Tales of the Metro - II

I had another strange experience on the Metro today. Todays experience was a bit more scary than funny, but it might be funny when I think about it in 2 years.

I got up late today and after about a 15 minute battle with my conscious, I decided that I would go to church instead of sleeping in. I got up, ate, showered, and then headed out to the Metro.

I've only taken the Metro by myself about 4 or 5 times so it was a little different than normal. Things went without incident during the first half of the trip. I sat as usual on the Metro and contemplated the short amount of time that remains for us in Russia. The train stopped at Technologisky Institute and I changed lines and began on my way to the Nevsky Prospect station.

I sat down in an open seat and thought I would have an unusual amount of room in the unusually deserted Metro. This wasn't the case though, as a regular enough looking guy asked if he could sit next to me (or so I assume) and I slid over to make room for him.

At this point in the story there are so many ways that this can go. Try to imagine an ending right now--you probably won't be right.

The ride went without incident until the train was just beginning to slow down at my stop. At this point some Russian dudes about my age walked up in front of me and started talking to the person across from me, and a few seconds later, they turned and began talking to the young man who had sat next to me.

I assumed that they were friends as they leaned in close to the person beside me and looked about the same age. I really wish I knew more of what they were saying so I could understand what happened next--it caught me completely off guard.

I had just begun to raise myself from my seat when the young man leaning in talking to the person next to me lifted himself up on the overhead rail used to brace yourself and delivered a powerful double footed kick into the lap of the young man next to me.

I wasn't sure if I should try to get between these two or what would happen next. There was no angry build-up or shouting before it happened. I blocked myself with my hands and pushed the attackers legs to the floor but after that I began walking for the now open doors to my stop. At this time the whole metro car's attention was firmly fixed on these two men and an old women was shouting at the men. As I exited the train, aside from an awkward half-backward spin kick made by the attackers friend, there were no additional punches or kicks thrown, and the situation seemed to have calmed. I left the train and wished like never before that I could understand more Russian.

The strangest thing about the whole incident was how regular looking the double-footed kick guy was. He had a short looking hair-cut, a nice jacket that reminded me of something we sold at MEC (the location of my summer employment), and didn't appear to be drunk, sketchy, or a fan of metal.

The only thing I can think of was that these guys knew each other from before, and one guy was messing with the other's girlfriend.

On the way home, I stood on the metro and kept on close lookout for double-footed power stomps. I'm not sure if I'll ever see one again, but now I'll be ready.

Here's a funny thing that was said at church: after quoting the famous quip that, "The only two things you can be sure of in life are death and taxes," he added, "maybe in this country you can't be quite so sure of taxes." I thought that was funny.

Russian Hockey

Today we went to a K.H.L (Kontinental Hockey League) game between the St. Petersburg team and a team from Riga, Latvia. This Russian league is supposedly the best in Europe, with players like Alexei Yashin, Sergei Zubov, Marcel Hossa, and Paul Kariya's brother Martin.

It was definitely a Canada-like experience. The game made me want to start playing intramural hockey again.

It was a great game, the St. Petersburg team killed off a 4 minute major that they took with 3 minutes left in the game and won 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Alexei Yashin. I Couldn't have asked for a better ending.

Here are some photos with explanations of the game included.

We had really good seats for the game for under 10$. We could have sat next to the cheerleaders for under 20$ but that might have been distracting.

A view to the far side of the ice.

Fans who came from Riga, Latvia. You can kind of see it in this picture but their section was lined on both sides with military personnel to prevent any rowdy fans from 2nd degree murder. Several times during the game people would turn to these fans and shout what may have been profanities or give angry looks. Sounds kind of like the Theology profs at a clippers game...

Here are the cool Russian cheerleaders that I mentioned in the first caption. My favourite part of the entire night may have been when they danced to a Russian folk song. Other than that it was mostly Blink-182 and rap I didn't recognize.

Definitely a fun night.

Top 10 Reasons to come to Russia

I thought I'd make these up. I have to do a paper and I'm having trouble getting to it.

10. Palaces beautiful beyond imagination.

9. Riding on the Metro and taking a really fun really long escaltor.

8. Not getting the swine flu. I've been good so far, have you?

7. Teremok: a fast food place that sells blini's--super thin pancakes with a variety of different fillings. My two favourites are a mushroom, cheese one called the "E-mail" and a cream filled one that's called something different. I usually just point at the picture.

6. All the girls wearing high-heels. I think it's cool, though I'm a tall guy.

5. No sweat pants anywhere. I only like them if they have elastic cuff's on the bottom or a superhero print on the fabric.

4. Bottles of Vodka for 3$ and cigarettes for 50 cents. How can I afford not to! (jk Mom)

3. Ping-pong against Uzbekistani champions.

2. Chooda Yogurt has changed my life.

1. Getting to know people without knowing their language. It's hard to figure out what you have in common so you just become friends anyhow. I've been talking to about 70% more Charasmatic people than I do back home.

Was number 1 cornily sentimental? Oh well, I'm kind of a cornily inclined guy.

I also abuse the English language because I know how to. That's probably number 11.

Red Square

Here are a few photos and a video from the trip to Moscow:



The building that stands opposite the St. Basil's Cathedral. It's much older than any building in St. Petersburg so it shows some of the details used in the older Russian style.



Lenin's Mausoleum--the place where the actual body of Lenin is still on display. We got to see it the day after I took this picture and it was a strange experience. After going through several security check points, watching a group of American tourists bribe a guard to get to the front of the line, and passing through a metal detector, we were ready to go inside. Once inside, you walk a winding path that has guards watching your every step. It's weird that guards need to guard someone that's already dead. Here's a joke I heard today: A Siberian visits Moscow to do some shopping and stands in the longest line he can find. When he returns to Siberia without any goods someone asks him why he took such a long trip without buying anything. To this he replies, "The shopkeeper died..."




Clocktower.



St. Basil's Cathedral! Easily the most famous emblem of Russian life. There have been countless movies, books, and photos that reference this building in some way. You can see it across the entire square and it was easily one of the coolest things we've seen.



Group Photo.



This photo shows the eternal flame that burns just outside the Kremlin in memory of the countless casualties of War. There are two guards standing on either side of the flame at all times of the day.



Church within the Kremlin that was used by the earliest Russian Tsars.



Another Church in the Kremlin.



"Goom" mall in the Red Square.



St. Basil's Cathedral at night.



A video that shows the general layout of the square.

It was an excellent trip. I'll post a more detailed explanation of things another time.

Moscow // Meek Women

This week has been a busy one. The miracle month of November is similarly miraculous in Russia, but the format of things is quite different. The 8 page biography I wrote on Lenin was based mostly off our textbook and internet sources--such a freshman move. There's still a lot to do, but I still manage to find the time to squeeze in blogs that incorporate at least a few cool google images.



Also read a cool Dostoevsky story called either "A Meek Woman" or "A Gentle Creature." It's pretty solid, and here are a few cool quotes:

"Cheap magnanimity is always easy, even sacrificing one's life is cheap, because that's only blood at a boil and an excess of vitality, a passionate yearning for beauty! No, let's see a hard deed of magnanimity, quiet, unheard, without glitter, combined with slander, in which there is a great deal of sacrifice and not a drop of glory--when you, a person of glowing attributes, are presented to everyone as a scoundrel, although you are more honest than anyone on earth--try accomplishing that deed, will you!"

"Youth is always magnanimous, although a little bit off the mark" -- I think it'd be Ironic to get a cool tattoo of this quote. That'd be so cool.

"Everything is dead, and the dead are everywhere. There are only people, and they are surrounded by silence. That is the world! 'People, love one another,'--who said that? Whose commandment is that? The pendulum coldly ticks away, it's horrible."

Tommorow we are also taking a 12:40 am overnight train to Moscow to see things like the Red Square and Lenin's Mausoleum. Next time I blog there should be at least 9 high quality pictures that don't involve dogs wearing pants--but maybe more that do...

One more for good measure:



Existential Dostoevsky quotes mixed with dogs wearing pants--that is what the internet is about.

Tsarskoe Selo

We went on an excursion to Catherine the Greats residence several weeks ago but I didn't get the pictures together until now.

Now that it's November I'm torn by the question of whether I should shave or not. I remember back in the good ol' days when no shave November meant: shave once less this month than you normally would. I'm still missing a bit of a patch to the right of my lips, but commiting to not shave would be much more of a commitment than it has been in the past. In a month I would look similar to a blone version of this guy:




Speaking of which, how come Protestant pastors don't get to look like this guy:



The man puts rappers to shame.

Anyhow, on to the photos, thanks again to Justin Wollf for the stunning photos and continuing to decorate his room. He recently made the addition of a cool statue of a working man in a funny hat.

A small palace built to look out over the lake:



A cool photo of a statue on one of the banks of the lake:



The main palace. MTV should do a "cribs" this instead of unimpressive rappers who are out done by Orthodox priests.



A few views inside the palace:





That's it for today. I'm going to go cook myself some potatoes for supper.

Russian Avante-Guarde

Modern Art. Fact or Fiction? Truth or Lie? Hope or Despair? Night or Day? Beauty or the Beast? History or Future? Whole Wheat or White?

Much of it depends on taste, but it was great to get to see original works of art and have our knowledgable teacher there to explain them.

Here are some originals we got to see last art class:



This painting makes much more sense after our art teacher explained it to us. It looks like a red square and that's what it is. You kind of have to think yourself in a circle to appreaciate it.

This is another Malevich. It attempts to present more patriotic and pro-revoltionary subject matter. During the revolution it became difficult for artists to represent themselves freely and this painting attempts to unite abstract contemporary art with a political movement. I think the two aren't exactly BFF's.



This next work was done by Pavel Filonov, our art teachers favourite Russian artist. He also painted during revolutionary times and his patriotic desire to avoid selling works for private collections left him quite literally as a "starving artist." I appreciate the detail in his work, and if I had the money to buy art, I would probably make my own red square, and buy a Filonov if possible instead.



It reminds me of a dream I had once maybe. Hard to see the details in this internet reproduction: the colours and shapes of the flowers were much more vivid.

Russian Dudez

Here is a good picture that was taken in the dorm yesterday. I thought I'd describe some of the Russian friends I've made while being here.




(Far Left) это я, меня зовут кевин.

(Second from Left) My roommate Anatolli. He's been a really good roommate so far, when I was sick for a few days he gave me tea and jam to help me get better. He works nights 3-4 times a week to pay for school, so I really appreciated the sacrifice necessary in his generosity. Russian culture is much more generous than our own, and also much more willing to endure suffering.

Funny story about learning English as well: John B's roommate is trying to learn English but he tried to figure out the word "roommate" by translating "room" and "mate" seperately. I think he was freaked out for a day or two.

(Third from Left) Constantine! This guy is excellent at explaining things non-verbally. We called him "Charade's guy" for almost the entire first month until we figured out his name. He's explained the process for diluting household chemicals for cleaning, taught us multi-step, multi-ingredient recipes, and explained a story about eating chocolate in the forest for military training with no words at all. He's good.

(Far Right) Evgeny. This guy wins the award for most improved English. At first if one of us international students would come into the kitchen he would immediately become self-concious and leave. Now he often tests his English skills on us and translates simple phrases for some of his friends who speak zero English. One day he asked Brennon what "duke" meant and we attempted to explain the entirety of British Monarchy. After we were almost finished and it appeared we weren't communicating clearly he made things simpler by saying, "like Duke Nukem?" Everything then made sense.

Here are also some people going to the Opera:

Slightly less Russian.

Taming The Russian Stallion

Picture courtesy of Justin Wollf:

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Best moment of my life when Justin finished this.

Virtual Dorm Tour

After getting my daily dose of destruction, I decided to take a few pictures of the dorm to give a sense of what an average day is like. You may want to duct tape your eyes open, you won't want to miss a second.

Waking up:

This is where I spend roughly 1/3rd of my time. Note the orange MEC sleeping bag that I took along for warmth. It has definately been one of the top 4 things that I decided to bring to Russia. You might be wondering what the little black thing is in the wall behind the pillow--it's not any kind of European technology or decorative element. There was a hole there when I entered the room, and after about 2 nights I found out that a draft was coming in through that hole and annoying me while I tried to read. The black thing in the wall that looks like a tiny tree is actually my sleeping bag sack stuffed into the wall to keep the draft out. Another reason I'm glad I took my sleeping bag.



Room Decoration:

I've never been the guy whose wall is plastered with pictures and cool pics of people snowboarding or otherwise looking cool. Right now I've got all of the essentials: family Christmas photo, picture of a bust of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and the newest addition, postcard of Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son. I also have a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles banner placed on the top shelf of my desk. It's a huge inspiration to continue blogging.



The Hall:

A bit cryptic but you get used to it.



My Food:

I posted a picture of the kitchen in one of the earliest blog entries so I won't do so again. Here is a sampling of the food I eat--about 50% is Chooda brand yogurt. I might try to get Chooda to sponsor this blog so if you start seeing Chooda ads consider it a victory: it means free yogurt.




Justin Hard at Work:

Justin getting it done. His room has this amazing carpet/cactus plant combo that leaves the rest of us jealous. He also has an amazing original work of art depicting Santa* that he got at an antiques store.




Here is another look at his Santa picture, a genuine oil on canvas. I hope it makes it through customs.



The view going outside:

Self explanatory.



выход:

Exit. I also tried to give the photo a spooky Halloween feel. Here in Russia I saw only 3 or 4 people dressed up, and one guy was legitimately scary. That's not what Halloween is about is it? I'll stick to my principles, to me, Halloween represents love, my love for uniquely shaped chocolate and profits for candy companies that is.



Ping-Pong:

This is where the magic happens. Unfortunately one of my good friends and fiercest opponents Pavel decided school wasn't for him and is now heading back to his home in Siberia. He said he wanted to visit Canada some day so who knows, maybe I'll see him again one day.



The Gym:

The gym at school consists of a bench press table and a decline bench. I can pretty much lift so much--all photos are originals and have not had additional weight photoshopped in.





Our Classroom:

LURN MEH PLEEZ. LOLCATS RUEN MY ENGLUSH.



The Library:

The library at the school is one of my favourite places. It has a comfortable reading room, a large computer lab, and an atmosphere filled with possibility.









Unfortunately it also made this student go mad from stress.



Back to the dorm:

This is the walk between the school and the dorm.



That took longer than I expected. Time to eat some more yogurt.