Evgeny PapeR

I just finished writing a 6 page paper on Pushkin's novel Evgeny Onegin. I basically copied and pasted the script from Pirates of the Carribean 3 so I'm hoping for at least a B-.

Kevin Schur

Elyena I. Navikovada

Introduction to Russian Literature

1 October, 2009

Nobility in Pushkin's Evgeny Onegin

                    ELIZABETH
          I think it would be rather
      exciting to meet a pirate.

                    NORRINGTON
          Think again, Miss Swan.   Vile and
      dissolute creatures, the  lot of
      them. I intend to see to   it that
      any man who sails under a  pirate
      flag, or wears a pirates  brand,
      gets what he deserves: a  short
      drop and a sudden stop.

Academic gold. It was the first paper I wrote this year so I'm
hoping that it turns out alright. I also found out just moments
ago that I have to lead a meeting tommorow morning. It is about
10:00 right now so I plan on pumping out a rough draft of what
I have to say so fast. I may actually just resort to bringing the
screenplay from the fast and the furious three and using it as a
rough outline. I imagine the situation going something
like this:

"If you do this undercover operation you can get out of jail."

"Cool"

*Ramp a car over a helicopter*

--BAM! Best meeting ever.

I don't have a lot of actual content for this post though if you
haven't guessed that by now. The paper I wrote was pretty
good though, it made me think more about what should
constitute the goals of one's life. The nobles had a lot of money
and a lot of parties but they still didn't get what they wanted
out of life. I hope to figure some stuff out while I'm in Russia
too and not just post jokes about bad movie scripts. I think I
already appreciate a lot of little things a lot more. Really it just
comes down to noticing the good things that have been there
all along.

Anyhow though, time to start writing with a different goal in mind.
Take it easy Vin Diesel lovers.

Peterhof Trip / Church of the Spilt Blood

This past Saturday for art class, our group had the opportunity to visit the palace constructed by Peter the Great. The palace is constructed on a natural terrace, with the many trees, fountains, and sculptures of the front lawn hardly able to compare with larger, lower, and more scenic back lawn.

Here is a photo that shows the many fountains of the lower garden.




Here is an image of the rear garden from another angle:



Directly out from these fountains is a canal that leads into the Baltic Sea.



This visit was unquestionably the most beautiful palace we have seen so far. The pictures can not do justice to the sounds and scenery that so much flowing water creates. The palace also provides a glimpse into the excesses of Russian ruling classes. While many of the poor lived on only the most necessary of essentials, the Monarch was able to construct a palace with an almost unlimited budget. I appreciated the trip not merely for the beautiful fountains, lawns, and rooms within the palace, but also because it made me appreciate the fact that money and power can not buy happiness. This tired saying that sounds like something your mom says when you tell her you bought lottery tickets was really evident when I asked myself: "Would living here everyday make me permanently happy?" I think I'd much prefer hanging out in Tim Hortons with my friends or eating taco salad with the loving family I've been blessed with.

But before I border on sounding like I have feelings I'd like to switch gears--on Sunday most of our group also visited the Church of the Spilt Blood in St. Petersburg. You may recognize this post-card friendly landmark from the banner on the top of my site. The inside is covered with beautiful mosaics of Orthodox church saints and biblical scenes, with a floor and walls of exquisite marble.

If you are wondering what is up with the metal band-esque name of the church, it was built on the site where tsar Alexander II was killed by terrorists during a time of political ferment in the
late 19th century.



Here is the interior:



(The pictures presented are not mine however, they belong to google.)

That is all for this post, I have to start preparing a multimedia presentation for a freshman celebration that starts on October 9. I hope to include a lot of hockey, Tim Horton, and lumberjack photos in it.

Until next time.

Being Sick in Russia

Hey,

I think this represents an all-time low in Blog quality. Read on only if you love pain and hate taco salad, two things that I view to be essentially the same.



I've been sick the past few days. It sucks being sick all the time but I'd say it sucks even more in Russia.

My roommate is watching terminator salvation right now and John Connor just shot out the windows. I hope to shoot out the windows on a building sometime--that's the friggin' manliest.

(YOU CYBORGS WILL NEVER WIN!!!!!)



(Inside that Window is dead Cyborgs, or maybe "off" Cyborgs if you want to get technical)

Back to the story of the sickness though: yesterday I slept about 14 hours in an effort to feel better. In Canada when I'm sick its kind of like, "sweet I'm sick I'm going to look at facebook photos or play gameboy and not worry about anything." But in Russia I feel like I'm missing things when I'm sick. Funny that I don't feel like I'm missing things when I'm sick in Canada. I think being sick has made me appreciate Canada more in a strange Terminator inspired way.

I don't want to take this too far though or else I'll end up sounding like the dissapointing beard guy of my last post who got existential when someone wore a black tie. This post may mark the first appearance of home-sickness though. I wish I could just be sick and eat taco salad.

This is what happens when you google image search robots and taco salad:



(I knew it.)

Tales of the Metro - I

I thought I'd share a funny story that happened while I was riding on the Metro. I haven't posted anything that great in a while, so this will continue with that tradition.

I read this other guys blog that I thought would be cool because it was called "guy with a beard" but it was mostly just him writing boring emotional stuff about how black ties make him existential. I don't think the internet needs more of that, but then again, what does the internet need more of? Probably more people contributing to Wikipedia articles, but I digress.

The Story

Our English group of students boarded the Metro on Sunday morning in order to attend a Church on the opposite side of the city. The morning was quiet on the Metro: there were a few people moving around, a couple babushkas with shawls on travelling to their churches, and the odd person with a shopping bag but all things considered it seemed like it would be a laid back visit to a new and exciting Metro station.

Then while I was looking at a map, the guy standing beside me spoke to me in Russian to ask for directions and the confusion began mounting. This obviously intoxicated individual followed up his introductory question by asking, "Do you speak French (en Francai)?" and "Do you speak English." When I told the guy I spoke english he was pretty excited about it, and he shook my hand with the enthusiasm I would probably reserve for a guy with a huge beard. After this I didn't really understand anything he said until he said quite perfectly, "I love Patrick Swayze." We talked about Patrick Swayze for a while and then he wanted his friend to take our picture, but his more reserved sober friend was obviously much too embarressed by the whole episode to indulge his request. It was a pretty funny experience.

Upon returning to the school later that day, I discovered that Patrick Swayze had passed away earlier in the week. Suddenly it all made sense.

Time to return to editing Wikipedia articles though, I hope that story was enjoyable.

Good Novgorod Photos

Justin Wollf has been kind enough to give me some of his photos from our trip to Novgorod. I will not waste your time, I will merely post them in an a way carefully and artistically considered:

This one is so good I think it should be the cover of an album or something.



Here is my idea for the album:



(Beautiful)

On to more pictures though.

My friend Nikolai and I talking on the bridge by a Novgord park:



And finally a view inside the St. Sophia monastery shown in my previous post:



Definately one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in.

Since the trip we have mostly been busy with homework. Our Russian Literature teacher assigned us about 240 or so pages for the week. Part of that reading was the poetically written novel by Pushkin about a man named Evgeny Onegin who politely rejects the advances of a passionate, naive, and innocent country girl. I won't give away too much of the plot, but it did present many interesting insights about Russian life--our literature teacher even mentioned that it has been called an encyclopedia of Russian life by a modern scholar.

On Monday of this week we also got to read the Pushkin poem entitled "The Bronze Horseman" directly in front of the statue that was being described in the work. It was amazing to have literature be alive in such a vivid fashion in front of me. It is easy to forget the historical and social implications of literature and view it solely as a dialogue between author and audience. Reading the poem in front of the statue brought to life the importance of the context.

We got to experience another Russian art class in the Museum of Russian Ethnography. The museum contains works of Russian artists and we got the chance to see famous paintings such as Aivazovsky's Ninth Wave and the Repin's Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. The Wikipedia article doesn't do them any justice, as they are the size of an entire wall and painted in incredible detail. Next class we get to return to the museum to view some impressionist and avante guarde art.

That's it for now. Going to a Tchaikovsky opera tonight, and possibly eating at KFC beforehand--how cultured...

Norma Jean and Novgorod Photos

Hello once again,

Since my last post I've attended a Norma Jean concert, visited the historic city of Novgorod to see an 11th century Cathedral, and сontinued being misunderstood in grocery stores all the while.

The Norma Jean show was quite unique, the venue we were in was quite small and several people inside were smoking in the poorly ventilated area. The place smelled like a creepy great-uncle's basement where he's smoked a pack a day for the last 37 years. It was weird, the first two bands that played were probably in the top 5 worst bands I have ever heard, the people that were smoking often dropped their ashes on the floor, and everyone was REDICULOUSLY excited for Norma Jean. It was sweet to see though, everyone was so happy to see them. We also met a few guys at the show who spoke English as well as Russian. One of the guys had a brother who is studying in Halifax and he plans to study french in Montreal. Here is a short video clip from the show--notice the heavy accent in the chant.




I won't blog alot about the trip to Novgorod. We left at about 9 in the morning, drove through a bit of the Russian forest land, and arrove at our destination at about 11 o'clock. It was really cool to see the churches, which were old even by Russian standards. Novgorod is a much smaller city than St. Petersburg, and because of this, it feels a little more like Canada. The pictures show some of the beautiful scenes that I experienced while there, and I am also throwing in a picture of Brenno and John on the banks of the Neva River with our Russian friends Pavel and Eliah (Paul and Elijah).

This is a completely wooden building that was built in the early 20th century. Not that old but really cool:



Here are some church bells:




Constructed between 1045 and 1050 St. Sophia's chapel in Novgorod is the oldest church in Russia. To put in in historical context: this church was built around the time Leif Erikson first sailed to North America!



To conclude, a picture of John and Brenno with our Russian friends Paul and Elijah. Can you guess who the Russians are?



Peace out, and in the words of Norma Jean "tonight the south is on fire." Check your basement.

St. Peter and Paul Fortress

After attending an Orthodox service, me and a cups a my peeps (I don't know why I didn't just write it normally) also vistited the St. Peter and Paul fortress, one of the oldest and most historic sites in St. Petersburg, and also the place where many famous Tsars now rest. Rather than explaining it all, I'll just show a few photos courtesy of Justin Wollf. That man (J. Wollf) has the photographer-soul of a poet-saint-sea monster.

The View from outside:



Inside the Church:



We also visited the famous prison on the island location of St. P & P where bolsheviks and other political activists were held. The prison also held famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky for a period of time. The prison now holds famous Canadian intellectual A. Berg, whose longing for freedom is expressed in his outstretched grasp for the faint autumn light above him. When will our world change??? How long must Berg suffer? How long must his freedom be denied?

The Russian Orthodox Paradox

This past Sunday, our group of international students woke up at 6a.m. dragged ourselves to the Metro and managed to make it to an Russian Orthodox church service. The service was pretty cool, there are no pews for sitting and there is a lot more movement throughout the church than would occur in a North American service. My pastor once upset the pulpit in rage, kicked a speaker off stage, and screamed at me for dropping my pen during a service. That last sentence was a lie, but hopefully it enhances the contrast between the activity in an Orthodox service and the relative lack-there-of (minus the obligitory hand shaking session mid service) in the North American Church. The service also last nearsly two hours, so needless to say I had a prett good stand-sway going by the end of the time.

All jokes aside, towards the end of the service I had a really unique experience with one of the members of the Church. I was watching as the priest was burning some incense and conducting what appeared to me as a mini after church service, and an older lady approached me and started talking to me in Russian. At first I thought that she was scolding me for failing to cross myself at the appropriate times but after we communicated for a minute or two, I found out that she was actually trying to teach me this basic practice of the Church--explaining what every stage of the gesture meant as she led me in the actions. After this happened and I told her that I was a visiting student from Canada and she showed me a few of the icons present at the church and explained that they represented St. Mary, St. Vladimir, and St. Gregory. Following this tour of the church, this sparkling-eyed, stereotypical babooshka (grandma) told me to follow her into the church foyer and then proceeded to show me pictures of her family, pointing out her son, her grandson, and her husband, explaining that he had died a few years ago. When this was finished everyone was ready to leave and she told all of my friends (who had come to rescue me if she was lashing out in anger) to stay in school and not do drugs, and that all around the world we are one family in God. It kind of caught me off-guard that this lady who I thought was coming to scold me, ended up sharing a message of hope and unity with me. Hope, faith, and kindness are universally present: they often show up in ways I wouldn't expect.

Cultural Differences

Hey again,

I don't have any exciting new photos and in similar sad news I also shaved yesterday. It was needed though, I was starting to look like this guy:



That brings me to the maximum amount of Home Improvement jokes allowed in a single blog (a little known law in Russia) and brings me to the main topic of this blog: the cultural differences I have observed living in Russia for only a short time.

One of the most obvious things involves vehicles and sidewalks. In Canada, much of the infrastructure is set up to prioritize road and vehicle transport--in Russia it's a bit different. There is a decent road infrastructure set up, but the city's age and development prioritize walking paths much more than is done in Canada. What this all means is that it isn't uncommon to be walking down a sidewalk and hear the beep of a vehicle horn sounding behind you as it drives down the sidewalk. It doesn't happen every time you go out, but it does happen.

Another thing that is quite different is the attitude towards alcohol. In Russia one can buy beer, wine, and vodka at almost every grocery store or get a beer with their McDonalds combo. It is also not uncommon to see people nursing beers at all times of the day in the most uncommon of places. Outside of the grocery store in the evening, riding the Metro just after mid-day, or hanging out at the park in the morning.

That's about all for right now. There are also some differences that make me think about the way I live in Canada, but I thought that since I started with a Home Improvement joke I'll leave the serious stuff out for now.

See ya!



(Ending with another Home Improvement pic to increase my street cred after a HILLS* comment slipped out last blog)



* The only show for me is Home Improvement

First Art Class

We recently had our first art class of the year, and these are no ordinary art classes. Rather than sitting in the classroom watching early 90's videos about famous painters we get the chance to travel through St. Petersburg and observe several of the paintings and famous buildings in person. Our teacher also teaches at Philosophy of Aesthetics at the State University so needless to say she has an exceptional understanding of the city's artwork and architecture. I have a few pictures from our trip that I will post and explain:

The Pushkin statue in front of the Russian Museum:



This is a statue of famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. Our instructor pointed out that the statue's curly hair reflected his African ancestry. Pushikin's great grandfather was actually born in Africa, as it was in vogue during the 18th century for noble women to have a few African children present to contrast their whiteness. Pushkin was always proud of his African heritage. Pushkin's wife Natalya Pushkina was also famous for her beauty. This led many men, and even the tsar, to request the couples presence at prestigious balls and ceremonies. The beauty of Pushkin's wife also led to his death in a duel between he and his brother-in-law which was due to the advances his brother-in-law made upon his wife. Oddly this brother-in-law had married Natalya's less beautiful sister in an attempt to get closer to Natalya herself. It's pretty much THE HILLS 18th century Russia edition...

The Mikhailovsky Palace:



This building was designed by italian born architect Carlo Rossi and served as the occasional residence for tsars. Construction of the building was completed in 1825.

Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood:




A beautiful church built upon the site of tsar Alexander the II's assasination (hence the name) that was also used to store vegetables during the Soviet Regime. I bought a funny Matryoshka doll (the doll's with all the little dolls in them) that has a whole bunch of political rulers stacked inside each other.

You can also click on the photos to make them larger, but I'm sure that's pretty obvious to everyone who is not writing this right now. Everyone who's not me in other words.

Well, time to go eat some cheap 2-Rouble noodles. They're the same as always here...

Blockade Memorial

Hey,

I'm tryin to post ridiculously regularly because there has been so much going on in the past week and a half that it's difficult to try and give an accurate picture of what's going on here.

I just read Brennon's blog and it's a pretty good description of the early reactions to St. Petersburg and it also has a good picture of the big green arch located only about a block from the school. If that doesn't work and it takes you to some creepy site about poetry/metal just scroll down--it probably is Brennon...

Anyhow, I thought I would give a short account of the blockade memorial that we visted 3 or 4 days ago. It wasn't a huge museum but it gave me a sense of the loss and suffering that this city experienced during the second world war. For roughly 900 days all entrances to St. Petersburg were blocked by Nazi forces. Those within the city had no access to food and many died of starvation. Inside the museum there are candles lining the wall that represent every life lost during the blockade. It's such a blessing that such large scale fighting has never occured on Canadian soil; it wasn't until I visited this memorial that I realized how lucky our country is.

Here are a few pictures that will hopefully give you a sense of the feeling at the memorial:

Entering with our host Janyne:



Bread and Flowers laid at the Memorial:



Every Candle represents a life:



Photos by Justin Wollf.