Briercrest Russia

NEW BLOG

2010-09-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

I created a new blog today for life after Russia. It's not a music, art, photography, celebrity, political, news, or weather blog at the moment so we'll see how it turns out. Hopefully I don't just write 3 and 1/2 articles and then abandon it be overran by chinese-spam-hyperlinks--but blogs are a fragile thing.

HERE IT IS:

http://morenottoread.blogspot.com

Thank you for considering me for this position (reading cover letters must be boring).

Kevin

Back in Canada

2009-12-18T06:20:00.000-08:00

After a grueling 26 or so hours in planes and airports we are now back in Canada! It was strange even on the plane hearing so many people talk in English. I wonder if people we couldn't understand in Russian were also talking about how their cell coverage is a rip-off. I would not be surprised.

I enjoyed some peanut butter for breakfast along with some milk that didn't taste kind of funky. I also had a really good Pita yesterday that was really easy to order.

Though it's great to be able to understand everything again it was still really saddening to leave Russia. All our friends in the dorm and the people who worked with our group have become such close friends that I'm sure I'll try to visit them sometime again in life.

I always thought Winnipeg was a big city growing up, but now it seems like it's actually not that imposing.

I had the sleep of my life last night also. After being awake for ~ 40hours I crashed pretty hard.

This post will most likely also be the final one for this blog, as the Briercrest Russia Program '09 is now officially over. Maybe I'll be able to transfer this account to someone for the '10 program. It could be you...

Trip to Vyborg

2009-12-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

I was going to write about an incident that happened a little less than a week ago when a police officer stopped me in the metro and accused me of using marijuana, but since the end of our trip is so near, I thought I'd leave it to tell people in person. It was strange though.

A few days ago we had the chance to visit the city of Vyborg that lies close to the Finnish-Russian border. The city was actually Finnish until it was ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II. The city, although home to over 80,000 residents, felt like a small town. During our visit we got to see a medieval castle, the ruins of catholic monasteries, and the view of the city from a tower in the castle. Here are a few pictures to show what the trip was like:

A Russian Orthodox Church. We got to go inside and hear some of the service.

A Statue of Lenin. There are random statues and faces of him almost everywhere.

I thought this was some funny graffiti, it reads "Give me Power Crash my weakness," an almost poetic quote that also features a perplexed cat looking on. I think graffiti here is generally of better quality than it is back home. (That cat is just so surprised)

A crane working at the dock. The waters and lands as far away as you can see might be Finnish territory.

Here is the old watch tower that's stood in the city from its beginnings.

The castle that was used by Swedish forces in the 18th century to defend against Russian forces. Tsar Peter the Great finally captured the fortress after a long war between Russia and Sweden.

Ruins of a Catholic monastery in the city.

A funny car sitting beside an abandoned wall. I think this is a really Russian photo.

See you all soon! We are only here for 5 more days. I remember lying in my bed going to sleep the first night as clearly as if it were only days ago, hard to believe that it's been almost 4 months.

She had marvelous judgment... if not particularly good taste

2009-12-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

I have an exam tomorrow on Russian History--I plan on writing it furiously.

We went to the crazy small theatre again. I'll try to post once more the day before we leave but this will be my last event post about what we've been doing in Russia.

With exams and Christmas coming up there won't be much time to post. I'll also try to put some good pictures up in the abundance of post-trip time I'll have.

The play today was called sans paroles and it was cool to watch because there were no words. Usually mimery isn't that appealing, but being in Russia it was nice to be able to understand as much as everyone else.

The play involved two people in sacks going about their daily routines without things amounting to anything. It's kind of a melancholic idea but they added a few funny elements to the production that really changed it from the original. I wish I had more pictures but my Camera batteries are quite low.

I'm sure I'll have some good photos once I get them from Justin again. Here's a picture of us in class.

Here are some videos of Elijah's metal band to fill the rest of the space:

A Trip that Took Longer than Expected

2009-12-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

At about 3:00pm today Brennon came into my room and announced that he and Bergy were going to go to the Nike outlet store and see the Smolny Cathedral on the way. Though I have a language test tomorrow and a blog that needed updating, I knew that I couldn't miss the Smolny Cathedral.

I didn't get home until 12:30am. Moral of the story: short outings are never short.

It was worth it though. Here is a picture of Smolny Cathedral that I pulled off google images:

(I can't figure out how to resize it because I suck at the internet)

After visiting this amazing Church, Brennon and I went with our American friend studying theatre to see a tiny production of King Lear that literally took place inside the wall of Peter and Paul Fortress.

This was no ordinary King Lear--it was actually called Lear without Lear because the role of King Lear was played by a chorus of all the actors not on stage at that time. It was definitely not a classical portrayal--there was sand everywhere, about 20-30 apples were smashed, and a very nicely constructed paper castle was burned to begin the play. The whole thing was also in Russian, and having not read King Lear, I only had a tiny idea of what was occurring in the chaotic apple-and-sand flurry. There was a lot of destruction though and I can respect that in almost any artistic medium.

After the play we stood in line for like 40 minutes to get cheeseburgers at McDonald's. The perfect way to end a really cool night.

Tales of the Metro - II

2009-11-29T05:54:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-26T13:54:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-08T05:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-05T06:43:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-03T10:20:00.000-08:00

Picture courtesy of Justin Wollf:

Best moment of my life when Justin finished this.

Virtual Dorm Tour

2009-11-02T04:09:00.001-08:00

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.

Russian Yogurt

2009-10-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

Rather than writing something that doesn't make sense, I would write about one of the best things I have found in Russia thus far. This is Russian Yogurt, I'm not sure why exactly, but Russian yogurt is about half the price of the Canadian variety. Since coming to Russia, I have probably averaged about 1.374 Yogurts per day. I think that when I return to Canada, one of my suitcases will be filled with clothes and the things that I brought, and the other will be filled with Chooda yogurt. I will quite literally give things away and stop wearing glasses in order to make room for more yogurt. The yogurt has been delicous though, this is one of the small things about Russia that I thought I should address. I hope to have real photos, and real information about Russia and yogurt in the near future.

(MMmmmmm GOOOOD)

Our interview

2009-10-28T04:48:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we were interviewed by the vice-president of international relations. I wasn't entirely sure what resulted from the interview, but today I stumbled onto this on the SPCU site. The site is also a great place to find out more about the school itself.

Russian Academics

2009-10-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

The title of this post will probably scare away all but the most academic and loyal readers, but since the content of these blogs haven't been quite focused on the experience of late, I thought I would respond to a question I received by email about the apparent abscence of any references to the classes we are taking in these blogs.

I thought that in response I'd write a brief description of each class that we're taking:

RUSSIAN HISTORY

Taught by the American missionary who is also the coordinator of our group, this class largely revolves around readings from our textbook. The class reminds me somewhat of Alan Guenther's History of Christianity courses in that the lectures often focus on the specific time in history that we've read about prior. We've also just recently received our topics for major papers--I get the opportunity to write about Lenin, while others are writing about Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra (the last Russian royal family), and Stalin. Source materials are a lot more difficult to find in Russia so these papers will likely have bibliographies slimmer than most Russian models--and that's slim.

-Tsar Nicholas

RUSSIAN LITERATURE

Our Russian literature class is taught by a younger lady who was just recently married. We had an enjoyable break during her wedding and honeymoon but she has now returned in her newlywed fury. This is the class that I got to read Dr. Zhivago for, and I'd say it's one of the more difficult classes in terms of sheer reading volume. I was fortunate that my book was only 550 pages, John gets to read Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, and though a great book, it is definately a 1000 page tome. Russian literature is definately unique, their history is as interesting as the wildest fiction, and suffering and faith are two themes that are explored much more vividly than I have ever seen in English.

RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

Our language class is taught by the extremely patient and kind Lyouba. She has helped us learn the Cyrillic alphabet and a few of the many Russian grammatic constructions. Here is a picture of the alphabet, it is quite cool.

The bl letter that says "(like you've been jabbed in the stomach)" is pretty accurate. It can't really be reproduced using the English alphabet. I would also describe it as the sound a person makes when they see something really gross, "eeuih, sick man." Learning a new language has been great though, I hope to continue practicing when I return to Canada.

RUSSIAN ART

I've mentioned this in previous posts so I'll just re-state that this class is the best. We get to visit museums and historical locations and see the orginals of great art. I've tried to explain how amazing this class is but I still think it's something that needs to be experienced to be fully explained. A 15 page essay could probably give a good idea, but I'd probably need either money, furs, or semi-precious stones for that to happen.

It's good though to say the least.

Until next time--probably three days...

If You Come to Russia

2009-10-27T04:34:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this blog has been shedding some light on the experience for students who will study in Russia in the future, and I thought that while the ideas were fresh in my mind, I would post a short list of items that would be good to bring.

A BATTERY POWERED CLOCK

I decided that I would just buy a watch in Russia, but the diamond studded, Jay-Z blingin', one I thought I could find really cheap in Russia turned out to cost just as much if not more than it would in Canada. As of right now I am relying on an alarm system that involves drinking various amounts of water before bed in order to wake up at the appropriate time. I have it down to an almost exact scienct though, I can usually wake up within 30 minutes of when I want to.

A CELL PHONE

Coming to Russia seems like a great opportunity to break from the technological chains that bind us, but not having a cell phone is also a huge hindrance to hanging out. Most of the english people you meet are like, "Hey I'll call you up sometime" and then I usually say "Well... probably not, maybe I'll see you again if fate smiles upon us." Without a cell phone, hang-outs, organizing outings, and finding out what to do when you get lost are mostly in the hands of fate. Fate has been kind though, and we haven't had any huge problems yet, but things would be much easier with a cell phone--even if just one member of the group brings one.

SPARE CONTACT LENSES

This one doesn't so much apply to me as it does my friend Brenno. He got to Russia and was like, ah SHEESTERS I FORGOTZ MUH CONTAXTZ (if you know Brennon you also recognize that this is almost an exact quote). Contact solution and supplies are available here but they're quite difficult to find and purchase. It's best to just be prepared.

A RUSSIAN POCKET PHRASEBOOK

Can come in really handy if you have to say something to someone who speaks almost no english or if the police ask to see your passport (as happened to me once, luckily I had it!). Even "pocket dictionaries" are too much of a hassle to carry and a book that can fit easily and comfortably in a pocket is probably the best bet. Also an invaluable tool for learning the language.

FEWER DRESS PANTS

The information you are given from the college says no T-shirts and jeans for class, but everyone just wears jeans and a sweater. Don't let your mom over-hype the importance of dressing like a diplomat.

SOLID RAIN GEAR

It's rained every day for what seems like weeks. My extreme summer tan has faded and now I look like a black and white photo that has had the colour digitally reversed. If only my hero W.E.B. Du Bois saw me now, he'd be ashamed. Probably not though. The point though--bring a warm, waterproof jacket!

A READING LIGHT

I enjoy the warm ambiance of reading a book with minimal lighting, but it does hurt the eyes after a while. A lamp is too big to bring, and too expensive to buy so I'd recommend bringing a small flashlight or headlamp that you can read easily with. It's starting to get dark here at about 6:00pm and days are only going to get shorter.

AN EXTERNAL HARD-DRIVE

The way that the internet works in Russia makes it great for adding to electronic collections of movies, CD's, and television programs. I ran out of space on my computer after two weeks. Now I'm left thinking what could have been. Don't leave home without one!

That's it for this post. Later.

Dr. Zhivago Calling...

2009-10-24T07:45:00.001-07:00

When my Dad needed to get through to my Mom at the community health office he would always say that it was Dr. Zhivago calling. In our literature class, we had to read lengthy novels while our teacher was away getting married, and I was fortunate enough to get to read this novel. The last 3 days I've spent a good amount of time reading and I thought I'd share some of my favorite quotes.

"Man is born to live, not to prepare for life. Life itself, the phenomenon of life, the gift of life is so breath-takingly serious" (Zhivago 297).

"Reshaping life! People who can say that have never understood a thing about life--they have never felt its breath, its heartbeat--however much they have seen or done. They look on it as a lump of raw material that needs to be processed by them, to be ennobled by their touch" (Zhivago 338.)

This was said by ultra-babe Lara Feodorovna Guishar, and I think it proves her ultra-babeness:

"I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and of little value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them" (Zhivago 399).

In a one sentence run through of what's going on today I played volleyball again in the morning, ate some Blini with a few Russians, and am now going to a Russian battle of the bands. It's been a good day.

That's it for now though...

Freak(manities): Freakonomics and The Humanities

2009-10-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

I think that this blog will soon be split into a Russia blog and an interesting video and idea post-Russia blog. With that said, I stumbled onto an interesting article that criticizes the way that academic economics have been transformed by the popularity of "freakonomics" that reduce the breadth of what economists study to almost freakishly particular case studies, ie. Information control as applied to the Ku Klux Klan and real estate agents. The article can be found here and the quotes presented are taken from the same text.

Sometimes I regret that my humanities education doesn't allow me to pursue virtually any mathematics. It'd be cool to see Briercrest continue to expand what it offers. I can only dream of the day when the first math major graduates from the college.

What the article made me consider though was the relationship between an interesting subject and the necessity of studying it academically. Reading a blog by Briercrest professor Eric Ortlund provides a bit of context for the quotes I'll be mentioning shortly.

I find these quotes to be quite insightful on the nature of acadamia. Are there no X-Box 360's in our Ivory Tower's?

"It is exactly like postmodernism in the humanities," he groans. "What is there to say about Beethoven anymore? ... Every moron can’t understand technical orchestration, doesn't know the history of music. So you write about him having a gay affair with his nephew."

[Working on a P.H.D. Thesis in Economics] also happened to be one of the most tedious experiences of my life. So tedious, in fact, that previously tedious exercises--like reading scholarly works of history or The New York Review of Books--suddenly seemed like pleasant diversions. Increasingly, I felt oppressed by the prospect of spending years on some intractable problem. I chafed at the obligation to do "socially useful" work. I wanted the freedom to pursue whatever seemed interesting and to drop whatever didn't. ...

When I raise this issue with Levitt, he is almost apologetic: "There needs to be a core for work on the periphery to make any sense. I don’t think we would want to have a whole profession with dilettantes like me out doing what I do." But, in nearly the same breath, he adds: "The simple fact is that it's hard to do good research. ... To the extent that you can do interesting research that teaches us something about the world, and entertains along the way, that's not so bad."

I thought it was a cool idea. If you read through the entirety of this blog you most likely think so as well, that or you are my Mom. Thanks Mom.

Russian Traffic

2009-10-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

I think this video shows some of the difficulties of being a pedestrian in Russia.

Look both ways before crossing the street, and cross quickly...

Church

2009-10-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday our group of international students had a chance to lead the student chapel time--here are some pictures:

Chatting with Dr. Negrov after we finished:

The service as it happens:

Myself speaking:

(note the puzzled look on my interpretor Nikolay's face)

At this moment I was saying:

"that world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you"

jk. I wish I had said that.

A Comic strip depicting the service:

Here are some of the highlights from what I said. The initial joke about not getting into fights in Russia was the worst bomb I have ever experienced. Something must have got lost in translation and I definately didn't know where to find it.

The failed introductory joke:

Things have worked out really well while we've been in Russia.We haven't got lost, got into any fights, or even got sworn at in the grocery school—everything has been much different than school in Canada.

*Pause for non-existant laughter*

-John Chapter 9-

Summary...

After attending Bible school our vision is not improved, and our blindness is not cured. It is only Jesus who can make the blind see. When reading this passage a few days ago I was struck by the thought that if someone were to ask me if I was spiritually blind I would tell them of the theologians I had read, the papers I had wrote, the Bible I had studied, and the understanding I had gained.

This knowledge is important: Christian ministry and worship are often viewed as something completely seperate from studies and school. I have heard people in Canada say that time spent at school is time wasted that could be spent working for God. This view of God assumes that he is a strict boss whose only concern is what we do for him. When God accepts us into his kingdom however, it is as children, it is based on what he did and not what we have done. An education, whether it is in Science, languages, theology, or philosophy focuses on learning what God has done through people, the world, and through history. Understanding what God has done is actually an inseperable half of serving him.

What struck me then about my response as to whether I was blind or not, was not that it centred around the knowledge I had gained—knowledge is important--but what struck me was that I assumed that my studies had given me spiritual sight. After reading this verse it became clear that pride had blinded me to what it is that provides sight. We do not have spiritual sight by our own efforts—it is because Christ came that we see. It is not our studies or ministry that provide ourselves or others with this sight. Pride in either our ministry or our studies can creep into our lives and change the focus from Jesus to ourselves.

We are not made to see by our own efforts, it is not what we can see through our studies or ministry but who we see—on our own we are blind--it is Christ who gives sight.

The R.A.A. is Canada

2009-10-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for posting videos twice consecutively that have nothing to do with Russia. I just learnt how to post youtube videos directly onto my blog so you could say I'm "binging" on videos right now.

While this video has nothing to do with Russia, it's a good song, and it reminded me of home enough that I longed to see another indie-kid-on-a-bike biking past hay bales.

The Band is The Rural Alberta Advantage. They're on Saddle Creek records, and they are pretty dang Canadian--one of their songs is called "The Deathbridge in Lethbridge."

95 Theses and the Pope Aint One

2009-10-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a sweet video I found while reading another blog. I thought about this exact thing a few times while sitting in Dr. Guenthers class. Perhaps this could be an invaluable teaching tool?

Lyrics if you're interested.

искусственный Hope

2009-10-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

Last night several of us nearly got arrested by men posing as police!

Read on and find out why this may or may not have happened.

The Russian title makes this blog post seem like it may contain usefull information, but it is once again a false-hope blog. The Russian word in the title means artificial, and while I'm writing a blog with no legitimate pictures, you can at least consider whether any hope can truly be artificial. Hopefully that question satisfies the scholastically inclined readers of this blog, and I can now move forward with wasting time describing events that you most likely don't care about.

I think that my average time spent per blog is something like 7 seconds. Most of the time if there isn't immediately a funny picture or attractive sentence I will stumble myself out of there pronto. On considering this insight I'm going to return to the beginning of my blog and spice up the opening sentence.

That will ensure readers don't slip away, and it will also make my Mom go "Ohhh that Kevinnn." You know how mother's are.

Anyhow, these posts usually contain at least a marginal amount of information, and that is what I plan on providing now. Yesterday was quite a slow day until the night, when we decided to find a Soviet themed restaurant that Bergy found on the internet. It took us about an hour to find the place which, it turns out, wasn't actually the real place. The restaurant that we went to was a Lenin themed one that had easily the highest prices I have ever seen in Russia. Meals ranged from 5$ for tiny appetizers to 12$ for full meals. It was a sweet place though, they had live music and a manikin figure of Lenin. That's really all I ever wanted.

Previously that day, a few of us also had the chance to accompany some of our Russian friends to play volleyball. The team that we played was composed of high school students from the missionary school in St. Petersburg. It was cool to hear a lot of English again and, though I'm slightly embarrassed to say it, the games were really close as well. Some of the 7th and 8th grade girls were quite athletic though, we ended up winning two out of the three. It was not easy though, most of the games were within five points and the Russian style of play was quite aggressive. Nikolay, a Russian students who speaks perfect english joked that they played volleyball like they used their software--everything was illegal. It was a good time being physically active though, and who would have thought that high school volleyball skills would be useful in later life.

This post actually turned out quite long, maybe it's not so useless after all. Here's a picture for those who just look at pictures in blog's and don't read them (me).

This mirrors our game almost exactly--aside from the fans.

Towards the Door We Never Opened

2009-10-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday for art class we had the opportunity to visit the Hermitage and observe some of the most famous works on display. Coming to Russia has definately enhanced my appreciation for art, and I hope to show some of the works we just recently had the chance to see.

Some of the works are slightly cut-off I would recommend clicking them if you want to get the full image.

Claude Monet: Woman in a Garden

Monet is one of the most famous impressionists around. I am always excited to see works by artists that I have heard of before and seeing this painting was a treat. I also got the chance to learn what impressionism is, before I would have defined it as "people painting really fast," but I now also know that impressionism is a movement away from realism, with each brush stroke helping to express the overall impression of the scene on the viewer. It is not concerned with accurate detail as much as it is with providing the impression the lighting, scenery, and colours had on the artist.

From this point, things progressively trended away from realism. While at the musuem I remembered my younger days when I bent a wire-hanger so that it looked like grade 1 geometry class and tried to convince my Mom that it was art. Sometimes the line does get a little fuzzy. Take for instance this work:

Henri Matisse: The Dance

While it looks like a cryptic game of ring around the rosie played by naked red dudes, there's actually quite a lot going on. Our art teacher explained to us about a distinction between Dionysian interpretation of art and an Apollosian. Dionysius was the Greek God of madness and ecstasy, while Apollo was the Greek God of light and truth. It may be an over-simplification but you can view the two as representative of chaos and order respectively. Can you guess what this artist which of the two schools of thought this painting falls into?

To demonstrate the more realistic interpretation that Matisse was moving away from, here is a work by Rembrandt that we also had the chance to see:

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn: The Return of the Prodigal Son

This was definately one of my favourite paintings yet. The feet and clothes of the prodigal son tell the story of the difficulties that were faced as this wreckless son chose to squander his inheritance rather than work for his father. The story comes from the Bible in Luke chapter 15. I have heard the story many times before and seen cartoons of it in Sunday school, but none of them can present loss, joy, and mutual love that occur when one who was lost through poor choices decides to return to a loving father willing to forgive. The painting really says a lot.

Finally, before I get tempted to show some of the other great works we had the opportunity to witness, I will show one of the most famous paintings we got to see.

Pablo Picasso: Two Sisters

This work from Picasso's blue period maintains the realism that disappears in some of his later works.

The trip made me consider not only the art that we had the opportunity to view but also the process of art history. I considered why art had developed the way it had and wondered what life would have been like had the classical cannons used to paint icons continued to the present. To say that art has progressed is difficult, as there is no definite measure aside from the inappropriate guage of realism. Whether art is better, and along with it, whether life is better now, is not a unique question, but I felt that getting to see so many generations of art on display has helped me to realize that guaging our quality of life will always result in the standard that is used to gauge obscuring the actual quality of the image. The title of this post is from T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets because this poem recognizes that "What could have been and what has been point to one end" and I think all the artists show this end to some degree. Do all the doors we never open lead to the same place? I think they might.

Make Fun of the Foreign Kids

2009-10-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

This past friday our group got to participate in an event called freshman orientation. It is basically a time where all of the students present skits, music, or other kinds of entertainment in an effort to break down social barriers. I mentioned in passing two blogs ago that we had to do a dance, and for our lack of preperation, it actually turned out quite well. We basically just trotted around doing some clubbin' moves and then whipped out some kicks and duck walks that we saw on fiddler on the roof.

One of the funnier parts of the night was when a few Russian students did a skit about the anguage classes of the english students. It was really entertaining because the whole thing was done in English and the plot mixed classical Russian culture with a few modern influences--let me describe the scene for you.

The skit opened with the two Russian students exchanging some of the verbal greetings that they often hear us using, "hey man how're you," "what's up man," and "yo dawg." After this was finished the instructor began to teach the student some of the poetry of Pushkin who he referred to as a "gangsta rapper." The text on the powerpoint above them then used a cacophous mixture of English words to mirror the Russian phonetics of great Russian poets Pushkin and Lermontov. For example, when introducing Alexander Sergeivich Pushkin, the powerpoint slide read: Alex under // Sir gay evil under which // Push skin. It might not be as funny as Sister Act, but it was cool to see and hear some random English demonstrating the two-sided nature of language confusion.

(Pushkin inspired)

That's all I got for now though. I hope to bring my A-game with some pictures sometime soon but that's all for now.

A Canadian Werewolf in Russia (during Thanksgiving)

2009-10-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

Today is Thanksgiving day back home in Canada and we got a home-like surprise this morning when large snowflakes began falling outside of our classroom window. The snow all melted by the end of the day, but the first snowfall brought about those initial feelings of Christmas that mix excitement with homely warmth--it was great.

To celebrate the holiday, our group decided to pool our funds and make some spaghetti and meatsauce, with peas and an asian salad rounding out the menu. I looked after making the spaghetti and though it turned out quite well, the pot I cooked in may never be the same. My wrist is slightly sore from chiselling away at the bottom of the pot with a large knife. If someone were to have walked in at that moment it would likely have looked like a scene from Scream 2. After dinner we all went around and talked about what we were thankful for. While there was the usual mentioning of family and friends, it seems like being completely out of the country makes them seem much further away than they are. I would almost compare it to being seperated by history, you know they were there but now it seems like the world has moved on to a different epoch, though in our case it is only a cultural difference. What I am trying to get across in this comparison is the especial thankfulness that each of us seemed to feel for parents, siblings, and friends who seem to be so far removed from us.

This feeling may have also resulted due to the letter I received in the mail today from my sister (shout out). She's done a lot more travelling than I, and it seems that she understands some of the things that occur whilst living abroad. It was really great spending some time with friends today and realizing how good it is to be together.

(Photo Courtesy "Viking God of Justice" J. Wollf)

I'm also going to do a quick post about the Freshman celebration that occured on Friday, but you'll have seen that above.

Tight Tights and Warm Nights

2009-10-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, a group of my friends convinced me to stop playing ping-pong for long enough to go to a ballet. Russians are famous for the quality of their ballets and they are also relatively inexpensive from a Canadian perspective. The ballet that we attended was Tchaikovsky's famous Swan Lake, and though our seats weren't perfect, the evening was definately one of the 3 classiest things I have ever experienced.

As I wrote that last short paragraph I wondered whether or not gangsta's would enjoy the ballet. Right now I'm imagining little John sitting in the front row, blinged out of his mind, and shouting "YEAAAAH" after every dance solo. I think they'd like it.

Here are some photos from the evening. They didn't all turn out great but hey, this aint no photography blog.

A view from our seats:

A view of the seats beside us:

The production:

This is all for now. There is a freshman celebration tonight that should be pretty fun. We have to do an ethnic Russian dance that we practiced for about 30 minutes earlier today. It could get ugly.

False Hope part II (Ping Pong Hope edition)

2009-10-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is also not a legitimate post, I thought I should just be up front about that so that there are no misunderstandings. I recently figured out how to get google analytics on my page so I am trying to lure as many visitors here with fake new blogs in an effort to get some serious peaks and valleys going on in my visitor trends chart. Currently it looks a bit too much like the Saskatchewan prairies.

This fake news is still newsworthy though if you can handle that contradiction in terms. I played a good deal of ping-pong today and there have been numerous up and downs that I think deserve to be shared with the world.

Pavel beat me today about 4 games to 3. I'm not quite sure what happened but he brought his A game. Two of the games that he beat me were marathons though--the final scores were 27-25 and 24-22. I lifted weights before playing though, so I'm not yet at the point where I'll skip classes to focus more strictly on ping-pong.

After playing Pavel I also had the opportunity to settle an old grudge match--Paul showed his face and challenged me to a match. The game was a back and forth battle with insults and intimidating banter flying almost as quickly as the ping-pong ball. When the dust cleared and a winner emerged I rose my fist in the air celebrating a clear 2-0 victory. I now feel like the ping pong crown of St. Petersburg Christian University is mine to lose, though Paul may soon figure me out if I'm not careful.

That's it for now, keep your topspins tight and your angles sharp my friends.

A fitting Image

2009-10-05T23:38:00.000-07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and if I had to summarize my experiences so far I'd say that this picture does an excellent job:

New real post coming soon!

Russian Sports

2009-10-03T03:08:00.000-07:00

One of the things I've been doing a lot of in Russia has been engaging in one of their favorite national sports: ping-pong. It's helped me learn my Russian numbers up to 21 really well and it has been a fun way to spend evenings if it's cold and rainy.

The person I play most often is a guy named Pavel. Our lifetime series is a pretty even split right now. At first I could beat him in closely played matches but then he figured out my style and started handing me 7 game loss streaks regularly. After this embarassment for both myself and my country I spent a great deal of time in deep thought contemplating the art behind the technique. After this short absence from the sport I've returned with the ability to beat Pavel 3 out of 4 games.

I also play my friend Paul occasionally but his different style has me slightly confused. I have only played him twice, but he won both matches.

Here is a photo that Pavel took that puts a picture to the ping-pong action that occurs here:

Time to go consider ways to defeat Paul.

Evgeny PapeR

2009-09-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-28T04:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-23T12:10:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T03:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-05T01:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-01T01:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Russian Photos

2009-08-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

My Dorm Room

The View from my Dorm Room

The SPCU Student Newspaper
(Micheal Dzhackson and Gharry Potter)

The Frankfurt Photo

2009-08-29T04:36:00.001-07:00

Photograph of the Goethe statue in downtown Frankfurt.

Po-Roos-Kee (In Russian)

2009-08-27T06:27:00.000-07:00

Hello again Mom and Shepherd blog-creeper!

We are now in Russia and there is so much to explain that a single blog cannot possibly suffice. I'll give just an introductory insight now and hopefully post again with pictures, stories, and further details.

Immediately after arriving at the St. Petersburg airport we were met by our host from the school Janyne--we took the bus back to the school, dropped off our bags, and immediately set off to buy some food for breakfast and explore the area. The jet lag was pretty bad as we had done a 5pm-4am night in Frankfurt (which is another blog altogether).

The next few days were mostly spent riding the Metro--St. Petersburg's subway system--all around the city getting random stuff done to get our passport dates extended. The Metro is reallllllly cool, pictures aren't allowed in it but there are amazing statues and mosaics in the terminals located about 100 feet below the surface.

About the second or third day in St. P, we also played volleyball with some Uzbekistanian guys from our dorm named Elijah and Paul. Afterwards they invited us for chai (Russian for Tea) and we stayed up until 1 or 2 am talking about everything. If you had to guess what we talked about you would probably be wrong though. What we began talking about was the Crystal Castles album that one of them was playing and from there they started telling us about some of their other favourite groups: August Burns Red, As I Lay Dying, Underoath, Demon Hunter, and several other metal bands. They also told us about their Metal-Core band in Uzbekistan. It was a really interesting experience trying to explain "sweep-picking guitar solos" through the English-Russian language barrier. I think it worked out quite well though.

I was planning on blogging immediately after arriving in Russia but the internet works a bit differently here than it did at home. Access through the school is paid for by Megabytes used so you have to be careful to only access sites that don't have pictures or video. As of right now, we got one of our roommates to help us buy unlimited internet access that is quite expensive. Because of this, we are sharing 2 USB internet Modems among 5 people. It works, but I don't have an unlimited amount of time to pound out amazing 4-page long blogs filled with amazing life metaphors about beards, horses, and stamp collectors.

In two days time when I get the chance to use the internet again I will be back at it, cranking out non-proofread stories filled with amazing pictures, anecdotes, and as many references to "sweep picking" as possible.

Da Sveedenya! (Roughly translated to be "peace out A-town".)

Test Photo / Tolstoy Baggage

2009-08-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Hey sorry about the messed up font in the last post, I'm still pretty new at using the internet effectively. If all goes according to plan, there should be a picture of my luggage right over here -------------------------------------------->

It's possible that it won't show up or that the arrow will point somewhere crazy but I think I'm getting the hang of it now.

These two items of baggage might not look like much, but right now they are loaded down with ~90lbs of my clothing, shoes, and books. My sister convinced me not cut down on about 20 lbs by reminding me I probably wouldn't have the time to read Tolstoy's War and Peace while in Russia. After thinking about it deeply, discussing it with my parents, and phoning the highest ranking government and military officials I was allowed to talk to, I decided I could do without.

Hoping to post a lot of photos of Russia if this bag test photo works out!

Tommorow we are leaving!

Visa's, Packing, and Final Prep

2009-08-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

Visa's are in!! Mine came in a day or two ago and I just received word today that the last of the people I am traveling with had their Visa arrived today.

Now that I've finished selling tents at Mountain Equipment Co-op as my summer employment the trip to Russia is starting to feel more like something that is happening and less like something cool I told my friends during the summer. On an interesting and immensely important side note--I had my hair cut a few weeks ago and went from a 14-inch long, flowing expression of masculinity to a more typical length cut that, in my opinion, makes me look way too respectable.

It was pretty funny because my mom (one of two readers of this blog) always tries to convince me that I need to get it cut and in typical mother-fashion convinced me that my Russian hosts would view it as the disrespectful love of metal it only partially was. I'm also starting to realize that acquiescing to my mom's packing suggestions is easier, and most likely safer than convincing her that the school is "pretty much lookin' after us."

That has very little to do with Russia but at least everyone can get a sense of how things are working out as the anticipation for the trip anxiously increases.

(Also I thought it worth noting that I blast these blogs out super fast, so if the grammar and punctuation aren't ideal and you're a renegade ex-T.A. who got kicked off the force for your vigilante sense of grammar justice--please overlook the errors.)

4 DAYS!

Russia in a Week

2009-08-08T17:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone who reads this blog (mom, dad and possibly a creepy shepherd in south Asia). The Briercrest exchange to Russia is in less than a fortnight. I find that when things are less than a fortnight away, I begin to get excited about them. The same is true with my Russia trip: the excitement however is a bit of the anxious variety--I didn't treeplant this summer partly because I wanted to get at least an introductory grasp of the Russian language. I bought a fancy book, that even contained an Audio CD but as is often the case in summer I got distracted watching the Bachelorette and neglected my Russian studies. I also neglected to get my HIV test finished ahead of time and ended up getting the results back late, therefore holding up the process of getting my Russian VISA. As of today, I do not have my Russian Visa--the embassy sent my orignal application back because the photos I sent in were photocopies I am worried that the embassy will send it back again because I look too Ukranian in the new photos I had done. Anyways, that is where things stand right now, and I hope to update things again a day or two before leaving and a day or two after arriving there. Talk to you later parents and shepherd man!