All subway systems are different and St Petersburg's is certainly different from others I've ridden. In keeping with posting pictures of where I live and study, I'd like to show what my metro journey is like for any curious parties back home.
First in my journey every day to school, I have a 20 minute walk to the metro station from my apartment. (You can find pictures of my walk to/from my apartment on Facebook in the Odds & Ends photo album).
If you can see on the map above, my metro station (Primorskaya) is at the very end of the Green Line on the left on Vasilevsky Island.
Escalators Down. St Petersburg's metro is one of the deepest in the world, so it takes about 3 minutes to get to the bottom or top of these escalators.
Waiting for a train at Primorskaya (Green Line)
Option 1 (Weekends): Getting off at Gostiny Dvor. Gostiny Dvor is the city center stop at Nevsky Prospekt. It's the stop you get off at for most major sights downtown.
This is what the outside of the metro stop looks like. Gostiny Dvor loosely means "Merchant's Yard." It's basically a giant shopping mall.
Option 2 (School days): Getting off at Mayakovskaya to switch lines. It is named after the poet, Mayakovsky (who we are studying right now in my literature class! Even translated into English, he's quite...difficult). I see him every day in this awesome mural.
I love the red tile of this station.
After getting off at Mayakoskaya, I walk down some stairs then down a walkway to find Ploshchad Vosstaniya, the station I need to transfer to the Red Line.
I get off at my last stop at Chernyshevskaya Metro Station, which is nothing remarkable to look at. After exiting the metro up at ground level, I walk a short ways to a bus stop where I take the CIEE van the final short journey to Smolny (a branch of St Petersburg State University where I study).
This is what the metro cars look like. Russia puts a few warnings to not cross the yellow line into the Danger Zone, but they aren't as OCD as the British about minding the gap.
This is what the inside of a metro car looks like. The seats are open benches unlike the bus-style seating of, say, the DC metro. I like it though. There's more standing room, and you never have that awkward moment where you have to scoot out of an inside seat or get up for someone sitting in the window seat.
Below is a short video someone shot walking from the Primorskaya Metro exit to a bus stop. The bus stop isn't the direction I go after the station, but it does show some Marshrutkas at the end, which are shady looking vans that are one of the modes of public transportation here. (They are also what our CIEE van looks like that I take every morning).
If you want the full experience of riding the escalator up from a metro station, here's your chance! (Granted, this video was shot on a VERY slow day. Rush hour is an altogether different experience)
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
My class schedule
Monday
11:40 - 13:10 Grammar
I learn how to make more complex sentences while learning that verb aspect never gets any easier.
Tuesday
10:00 - 11:30 Comparative Politics: USA & Russia
11:40 - 13:10 Phonetics
13:50 - 15:20 Conversation
The politics course is definitely my favorite one and the one most similar to classes at home. We actually talk about things of substance...and then I get to go make noises in Phonetics class. Phonetics is all about learning how to accurately pronounce Russian words so we don't end up sounding like the American equivalents of Boris and Natasha. Conversation class is just that...we converse.
Wednesday
10:00 - 11:30 Literature
Due to time constraints, this is more of a poetry class right now. Poetry is also easier because we can read it in Russian rather than English. Considering poetry's not really my thing, I'm still enjoying this class.
Thursday
10:00 - 11:30 Comparative Politics: USA & Russia
11:40 - 13:10 Mass Media
13:50 - 15:20 Phonetics
In Mass Media, we spend a lot of time discussing random news stories and that's just alright by me. It's not very mentally demanding and I enjoy some good old-fashioned translation work every once in a while, especially with relevant news articles. Literature class educates me on obscure and abstract Russian words while Mass Media educates me on journalistic and commonly used Russian words.
Friday
10:00 - 11:30 Conversation
11:40 - 13:10 Lexicon
13:50 - 15:20 Grammar
15:30 - 17:00 Literature
On Fridays, we add the exciting/terrifying journey that is Lexicon (Лексика or Leksika, in Russian). In this course, we basically do busy work learning grammar. We've been going through a giant packet outlining lists of verbs for each case (dative, genitive, nominative, accusative, etc.). I can't entirely hate on a class where our homework exercises include references to Othello, The Godfather, and The Fifth Element, but it's not exactly fun either. Fridays are just difficult anyway, what with the four classes in a row at 90 minutes each.
11:40 - 13:10 Grammar
I learn how to make more complex sentences while learning that verb aspect never gets any easier.
Tuesday
10:00 - 11:30 Comparative Politics: USA & Russia
11:40 - 13:10 Phonetics
13:50 - 15:20 Conversation
The politics course is definitely my favorite one and the one most similar to classes at home. We actually talk about things of substance...and then I get to go make noises in Phonetics class. Phonetics is all about learning how to accurately pronounce Russian words so we don't end up sounding like the American equivalents of Boris and Natasha. Conversation class is just that...we converse.
Wednesday
10:00 - 11:30 Literature
Due to time constraints, this is more of a poetry class right now. Poetry is also easier because we can read it in Russian rather than English. Considering poetry's not really my thing, I'm still enjoying this class.
Thursday
10:00 - 11:30 Comparative Politics: USA & Russia
11:40 - 13:10 Mass Media
13:50 - 15:20 Phonetics
In Mass Media, we spend a lot of time discussing random news stories and that's just alright by me. It's not very mentally demanding and I enjoy some good old-fashioned translation work every once in a while, especially with relevant news articles. Literature class educates me on obscure and abstract Russian words while Mass Media educates me on journalistic and commonly used Russian words.
Friday
10:00 - 11:30 Conversation
11:40 - 13:10 Lexicon
13:50 - 15:20 Grammar
15:30 - 17:00 Literature
On Fridays, we add the exciting/terrifying journey that is Lexicon (Лексика or Leksika, in Russian). In this course, we basically do busy work learning grammar. We've been going through a giant packet outlining lists of verbs for each case (dative, genitive, nominative, accusative, etc.). I can't entirely hate on a class where our homework exercises include references to Othello, The Godfather, and The Fifth Element, but it's not exactly fun either. Fridays are just difficult anyway, what with the four classes in a row at 90 minutes each.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Excursion - Peter and Paul Fortress
On Saturday, March 17, we went on an outing to the Peter and Paul Fortress. It's one of the prominent landmarks and historical sites of Petersburg. It's a major image on the riverbank and has remained that way - no structure is allowed to be taller than the Peter and Paul Cathedral. This is even more understandable when you find out what's inside the cathedral...
Founded in 1703, it was used as a fortress against possible attacks from the Swedes, but came to fame later in the 1720s for its use as a prison for prominent political figures. Such historical figures as Dostoevsky, Trotsky, and even Peter the Great's own son were imprisoned here.
The Peter and Paul Cathedral, with its magnificent golden spire, is the resting place of almost every Russian tsar from Peter I to Alexander III (excluding Peter II). This includes the remains of the Romanov family.
I'm still trying to figure out the best way to show pictures and tell about my travels at the same time. Pictures are easier shown via Facebook, but I have more room to describe them on the blog. For now, I'm going to be a little crazy and post the link for my blog on Facebook while I post the link for the appropriate Facebook photo gallery on my blog. You can choose your own journey, so to speak! Click here for the Facebook photo gallery
Founded in 1703, it was used as a fortress against possible attacks from the Swedes, but came to fame later in the 1720s for its use as a prison for prominent political figures. Such historical figures as Dostoevsky, Trotsky, and even Peter the Great's own son were imprisoned here.
The Peter and Paul Cathedral, with its magnificent golden spire, is the resting place of almost every Russian tsar from Peter I to Alexander III (excluding Peter II). This includes the remains of the Romanov family.
I'm still trying to figure out the best way to show pictures and tell about my travels at the same time. Pictures are easier shown via Facebook, but I have more room to describe them on the blog. For now, I'm going to be a little crazy and post the link for my blog on Facebook while I post the link for the appropriate Facebook photo gallery on my blog. You can choose your own journey, so to speak! Click here for the Facebook photo gallery
Sunday, March 11, 2012
3-Day Weekend! (But not the days you'd expect)
I've been remiss in posting on this blog, I know. Mea culpa, I'll try harder. I've found out the Catch-22 of blogging. When you're actually doing enough interesting stuff to blog about, you're too busy to blog because of the aforementioned interesting stuff.
Last week was a short one here in Russia as Thursday was International Women's Day. It's a significant holiday here, which is why they get the day off school/work. But wait a minute...that means a Thursday holiday, Friday work, then Saturday and Sunday. Russia took the logical step and collectively decided to postpone Friday until Sunday. We ended up having a three-day weekend of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off. Today (Sunday) we had our Friday classes. This sounds brilliant until you realize that the next work week gets to be 6 days long. Hooray!
To add even more time confusion into the mix, Russia isn't doing Daylight Savings Time. So as of today, I am only 8 hours ahead of home instead of 9! I give major props to my computer for changing my Ohio clock but not my Petersburg clock. Ain't technology grand?
Thursday
Международный Женский День (Mezhdunarodny Zhensky Den) aka International Women's Day
*Trip to the Ballet*
CIEE booked us all tickets to the ballet which, as far as I can remember, is a first for me. We went to Mikhailovsky Theater in the city center, which ended up being a much smaller theater than I expected. The advantage of that was that even way up in the rafters we had a great view of the show. We saw Laurencia, a Soviet era ballet about a village in Spain where the title character is torn between a powerful Commander and a fellow villager with quite the dancin' skillz. Since this was a Soviet ballet, it ended with a revolution. As Wikipedia concisely puts the final act, "Villagers break into the Commander’s castle. They free Frondoso and kill the tyrant. The people celebrate their victory." I have to admit I still prefer other forms of drama over the ballet, but it was an enjoyable experience all the same.
Afterwards, I had lunch with some friends and ventured out to buy flowers for my host mother. It's expected to give the women in your life flowers in honor of this holiday. This took some cultural tact, however, because Russians get OCD about their flowers. Do you ever count the number of flowers you're given? Because Russians do, apparently. It's common knowledge here that giving an even number of flowers is a sign of death because even numbers are only ever given at funerals. It really makes me wonder how many funerals Russians are going to if they have such a strong, instant connection between flower counts and death, but whatever. We all have our strange customs.
Friday
*Georgian Cuisine Cooking Class*Along with about 10ish other people, I got to hang out at an actual cooking school in St Petersburg and learn how to cook Georgian cuisine. Rather than make lots of tiny, individual meals, we each were assigned tasks in making large communal dishes. (I'm going back to this cooking school tomorrow night to do some classic Russian cuisine. I can't come home without knowing how to make some borscht!)
Saturday
*Yusupov Palace*This excursion took us to the place where Rasputin was killed! Yeah, the palace is significant and beautiful otherwise, but let's face it - we all love hearing about that crazy monk. It was built around 1770 to house the Yusupov noble family. Felix Yusupov would participate in the murder of Rasputin in December of 1916, ensuring the palace status as a future tourist attraction.
What I loved about this building, though, is that it has its own unique character. It has the traditional grand staircase and sitting rooms filled with art, but it also has a billiards room with top-notch acoustics, a room designed in the style of Middle Eastern architecture, and a small but impressive private theater.
Last week was a short one here in Russia as Thursday was International Women's Day. It's a significant holiday here, which is why they get the day off school/work. But wait a minute...that means a Thursday holiday, Friday work, then Saturday and Sunday. Russia took the logical step and collectively decided to postpone Friday until Sunday. We ended up having a three-day weekend of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off. Today (Sunday) we had our Friday classes. This sounds brilliant until you realize that the next work week gets to be 6 days long. Hooray!
To add even more time confusion into the mix, Russia isn't doing Daylight Savings Time. So as of today, I am only 8 hours ahead of home instead of 9! I give major props to my computer for changing my Ohio clock but not my Petersburg clock. Ain't technology grand?
Thursday
Международный Женский День (Mezhdunarodny Zhensky Den) aka International Women's Day
*Trip to the Ballet*
CIEE booked us all tickets to the ballet which, as far as I can remember, is a first for me. We went to Mikhailovsky Theater in the city center, which ended up being a much smaller theater than I expected. The advantage of that was that even way up in the rafters we had a great view of the show. We saw Laurencia, a Soviet era ballet about a village in Spain where the title character is torn between a powerful Commander and a fellow villager with quite the dancin' skillz. Since this was a Soviet ballet, it ended with a revolution. As Wikipedia concisely puts the final act, "Villagers break into the Commander’s castle. They free Frondoso and kill the tyrant. The people celebrate their victory." I have to admit I still prefer other forms of drama over the ballet, but it was an enjoyable experience all the same.
Afterwards, I had lunch with some friends and ventured out to buy flowers for my host mother. It's expected to give the women in your life flowers in honor of this holiday. This took some cultural tact, however, because Russians get OCD about their flowers. Do you ever count the number of flowers you're given? Because Russians do, apparently. It's common knowledge here that giving an even number of flowers is a sign of death because even numbers are only ever given at funerals. It really makes me wonder how many funerals Russians are going to if they have such a strong, instant connection between flower counts and death, but whatever. We all have our strange customs.
Friday
*Georgian Cuisine Cooking Class*Along with about 10ish other people, I got to hang out at an actual cooking school in St Petersburg and learn how to cook Georgian cuisine. Rather than make lots of tiny, individual meals, we each were assigned tasks in making large communal dishes. (I'm going back to this cooking school tomorrow night to do some classic Russian cuisine. I can't come home without knowing how to make some borscht!)
(Brad and I got to make the dough for the cheesy bread, which involved throwing a bunch of liquids and flour into a pan and mixing it with our BARE HANDS. It was like making homemade Slime or Silly Putty in the first grade).
What we made: (Delicious soup and salad. The soup was Kharcho, consisting of lamb, rice, onions, tomatoes, and a whole lot of garlic and rosemary. I can't find the salad's name, but it consisted of cooked eggplant, cucumber, pomegranate seeds, all in a ground walnut/herbs sauce. Crazy, I know, but it tasted AMAZING.) (Every culture must appreciate the beauty of cheesy bread. This one was called Khachapuri. We flattened out the dough, wrapped a ball of cheese in the middle, re-flattened it, and put it in the oven. Fresh dough and cheese = a wonderfully simple, delicious treat)(I can't find the name for this one either, but it was basically cooked chicken in a stew of tomatoes, onions, herbs, and garlic. And yes, it was as good as it looked.)
Saturday
*Yusupov Palace*This excursion took us to the place where Rasputin was killed! Yeah, the palace is significant and beautiful otherwise, but let's face it - we all love hearing about that crazy monk. It was built around 1770 to house the Yusupov noble family. Felix Yusupov would participate in the murder of Rasputin in December of 1916, ensuring the palace status as a future tourist attraction.
What I loved about this building, though, is that it has its own unique character. It has the traditional grand staircase and sitting rooms filled with art, but it also has a billiards room with top-notch acoustics, a room designed in the style of Middle Eastern architecture, and a small but impressive private theater.
(Beautiful Concert Hall that still functions as a musical venue. To showcase the acoustics, they had a small male vocal group sing a choral piece that could give you chills)
(This billiard room was also designed with some excellent acoustics in mind. Our tour guide demonstrated when she described the room by going into the recess and talking into the seating area. As she got closer to the center, her voice was amplified. It was a really cool effect through simple architecture.)
(This bathing area was closed for construction while we were there, but this is what it looks like normally. The rest of the room to the right was open, though, so we got to see the amazing Eastern architecture.)
(The theater that also still functions, despite its very small size)
(The theater that also still functions, despite its very small size)
Best of all is the fact that they have wax figures of the key historical players in Rasputin's death placed in the rooms where they conspired to kill him and the room where they did kill him. It's just as creepy as it sounds and looks. The palace is located right along one of the many canals of Petersburg and this one.......the Moika, is where they dumped Rasputin after they were sure he was dead. Whether he really was or not at that point is one of history's great urban legends. (Yeah, walking into a tiny, dark room under a palace to see this won't haunt my dreams AT ALL)
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