"Welcome to Siberia"

The warm welcome has, in one very literal sense, worn out here in Siberia: I'm not sure if I mentioned that the weather here had been fabulously warm for the first week I was here, but soon afterwards it began to SNOW. In fact, it has been snowing for about three days straight and just stopped this evening. The view from my window is awesome. But before I end up talking about  nothing except the weather (gasp!) I'll get to the point by saying that nothing else has turned cold here in Irkutsk.

The view from my balcony at dusk. I love the colored windows.

As I've mentioned, my department is outstanding and treats me like a magical beacon of American culture to be passed from person to person. I'm not complaining, but the system works in such a way that I visit a different class of American Studies students every day (only one, mind you) and introduce myself. There are so many groups, however, that I have yet to have a second visit with any of these groups (except one, which I believe was a scheduling accident). In an effort to pull my weight and do something besides introduce myself and answer general questions about American cultural norms, I'm starting a culture and conversation club called "This American Life" where I'll get to meet with students outside of class hours and discuss certain aspects or areas of American Culture from my own perspective, and open up a discussion for the students who attend. Our first meeting will be Wednesday, and I put a poster outside our department asking "What do YOU want to talk about?" My department was afraid that someone would steal the pen pinned to the board immediately or that no one would bother to write anything anyway, but the response has been fantastic so far. I almost feel like I'm back at St. Olaf again... Anyway, things will be getting busier this week as we plan more extra-curricular activities, as I continue to study Russian (and French?) at the University as well, and as the buses go slower and slower due to massive amounts of snow.

Snow in October isn't so bad... See?

 Outside of University life, I'm as happy as a clam. I live with all of my group mates (studying Russian as International students), and we've been spending more free time together. Today we went out into the snow to visit a Museum in the city. Lots of great photo-ops, as well as a visit to a Позная (Poznaya) which is a cafe specializing in the Buryati dish of позы (pozy). Not to be confused with Khinkali, a similar dish from Georgian cuisine (If you read my blog post on food from Georgia, then you know what I'm talking about.) They are basically giant dumplings with a small hole in the top, into which you can pour soy sauce and/or chili sauce, then out of which you can drink the broth inside. Very tasty, but very messy, since it doesn't have the convenience of the dough-handle that Khinkali offers.

Я люблю Иркутск <3

That's about it for now. I'm having a great time, still making progress at the University, and currently trying not to forget about Halloween just because it looks like December outside. Holy buckets, I've never been so crazy content (unless you count that time when they put me on intense painkillers after oral surgery...?); I want everyone who reads this blog to share in some of my happiness, because I've definitely got enough to spare. Let's hope it stays like this for a while --- In the meantime, I'll enjoy the ride.

Lots of love from Russia,
Sarah

The Path to Becoming a Siberian Princess

A lot has happened since the last time I posted, and I guess it's about time to fill you in with some of the details. As you may know, I've already made it to Irkutsk (YAY!) and it already feels like home. My university is fantastic (one of only four linguistic universities in Russia), has a rare "American Studies" department in which I get to work, and the other faculty really amaze me. I'm living in the international student dorms, which has turned out to be a huge blessing --- everyone speaks Russian ALL the time, and we all speak on more-or-less the same level, which means we get lots of practice without getting impatient with each other. I live in a suite with three other teachers of German, Polish, and Italian. Extremely cool people. But before I tell you too much about Irkutsk, I'll give you a run-down of the path I took in order to get to this magical place.

Ephesus, Selcuk, Turkey

 I left my Minnesota home at the end of August to spend three weeks backpacking around Western Turkey. I booked this trip in part to reduce the stress (and high price) of waiting to buy a trans-Atlantic flight until my Russian visa was processed, but also because I had nothing to do for the last month of summer. It was a great trip, despite making me feel that my life is an indefinite vacation (is that so bad?) See facebook for pictures, I went to a lot of places and saw a lot of cool things, none of which are really relevant to this particular blog. From Istanbul I made my way to the second checkpoint of my journey: Moscow.

The essential Red Square photo. Every time.

In Moscow I was picked up by a taxi driver with a sign saying "Fulbright." This was also the moment I realized that both the wheels on my suitcase were broken, making it rather difficult for the driver to drag it through the parking lot, and even more difficult for me to lug it around through different doors of my hotel at 2am trying to find the front desk. Russians have a particular way of organizing all entrances with two sets of doors, with only one door in each set of doors unlocked, farthest away from each other. So, once you find the unlocked door on the outside, you have to remember to walk to the opposite end of the second row of doors to find another unlocked door that grants you access to the building. This is hard to remember sometimes, and I find myself trying each door in succession and, momentarily, thinking that the building is closed. This happened three times in a row, all while carrying a very heavy (and broken, remember) suitcase. Anyway, when I checked in and made it to my room I also discovered that I had a roommate (surprise!). She was (thankfully) not to peeved that a stranger clumsily made her way into her room and woke her up at 2am with a question posed in Russian: "Are you with Fulbright?"

From then on everything was a breeze. Moscow felt like home as well, and this time I was with a bunch of other Americans who were about to do the same crazy thing as me. I had to brush up on my Russian geography to figure out where everyone was going, which was a very good thing, and I made a lot of new friends. Nice to know that there are other people out there that I can talk to about any issues I have adjusting/teaching/etc. Sad that we're so far away from one another now, but great that we have contacts in 35 different Russian cities. After our short orientation, we went our separate ways --- My way being a direct flight to Irkutsk.

"Jesus." Irkutsk, Siberia

After a 5-hour red-eye flight to Siberia, most of which was spent being served a dinner(?) of Omul (a fish that, as far as I know, is only found in lake Baikal), I arrived in Irkutsk at 9am local time and not having slept a wink. A representative from the International office was there waiting for me. She took me straight to my dorm, we dropped off my battered suitcase, and without so much as a power nap or a change of clothes I was taken to the University. There I prepared my new registration in one building, met my department in another building, went across town to buy a sim-card, begged my co-worker/escort to take me to a soviet-style cafeteria for some food, went back to my department, then back to the other building for more paperwork, then back to the department for some reason, back across town to give my registration to the cell provider, back to the University to have my photo taken for my ID card (it's super swanky, btw), then to an English Literature club for Russian students (where I got to learn something too, not having studied American literature), then to a meeting with my advisor (who teaches US Geography and is happy to have someone who can pronounce the names of all the US States and capitols), and then met up for coffee with a friend who just happens to be studying in Irkutsk. I eventually made it home to my dorm, exhausted but filled with incredible first impressions of my school, my city, and my life in general.

At an artist's house in Listvyanka, Baikal

Since I arrived on a Friday I had the weekend off, and I used it to explore some more of the city, set up an internet connection in my dorm room, do some yoga, and take a trip to Lake Baikal. Unfortunately, we chose a rainy day for our excursion, but it was great nonetheless. Who knew that Baikal had SEALS? You know, like the cute, chubby, swimming mammals with huge, adorable eyes that make you go "Awwww" involuntarily. If you ever make it to Baikal, be sure to go to the Baikal Museum at Listvyanka, it's one of the greatest museums I've ever been to.

"Нерпы" (Baikal Seals)

Today I had Russian class, "History of the Russian Language," and I also sat in on a course on Siberian history taught in English by a good friend in my department. Both fabulous, and I got to meet all of the international students living in my dorm. Like I said, a big plus, being that I'm never more than twenty feet from the nearest Russian-speaking acquaintance who ALSO wants practice speaking and is most likely down to have tea and cookies at any time of day. I'm also impressed that the American student did not try to speak English with me. I'm even more pleased that I didn't try to speak English with him.

In other words, this place makes me feel like a princess, and I can't believe how lucky I was to be given Irkutsk as my Fulbright placement. More news coming soon, I should think --- I start teaching tomorrow. Normally I would be nervous as I'll get out, but this time I can't wait. Wish me luck!

With love from a Siberian Princess,
Sarah