Russian in Russia 101

We've officially made it through the first half of our first week here!  I wanted to share a few stories I've had while trying to survive here and also explain how our classes are set up.

Each day we have four 50 minute periods from 10am to 2pm.  We are being taught four different subjects and there is block scheduling for each day.  We are learning song/video, grammar, Russian texts, and how to understand Russian media (such as newspapers, internet, magazines, etc).  The schedule makes it so we don't have homework in every class due every day, which is very welcome.  Even though I'm in the first, or beginner, level of the three OSU levels, I'm thankful for the sympathetic way we are given homework.  Our teachers are all great.  They are all very patient with us and willing to repeat things until we understand what the heck we are being asked and two of the four teachers even speak English to help us understand fully.  Our reading teacher only speaks Russian and speaks it very fast, but I'm able to just grasp what is being said so I can nod enthusiastically and say "Da!".

Now there is one story I can share that is one of the typical "Sucks to not speak the language" learning curves.  On Monday, I decided to make a preemptive strike and get a buzz cut here before the heat and the greasy Russian water turned my hair into my worst enemy as I try to focus in class.  After finding out where the nearest haircut salon was in the vicinity of our university, I headed over to the Loreal (?) salon right across the street.  When I entered, I asked for a buzz cut (streezkuh bobrik in Russian) and they nodded and seemed to understand what I wanted.  The women then called out from the backroom a flamboyant hairdresser to take care of me.  While the women gave him the razor, he instead started to cut around the sides and not shave off anything.  My limited vocabulary (Net! at my very best) prevented me from stopping him to get the buzz cut I wanted.  Instead, I ended up with a shorter haircut which will probably grow back in the next two or three weeks.  This little failure in communication also led to me paying for the most expensive haircut of my life (1350 rubles which is about 46-54 dollars depending on the exchange rate).  I was furious but also very unable to do anything about it, haha.  I am considering just finding a cheap Russian razor from a supermarket and shaving it off myself when it will inevitably start to bug me next week.

I also wanted to talk about the Moscow Metro, which is how we get to Red Square and also allows us to explore around the city.  I've been on Metros in DC and Chicago and all I can say is that Moscow really has its transportation down to a science.  It is the world's second most heavily used transit system after Tokyo's, and its 182 stations allow for easy, quick access to anywhere in the city.  We have five stops between us and Red Square and the process is so easy.  Even if our instructor had just told us on the first day to go by ourselves to Red Square and make it back by dinnertime, the flow of the stations and the people rushing from place to place would have easily taught us how to use the system.  As I mentioned previously, there were two bombings in March of 2010 on the Red Line of the system and I am actually surprised to say that it doesn't seem like many security precautions were added after the attack.  Between 6-8 million people use the system daily and I believe that Russians think, "Hey, terrorists must use the metro too so why would they attack it again?"  It's completely astounding how smoothly the system runs here but I do hope that they are a bit more protected than from what I can tell.

Tomorrow night we are going to the world famous Bolshoi Theater to see the Russian play, Queen of Spades.  Simply reading the Wikipedia page was enough to get me excited for this play, so I can't wait to see how nice the theater is and attempt to understand a significant Russian play.  We still have class on Thursday and Friday but I figured it was a good idea to write this now before my mind becomes too numb to type this on the weekend.  Hopefully I'll write this weekend and I think I'll start doing two of these each week just to keep this up!  Have a great rest of the week everybody!

A Day in Moscow

After 13 hours of uninterrupted slumber, our group got to take the Metro into Moscow.  I immediately realized I had made a huge mistake in my preparation for Moscow:  I had not bothered to look up any information whatsoever on any of Moscow's remarkable, beautiful landmarks.  Therefore most of my day was spent staring at these amazing works of architecture and art and having no idea the importance or history of any of them.  Next time I go into Moscow, things will be different. 

St. Basil's Cathedral is easily one of the most fantastic buildings you can ever see in your life.  How the Russians were able to make such a colorful, interesting building is beyond me.  It is the first thing you see as you pass underneath the Voskresensky (Resurrection) Gate, and keeps your eye the entire time you are on Red Square.  Lenin's Tomb closed right as we arrived, but it is my goal to see the body of Russia's historic leader. 

Leaving Red Square, we passed by Russia's version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and JFK's Eternal Flame together.  A goofy, newly wed Asian couple was allowed to pass the gate line and place flowers in front of it, which surprised me because I have never heard of anyone being allowed to do that in America.  Another surprising detail about what Russians allow is that we were allowed to climb all over a water fountain sculpture of four horses.  It was a lot of fun and made me sort of wish that America wasn't as concerned with our well being. 

After a few miles of walking around the southern side of Moscow, we looped back to Red Square, did some souvenir shopping, and made our way back to the University.  It was a fantastic way to start off our Moscow stay.  Classes start tomorrow which will finally show me if I do belong here or not, and I can only hope for the best!  Talk later, пока!

Arriving in Moscow

Alright, after fourteen hours and 6,000 miles of travel we finally arrived in the Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow.  While it was a relatively painless trip, airplane food and service was extremely unsatisfying and is most likely detrimental to my health.  I feel I must apologize for any type of incoherent speech that appears in this post, as I am waiting until it is night time here in Russia to sleep in order to get used to the time zone (we are eight hours ahead of Eastern Time Zone).  


I would like to give my first impression of the city, even though I haven't seen any of Moscow's center yet. The outer areas of Moscow from the airport to our university are fascinating, yet very worn down.  Many large buildings in the city lay uninhabited and abandoned, and there seems to be a pattern of buildings being either thriving car dealerships or small little stores.  One type of store that is surprisingly abundant here is the flower shops, or цветы shops, that are on every street corner.  Our university lies 2.5 miles from Red Square, and I'm hoping there will be a few of us who are brave enough to try and jog to Red Square and navigate our way back.  

I also want to give a few thoughts to how I currently feel about security in Russia, IE how terrorism affects everyday life and how much they actually care about it.  In the past year, there have been three major strikes in Moscow that have gained the attention of the worldwide media.  The train service that my group will take to St. Petersburg at the end of July was bombed in November of 2009 by Chechen rebels.  In March of 2010, suicide bombers struck the Metro underneath Moscow's main government buildings and then, this past January, the Domededovo airport was bombed.  The terrorism Russia faces comes from domestic rebels, not international fighters like Al-Qaeda and thus they are left somewhat alone in their struggle here.  Attacks happen here much more often than we are accustomed to back home, so these attacks barely make critical changes in every day life.  While I hope Russia does not experience an attack while we are here, it would be interesting to see first-hand how the country reacts to tragedy just as we experienced on 9/11.

Even though it is one in the afternoon here, I will post this now and try to give a better update on Moscow once we actually get to go into the city.  Classes start Monday so that will also be exciting and terrifying for me.  Have a great weekend! 

The First Blog

Hi everyone,

For the next nine weeks I will be attempting to maintain this blog as I study abroad in Russia this summer.  I hope to use this website as a place for my friends, family, and any interested watchers to keep an eye on how I am doing at the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH) in Moscow.  I am sure that I will have many interesting experiences, whether they be positive or negative, and I hope to share them with as many of you as possible.  

As a bit of background for anyone who hasn't checked in with my life in a while, I am at The Ohio State University attempting to double major in International Studies (specialization in Intelligence and Security) and Russian.  Having taken a full years worth of Russian at OSU already, this program will give me another full years worth of Russian credit with only nine weeks of study.  I plan to use this adventure to gage how far in Russian I should attempt to go and I hope to develop a bond with Russia's fascinating culture. 

With only one year's worth of Russian at my disposal, I admit that I view surviving in Moscow as a challenge at this point in time.  Learning how to enhance my communication with Russian natives and focusing intently on my studies are my main goals while at RSUH, and I am sure that many stories will come of it.

I do hope that my blog will encourage any readers to study abroad at least once in their life.  Even if I should have challenges while trying to learn the language, there is no doubt in my mind that study abroad will be one of the best things I've ever chosen to do.  Whether you read this from Cincinnati, Columbus, or elsewhere, I hope this encourages you to try and immerse yourself in a different culture one day and reap the benefits that are bound to come from it.

While I cannot promise constant updates, I will do my best to report everything exciting that happens to me.  Phone calls and texts are expensive so please send me an email at polivka.8@buckeyemail.osu.edu or find me on Facebook if you have any thoughts for me and this blog!  

I hope everybody has a great summer and I can't wait to come back to the US at the end of August!