My Russian Lessons

Things are normal at school. I don't hate it, but it's not terribly exciting. I realized that I'll be okay in the next 4 months. I'll just continue to self-teach. In the mean while, I'll make it more fun by finding awesome little humorous pieces to read. It's also not so bad when I'm reading Russian food magazines too; it's a great way to pick up new vocabulary.

Source:http://www.belomors.ru/russian/uncultured_people.gif

Mid Stay Orientation

Let's try to do a quick summary rather than too much reflection. I arrived late 20 mins to School 41, but completed a survey early along with the other 9 AFS students about our last 5 months in town. We ate pastries, and shortly after we ate lunch. I went with Meike, Tamara, and Pasha to Natasha's class. There we introduced ourselves in Russian. I spoke last and convinced people to move tables so we could do karate. I did a half-assed* job until I got embarrassed to continue. The other AFS people weren't participating, but then they joined in as we did that "Red Horse and Fly" German song. We got tired and ran out of the class. Later we hit the AFS blue pinata. We had interviews about our problems/concerns about the year program. I cried, not knowing how to explain how frustrated I was about school, but all went well. We had an end of the day recap, with news that we might have a trip to Veliky Novgorod (northern Russian) or Kazan. Afterwards, Pasha, Tamara, Meike and I went to McDonalds, where we drew fancy doodles and wrote in various languages. Then it was time to go home. The weather is getting warmer.

*no vulgarity intended, to me half-assed means you only have one donkey rather than two, so the work is done not as efficiently.

Going Halfway

Five more months left here. Next Saturday, foreign students in our town are supposed to have a mid-stay orientation to reflect and talk about our days in Russia. I don't know how it will be like, but I don't think it would really be anything special. Maybe I should bring a pinata for us to whack. Yesterday, we had a meeting at school 41 starting at 5:30pm, but sadly there wasn't much to do beforehand. Pear and I searched for a birthday present for her host brother at Mega Mall, but still had plenty of time to kill afterward. Near school 41, we've always passed by a few food stands, so with the extra time, we got the chance to check them out.

One of the kiosks happened to sell doughnuts "ponchiki" for a decent price, so I bought a few to try along with tea. We stood near the stand to drink our burning hot tea, which kept us warm from the cold. I reached for my bag of doughnuts for a bite, and surprisingly the pigeon crowd chased after the food. The birds in America would never dare be that close to humans, but in Russia, they're gangster birds! These daring creatures fly so close to a person's face in the presence of food. When you walk toward them, they waddle away to clear path and don't bother to waster their energy by flying away. I guess it's simply because Americans have long domesticated pigeons (even teaching them to deliver our mail in past days), so they're just scared to approach us unless we enslave or hurt them. Oi, that's a culture shock.

There's also always a lot of dogs and cats roaming the snowy streets of town, but all seem friendly. Haven't met an aggressive dog on the street, but saw one trapped in a cage once. Then again, I was told that particular German Shephard had a larger bark than desire to bite anyone. I don't know what to make of that idea, but I'll just accept it. Tasha pointed out that the dogs here are rather smart too. They know to cross the street only when there's a green light...and we've seen a bizzare case of a lost dog trying to board marshrutkas.

Turned out Alright

Wednesday was stressful, because there was too much to get done. Tasha, Pear and I ran around Cheboksary to record things for this promotional video about town, or what I like to call propaganda. It was too stressful, because it was the day I needed to finish a presentation with Pasha too. Anyhow, I don't want to get into details, but everything was finished and turned out alright.

Today was the preliminary stage of the contest for presentations. Pasha and I placed first in our research about Stereotypes about Russia and the United States. Our work isn't that strong in my opinion, but our presentation made the judges smile, so I guess it was good? We're moving on to the city-stage, which makes me a bit nervous. I hope we place again! On the bright note, several of our friends already placed in their schools, so they will join us for the bigger city event.

What is your name Mister?

In Russia, I've encountered the cleaning product "Mr. Proper" (Mister Chister) instead of "Mr. Clean". However, the name's not limited only to Russia. Some other countries market the cleaner as "Mr. Proper", but it perplexes me why they chose the word "proper" over "clean". The culture of this perplexes me.

And also, we've received news about our Spring Camp with AFS. The approximate cost is about 14,000 rubles, about over $450 US for 3 days. If this was a longer camp, I would understand the logistical cost for housing, food and activities, but this is a rather steep price. The cost means many of the other exchange students won't go to camp, so even if I go, I won't see them. Sure, I'd probably make closer friends with the people who actually participate, but I'm a bit disappointed by all this.

I don't like to post negative things, but sometimes the way AFS-Russia events are organized bothers me. If I didn't have a scholarship, I probably wouldn't have the funds for many of these activities. And for this, I sympathize for other exchange students. I haven't seen a day where there was free camp or AFS event; it would be more comforting if we knew to where the initial program fees went (transportation, food, housing, camps, etc.). Sadly, we don't.

And on the extremely random note, I lost a black and white striped swimsuit in Siberia....Sorry. It was placed on the heater to dry, but the next day we were in a hurry to pack and leave Lyantor. So there the swimsuit stays.

Food is Cheap, Clothing is not

It's no secret that food is cheaper in this country than in America, and I've been taking advantage of that. I tried looking deeper into this. At first, the cost of consumer goods perplexed me. Food, movie/opera tickets, transportation and basic necessities were relatively cheap, but clothing, electronics and especially cars were three times the price we saw in America.

Example, let's place $1 to 30 rubles (although, the dollar seems be to going down nowadays):

Commodity Good	My Russian Town's Price
Roll of bread	$0.30 = 10 rubles (supermarket price, at bakery probably cheaper)
Movie ticket	$4.66 ($2.33) = 140 rubles (70 rubles on Weds)
Ipod Shuffle	$75 = 2250 rubles (It's only $35 in US)
Winter Coat	$200-$500 = 6000 -15000 rubles (these aren't fur coats)
McD Cheeseburger	$1.33 = 40 rubles
Ford 2008 Escape	$36,000 = 99000 rubles (3x than in US)
Shampoo	$3 = 90 rubles
Bus ride	$0.40 = 12 rubles (11 rubles for trolleybuses)
Bowling w/ 6 people	$3.33 per person/hr = 100 rubles

I'm not an economist, but here are some various ideas:

1. Most status and brand name items are imported. The set original price is already expensive, but the shipping and transportation from the manufacturing country raises the price of these goods.
2. Naturally, basic necessities should be accessible to the majority of citizens, so prices are lower. It's more fair this way. Plus, goods like food can be produced locally, so they cost less.
3. Clothing is overall expensive, because of it must be made to withstand Russian weather, and it's also a status item.

The prices are pleasant for foreigners, who come from countries with a stronger spending power, but this doesn't mean living in Russia is easy. I think Russian citizens have a more difficult life. Compared to America, the earning wages in Russia are lower for most professions. The average wage equals to $7,680 per year, with larger cities with higher average income. Even though cafes and restaurants are generally cheaper than where I used to live, people can't survive by eating out every day. I noticed families often ate more at home, prepared their own meals, and cooking skill is heavily stressed for females.

Another thing I noticed is that Russians seem to be more comfortable with speaking about money. The question of “How much does that cost?” and “How much does your father/mother/you make?” is less intrusive as it would be in other cultures. Perhaps this culture appreciates money more, because they know the meaning of hard labor behind it.