Keeping it fresh...

I suddenly feel like September is a long way away. Since returning to the UK I've done my best to surround myself with Russian, whether that be DVD's, radio or self-study. I just feel like if I'm going to carry on developing in the interim period before my return I need to maintain the same sort of condusive 'environment' I achieved in St Petersburg.

Part of it is longing to be back in what was such a enjoyable and invaluable experience, both in terms in the language and the social and cultural elements of the trip. For all the book learning I can do back in England I know I can't emulate that.

This post could just develop as another endorsement of the school and program that has facilitated this study (and blog) in the first place, but to be honest I have no problem with that. It is, in a slightly more negative sense, also my realisation and acknowledgement of the difficulty and disappointment I maintain with the way language in general is taught in this country. As an Englishman learning a foreign language I appear to be something of an anomoly. Not that I'm the only one doing it, but I'm certainly within a minority. Furthermore the difficulty I have in understanding my own language and its structure and grammatical foundations only compounds the problem when dealing with alternative languages.

Ah well, I can only move foreward with the tools I have been provided with while in St Petersburg. If this proves to be my final post for the time being - the idea of trying to think retrospectively of the two weeks as they already feel like they've begun to morph and distort into a collective whole seeming impossible - then I would like to end on a positive note. My time spent with non native English speakers has only reinforced my desire to reach a level of understanding and expression with a foreign language that is on par with that of my own first language. In other words I want to speak Russian, to think Russian and understand Russian eventually, as my colleagues on this course have demonstrated with their understanding of English. It has been a humbling experience but a highly motivational one. I would like to think I've not started too late.

Marching to a different beat...

Even if now - having left the city - I feel like in the last two weeks I've only begun to scratch the surface of St Petersburg, I still want to emphasis its ability to throw up a number of unique and memorable experiences along the way.

For my Danish companion and I, our unexpected discovery of Russian opera within the confines of a museum of political history was in many ways matched by what we witnessed on our final afternoon dodging the weather in the grounds and galleries of the Hermitage. Knowing even a couple of hours in its labyrinth of exhibitions, before we intended to eat in the city, would cost us nothing with our student status we felt it worth the detour in light of a return to cold winds and wintry showers.

What we didn't expect to find was a full military parade in the midst of dress rehearsal, performing in the square to the amazement of a dwindling number tourists in the midst of a brief but bitter blizzard of snow. I did my best to capture some of the scene on my camera, both in still and video shots. Again though, its one of those moments that is better internalised than observed through a lens.

That we could escape to a warm meal in a welcoming restaurant afterwards made the chance to witness such a unique display all the more attractive. This was a glimpse of Russia, a proud and stubborn display of military discipline and native grit. A throwback to a Soviet past, the sound of the old Red Army anthem at one point rang clear across the square from the regimental band.

Life marches along to a different rhythm here and a foreign tourist can easily find themselves falling out of step and daunted by the lack of a helping hand one takes for granted in most Western European cities. However I have been rewarded for my willingness to persevere and in return the city has provided opportunities for discovery that likewise, one may not expect to find in a more Western friendly centre.

A final farewell...

I've lost the last few days to the Russian clock. Time flies etc...

I'm now on the verge of departing for the airport, leaving behind a lot of people and places I'd rather not be saying goodbye to so soon. This has been a wonderful experience, one that I will better reflect on back on home soil.

Here's to a safe journey and being back in September. It won't come soon enough!

00:30 (Russian Time)

Its been a long, long journey, but once again an effortless one. My lungs feel clearer already.

Time to shower, eat, sleep and generally try to feel human again. I have too many photos to sort through, but over the course of the next few days I should be able to provide a few more snapshots and commentary of my time in the city.

13:30 (Russian Time)

Lessons in social etiquette...

Today we were given the opportunity by our teacher, outside our scheduled class time, to get together as a group and really test our understanding of the language. For me it was a welcome challenge as we grappled with Russian and attempted to utilise our collective knowledge outside the structure of classroom and topic based discussion. Our introduction to the Russian version of 'Winnie the Pooh' was a slightly surreal experience, but through its narrative we were given an important lesson in Russian social etiquette.

It was pleasing to be rewarded for such an intensive period of study with the feeling that real progress was being made on my part. I've already mentioned how two weeks has gone too quickly to properly appreciate the city. The same can be said of the Russian language and the opportunity for learning this school provides.

Still, I am already considering plans for a return in September when I would hope to push myself further towards providing a basic understanding that will assist during the course of my graduate studies at Oxford. In heightening both my passion for this country's history and culture and the way in which it is expressed through its language, I already consider this past two weeks a success!

Seeing the city in a new light...

Two weeks isn't enough. For a city that's really starting to get under my skin I can already tell I've only managed to scratch the surface of what there is on offer to see and experience.

Tonight I went to my first Opera. Purchasing tickets from one of a number of offices along Nevsky Prospect, I was amazed at the at the value on offer. Our choice of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, for its performance of Tchaikovsky's adaptation of the Pushkin work 'Eugene Onegin', was taken as classical novices. However for little more than twice the price of your average visit to the cinema in the UK - 800 roubles each plus 10% service charge - my two fellow students and I found ourselves sat in a balcony enclosure, overlooking proceedings in quiet awe.

There is little to be gained in me trying to explain in any great detail my response to the performance other than to say that considering I knew none of the story and little more of the language before hand, it was a moving and powerful spectacle. An experience worth having in a setting worth seeing.

Afterwards we decided to see the Winter Palace at night. This on a day when the first signs of spring were a welcome sight and the city seemed geared to cleaning up its act. Over the past couple of days I've spotted numerous examples of workers and cleaners sweeping roads, washing down shop fronts and tidying the few green areas of the city in what appears to be anticipation of the coming tourist season. There may be more to it than such things, but as we entered the palace square though a chill had appeared in the evening, the air seemed just a little cleaner and the light that little brighter.

All or nothing...

I'm increasingly coming to realise that one of the great difficulties in speaking Russian as a foreigner stems from the natives' tendency to assume ignorance on our part. That's to say, they do not expect non-native speakers to make the effort to learn their language. When faced with someone - such as myself - trying to make a disjointed effort to communicate, it seems to take a moment before they adjust to the phenomenon and then begin the process of trying to understand what you're saying. Their need to 'learn' to understand bad-Russian seems a comparative factor in my need to learn good-Russian if we are to communicate successfully.

Its a challenge and one that, by recognising, I'm gaining in confidence that my progress, while slow, is still gathering momentum. Only by forcing myself into situations that call for me to speak Russian to the natives can this happen. I cannot be confident that I will understand their response but I'm at least gaining the confidence to ask the questions. This is particularly the case where I know the answer already and am merely aiming to be understood. (The metro being a good practice ground for this sort of thing...)

Sights, sounds and surprises...

Its not often you get the chance of a perfect day. Indeed the acknowledgment of the fact in the midst of one often seems to elevate the chance of it falling apart. So forgive my late review of yesterday's proceedings. I was just making sure...

I must admit this city is starting to win me over. It might be cold, grubby and rough around the edges, still, its beginning to get under my skin. The day was spent absorbing a whole range of Russian political and cultural history, some planned, some providing a very welcome and enlightening surprise.

Travelling with a colleague and fellow culture junkie, we set out with a plan to share our appreciation of Soviet history, for my part, and Russian literature on hers. Aiming for a morning in the 'Dostoyevsky Memorial Museum', towards the south east of the city, we made good time through the metro and entered the museum as a light drizzle arrived to clear the air.

An intimate affair, consisting of one small display hall of artifacts - our polite refusal of the opportunity for an English audioguide was probably the wrong decision in retrospect - followed by a recreation of the writers living quarters lovingly restored with the aid of artifacts and ancestral guidance. The latter section did have plenty of English information guides on offer to accompany the rooms on display, while my trusty travel guide book filled in my gaps in knowledge about the writer and his works. An English translation of 'Crime and Punishment' may have to join my collection till I'm confident enough to tackle it in the original. (A good few years from now...)

After a light lunch we crossed the river at Trotsky Bridge, admiring the view of the thawing ice sailing down the river beneath us, before reaching the 'Museum of Political History of Russia'. I really cannot recommend this museum enough. Not only is it well laid out with an incredible array of artifacts and ephemera, but its support for English speaking visitors is faultless and the welcoming nature of its staff a pleasant change.

The fact that two hours were lost in the first exhibition alone - chronicalling the birth and development of Soviet Russia under the Bolsheviks - is testament to its engrossing presentation of Russian history. Granted my own interest and background in the subject was always going to help hold my attention, still my fellow traveller was equally at ease to let time pass us by and admire the museums treasures.

For anyone with a sense of historiography I think it also worth acknowledging that the museum's presentation and explanation of the material along with its overall view of the country's Soviet past is by and large refreshingly objective. The material itself, whether it be archival documents, letters, photos or artifacts, are allowed to speak for themselves. The supporting commentary meanwhile acknowledges both positive and negative aspects of the regime presenting, for example, the brutal and arbitrary nature of the Gulag penal system and the utopian ideals and reform efforts that encouraged rapid development of literacy in the country post-1917.

In the end the afternoon we gave ourselves to explore was not enough to complete a view of every exhibition room. However, some of that can be put down to the sound of opera resonating through the halls of the musuem that stopped us in our tracks and held us enraptured with the power of those singing. It appeared to be - unbeknown to us on entering the museum - a scheduled performance of selected works, sung live with a commentary on the material provided in Russian between each performance. What we failed to grasp from the language of its words, we translated from the emotive power of the music and its performers.

As proceedings came to a conclusion, we resolved to make sure this wasn't our only experience of opera while in the city.

Storming the Winter Palace...

Playing the tourist again today, I finally made my way to the Winter Palace. The scope of the place is huge, somewhere you could quickly lose days in if you're at all interested in having what feels like almost intimate access with a wealth of artistic works and cultural heritage.

Maybe it was the time of year to be there - I've heard summer can see queues stretching into the palace square - or that I was exploring solo again, still the mere fact that I felt free to move from room to room, photograph freely* and find the setting as much a treat for the senses as the works themselves, meant this was a unique gallery experience for me.

The first surprise was to find entrance free for students! I must emphasise to anyone coming to the city with identification even vaguely approaching a student card, start using it. Show it on entry, try a few words of Russian indicating you're a student and you'll potentially save a surprising amount of money during your stay. At various tourist stops around the city and even a quick trip to Subway for food I've been pleasantly surprised at the reward this simple act has produced.

Back to the tour and my focus for the few hours I had to see all the treasures of the palace - and more specifically the attached Hermitage galleries - was concentrated on viewing its collection of Italian Renaissance works. Making good use of my 'Rough Guide' travel book I managed to remain roughly on track, though the place really is a maze. Plan ahead, choose what you want to see and give yourself plenty of time. I'm sure I'll be back at some point next week to do the place more justice...

*PHOTO PASS: One element of Russian tourism that seems to be a potential money-spinner with foreign visitors is the need to buy permits to photograph in many museums and galleries around the city. My experiences inside the Winter Palace suggest this is not a stringently monitored system once inside and there seems little point in paying the fee. That said this was in a quiet period of the season and I'd hate to think I was responsible for a wave of tourists having confiscated camera equipment come the summer.

'Bags' of vocabulary...

Its amazing how the smallest success can restore your confidence when it comes to learning a language. Today I at last woke to find that the Russian for bag - сумка - had finally found space in my head after three days of waging war with my brain cells over such a trivial piece of information.

Its been something of snowballing of vocabulary for me though as a result. Stood in front of a whiteboard, pen in hand, I was able to scrawl a wealth of words this evening. Still its always unnerving when a word you took for granted as burned into your memory has inadvertantly disappeared again. I can only hope the new stuff isn't pushing out the old...

No visit to the city today. In fact I've failed completely to leave the apartment after a morning catching up on sleep and homework before class this afternoon. With the weekend fast approaching I need to plan ahead and consider what I want to fit in my remaining time here.

Revolutionary routes...

I've put some real mileage in today after this morning's class. The sun continues to shine and in the city centre that keeps things pleasantly warm. Travelling solo - giving me freedom to explore and avoid dragging my colleagues through places I might be alone in appreciating - I headed out to the infamous Finland Station where Lenin returned to the city in the midst of revolutionary upheaval.

His statue - the first of its kind to appear following his death - usually sits in the square directly in front of the station. However, for reasons that still remain unclear an explosive device, blowing a rather embarrasingly hole his backside, has resulted in the statue being covered from public view. Gone but not forgotten, his supporters have laid red carnations by the site. Interestingly I saw no sign of police or heightened security in the area after what I'm sure would be interpreted in any other western country as a legitimate terrrorist threat.

From here I made a quick detour to pass the imposing Kresty Prison before doubling back along the river towards Aptekarskiy Island. Crossing the river I drew up alongside the Cruiser Aurora, the second of my revolutionary themed sights. Surprised to find the ship open to tourists without charge I wandered across the deck and into its interior where an eclectic display of ship's artifacts can be found displayed with details of its role in Russian and Soviet history. Unfortunately the attraction as a whole is by no means pandering to foreign tourists with Russian text almost exclusively found within the exhibition space.

I carried on east along the river before turning north towards 'The Museum of Russian Political History'. A rather more democratic spin on what was orginally a musuem established to commemorate the October Revolution following the buildings occupation by Lenin on his return to the city in April 1917. I plan to return later in the week to explore its interior, along with the 'Kirov Museum' and 'Lenfilm' site further north along Kamennoostrovskiy Prospekt.

Feeling a storming of the Winter Palace was probably a little premature I opted instead to return to Nevsky Prospekt via the Summer Garden after crossing the river at Troitsky Most. (Trinity Bridge) The garden lived up to its name, looking decidedly bare before the advent of spring blossoms, however I was pleased to find the streets beginning to reveal a certain architectural charm by the banks of the canal. Here then one could see glimpses of the city as a 'Venice of the North', however for me the noise and distraction provided by its bustling roads makes it much harder to appreciate the city on the same level. This is above all a loud, busy and industrious city where the tourist - particularly a foreign one - has little influence on the pace and pattern of life here.

Potholes and pollution...

I'm someone who likes to train. A lot. Its a bad habit and coming to St Petersburg puts a number of barriers in the way of me exercising that desire to go out and sweat.

Over the past couple of days I've tried to work out how to get round a lack of access to a gym or other indoor facilities. Yesterday with snow and sleet outside the apartment I chose to run laps up and down the sixteen floors of the towerblock. It worked, and thankfully with the staircase isolated from the rest of the complex I didn't have to worry about strange looks during my frantic dashes up and down the concrete structure.

Today with blue skies appearing over St Petersburg I decided to brave the outside world and go for a run. It could be a combination of many things - the climate, change to the body clock, diet or pollution - but I'm definately finding it harder train out here. You can taste the grime in the air and breaths don't seem to provide the oxygen your body craves. I limited myself to 40mins at a steady pace, most of which was spent dodging potholes and puddles from the previous days downpour.

That €20+ the school quotes in its online information is looking increasingly justifiable for a visit to the gym this coming weekend. This isn't usually such an expensive habit to fund...

The real work begins...

Hopefully my last day of playing catch-up, I should be back to writing in real time by this afternoon...

It was an early start to proceedings yesterday. With a full house (6 in total) in the apartment and two bathrooms between us, things ran surprisingly smoothly in the run up to lessons starting at 9am (This will alternate each day between morning and afternoon starts). I'm taking the group course, with four other students, a nice size to ensure things move at a good pace with no one left behind.

At this point I should probably admit to having made my first efforts to learn the language back in England. Thats not to say I'm in anyway able to communicate effectively. I just have a basic understanding of some of the grammar and a small vocabulary. Without the opportunity to speak and hear Russian regularly that aspect of my understanding is still practically none existant, hence my choice to start from 'zero'.

Nevertheless, having a fellow student within the class with some prelimary understanding has meant our teacher - Екатерина, Катя or any of the other 25 derivitives of her name that formed part of our first introduction to Russian language and culture - is already willing to push us along at a slighter quicker pace and ensure we remain challenged within the group. At this early stage I hope she doesn't over-estimate my level of understanding, though it is reassuring to know that even with the stratification among our group, all of us should get the maximum possible from the next two weeks.

With the mysteries of the Cyrillic alphabet now decifered by everyone in the group - offering ample opportunity for my Dutch colleagues to demonstrate their linguistic prowess in transcribing phonetically, a humbling grasp of English humour, into Russian - the complexities of grammar await us this afternoon...

First impressions...

The fact that I'm catching up on my first weekends worth of posts on Monday night should give you some idea of how busy I've been. Either that or reveal my technical ineptitude when it comes to setting up something like this.

Anyway, it seems a good excuse to keep things short and sweet. I assume these posts are supposed to be a soundboard for ideas as they emerge, not mulled over, edited and rehashed a few days later.

My Fellow Students: Mostly Dutch, plus a Belgian and Dane. Nice people, unfortunately as I should have expected they all speak perfect English thereby negating my effort to isolate myself from my first language to concentrate on Russian.

The Local Supermarket: Basic, but well stocked and reasonably priced. (For most things) Plus an ATM so I won't go without money having brought my bank card and no cash short of a few emergency US Dollars. In case you the reader weren't aware, you can't buy Roubles outside of Russia. For me, since the British Pound has collapsed against the Euro, US currency was the better option.

The Metro: Our chosen mode of transport travelling as a group on the Sunday into the centre. Its deep, its cheap and its built for distance rather than convenience. (i.e. the stops are well spread but we're only two away from the city centre) At this stage in the course - never mind what advice the guide books give for interpretting the noise - I do not expect to end my two weeks able to understand the station announcements garbled by the carriage's loudspeaker.

The City (mostly Nevskiy Prospekt): The main street is wide and long. (especially if you come out without a map, don't plan ahead and wander off in the wrong direction...) Should have brought walking boots, I expect to be doing a lot of it.

Plenty more stories to come...

From Oxford to St Petersburg (via Frankfurt)...

A very early start in the morning took me from Oxford to St Petersburg - via Frankfurt - with amazingly not a single delay, cancellation, missed connection, lost passport, or full body cavity search.

I'd like to put it down to German efficiency - flying with Lufthansa airlines saved me a lot of money in comparison to British Airways, as well as restoring my faith in the standard of service possible with air travel after a few years sticking to budget airlines - though I'm sure I just got lucky.

My first of no doubt many plugs - given willingly! - for the school has to be their offer of airport transfers to the apartment within the cost of the course. Granted I don't know if this is standard within the industry, but it ensured the journey was a relaxed one from start to finish.

What the driver lacked in English he made up for with enthusiatic pointing out of some of the major sights of the city as we drove along. As first impressions go no city is likely to look its best on a cold, grey afternoon at the tail end of winter. Passing through industrial areas from the airport, some of the city's architectural charm became more visible approaching the centre. This is again left behind on the final approach to the apartment / school where the Soviet tower blocks appear somewhat overbearing and built before the prevalance of cars - or need for widespread residential parking - was realised. Its grey and grimy, but what did you expect?

Anyway, if ever there was a case for not judging a book by it's cover its now. The interior of the apartment and attached classrooms where I will be taught - it being April and out of peak season - are clean, modern and inviting. The photos will give you something of the contrast.

4th April 2009

Introductions...

As this is my first attempt to publish a blog online I hope I can strike the right balance between 'interesting' and 'informative'. Having never before visited St. Petersburg, or indeed Russia, I'd like to think some of the experiences I have during my stay and within the school, will be relevant for other first timers.

Of course some of my own personal agenda and biases will creep in - though as a history student I'm sure I'll do my best to disguise them - still if nothing else I will aim to keep it clear and concise.

By way of an introduction I currently live and work in Oxford, within the university itself. Having survived three years of an undergraduate degree there relatively unscathed, I decided to stick around for post-graduate study. Choosing to take a gap year before hand to prepare, my aim with this course is to develop my understanding of the Russian language (from scratch) to a level that will allow me to study the history and politics of this fascinating country.