Christmas in Paris

Christmas Eve:
Went to the Louvre. The Mona Lisa crowd was very intense. Tried to see Venus, but the woman closed the hall just as we tried to enter.

In the evening we couldn't find any food because everything was closed. So we went to a grocery store and ate some crackers and juice and watched French TV in the hotel room.

Christmas:
Went to church at the Cathedral of the Notre Dame. Not as big as I had expected.

Then went up the top of the Eiffel Tower. French people act so funny in the cold! Nothing is cold compared to Russia now.

Went to a McDonald's for wi-fi to call our families. Was a little creepy and dirty.

Praha in Pictures

Praha

Prague, Czech Republic

I was very excited just to get out of Russia, even though there are still many Russians in the Czech Republic.

When I arrived, it was a monster of a day. I had to wake up at 2:00 AM to leave my horrible host mother (who was complaining the entire time) and sit next to a huge group of 60 Chinese men blasting music from their stereo in the airport.

I arrived in Prague and found my way to the city, but couldn't find the hostel. I have an excessive amount of things (due to my four months in Russia) so lugging it around is very heavy. So, my body tired and weak, had to take a break from the wandering of the streets.

Then a car did a u-turn and a woman rolled down her window and gave me the finger. I must have looked like a jerky, tired, fat, lazy American.

Then I finally found the hostel, but had to wait outside for 45 minutes for the desk man to come. There was a number to call, but of course my phone doesn't work in the Czech Republic and I had just arrived (so how could I make it to a cell phone store if I wanted).

Then, to top it all off, while sitting on my luggage, hungry, waiting outside the hostel, a dog runs up to me and pees all over my luggage.

Thank you Prague.

More Travels Galore!

So I am finally leaving Russia! This Saturday morning at 2:00 in the AM I leave Russia.

From there I begin a big trip which is as follow:

Prague, Czech Republic

Paris, France for Christmas

Geneva, Switzerland

Madrid, Spain for New Year's Eve!

Barcelona, Spain

Then to Detroit, Michigan and then Chicago, Illinois for school.

Missing Russia?

I will soon be leaving Russia so I have thought about what I will miss and what I will not miss.

MISS:
Tea
-Russians drink tea with every meal and I have found it to be so delicious and warming on a cold day.

Crazy things happen all the time that could never happen in America.

Russian music.
-Russian folk music/roma music has some of the most interesting harmonies I have ever heard. Also, playing the balalaika has been a delight and my balalaika teacher was so wonderful.

Blinis.
-Blinis are the most delicious (and only delicious) food in Russia. They are a cross between pancakes and crepes. They can be filled with any number of delicious fillings. My favorites are mushrooms, cheese, and potatoes.

Being close to Finland.


NOT MISS:
No free water.
-You can not drink the water in Russia. It will poison you. Therefore I am CONSTANTLY thirsty and water is always ridiculously expensive at any normal produce store. I am always thirsty in Russia.

Pushing.
- I just can not get used to riding the metro with people physically fighting all the time just to get on a train. Today a babyshka literally injured me to get on a train.

Inefficient Transportation.
-It is really a pain having to walk for 2 hours a day outside just to get to the metro, especially in the old.

Mean People.
- Russians are just so mean in daily life to strangers. Service clerks are so cruel to people and if you don't have correct change, they often refuse selling you products.

The Way Russian Ladies Dress
- Some ladies here dress elegantly and nicely. But the majority of them just wear extremely revealing clothing that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. I'm talking a leather mini skirt, 4 inch heels with boots that go over the knee, some kind of fur on the top, 5 pounds of makeup.... and so it continues. I can't wait to be in America when I will be seen as strange if I wear 5 pounds of makeup.

Horrible Host Mother Pt. 17

So I think I officially live in the most uncomfortable situation with the meanest person in Russia.

Last night, I stayed up late to write a paper. I stayed in my room the whole night and closed the door and was very quiet, making no noise (other than the noise of thinking).

Then it came time for me to go to sleep and I was thirsty and had to go to the bathroom. So I creeped into the kitchen and tried to fill my glass of water up. But because it was pitch black, I couldn't see and therefore spilled some water on the floor. Not a large amount, but just a little bit.

Now, Irina Victorevna (host mother) ALWAYS sleeps with her door open. So she of course heard the water spill and within seconds her light was on and she was in the kitchen screaming.

"WHAT IS GOING ON? WHAT DID YOU DO? YOU ARE SUCH A FOOL! YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS" and she continued to yell things that I didn't understand.

I tried to get a towel to clean it up but she would not allow it.

Then she said "EVERY NIGHT YOU HAVE PROBLEMS. ALL NIGHT, EVERY NIGHT YOU HAVE PROBLEMS. TOILET, WATER, TOILET, WATER!"

Maybe I am an oddity, but I don't consider the bodily function of needing water to be a problem. Also, why doesn't she close her door? This woman is someone that I will never understand but will always be afraid of.


Also, guess what she was wearing .... nothing.

Art Exhibition

I will be having my first ever art exhibition and it's in Russia!

It will be a collection of watercolors inspired by people's favorite's words in Russian.

They will be installing it in a room inside of my school.

The Worst Meal Ever, Pt. II

So these past few days, the Worst Meal Ever has come back again. But this time, it's even more disgusting! I have no idea how it is possible for this meal to get even more un-tasty, but it happened.

Now, in addition to the nasty vegetables there is some sort of seaweed green vegetable. you can see with the photo just how disgusting this food is. It is so slimy and chewy. It seems like she doused it with vinegar and added some onions and maybe some dill.

I realized I need to eat this seaweed because if I don't, she will get extremely upset (another story). So I tried to take one bite and just swallow it really quickly without chewing. By the second bite, I realized that I just could not continue to eat this. I was ready to throw up. So the first night I took a napkin and threw it in the trash and tried to hide it. But this is not a good method, because she looks in our trash can and can see what I throw away.

The next night I get the same meal again and this time she is not home. So I know what I will do this time--it's out the window again for the nasty seaweed! The seaweed unfortunately landed on the window sill again. But this time I don't care, because it's so dark outside that the chances of her seeing the seaweed on the window sill when it is actually light outside are really slim.

However, when I was throwing the last bit of seaweed out of the window, I accidentally tugged on the curtain and the curtain fell down on me. So then I had to stand up on her stool and try to put the curtain back up and hope she doesn't walk in on me throwing the seaweed out the window and putting the curtain up at the same time.

Then it's time for the tea. And she used to have delicious tea, but now there is a new variation of some kind of green tea that suspiciously tastes like cigarettes .... so I bought my own tea to drink instead of the cigarette tea. However, she had already put one of the cigarette tea bags in my tea cup. So I switched my tea bag with the cigarette tea bag. But I realized that I can put the cigarette tea back in the box because she would realize the supply is not diminishing and get suspicious. So I had to throw the cigarette tea away also. But I had to make it look like it had been used first, so I had to get it wet in the sink and then throw it away.

You may be wondering why I just don't tell her that I dislike some of the food she cooks. The reason is that the last time I didn't want to eat something she made, she became extremely irate. She told me it was an absolute shame and that I was a wasteful person (may be true). Then she followed me into my room and made me look in my dictionary words for "horrible person". I'm not quite ready to experience that again, so for the time being I'm stuck with the window sill.

Helsinki

After I left Seinäjoki I headed over to Helsinki. Helsinki is somewhat like Ann Arbor, Michigan in that it is a clean, intellectual, environmentally friendly city but different because it is 100 times better.

First I went to the museum Ateneum and saw some works by great Finnish artists such as Hugo Simberg, Helene Schjerfbeck and some interesting ideas from Jaakko Karhunen and Pilvari Pirtola.

Then my uncle Matti picked me up and we went out for a nice dinner. He is a really interesting man; he has travelled the world and had many different careers (pastor, accountant, professor).

The next day my cousin Harri showed me some sights around Helsinki. Harri is a student of economics in Helsinki. He explained to me how the education system works: first you take an exam to get into a specific university. Then if you are accepted, you get a monthly stipend of around 400 - 800 Euro a month to live and free on campus housing. Also, did I mention, schooling is free? Ahh, Finland.

Then I met up with my Aunt Eeva to go to a pre-Christmas party for her gym club at which the Scandinavian Hunks performed. The Hunks are akin to Chippendales. So it was pretty funny and a little uncomfortable feeling. Here's the link if you want to see some of the photos and videos of the Hunks: http://www.scandinavianhunks.com/

Afterwards I went out with Jyri and his friends. I went over to one of his friend's parent's penthouse on the Gulf of Finland which was decorated really modern. The view was quite beautiful. Then we went to his friend's dad's office in downtown Helsinki. The office was outfitted with everything possible a person could need: a grand piano, a bedroom, a sauna, a kitchen, karaoke, the works!

On Sunday Aunt Eeva took me to her work. She works in fashion and took me to the Helsinki House of Fashion and showed me the designer showroom she works in! That would be a dream job for me. Later I went out to lunch with Aunt Eeva and her sister and then I sadly departed back to Russia. When I was in the airport, I thought a lot about not getting on the plane. In the middle of the flight, I was ready to stand up and shout to all of the Finnish businessmen "do you know what you are getting yourselves into! Don't go to Russia!"

But alas, I made the flight and am back in Russia.

Photos of Finland

Vaasa, Laihia, and Seinäjoki

After I left Turku, I headed over to Seinäjoki where I met up with some of the Perttu cousins. This is the area my family is originally from.

Esa took me to meet Seere, a very old woman who knew a lot about my family. They showed me 10 albums worth of photos and memorabilia dating back to the 1800s. Then I went and saw the house that my Great-Grandfather left Finland for America. They kept pointing out to me places in real life that were in an ancient photo they showed me.

Seere's house was incredible also. We drive up to an old house in the middle of Finnish farmland and the house seems typical from the outside. But on the inside it was incredible! It won a design award in 1974. She must have spent thousands and thousands on the interior. All the best furniture and famous modern art paintings decorated her home. It was a retro masterpiece!

Later on in the evening I went to go see Titanic: The Musical staring my very own uncle Esa! Although it was all in Finnish, I was able to understand a lot. The lead star is apparently a hot young Finnish actor, so the audience was abuzz with excitement.

The Homecoming at Last!

I finally made it to my ancestral motherland - Finland! The trip began with Turku, Finland.

I arrived after a peaceful boat ride with a toasty warm sauna and was greeted with such friendly smiling faces. The Finnish people are so helpful, friendly, English-knowing-and-speaking, and well-dressed.

Turku is the oldest city in Finland and was once the capital. As such, it is a special city. The city was well maintained, plenty of cobble stoned streets, and a beautiful old cathedral. To my delight, there were plenty of thrift stores and antique stores with fun little surprises inside and all priced very moderately. There were also many art galleries and good museums.

I was able to go to the Sibelius Museum, in honor of Finland's greatest composer, Jean Sibelius. There was great information about his life and I was able to watch old videos depicting his funeral and his life. The museum also housed musical instruments. It was even hands-on! I was allowed to play a harpsichord from the 1700s. This, to me, is one of the greatest things a museum could allow. When I went into the basement of the museum, there was a collection of keyboards from the 1960s-current. This excited me even more. It is about time musical instrument museums started curating some forms of electronic music.

Later I went into market square and ate some delicious food that I have been deprived of for several months. The karelian pie is my favorite treat that I only seem to get at Christmas time back home. You can be sure I loaded up on plenty of these pies to last me a while.

Stockholm

Beautiful people.

Nice, Englsih-speaking people.

Relaxing atmosphere.

Interspersed with art.

Free bus ride for Sara.

Wonderful marketplace filled with unique oddities.

Free water!

Moscow

Moscow:

More convenient than St. Petersburg
More metro stops
Blanket Internet over the city

Goth Youth
Boy with flame sticks waving them around in the park

Nazi Youth
People making the swastika symbol on the metro car

Very expensive

The few Americans in Moscow are all connected

Animal Cruelty
3 bears tied up with chains. Man shouting "give money if you want the bears to eat!"

Strange Men
After arriving at the airport, I receive a text message. It says "I'm sorry, but I wanted to tell you that you are beautiful. The next time you are in Moscow, please call me. My name is Alexei, I was your taxi cab driver". I ignored it, then received another text message "Are you interested?". Finally I responded and told him that I would not be in Moscow again. The next text message, "HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE. THIS IS A SHAME. YOU ARE WONDERFUL!"

Travels Galore!

Today I am leaving for a great exploration!

First I will go to Moscow with my university group and see the Kremlin, Lenin's Masoleum, the Tretyakovsky Gallery, and all of the goodies of Moscow.

After that I will leave the group and head off to Stockholm and see the city.

Then I take a boat from Stockholm to Turku, Finland to see the oldest town in Finland.

From Turku I will take a train to Seinäjoki, Finland to see the town where my family originates. There I will be met by relative Esa Perttu and his parents Reijo and Kyllikki.

Then from Turku I will take a train to Helsinki and meet up with Matti Perttu and will stay with Eeva and her sons Harri and Jyri.

Finally I get to see my roots!

Smolny

I attend school at the Smolny Cathedral Complex. Smolny is a very historical place.

It was a school for training young girls by Catherine the Great. Once an aristocratic girl entered the school at a very young age of maybe 8 or 12, she was not allowed to leave the school or see her family until she turned 18 years old.

Later Lenin held assembly meetings and Kirov was murdered there.

And now I am sitting learning Russian in the very same halls!

Unity Day?

Nov. 4 is Unity Day in Russia!

Unfortunately, not many Russians even know what the Nov. 4 holiday is for. It was recently reinstated in 2005 to celebrate the Russians kicking the Polish out of Moscow in 1612.

But mostly it was created because there used to be a holiday on Nov. 7 which celebrated the October Revolution. But you can't celebrate communist holidays in a non-communist Russia!

They actually had to make a movie to tell people what this holiday was about because no one knew what the holiday was supposed to be for.

The holiday is on a Tuesday this year. But Russians love long weekends. So instead of moving the holiday to Monday (because no one actually even knows what the holiday is for), I have to go to school on Saturday and people have to work on Saturday and there will be no classes on Monday or Tuesday. The Russian way of doing things.

The Same Meal for One Month

The food I have been eating here has been less than delicious and delightful. Sometimes it is tasty, but usually it is not tasty to eat the same meal for one month.

Lately, I have been eating a combination of vegetables and beans with every meal. Yesterday, I realized I had had the last plate of beans. The beans aren't even good to begin with. They are mashed up and hard. I don't quite even understand how a bean can be hard if it has been cooked, but these beans are hard.


So I decided I needed to get rid of these beans without eating them. So I looked out the window and decided that the window is a great place to throw the beans out. However, the window is too small to fit the plate through. So I attempt to fork the beans out the window. While doing so, the beans fell all over the plants in the window sill. I decide to look out the window to make sure that there are no traces of the beans when I realize that the beans had been falling into the window sill! In plain sight, all the beans are plopped out on the ledge. And there is no way to get to them.

So in a panic, I run to the toilet and try to flush the rest of the beans down the toilet. But then it gets a little slow and I decide to wait to flush some more beans down. Then five minutes later Irina Victorevna walks in and goes into the bathroom with all the beans sitting in the toilet.

We haven't discussed this situation yet, but I have not been served beans again (yet).

Estonia

Over the weekend I went to Tallinn, Estonia. I really loved Estonia.

Tallinn is a very small city, but that does not mean it is small in charm! The city dates back to the middle ages (I believe). The streets were small and cobbled and the buildings were made of colorful stones.

There was also a fair amount of modern architecture. The Kumu Art Museum was built by the Finnish architect Pekka Vapaavuori and is built into a limestone bank.

The Estonian people were so kind to me. Everyone could speak fluent English, Russian, Estonian and probably many more languages. They smiled, gave me directions, and no one tried to rob me. It is great not being in Russia.

Tallinn is also a very wired city. There was wireless in our hotel and wireless hotspots throughout the city in cafes. I believe the creator of Skype is from Estonia.

Coming from Russia, Estonia is a great treat. The internet is everywhere, bathrooms are clean and available, and the food was delicious and fresh.

I wish I could go back!

Balalaika Lessons

I am now taking balalaika lessons! The balalaika is a Russian folk instrument. The picture is to the right. It is similar to a guitar, but there are only three strings and is traingular shaped.

It does not sound like a guitar, though. The sound is a little mellow and creates interesting harmonies.

My teacher's name is Alla and does not speak any English, so I will be learning two things at once. Tomorrow she will go with me and help me buy a balalaika.

U.S. Politics Abroad

Despite the fact that not many people speak English in Russia, everyone knows about U.S. politics and has opinions about the upcoming U.S. election. Most people in the U.S. hardly could tell you the name of the head of state of other nations, or even know about upcoming elections and the candidates! But people in Russia are very aware of our elections and what's going on right now.

All of the Russians I have talked to would like Barack Obama to be the next president of America. They think that his policies are more European and that he is different from President Bush. Of course almost everyone abroad hates George Bush.

However, my host mother must think that Americans are racist. She said that she wants Barack Obama to be president, but she doesn't think he will because he is black and Americans would not elect a black president.

The Ambitious Amber Room

Last weekend I went to Tsarskoye Selo, or Pushkin. It is outside of St. Petersburg and is where Cahterine has her summer palace.

Inside of Catherine's Palace is the famous Amber Room. Three walls are covered entirely of amber, as thin as a bar of chocolate.

I am very forunate to be able to see it; the Nazis destroyed almost the entire palace including the amber room during World War II. The amber room was only recently restored about two years ago.

For as famous as the amber room is, I was a little disappointed that the ceiling and the fourth wall weren't covered with amber. But it was still very beautiful.

Also, it is prohibited to take photos in the amber room. But I got a picture!

Where to See My Pictures

In celebration of my camera working, I have decided to put my pictures online! So you may see the photos I have taken.

It does take me a while to get to an internet cafe with wi-fi (and plugs), but I am working on getting my photos online.

The link is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/harpsnhorses/

The Man at the Front Desk

The man at the front desk is named Gennagee Borisavich. I had a feeling he liked me but it was confirmed earlier today.

I was practicing piano in an old classroom when I heard the door creak open. There is a chalkboard in the way of the door, so I peeked under and I saw Gennagee Borisavich walk in. I thought he was going to yell at me and tell me I had been in this room too long and he needed the key.

But he walked over, smiled, and gave me a piece of sheet music. It is from a USSR movie from the 1930s. It is a children's movie that was the first movie ever to have puppets and live actors together.

The tune itself is a little mournful, a little pretty, and a little nostalgic. You can hear the song in the beginning of the movie. Here is the movie in entirety:

http://teramult.org.ua/mult/1939_su_film_zolotoj.kluchik/

Gennagee Borisavich wants me to play the song and sing it at the same time. I hope this will turn into a big songbook project and he will bring me more songs.

Leaf Wreathes

The Russian people seem to really enjoy fall. Whenever I go to parks, I always see people picking up leaves and making wreathes of them. When asked why, a Russian boy responded "because it is beautiful!".

I think it is beautiful too and tried to make a leaf wreath. The result was less than ideal.


After a hard attempt and a belief that I had made it correctly, it flopped apart in my hands. I saw some Russian woman making one later and went up to them and asked how to make it. They just looked at mine and started laughing really loudly. The end.

Museum of Curiosities

I went to the Museum of Curiosities/Kunstkammer Museum the other day. It can be considered the first museum of St. Petersburg.

Peter the Great opened it and called it the Museum of Curiosities. It is said that he was walking down the street and saw two trees intertwined. He thought this was so peculiar that he would house a museum of curiosities in that very spot.

However, the things that are curious to Peter the Great are rather strange. Mostly, it was abnormal baby fetuses. In order not to scare the visitor, he placed bonnets on top of the baby's heads and over the limbs that were floating in jars. However, this didn't work and people were still scared to come. So finally to entice visitors he made the admission price free and offered a shot of vodka at the entrance.

I did not receive a shot of vodka at the entrance and had to pay, and I slightly regret going. It was very frightening, but interesting to see what Peter the Great liked ...

My New Home

These are pictures of my new homestay. It's a nice quaint apartment, but ever since the heat turned on, it's really hot. I bought a fan, but with the typical Russian craftmanship it makes the strangest sounds. Irina Victorevna, my host mother, comes into my room every time the fan is on and tells me to turn it off because the sounds it makes are too strange. It's cold outside, hot inside. This is Russia.

My crazy keys:


Irina Victorevna's room, with my clothes drying.
My room (I have plants!):

Summer Gardens

Yesterday I went around exploring the downtown of St. Petersburg as it is already getting cold. It was a wonderful fall day and the leaves were everywhere. The summer gardens are absolutely beautiful and one could spend hours there, days there! Mostly there are just statues, but the lines of trees are just right.

Peterhof

Last weekend, I went to Peterhof. Peterhof is the summer palace of Peter the Great. There are over 200 fountains (I think) and there are even trick fountains! It was a magical place that I loved a lot. Here are some pictures.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!

Shoes are big in Russia.

Everybody loves shoes in Russia.

SHOES!

The way you can tell a foreignor from a Russian is by their shoes. Russians all wear very nice and fancy shoes all the time. Even if they are running errands or walking their dog, they will be wearing very nice shoes.

If I am wearing sneakers, I get many stares a day. I see people start looking at my face, then watch their eyes move all the way down at stare at my sneakers. A good, hard, long stare too. But when I am wearing nice shoes, no one pays attention/they think I am Russian.

The only women that do not wear high heels are the babyshki. Otherwise, the shoes are very black, very shiny, and very high for women. I don't know how they make a whole day, though; there are so many manholes and uneven sidewalks it is hard to walk down the street.

And the men all wear fancy European booties. The only person I ever saw without nice shoes was a crazy homeless woman. Shoes are very important here.

I am okay with this, it just gives me an excuse to buy more shoes!

Banya

While in Novgorod, I went to the Russian banya. The banya is very similar to the Finnish sauna.

First you go in, buy your viihta and your banya time and if you want a toga. You go and undress, then soak your viihta, and go into the sauna. This sauna had a high set of stairs and only one bench. Most of the woman stood on the stairs or at the very top. Then to the side there seemed to be a stove that a woman came in and was making it hotter. I couldn't see what she was doing because I didn't have my glasses on!

Afterwards you run into the river, shower, sauna, river, shower, sauna, then cold and hot shower.

When we showed up, there were a bunch of naked old Russian women staring at us and laughing at us. Once I took off my glasses, it was a lot easier to be comfortable because I really couldn't see anything at all.

The women were very nice and showed us what to do. When in the sauna, the babyshki made me bend over and they hit me vigorously with the vihta. Two vihtas simultaneously; it felt pretty good. Then I knew I had to run into the river. But instead of having a private entrance, you had to exit the banya complex, run across the road, and then run down a hill. Once I got to the street I realized there was a group of 5 Russian men who were very curious and stared at us the whole time! How embarrassing.

Back inside the banya, a babyshka told me to throw an ice cold bucket of water over my friend's head. Then the babyshka made this screaming noise and threw her arms up in the air, telling us that it was good for the soul to scream.

It was a nice, cleansing time and I am going to try to find a banya near my apartment in St. Petersburg. I recommend all people try the Russian banya!

Service

My camera is finally fixed! I just had to send it to the only "certified" service in St. Petersburg, sign a contract in Russian, and wait two weeks. All for the low price of 1,000 rubles.

This service was very shady. It was in a large industrial building and on a huge scary door there was this little sign that said "Service". When I went in there were many people waiting with the strangest kinds of electronic devices. Pretty much anything electronic that could break people took there to fix.

Now all I need to do is get my computer to a place with wi-fi, which has been pretty difficult so far...

More photos

Restoration:

Restoration, Restoration, Restoration.

The eternal flame of Novgorod.

Babushki are everywhere in Russia.

Novgorod

Over the weekend I went to Novgorod.  Novgorod is one of the oldest towns in Russia.  The earliest mention of it in history is about 894.  At one point in time, there were over 200 churches.  Now there are only about 30 churches.  Novgorod also used to be bigger than Paris and London during the Medieval Era.  

Now it is a small city with many many beautiful churches.  There is also a river and forestry around.

Here are some of the pictures that my friend David took with his camera: