I've had another super busy week. I've started having 2 on 1 Russian tutorials with my Russian friends so as to better my conversational Russian and also to help them with their English. We divide the time equally between each language - this is how I spend my Friday afternoons. Then I rush off to dance class!
I must admit I had a lazy weekend of waking up late, reading my books and just relaxing. Considering that I'd been rushing around all week doing lots of things I deserved it! I went to the bookstore to get my textbook for learning Russian and had to go into the "Russian as a foreign language" section *shudder*. It was a dusty corner in the store and not very well sign posted. I got a few funny looks from people who were milling around. I also picked up some Tolstoy & Bulgakov so as to increase my Russian literature base. I've only ever read Russian literature for class and that involves intensely studying the book and picking it to pieces. I don't enjoy that and I always manage to lose the spark that I get from reading it.
I made the mistake of going to the supermarket on Sunday to get my food instead of Monday. The supermarket was unbelievably packed with people! They seem to take the entire family out food shopping. I survived though and had doors held open for me on the Metro which was quite nice!
Tuesday, as ever, was a busy day. I left the dorm at 9am and returned at 9.30pm. All my classes were interesting, history especially. We're moving onto Peter the Great next week - something which I know barely anything about! Economics was as usual extremely useful and our teacher gave us this theories & predictions for the next 12 years and Putin's possible options from 2025. Apparently once he's President it's practically impossible to get rid of him, even if he does something drastically horrendous or if his approval rating is negative, such is the nature of the Russian constitution & system. Fun huh? Imagine being stuck with a President who the whole country was dissatisfied with and had no way of removing them or preventing them from having an additional term? I won't delve into his deeper conspiracy theories but I'm open to discussion!! Mergers & Acquisitions was a little complicated but nothing some extra reading can't sort out. We just learnt the triple step in dance class, I actually find it easier than the double step which is weird. Though I did get shouted at by the instructor for not placing my feet correctly on the floor.
Today was the Russian-American club at the State University for Humanities. We shunned the typical meeting in the university and went to a modern art exhibition instead. We got a little lost on the way and it was super cold so walking wasn't that enjoyable! The gallery building was an ex bus depo and so had exposed brick walls, high ceilings and lots of big metal doors - I thought the building itself was the best part of the exhibit! Modern art doesn't take my fancy. The were 2 exhibitions, one by Marina Abramovich and another by a South African artist. Basically it just involved a lot of naked people, violence and things which I wouldn't consider art. I wasn't convinced! I was much more excited about going to the gift shop & having dinner - but then again I am always amused by gift shops. The best thing about museums I feel.
I must admit I had a lazy weekend of waking up late, reading my books and just relaxing. Considering that I'd been rushing around all week doing lots of things I deserved it! I went to the bookstore to get my textbook for learning Russian and had to go into the "Russian as a foreign language" section *shudder*. It was a dusty corner in the store and not very well sign posted. I got a few funny looks from people who were milling around. I also picked up some Tolstoy & Bulgakov so as to increase my Russian literature base. I've only ever read Russian literature for class and that involves intensely studying the book and picking it to pieces. I don't enjoy that and I always manage to lose the spark that I get from reading it.
I made the mistake of going to the supermarket on Sunday to get my food instead of Monday. The supermarket was unbelievably packed with people! They seem to take the entire family out food shopping. I survived though and had doors held open for me on the Metro which was quite nice!
Tuesday, as ever, was a busy day. I left the dorm at 9am and returned at 9.30pm. All my classes were interesting, history especially. We're moving onto Peter the Great next week - something which I know barely anything about! Economics was as usual extremely useful and our teacher gave us this theories & predictions for the next 12 years and Putin's possible options from 2025. Apparently once he's President it's practically impossible to get rid of him, even if he does something drastically horrendous or if his approval rating is negative, such is the nature of the Russian constitution & system. Fun huh? Imagine being stuck with a President who the whole country was dissatisfied with and had no way of removing them or preventing them from having an additional term? I won't delve into his deeper conspiracy theories but I'm open to discussion!! Mergers & Acquisitions was a little complicated but nothing some extra reading can't sort out. We just learnt the triple step in dance class, I actually find it easier than the double step which is weird. Though I did get shouted at by the instructor for not placing my feet correctly on the floor.
Today was the Russian-American club at the State University for Humanities. We shunned the typical meeting in the university and went to a modern art exhibition instead. We got a little lost on the way and it was super cold so walking wasn't that enjoyable! The gallery building was an ex bus depo and so had exposed brick walls, high ceilings and lots of big metal doors - I thought the building itself was the best part of the exhibit! Modern art doesn't take my fancy. The were 2 exhibitions, one by Marina Abramovich and another by a South African artist. Basically it just involved a lot of naked people, violence and things which I wouldn't consider art. I wasn't convinced! I was much more excited about going to the gift shop & having dinner - but then again I am always amused by gift shops. The best thing about museums I feel.
