So my Halloween party was held last Friday. It turned out in the end that I was basically left in charge of the entire thing. I rushed around all day Friday getting last minute things, including massive pumpkins.
I spent an hour locked in the auditorium decorating the room. I didn't let anyone in! I really enjoyed changing the room from a boring study room to an exciting & spooky party venue. I had spiders & bats hanging from the ceiling, pumpkins hanging in the windows, a graveyard by the drinks & snacks table, a Happy Halloween sign on the far wall and bats hanging on the doorway of the entrance. I was pretty impressed with my handiwork - as were all the party guests!
It was a really great party and lasted from 9.30pm until 6am! People started going to sleep at about 4am though. What was really funny was that on Saturday morning the entire floor was silent until about 12pm because everyone was still asleep! Everyone made an effort with their costumes and some fantastic outfits were on show, including Canadian fighting hockey players, Lara Croft, a convict, Amy Winehouse, a rubix cube and many others!
The only slight blemish on the evening was that my iPod got stolen from the party. Whilst I don't want to dwell on this negative memory, I can't help but explain about one of the best experiences I've had here in Russia. I went to the Police Station responsible for my District yesterday to report my iPod stolen. I was pretty frustrated due to the sub par pastoral care I received from my university here and my dormitory administration. Stealing of personal items does not seem to have the same gravity here as it does in the UK or US.
The biggest surprise of all was the attitude of the police. I had been told horror stories about the Russian police and was warned to be careful by everyone I had told I was attending the station. The Russian police are mentioned with fear and trepidation here, everyone shudders at the mention of them and they are known for being bullies, incompetent and uncaring. However, I found that this was not the case, perhaps because I'm a foreigner or a woman, but I had a completely and wonderfully positive experience with the Police and I'm so glad that I got to experience this because it's definitely made the whole "iPod getting stolen by a Russian when I'm here as a visitor in their country" situation become less of a negative thing.
The police station was a pretty new building and I was accompanied by my Russian speaking Bulgarian friend. We were welcomed into the station and everyone who we spoke to was friendly and understanding. A friendly police officer gave me a form to fill out which I did in both English and Russian. He then scanned it into the system and filed it properly and after this we were directed to a Detective's office on the 5th floor. We were welcomed into the office by a another friendly Police Detective who then proceeded to spend 2 hours taking detailed notes from me and discussing the whole matter. He really understood the gravity of the situation and was apologetic about it all, though he also said the most likely explanation is that someone took it so as to sell it on, he didn't seem hopeful about its return. He even made me draw a picture of the "crime scene". I had my passport photocopied and was made to sign some sort of Russian constitutional agreement.....I didn't really understand what it was, but I think it was something to do with the legal proceedings if they did catch the person who stole it. The Detective then accompanied us to the exit of the building, gave us his phone number in case we needed to contact him and said "I hope that this doesn't negatively affect your view of Russia". I was so surprised that he would have considered this and I'm glad that he did, the upside is that my positive experience with the police has lessened the negatives of my iPod being stolen.
But there you go, whilst a country can have a horrendous record in terms of police, human rights and such, it can have brief moments of a positive nature. Foreigners need to be made aware of this so that they can learn that Russians aren't ALL that bad, and it can go someway to reducing the negative stereotype of Russians & Russian police but the Russian Police need to be made aware of this positive experience so that they can learn from this and evolve in a better way.
The biggest surprise of all was the attitude of the police. I had been told horror stories about the Russian police and was warned to be careful by everyone I had told I was attending the station. The Russian police are mentioned with fear and trepidation here, everyone shudders at the mention of them and they are known for being bullies, incompetent and uncaring. However, I found that this was not the case, perhaps because I'm a foreigner or a woman, but I had a completely and wonderfully positive experience with the Police and I'm so glad that I got to experience this because it's definitely made the whole "iPod getting stolen by a Russian when I'm here as a visitor in their country" situation become less of a negative thing.
The police station was a pretty new building and I was accompanied by my Russian speaking Bulgarian friend. We were welcomed into the station and everyone who we spoke to was friendly and understanding. A friendly police officer gave me a form to fill out which I did in both English and Russian. He then scanned it into the system and filed it properly and after this we were directed to a Detective's office on the 5th floor. We were welcomed into the office by a another friendly Police Detective who then proceeded to spend 2 hours taking detailed notes from me and discussing the whole matter. He really understood the gravity of the situation and was apologetic about it all, though he also said the most likely explanation is that someone took it so as to sell it on, he didn't seem hopeful about its return. He even made me draw a picture of the "crime scene". I had my passport photocopied and was made to sign some sort of Russian constitutional agreement.....I didn't really understand what it was, but I think it was something to do with the legal proceedings if they did catch the person who stole it. The Detective then accompanied us to the exit of the building, gave us his phone number in case we needed to contact him and said "I hope that this doesn't negatively affect your view of Russia". I was so surprised that he would have considered this and I'm glad that he did, the upside is that my positive experience with the police has lessened the negatives of my iPod being stolen.
But there you go, whilst a country can have a horrendous record in terms of police, human rights and such, it can have brief moments of a positive nature. Foreigners need to be made aware of this so that they can learn that Russians aren't ALL that bad, and it can go someway to reducing the negative stereotype of Russians & Russian police but the Russian Police need to be made aware of this positive experience so that they can learn from this and evolve in a better way.
