you soon NJ (and its people) and almost goodbye to St. P (and its people)
суббота, 16 мая 2009 г.
so i am so bad at blogging....
today i deleted facebook. and for lack of better things to do (like wasting my life on facebook for instance) im updating my blog! elise, you best be happy.
oh shit! moment of the day: less than 4 weeks left in spb. wow. end of a huge chapter of my life. im kind of scared to go back to the states for an indefinite period of time. but at the same time i am excited as hell. mixed emotions are weird.
so what have i been doing lately? hmmm not much? we went to moscow which was amazing. i love moscow--i was actually impressed. The weather was beautiful, it was semi-clean, and there were pretty parks and things. I've been doing a lot of traveling lately--went to Prague, Moscow, and Estonia and Finland one right after the other. All great places (except maybe helsinki) i had fun though. oh! and i was totally reminded of myself when i bought special k at a grocery store in helsinki carted it around with me all day only to leave it in the bus station when i went to get on the bus. i wasnt even mad about it. it was a reminder that no matter how much ive changed while being here some things will always stay the same (like my absentminded forgetfulness). loves it!
bimini left on tuesday. miss her but the suite is more roomy now and there are less dishes in the sink ahha. ive discovered the lovely music section on vkontakte. im addicted.
btw theres a rapist stalking around the outside of the dorm late at night/early in the morning raping girls at knife point coming back from being out. scary? i think so. but im trying not to think about it too much. being raped is probably my worst fear in the world. (my boggart would take the form of a rapist?).
and WHAT THE FUCK greys anatomy!!! seriously.
and me and eunzie have again been spending time at idealnaya chashka. i love it there. its my place. <3
too much work, too little time. everything is ending. fml.
oh shit! moment of the day: less than 4 weeks left in spb. wow. end of a huge chapter of my life. im kind of scared to go back to the states for an indefinite period of time. but at the same time i am excited as hell. mixed emotions are weird.
so what have i been doing lately? hmmm not much? we went to moscow which was amazing. i love moscow--i was actually impressed. The weather was beautiful, it was semi-clean, and there were pretty parks and things. I've been doing a lot of traveling lately--went to Prague, Moscow, and Estonia and Finland one right after the other. All great places (except maybe helsinki) i had fun though. oh! and i was totally reminded of myself when i bought special k at a grocery store in helsinki carted it around with me all day only to leave it in the bus station when i went to get on the bus. i wasnt even mad about it. it was a reminder that no matter how much ive changed while being here some things will always stay the same (like my absentminded forgetfulness). loves it!
bimini left on tuesday. miss her but the suite is more roomy now and there are less dishes in the sink ahha. ive discovered the lovely music section on vkontakte. im addicted.
btw theres a rapist stalking around the outside of the dorm late at night/early in the morning raping girls at knife point coming back from being out. scary? i think so. but im trying not to think about it too much. being raped is probably my worst fear in the world. (my boggart would take the form of a rapist?).
and WHAT THE FUCK greys anatomy!!! seriously.
and me and eunzie have again been spending time at idealnaya chashka. i love it there. its my place. <3
too much work, too little time. everything is ending. fml.
воскресенье, 19 апреля 2009 г.
пятница, 3 апреля 2009 г.
if you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain...
....then petersburg is partially the ideal place for you. as in the getting caught in the rain part. soooo its (kinda) stopped snowing. except for this morning. and now its nothing but gray skies. this city messes with your head. it will be beautiful for like one day and then then next five will be dark and gray and gross. just so you know exactly what you are missing. freaking weather tease.
anyway, midterms are mostly over, april has begun, and i am wondering why im sitting in my dorm room lounging about in my pjs. and then i remember when i look out the window. petersburg makes it really hard sometimes to find the willpower to go out into its depressing weather and do city things. today i was going to go to the souvenir market to pick up some scarves at my mom's request but it was just not happening when i woke up this morning for 2 rsl classes in a row and almost felt like chewing off my own arm rather than going into school. the russians have a perfect phrase for feelings like this; basically, мне лень. and that is all my friends.
in analytical reading today we started working on part of a story called Oblomov about this guy that just lays around in his kvartira thats getting dusty and is all out of place all day every day. When it came to the question and answers part of our discussion we each had to ask someone else a question relating to what we read. So EB asks me "dana, do you know anyone that is like Oblomov? maybe you? (in a joking manner)" deny, deny, deny, was my answer. although, secretly to myself i was thinking that today I kinda feel like Oblomov. lazy, tired, and lacking the determination to put on real pants. i'm justifying this feeling to myself by saying that im going to gatchina tomorrow with the katies and eunice and laura. however, knowing us, and knowing this weather it may not come to pass. but if it doesnt as god as my witness, i will not sit in the dorm by myself in the dark again. if we dont go ill probably go for those scarves tomorrow. and maybe stop by anglia (the english book store). PLUS we are having a party in our room tomorrow night. that is, if people actually show up.
and im not actually doing nothing and being a robed recluse Oblomov style today because im most likely going to watch a movie with elise later...just "most likely" because my computer disk drive is broken and my dvd player is also broken. technology hates me.
so now im going to turn my attention to ranting about a particularly annoying as hell russian who terrorizes all the english tutoring sessions. GAHHH. he makes me mad. and then he makes me think i am a bad person because i want to get him banned from tutoring sessions (my conscience makes me think that english tutoring is probably one of the only good things going for Oleg). damn you conscience. so i talked to Bryan about it briefly today. and i dont think i was the first. but like honestly i doubt whether oleg is even a student 'for christ's sake'(quoting vertkin). he definitely doesnt go to class because that would be humanly impossible due to the fact that he attends every freaking session of tutoring. and im really mad that my plan failed this semester. i purposefully sacrificed my tuesday afternoons and signed up for tutoring in the bobriinsky just so that i could avoid oleg coming to my sessions. but no. he found me. so now im thinking that i just might not be cut out for this whole tutoring people and tolerating everyone. i dread tuesdays and what for? maybe i should just quit. that would be a blissful day.
my soul is so gray.
til next time,
<3 d
anyway, midterms are mostly over, april has begun, and i am wondering why im sitting in my dorm room lounging about in my pjs. and then i remember when i look out the window. petersburg makes it really hard sometimes to find the willpower to go out into its depressing weather and do city things. today i was going to go to the souvenir market to pick up some scarves at my mom's request but it was just not happening when i woke up this morning for 2 rsl classes in a row and almost felt like chewing off my own arm rather than going into school. the russians have a perfect phrase for feelings like this; basically, мне лень. and that is all my friends.
in analytical reading today we started working on part of a story called Oblomov about this guy that just lays around in his kvartira thats getting dusty and is all out of place all day every day. When it came to the question and answers part of our discussion we each had to ask someone else a question relating to what we read. So EB asks me "dana, do you know anyone that is like Oblomov? maybe you? (in a joking manner)" deny, deny, deny, was my answer. although, secretly to myself i was thinking that today I kinda feel like Oblomov. lazy, tired, and lacking the determination to put on real pants. i'm justifying this feeling to myself by saying that im going to gatchina tomorrow with the katies and eunice and laura. however, knowing us, and knowing this weather it may not come to pass. but if it doesnt as god as my witness, i will not sit in the dorm by myself in the dark again. if we dont go ill probably go for those scarves tomorrow. and maybe stop by anglia (the english book store). PLUS we are having a party in our room tomorrow night. that is, if people actually show up.
and im not actually doing nothing and being a robed recluse Oblomov style today because im most likely going to watch a movie with elise later...just "most likely" because my computer disk drive is broken and my dvd player is also broken. technology hates me.
so now im going to turn my attention to ranting about a particularly annoying as hell russian who terrorizes all the english tutoring sessions. GAHHH. he makes me mad. and then he makes me think i am a bad person because i want to get him banned from tutoring sessions (my conscience makes me think that english tutoring is probably one of the only good things going for Oleg). damn you conscience. so i talked to Bryan about it briefly today. and i dont think i was the first. but like honestly i doubt whether oleg is even a student 'for christ's sake'(quoting vertkin). he definitely doesnt go to class because that would be humanly impossible due to the fact that he attends every freaking session of tutoring. and im really mad that my plan failed this semester. i purposefully sacrificed my tuesday afternoons and signed up for tutoring in the bobriinsky just so that i could avoid oleg coming to my sessions. but no. he found me. so now im thinking that i just might not be cut out for this whole tutoring people and tolerating everyone. i dread tuesdays and what for? maybe i should just quit. that would be a blissful day.
my soul is so gray.
til next time,
<3 d
понедельник, 30 марта 2009 г.
sooooo i am effectively over the whole gayness of my last blog post (i dont mean to offend any homosexuals by using the word "gayness" in a derogatory way).
but anyway. we went to vyborg on sunday. aka yesterday and it was interesting. the tour guide was hilarious. loved him. totally inappropriate too. we climbed a bunch of stairs. and i prayed to god i wouldn't fall down any of them---success! it was very snowy/melty there and cold. those are my impressions. i think i was half asleep the entire time. i noticed it looked a whole lot more scandinavian though. those were the pretty parts. the russian/soviet buildings were same old falling down pieces of architectural brilliance (note the sarcasm). what else did we do. i ate a bag of m&ms on the bus. listened to music with eunice. fell asleep on the way back and im pretty sure i was snoring. but i couldnt exactly tell because my ipod was blasting. so it was either the music or my potential snoring that kept waking me up.
...
yep everything else is just a blur of grey and melting. oh except there was a mini tank. people climbed up on top of it. photo-moment. i didnt take a picture. hot damn. missed out.
...
so today i went to my internship, contemplated life on my walk to the metro in the gray warmishness of a st. petersburg thaw, and decided i need to get my shit together. i translated some sociological journals and then found myself on the metro back to primorskaya. still gray, not so warmish.
...
started working on vertkin's paper, realized how bad my english is now and my complete lack of correct grammatical usage. im an epic fail at my native language. i blame russia. damn you people and your completely different grammar structures. maybe by the time i go home my english and my russian will be on the same level. and not in a good way.
....
what else? im freaking tired. and i have a new addiction--some tvorog-like hybrid of a cottage double (the thingy with cottage cheese and jam in the same package. say goodbye instant breakfast kasha and hello cottage cheese tvorog jam things.
i had a pretty awesome convo via fbchat today with colin, my long lost high school friend. it was almost as amusing as those bus ride conversations we shared back in junior year. wow. except it was a little more existential and future inspiring. i cant believe i havent actually seen him in like 3 years. i had an oh shit moment that blew my mind. ive talked to him, and we've had legit conversations but i havent actually seen him or made personal face to face contact in almost 3 years. oh how the world has changed. it made me really understand bryan's point about how weird/surreal communications technologies make relationships. вот это да!
well im spacing and my eyes are about to close in on my head.
til next time
<3 d
but anyway. we went to vyborg on sunday. aka yesterday and it was interesting. the tour guide was hilarious. loved him. totally inappropriate too. we climbed a bunch of stairs. and i prayed to god i wouldn't fall down any of them---success! it was very snowy/melty there and cold. those are my impressions. i think i was half asleep the entire time. i noticed it looked a whole lot more scandinavian though. those were the pretty parts. the russian/soviet buildings were same old falling down pieces of architectural brilliance (note the sarcasm). what else did we do. i ate a bag of m&ms on the bus. listened to music with eunice. fell asleep on the way back and im pretty sure i was snoring. but i couldnt exactly tell because my ipod was blasting. so it was either the music or my potential snoring that kept waking me up.
...
yep everything else is just a blur of grey and melting. oh except there was a mini tank. people climbed up on top of it. photo-moment. i didnt take a picture. hot damn. missed out.
...
so today i went to my internship, contemplated life on my walk to the metro in the gray warmishness of a st. petersburg thaw, and decided i need to get my shit together. i translated some sociological journals and then found myself on the metro back to primorskaya. still gray, not so warmish.
...
started working on vertkin's paper, realized how bad my english is now and my complete lack of correct grammatical usage. im an epic fail at my native language. i blame russia. damn you people and your completely different grammar structures. maybe by the time i go home my english and my russian will be on the same level. and not in a good way.
....
what else? im freaking tired. and i have a new addiction--some tvorog-like hybrid of a cottage double (the thingy with cottage cheese and jam in the same package. say goodbye instant breakfast kasha and hello cottage cheese tvorog jam things.
i had a pretty awesome convo via fbchat today with colin, my long lost high school friend. it was almost as amusing as those bus ride conversations we shared back in junior year. wow. except it was a little more existential and future inspiring. i cant believe i havent actually seen him in like 3 years. i had an oh shit moment that blew my mind. ive talked to him, and we've had legit conversations but i havent actually seen him or made personal face to face contact in almost 3 years. oh how the world has changed. it made me really understand bryan's point about how weird/surreal communications technologies make relationships. вот это да!
well im spacing and my eyes are about to close in on my head.
til next time
<3 d
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