Final Preparatory 2!!!! Canada Commences...

We leave for Canada in about an hour! It still doesn't really feel like its real. Russia has just become so much of who I am right now that to leave it all behind seems impossible. You can read my first post about leaving for Russia here where I mostly just talked about how crazy it sounded to go to Russia. Now it seems crazy to leave.  The last day here went really well, the weather warmed, souvenirs were purchased, and blini's were scarfed. It has been kinda sad saying goodbye to all our Russian friends, my roomate already left for work about 4 hours ago. Anyhow, time to say goodbye to internet here, I will never forget the good times we had YOTA. That being said, I can't wait to be home for Christmas and see all my friends again. See yeah soon Canada. "EH" (can't wait to use that in regular conversation)!!

Russia Update 4 - The End is Nigh!!

Last Thursday was the very last class of my semester in Russia. Since then it has been non-stop busy trying to it in all those last minute trips we've wanted to do all semester long but never did for song reason. If I had a real camera I would put up some photo's on this blog once in in a while to show you what I mean, but I only have a film camera and can't work scanners. Somehow, in the past three days, I visited a museum of city horrors, bought some pirated films, visited Vyborg near Finland border, chilled in a legit medieval castle, checked out Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyck at the Hermitage (and a giant ancient Roman statue of Jupiter), toured Yusipov Palace, had a Russian walk around Nevsky with all the Christmas and New Years decorations up, visited Church on the Spilt Blood, visited St. Isaacs Cathedral, and seen a modern take on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. I have been busy to say the least. It has been a good busy though. In less then a week I will be in Canada, relaxing with my family enjoying the frosty Saskatchewan air (Saskatchewan is colder then Petersburg BTW) Though I cannot wait to be home for the holiday's, I am going to miss this city dearly.

Russia Update 3: A Moscow Tale

Alright, so the title is a little misleading as this is more of an account of real-life events than it is an actual tale. This past weekend I had the privilege to visit the largest city in Russia - also largest city by metropolitan area and arguably population in Europe - with my fellow international students. After living in Petersburg for three months now, the difference in the two cities was extremely obvious to me the moment I stepped out of the train station. For one, Petersburg has restrictions on how high buildings can be built in order to better preserve the original feeling and city aesthetic. In Moscow, this restriction does not exist, and the skyscrapers and massive Soviet architecture overlooks the whole city.

We spent the night on a train from Petersburg to Moscow that ended up taking about 9 hours, luckily I slept soundly for most of it to awake in a new city. As we walked out of the train station to meet our driver, we were surrounded by stations going to all the major Russian cities (Kazan, Volgorad, etc.) After dropping our stuff off at the hostel - which was so delightfully called the Chocolate Hostel, where we received real hot chocolate for breakfast - we headed for the Red Square! It was a lot less red then I had imagined, and there was a bit of construction for some event happening at the time, nevertheless, the sight was one of elegance. As you walk through the main gate with the Kremlin wall, an old Russian styled building, and St. Basil's in the distance, your jaw is bound to drop if even in the slightest. The square is so visually pleasing, as if you were standing in a garden of brick and concrete, all four directions have something beautiful and unique to offer the foreign onlooker. St. Basils Cathedral, Kremlin Wall and Clocktower, Lenin's Mausoleum (as well as the graves of many 20th century Russian hero's), numerous old buildings that have since been turned into museums and the like, a second Cathedral, and the largest shopping center in Russia (which looks amazing at night when it's all lit up). There is so much to see even on the outskirts of this square that I will not go into detail in the hopes of someday posting my pictures.

That afternoon, we ventured to the Kremlin where Russia's main government presides. There are three Cathedrals located within the Kremlin walls where many historical icons and Tsarist tombs are located. Having visited these churches, the mausoleum, and the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Petersburg, I completed by quest in visiting all of Russia's leaders since the 10th century, save Yeltsin, who was off by himself somewhere and kinda out of the way.

We also visited Tretyakov Gallery which is home to some of the most famous Russian art in the world, such as the great 'Black Square' by Malevich. The only regret I have of my visit to Moscow is spending only 2 days there, when I very easily could have filled up 4 or 5 days enjoying the historical sights that overwhelms one who tries to do it in a mere two days. I suppose I could have gone into a lot more detail on what exactly I did from hour to hour, but I have to save something for real-life conversation.

(I was surprised at how literally it was a square which is black, like seriously black and seriously square, who'da'thunkit.)

(Edit: head over to Kevin's blog where he just put up some pictures that show some of what I tried to describe)

Interview with SPCU

When a few of us students were asked to do an interview about why we had decided to come school in Russia, I gladly accepted the invitation. The interview has been up on their site for some time now and is in Russian, so I just had to trust our interviewer on the accuracy of the translation. Now that an English translation has been made available, the words 'lost in translation' come to mind at how 6th grade English we all sound. Including my name which is easily mistaken for 'Brandon' almost daily because my name is to hard to say in Russian and most people have never heard it before. Enjoy the interview in English and see if you can notice any differences, such as length. haha.

A Masterpiece ex machina

I am not sure if that title makes sense to anyone, but what I am referring to is the massive amount of priceless art that we(exchange students) have been recently observing for art class. To name a few notable artists, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Picasso, Rembrandt, Monet, Raphael, Van Gough, and of course a ton more I can't think of at this late an hour. That being said, DO head over to Kevin's much more thorough post about the different paintings we've been considering. You won't regret it, pictures and everything!

Rembrandt - Abraham & Isaac (1634)

(click Isaac to embiggen photo)

Russian Thanksgiving is Real

A certain challenge had come my way to try and describe to the blogosphere what a Russian Thanksgiving is like. Fortunate person I am, I actually have participated in the very traditional celebration here and will now share my experience with my devoted readers. It all started back in the early 17th century, different from the first Canadian and American Thanksgiving feast in celebration of Jesus visiting the Americas. The First Romanov Tsar had recently come to power and the first thing he did was make a law to keep all pilgrims out of Russia. At this the people were very pleased because they didn't have to worry about losing their land. So in honor of that noble act. they had a feast. A totally traditional meal that lasted a week long. It consisted mostly of beer, but on the Sabbath all the Russians would prepare a special dinner which is still enjoyed to this very day. It consisted of spaghetti, store-bought ground beef, thai salad, and a little Soviet Cola for the kids. Not to mention the old-style deserts they prepared for days, their now world famous cream puffs. To this day, they mostly just drink beer, but to the occasional foreigners wishing to observe their special day, they will gladly comply. Nothing beats Thanksgiving in Russia, after the meal they sang and dance to their hearts content, knowing their land was safe from the pilgrims.

Russian Ballet

St.Petersburg is no stranger to the theatre. Ballets, operas, and plays are taking place every night in numerous locations. Recently I have attended a few ballets, and though I am new to the art, I very much enjoyed the dedication of the artists of, what I will call the two sides. By this I mean there is the one side, the orchestra and conductor, and the second side, the dancers, choreographers, tech crews, etc. Both have an immense amount of work put into any one show, not to mention a lifetime of practice and experience to make to the "big times". The orchestra is seemingly flawless in transitions between pieces, even when they are of different composers, and the dancers are always on their toes, quite literally, when a moment of improvisation is necessary. All of this hard work, from either side, comes together for one spectacular show of beauty and the arts. That being said, here is a few of my favorite scenes from some of the shows I've seen in the past week:

Swan Lake - Tchaikovsky


Firebird - Stravinsky


Sheherezade - Rimsky Korsakov


not that these videos do the real thing any justice, but hopefully you can get a sense of the unity between both sides.

And I thought Russian was hard...

I had just finished my Russian Language homework for the night when I happened to read THIS. Karyn Traphagen teaches Hebrew Language every year, and every year she has students with the same feelings about how hard it is only a month in. I can completely relate to this! and I am even willing to bet money that Russian is harder then Hebrew, any takers?? Anyhow, enjoy musing at the "oddities of English" as James Mcgrath refers to it. I feel sorry for all the students here trying to learn English now, hah!

Russia Update 2; A Week with Pushkin

Amidst the ever-living excitement of living in another country, I spent a significant amount of time with the Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin. His writing is the embodyiment and essence of Russian Literature and is most well known for his verse-novel 'Евгений Онегин'. For Literature class on Tuesday we took a field trip to the well known "Bronze Horseman" monument near the Neva River and St. Issac's Cathedral, where we read and discussed Pushkin's widely read poem 'The Bronze Horseman". It's my understanding that if you go to school in Russia, then you would have had to memorize about 50 lines of the poem, of course these are some of the more patriotic lines and not necessarily the aim of Pushkin's overall critique. Anyone interested in the least of how Russian's lived in the 19th century, should start with these works, one scholar even referenced 'Evgeny Onegin' as an "encyclopedia of Russian life". Reading 'The Bronze Horseman' infront of the Bronze Horseman was an incredible expeirence and helped immensly with fitting all the small details together and bringing it to life for us.

My good friend and fellow blogee decided to take things to the next level when it came to 'Evgeny Onegin', we decided to attend the opera of the same name as composed by Tchaikovsky. It was my very first opera, and I left the Mikhailovsky Theatre more then satisfied, thirsting for my next chance to go to another show. The whole night was filled with eloquence and failing to acheive looking classy enough to belong there. It's too bad I don't have pictures of the sophisticated architeture and me in a plain black t-shirt to really put this into perspectie for you, but use your imagination, think, the two foreign kids who look like they are pretending like they know what to do. I also watched the movie 'Onegin' that came out, in English mind you, in 1999 starring Liv Tyler as Tatiana. The director had a strange twist to it, but it was really well done and set up the dark side of Pushkin in a strange and enjoyable way, although this is only one of the sides to be taken. Here is a painting by 19th c. Russian painter Ilya Repin depicting the famous duel scene between Onegin and his friend Lensky:

Russian Orthodox Reflections

Attending a Russian Orthodox Church service is a particularly unique experience for an observably Westernized Evangelical such as myself. The church I attended was ‘Prince Vladimir Cathedral’, erected in 1789, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Sunday morning service begins at 8 am, but I am thinking that some early morning singing was taking place much before that judging from the amount of people who were already there when I arrived. The first thing that any Westerner will notice, even before the elaborate setting, the icons, or the priests, is that there is nowhere to sit down. Rather, you stand for the entirety of the service. This is no easy task; their services can reach up to three hours if you are an ardent follower of the Orthodox Church. Of course, the church is almost always open and you can go to pray before icons at any time. What a Westernized Evangelical individual might also quickly notice is the amount of singing, praying, distribution of the elements, lighting candles before icons, liturgical readings, etc. is all taking place in different areas of the church at the same time.

I really enjoyed this part about the service. Though I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying, I could appreciate the liveliness of the fervent Orthodox worshippers anxious to get their prayers heard and candles lit. I wasn’t alone in not always understanding what was being said, in fact when it comes to the sermons and liturgical readings given by the priests, no one knows. Sermons and readings are all done in the old Slavic language that is no longer used except for in Orthodox services. But even with not understanding, one must admit that there is a certain beauty about all the songs and service structure that to change it now would be a great loss. I cannot express in words how beautiful the voices that filled the cathedral were. At one point, after the service, I sat at the back and simply enjoyed the sounds and smells that advanced my senses from all corners. Incense had been dispensed, candles were continually being lit, and the picture this paints in sync with voices of worship, priests going about rituals, and old ladies crossing themselves a hundred times over, is one of simple beauty.

I cannot say for certain at this point whether or not I would be up for standing another 2 or 3 hours at the early hour of 8 am, but I can certainly say that I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the Orthodox Church. Matters of theology and ecclesiology are a discussion for another time. If they found out a heretic like me was at their church they might try to burn me at the stake the next time I try to get a peek inside!

Culture Shock: Hardcore/Punk Rock is 'Extremist'

Last Monday, a band from Texas called 'Die Young' was supposed to be playing a show here in St. Petersburg. Amazing dedication for a band like that to make the incredibly diffeicult trip into Russia to play a small club show for about 30 or 40 kids. But instead of getting to play their approx. 30-40 min. set, 50 police and 10 high ranking officers showed up before the show could start and shut the whole show down. Upon hearing this I was shocked. I knew who this band was, had met the guys a couple times, seen them play at a local youth center, and played with them when I was in high school. These guys, though controversial, have a positive message of tolerance, social justice, the power of freedom in speech, and thoughfulness towards all political and social matters. Four boys from Texas who love music, and even more their fans, had been classified as to 'extremist' by the law enforcement here to play to even a small crowd. Please read the article here from 'The St. Petersburg Times'. As someone who is somewhat involved with the music scene back home, I cannot even imagine this sort of reaction taking place. If this ever did happen in Canada, it would be a sure sign of times changing, but here it is put up with on a regular basis and one must commend those kids who stay dedicated enough to put on shows for touring bands even at the risk of being raided by 60 cops.

Russia Update 1

I finally have a Yota that works! (a device you plug into the usb port of your computer to gain internet access here) Believe me, this is no easy feat in Russia, but well worth the ability to skype and blog again. Especially when it is down right impossible for me to phone anywhere in Saskatchewan, I have tried a few phone cards and it just isn't happening. It must be that Russians don't communicate as often as I thought with farmers from the Saskatchewan prairie. School here started a week ago, and the classes are already intense. (at the moment I should be preparing my presentation on 18th century literary genres in Russia) Everyday I am overwhelmed with the information force fed to my prairie boy mentality, living in a city this size is incredible on every level. I can't even shop for groceries without having to read and speak in a different language about things I simply would not think about buying groceries at home. One thing that is particularly good about living here is that food comes cheap if you know what your doing. I got all my groceries today (milk, sausages, bananas, ketchup, and a snickers) for just 190 rubels!! (equal to 6 Cdn dollars)

Since being here I have seen tons of Soviet and Russian architecture, been to the Hermitage, Kazansky Cathedral, two Church services with English translators, visited a WWII memorial museum, walked through fake Disneyland, and made friends from all over the world. And this is all been in the last week and a half! Each day my studies are taking me deeper into Russian culture and understanding the development of modern Russian life, this rare opportunity is truly a blessing and I will do my best to make the most of these four months.

St. Petersberg is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. If your not walking around the city or through one of the many parks (all bigger then Wascana), then you are on the Metro. It is a strange way to travel, and you have to get used to certain customs while aboard (such as allowing the elderly and children to always take your seat without being asked). Even simple things like talking in public, one must be mindful of others because it is quite rude if people can hear you coming, you must talk directly to the person and keep it down as much as possible.

The International group (that is the 7 of us from North America) got invited to dinner at Dr. Negrov's, school president, flat on the weekend. If I was to choose I would say this night is the highlight thusfar. Aside from the food and desert and coffee (which is rare here, everyone drinks tea) we had a great night of conversation, games, a walk through the park to visit three Orthodox churches all built within 100 ft. of each other, played some football (that is soccer), and had a tour of the city center at night. The thing to do if you are in St. Petersberg is to go down to Nevskiy Prospect at midnight to watch the bridge go up. There are lights and people everywhere and it is something that everyone, tourists and locals, like to take part in. I hope to go a few more times because the expeirence cannot be captured by words.

I leave you with a picture of The Narva Triumphal Arch which was built to commemorate Russia's victory over Napoleon in 1812 (I live just down the street from it, literally 2 min. walk from my dorm room):

Final Preparatory! Russia Comences in 8 hours!!

In approx. 8 hours I will be on the plane headed for the land of opportunity (that's Russia if you didn't catch it). I will be meeting up with my traveling group and fellow students and friends throughout the day in Winnipeg and Toronto as we head toward our future scholastic institution. I am still not packed, rather I blog and do last-minute laundry when I have to leave so soon. The excitement has been growing these past couple days and my fellow adventurers Adam Berg and Justin Wolf have started blogs to update us on their experiences on the Russia Exchange. I suggest you begin following these blogs because this trip is going to change to face of Briercrest hereforth. Many thanks to Briercrest College for all the hard work into making the exchange possible, and even moreso for letting a motley crew like US go.

Russia in 3 days!!

For anyone who has not heard, I am off to Russia in 3 days!! The anxiety is literally taking over my life, I get way too nervous anytime I look at my suitcase and try to spend as much time away from my home as possible. It's way to scary to try and pack for four months, let alone for a country you've never been to. Perhaps I am just a really bad traveler because traditionally I wait until the night or morning of my departure and throw a couple tee's in my backpack. What could a student possibly need in Russia other than a couple sweaters right? My good friend and fellow exchange student Kevin Schur has started a blog completely dedicated to the Briecrest Russia exchange students where friends and family will receive regular updates of what's going on. I too will be writing of my experience, but something tells me that Kevin's unique humor and extreme love for metal and beards will add a twist that no reader can afford to miss. That is unless you don't like metal or beards, then I would suggest that you have no place on this blog either.