Lessons I've learned

Two months later … and I have been back in England for over a month, eek! Missing Russia but so loving being home for the summer with my family and friends. Anyway, here is a post I meant to write a while ago on the things I've learned from living in the motherland.

Lessons I've learned 

Gherkins are not, and never will be, my friend. Fair play to them for trying hard, disguising themselves in sandwiches and salads, but alas, it was never to be.

Beetroot, on the other hand, has very much taken me by surprise and become something I will happily eat, not when it's pickled mind you, don't get too ahead of yourself!

Also, you will be shocked to hear this, but Russian food really does have a lot going for it if you strip away the gherkins/pickles and the rye bread, and the taste that the gherkins left behind (impossible task - I challenge you).

Babushkas are not to be messed with, they are the best. Don't question them, and, whatever you do, don't mistake them for two different people (see wig incident).

Just because you're the next person in the queue doesn't mean you're the next person in the queue, always take a look around and see if there are any sneaky babushkas waiting to jump in before you at the last minute.

Porridge comes in many shapes and sizes, textures and flavours, beware.

If you're ever feeling bored just go for a cheeky walk by the Neva, you will never be disappointed hahah neva never, I'm funny. But seriously, this city is gorgeous.

Also just walk along Nevsky, any time of day or night, I really will miss it.

Go third class on a night train, I feel everyone needs to experience sleeping on a shelf in very close proximity to hundreds of strangers.

If you're feeling ill, be very careful, Russians are very caring but definitely have some odd ideas about how to get better. Butter and milk aren't good together.

Get used to being pushed out of the way, and if you hear tutting it's probably best to give up your seat.

Also, you will probably be stared at at quite often, stare back if you're brave enough.

It's good to have small change, be warned, if you are unable to do this you may end up with being given 30 roubles in single rouble coins = very heavy purse.

People really are lovely and friendly here, learn to see past facial expressions. (Train stations are a massive exception to the rule, don't even get me started).

After a certain amount of time, you will start responding to "Girl!" (Unless you are not female of course, that would be odd).

It really is wonderful living in a land where you can get a cheap overnight bus to other countries. Exploring is fun. As is getting lost. Most of the time. When it isn't -20.

I will struggle to be back in a place where cafés and corner shops aren't open 24.7 and there aren't at least a few of them on every road.

Your food will arrive at a restaurant, it really will, but you may have to wait. A long time.

Crossing the road in Russia is something else, if the lights are red the cars go, if the lights are green the cars go.

I flipping love public holidays and the parades and celebrations that come with them.

A cheeky trip home never goes amiss. Friends and family and cats are good. As is Birmingham.

Now for a bit of cheese…thanks so much to everyone who's been reading this little blog, I'm so thankful for all the fun times I've had this year but also for the messages, whatsapps and Skype seshs from people at home. I will definitely be returning to St Petey's one day in the near future, let me know if you fancy joining me!
Lots of love,
Лиза xxxx

С Днём Победы!

Hellooooo.
After an actual age I am finally back, and so is the blog!
I genuinely don't know where to start with this one, so much has happened, but also so little - just had a two week flop at home, much needed but also made me very conscious that I only have four weeks left in this lovely land, eeeeeek, you would think that after 8 months in a place you would have done your bucket list, but alas, I haven't finished writing my list. A list. That's what I'll do! Here is a list of what's been going down since my last post.

1. My mother and brother came for a visit - it was a lot of fun. Aside from the fact that it actually took forEVER to find the 'hotel' they were in - literally a person's flat and had no signage whatsoever, I do feel like finding it was one of the great achievements in my life. Anyways, it was lovely to show them a a bit of the motherland, introduce them to my babushka (big moment!), get them lost on numerous occasions -not forgetting the Hermitage - and also go to Swan Lake on Ice (yes that's a thing!) and the opera which was amazing, who knew I could be so sophisticated?! (does this compensate for the time my water bottle exploded on me on the bus and I had to walk home with a massive wet patch on my jeans and a old man pointing and laughing at me?! please say yes.) But yes, it was great having visitors and taking them to some of my fave places. Another good thing about having visitors was the huge amount of chocolate and treats that my mum managed to bring me…she definitely has a big role to play in keeping Cadbury World in business.

Okay so this is basically just normal paragraphs!

2. Some friends from uni came to visit (here's my big shout out to Emma and Alex, HIII!) Their efforts at speaking Russian really were impressive and we had lots of laughs, so funny to see how newcomers see the city as I don't feel like a tourist anymore!

3. The white nights are on their way - it's currently midnight and still not pitch black outside! Tourist season is just starting to kick in and the place really is gorgeous.

 4. I've done a lot of teaching English, who knew I could blag so much about English grammar?! - I do really enjoy teaching until a student asks me whether an uncountable noun can be countable in some situations, needless to say my lessons with beginners reading The Three Little Pigs are slightly less stressful! Also, sharing M&S Percy Pigs with a class always goes down well! 'If in doubt, share food' has to be a good motto in life.

5. Summer came and went - had a beautiful couple of weeks with gorgeous gorgeous sunshine, St Peteys couldn't have been prettier... and then boom came some more snow! This caused a 'total wipeout' style situation where, for a couple of days, icicles were falling down all over the place, but at the same time the road sweepers had these sideways hose things going on and pedestrians were hopping around all over the place. Very funny until a whole block of snow fell down off a roof right in front of me!

6. Babushka has been really making me giggle, gonna mis her! The other day she was shouting "Liza, Liza, come quickly" in a way that made me worried she'd fallen over, I ran to her only to see her standing there with a new wig on twirling around and asking me whether it suited her! The only babushka moment that tops this one would have to be when she came into my room and asked me which one of her cheeks was bigger than the other! She also used some of my rent money to buy me some plants and comes into my room daily to check up on them which she finds very exciting - I often get a report on their progress!

7. Victory Day. This is by far the biggest public holiday in Russia, full of parades, flowers, banners, flags, costumes and singing. Such a good time to be in this beautiful land, it all felt so very Russian! The constant rain in no way dampened the spirits, with all sorts of events going on across St Peteys and the country.

Hope this finds you well and gives you a bit of an idea of what I've been up to lately, or at least reassures you that I am still here! I will post photos as soon as I can.

Lots of love,
Лиза xx

Riga

Hello :) Yes, Riga was a long time ago now but I think it still deserves a little post!

Latvia isn't very far at all from St Peteys, we just hopped on an overnight bus and there we were… arriving at 5am isn't the greatest, especially when cafes aren't open 24hours like they are here, but after a very long breakfast we started exploring and all was good.

I always enjoy a cheeky coach journey, especially when it's pretty empty and each person has a couple of seats, however this did mean that I fell asleep at the border crossing only to be awoken by a security man in a scary uniform and a furry hat staring at me because I needed to give him my passport. Awks.

So Riga is gorgeous, the main thing being its old town with lovely little buildings and cobbled streets (bit like Tallin) but throughout the city there is amazing architecture and lots to do. We found a little market with lots of local food to try, crafts, jewellery and a little band playing while people did what seemed to be the Latvian Hokey-kokey. While we were wondering around the old town we were joined by a large group of people in very very interesting costumes. Including a man dressed as a mermaid - my personal favourite. These people had no audience apart from us and a few other passers-by but none-the-less began to sing, dance and recite poetry, it was quite simply stunning, and no-one had a clue what was going on, but it was a lot of fun, until they tried to get us to join in with the dancing. (I cannot think of a fitting word to describe them in any of the languages I know). While we were there it also happened to be Riga's celebration for being the current cultural capital of Europe and we stumbled across a Latvian band playing - this was also a lot of fun, especially due to their excellent dance moves and rendition of some cheesy English songs, but I don't think it could quite compete with the mermaid.

Check out the mermaid!

Amazing

Little market - free samples (or at least I hope that's what they were - language barriers can cause issues!)

Now back to Rossiya...

On Saturday it was International Women's Day which is hugeee here - it seemed that nearly every woman walking down Nevsky was carrying flowers and smiling, was really lovely. Russia has a lot of pubic holidays - including those for mothers, fathers, women, men, children and teachers! I've been told that in May there are about 7 days off - how exciting! This morning on the way to school a woman just gave me a bunch of flowers and said "Happy Holiday", what a start to the week :) oh Russia. Lots of florists here are open 24 hours - I don't know who is buying bouquets at 3am, but apparently they do!

P.S - Babushka quote of the week "Ah, Leeza, I think we've found our mutual language - food!" This, it must be said, was quite a while after the Holodetz incident - which is basically bits of meat floating in jelly/fat and considered a real delicacy kept for special occasions - when my babushka was quite offended that I only had one helping.

Love, Лиза

Pancake Week!

Morning :)

Yep, pancake WEEK is here, it is an actual thing - called Maslenitsa - and I am very much enjoying it. Maslenitsa is an Orthodox festival, which as far as I can understand (not very far) signifies the start of fasting (so same as pancake day, just different dates). Each day of the week has a different theme, for example "Eating too much" or "Being young again". It is also supposed to include sleigh rides and snowball fights but alas, it is practically tropical weather here at the moment so that won't be happening. On Saturday there will be a big celebration near the fortress including many more blini (pancakes) and a bonfire. I have also learned a new Russian phrase which literally translates as "the first blini comes out a blob" which is used in all new situations which don't turn out as planned.

Tutoring, due to this, has been great this week (as if they don't normally feed me enough) I was given a  giant bowl of yummy borsch, a big slice of cake and some blini, I would quite happily take this as pay but don't tell them that. Was a teeny bit embarrassing when the girl's mum asked me how she was getting on and I said "yes, her Russian really is coming along…Oh... and her English too!" but hey, I like to think that, aside from these little errors, my Russian is improving.

Speaking of food, I will now tell you about breakfast here. So we haven't had another stir fry thankfully, I politely told the babushka that I'd much rather have a light breakfast. The next day I discovered she'd found BACON(!!!), so asked for a bacon sandwich, I was a bit confused and assumed she'd misunderstood as I was given porridge, but went with it, then she gave us a little salad, some blini, and then came the bacon. Which was amazing. But I had to save it for later to avoid exploding. She's also tried to feed us fried potatoes, cabbage and meat wobbling in jelly (called holodetz) for breakfast… interesting.

We're getting to know the babushka now and learn her little ways - there are some things that we have to do like leaving certain doors open/closed or putting stuff in certain places, but hey, we can deal with that, especially since she buys Twinings tea and feeds us at all times of day.  However, I do think she has a fear of mushrooms as she told me I had to eat the whole packet I'd bought in a day otherwise I'd be very very ill.. quite confused, and after sneakily eating them for the rest of the week I can safely say I'm feeling fine. I have heard that this may be a superstition as a friend's babushka said a similar thing. Ooh and on that note, I'll share a few other Russian superstitions that I've learned with you - this post is becoming quite educational!

So, one of the main ones that is very very important to know is that you should only give someone flowers if there is an odd number of them, if you gave someone, say, six flowers in a bunch this would be very very offensive as even numbers are only ever used at funerals.

2) -  never whistle indoors as this could bring misfortune to your family. Thankfully I can't whistle so haven't had any awkward situations regarding this.

3) Before going on a trip you should sit down for a few seconds once all of your stuff is ready as this brings safe travels. Our old babushka definitely made us do this before going to Moscow and we were very very confused, especially since we were in a massive rush and didn't quite fancy "having a little rest".

4) If you leave the house and forget something you really shouldn't go back for it. (pretty much a daily occurrence for me) If you absolutely must return, then you should look in a mirror before you step out again.

5) If you aren't married you shouldn't sit at the corner of tables - if you do then you won't marry for something like seven years.

6) Don't say 'happy birthday' to a person before their birthday (have done this twice now, both times received very odd looks, whoops)


I'm sure there are many more but I can't remember them at this moment!

Also, big news.. went to Riga last weekend!! It was quite spontaneous but a lot of fun and I will tell you all about it in the next post as I don't have much time now.

Happy Maslenitsa!
Лиза xx

Some little snaps

Hola, I'm about to be called to the kitchen for brekkie (this seems to be a daily moment of fear - what will be on that table?! I will tell you more about this when I actually write something later), so for now, here are some random little photos which should have been attached to other posts! Лиза xx

This is when we actually had snow here, near to my old Babushka's

This was an event recognising 70 years since the siege of Leningrad

Frosty Palace Square

Another cheeky plane photo

No snow but still pretty chilly! Blocks of ice have been falling off buildings - always fun

Just a few bags - only came with the suitcase!

Wallpaper with St Petey's on… nice

Babushka Number Two

Privyet :)

Well, as you may have guessed, this post will mostly introduce you to my new babushka. I feel it could be quite a long one and would very much recommend you go and get a cup of tea (or some borsch) if you are intending to get to the end of it.

Can't believe I haven't even been back for a week yet, it's been so busy here, but all is looking very good indeed for this term.

So. All I can say about Wednesday was that I felt like a very bad person - Babushka was very angry that I'd left it until two days before to tell her that I was moving (and that's fair enough I guess) and reeled off a list of tips for how I could be a better little girl for my next host as well as ways I had disappointed her, but then on Thursday things changed, she was all lovely and we left things on a good note, she even told me I could ring up for a chat or pop round for some tea if I liked (I would, of course, provide the tea as Russian tea is not the greatest).

My new babushka is quite a bit older than the first one and so far seems very funny, kind and generous. She greeted us with "I'm deaf, almost blind and a little bit silly" which I loved, although our first meeting is something I'd quite like to forget - as I tell you this next story I can assure you that I'll be cringing. Is that how you spell cringing?

Somehow, since moving here, my friend and I have acquired quite a lot of stuff, and that is an understatement. We had to take separate taxis to move flats. We got to the new place which is much more central, rang the doorbell, and our new babushka - a friendly and bald lady - came down to greet us. To our horror we discovered that there was no lift in the building as it is quite old, and we were on the fourth floor. Uh oh. So we left some of our bags downstairs and started taking others up, the babushka tried to help but was struggling, bless her, so we told her to wait for us in her flat. On our next trip up the stairs with luggage one of her neighbours came to help us out and I decided to strike up a conversation, just the standard "So do you live in these flats too? We're from England and are moving in upstairs" la la la. Strangely, when we had finished, this lady followed us into the flat and we both assumed she lived there too, but then, well, she took off her coat..and her wig…

There is nothing you can do in this situation to improve things right?

Moving on. Please.

When we first arrived and settled down for a snack in the kitchen with her I feel she tried to get her own back from this, erm, wig situation, by making me try this beetroot jelly she had which was her favourite (or so she had me believe) I went all out spreading it on my bread, took a big bite and I can honestly say that I thought my insides were being ripped out, it was that spicy. Struggled to reply to her question of whether or not I liked it, but with a smile on my face (not sure how) I said "hmm, it's okay - quite a strong flavour though".

A couple of the things she has said have made me chuckle to myself, the first one was "If I'm ever in a bad mood, just come in and tell me to sort myself out" closely followed by "I'll provide you with breakfast, of course, have it whatever time of day or night you like, but if I'm asleep don't wake me up, just help yourself to whatever - meat, dumplings, porridge etc".

The next day we had breakfast with her at about 12, all of us in pyjamas, loving life. I have been informed that tomorrow morning we'll be having chicken stir fry and rice before school. Not sure I'll be able to cope with that, but why not hey?!

Her flat is quite different to the old one, it's boiling in here for starters -  I feel like bacon, which is horrible because I now keep thinking about bacon and missing it. But it sure is nice and toasty :). It also has wallpaper with the buildings of St Petersburg on it, now I think that is pretty cool.

Getting wifi was a bit of a struggle at first - when my friend asked her for the password she replied "I'm not too sure really, can't you try and guess it?" But alas, all that is sorted now and I am writing this blog from my new bedroom, which has a door. A DOOR :).

So, now onto the olympics (you're doing well if you're still with me here) It's quite exciting being in here while it's all going on, and, in Russian terms I'm not THAT far from Sochi (Google says 29 hours on foot, compared to the 111 hours to Yakutsk). I even saw a little dog wearing a tracksuit, what more could you want? (this reminds me a little bit of Bolivia <3)

Teaching is still a lot of fun, started tutoring a girl at her house and, after each lesson, her dad insists that I stay and have some caviar etc with them, winner winner.

Finally, I'll leave you with another embarrassing moment (like you need another one?!). There are sooo many flyerers in St Petersburg, especially in the centre, and I usually avoid being swamped with leaflets by saying in Russian "I don't understand, I'm English" (I know, it's sneaky), but for some reason, on our way out the other evening, this phrase did not come out well at all and I ended up saying "Sorry, I'm an English ladies" which made the guy laugh. A lot. He nearly fell over.

That's more than enough for this post, if you're a post sending person, don't send me anything to my old address please :) and if you're not a post sending person, send me some post :) hehe.

Joking.

But if you want to, I do love getting post.

Lots of love, I'll add some photos at some point.

xxx

Sooorpris!

(Surprise!)

Definitely just spent the weekend back in the best place to surprise my mama on her 50th, and it was so worth it, even though I'd only actually been back in mother Russia for like 10 days… thank you student finance for paying for this!

It was sooo nice to pop home, eat some strudel and see the fam, but alas, now it's time for the proper start of my term, which kicked off last night when I taught an English lesson after being stuck in the plane because the runway was too slippery, and then stuck in the longest queue of life at customs because Russian service isn't the best, and then being stuck on a bus because it was rush hour and then being stuck in the metro because I hadn't topped up my card (yeah that bit was probably my fault) so yes, I literally legged it to the class and gave my students some Cadbury's in the hope that they'd forgive my lateness…they did.

Anywhom, I landed in a very snowy St Petes which is now a very mushy St Petes after the temperature rose to 1 degree(!!!!) but people are loving life here - the ooshankas (big Russian hats) are out, as are even more ridiculous coats, all is fun.

I was greeted by my babushka's voice saying "Elizabet, I can't talk, I haven't got any clothes on" - wasn't quite expecting that I must say.

On that front, well, we are moving out on Thursday yippeeeee to live in a place in the city centre which is all very exciting, or at least it was very exciting until I had to tell the babushka… awks. She was very disappointed in me and a wee bit angry but I guess that was expected, hopefully she'll get some new students, and hopefully she'll be nice to them.

So yeah, MOVING OUT SOON :) which means I need to pack everything into the suitcase that it came in…which seems like an impossible task, and probably is.

I'll write a longer post soon, but I have a lot to be doing now, I will just leave you with this…

I just saw a man walking down the road in shorts and flip-flops. In the snow. In Russia.

Love xxx

Back to the Babushka

Happpyy New Year! Hope you've had a really lovely time, I sure did, but somehow I am already back in the Motherland unpacking (or clearly not) and wondering what this term will bring.

My four weeks at home were most definitely needed and it has been so so good to see friends and have time with the fam, I did plan to do my log sheets for Exeter (should've done quite a few by now, but can't I just give them the blog?!) and actually keep up my Russian, but hey, I did other things on my to-do list like eating lots of Cadburys (and brought half the factory back with me) so all is not lost. I also got to go back to Exeter which was really nice, apart from when I was served gherkins with my meal at a restaurant…erm…I needed a break from Russia for a reason.

I found myself being surprised by little things in England, like how easy it is to cross the road, how supermarkets work and how it actually gets light before 11am - all very odd and possibly a sign that I was quite settled into the Russian life!?

So school doesn't actually start until next Monday which gives me some time to get back into things, start teaching again and see some friends, oh and hopefully remember how to speak Russian.

My babushka greeted me with a big smile and a hug(!!) and it was genuinely lovely to see her again, the second thing she said to me was that I should've been wearing a hat, and well, for once I agree - it was -13 and I wasn't prepared. Not sure how long we'll be staying here for as it is far from the centre etc, but I have learnt a lot from her and would probably miss her if we moved (yes, it is true). I also would really struggle with telling her I was moving out, so if any of you would like that task you are welcome to come to Russia and help me out, or you could have my room and stay here for the rest of the year, yes that would be ideal.

Although I didn't want to leave Inglaterra yesterday it does feel good to be back in this little land and I'm looking forward to the term.

I'll get back to the unpacking now - after taking out the 37th hairbrush from my suitcase and having a minor panic that I haven't brought back any trousers, I have come to the conclusion that no matter how hard I try, I will probably never be good at packing.

Lots of love, hope you enjoy reading round two :)

Лиза xxx

Landing in London