Hello all-
Apologies for my lack of updates in the last week. We started classes which keeps all of us very busy. On top of that I caught a bit of a cold, which I have been trying desperately to get rid of.
We have five classes: Grammar (which is actually my favorite), Conversation, Audio-Visual Course (we watch Russian movies), Phonetics (my least favorite), and an Elective - mine is Syntax/Phraseology. I'm not quite sure what my elective is, actually. We haven't done a whole lot in that class besides watch винни пух, the Russian version of Winnie-the-Pooh, and last class we went to a market. It has essentially been conversation part 2, which is helpful because my spoken Russian is quite atrocious. Besides all the frustration and seemingly constant humiliation from all the mistakes I make, I do feel like I'm learning a lot. And that's the point, right? You have to make mistakes to learn the right way to speak the language, so bring on the frustration! I want desperately to improve, and this is the way to do it.
Despite all the work for school, I've been attempting to make time to go out sightseeing. Last Saturday, my suitemate and I went to see храм спас на крови, or the Church on the Spilled Blood. It was built as a monument on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated - there's actually a little shrine on the exact spot of his assassination. Being a lover of Russian history myself, I was so thrilled to see this. The cathedral itself is spectacular. The outside is so ornate and colorful. I must have taken 100 pictures of it. It's my favorite, clearly! The inside is COVERED in mosaics, which are breathtaking.
The next day, I met up with my tutor - a Russian girl named Natasha. She is also a big fan of walking around the city and seeing the sights so we took a long walk over to the Peter and Paul Fortress. She is extremely knowledgeable about St. Petersburg, and it was like having my own personal tour guide. We didn't get a chance to go inside the cathedral where many of the Romanovs are buried, but we're planning on going back another day.
Apologies for my lack of updates in the last week. We started classes which keeps all of us very busy. On top of that I caught a bit of a cold, which I have been trying desperately to get rid of.
We have five classes: Grammar (which is actually my favorite), Conversation, Audio-Visual Course (we watch Russian movies), Phonetics (my least favorite), and an Elective - mine is Syntax/Phraseology. I'm not quite sure what my elective is, actually. We haven't done a whole lot in that class besides watch винни пух, the Russian version of Winnie-the-Pooh, and last class we went to a market. It has essentially been conversation part 2, which is helpful because my spoken Russian is quite atrocious. Besides all the frustration and seemingly constant humiliation from all the mistakes I make, I do feel like I'm learning a lot. And that's the point, right? You have to make mistakes to learn the right way to speak the language, so bring on the frustration! I want desperately to improve, and this is the way to do it.
Despite all the work for school, I've been attempting to make time to go out sightseeing. Last Saturday, my suitemate and I went to see храм спас на крови, or the Church on the Spilled Blood. It was built as a monument on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated - there's actually a little shrine on the exact spot of his assassination. Being a lover of Russian history myself, I was so thrilled to see this. The cathedral itself is spectacular. The outside is so ornate and colorful. I must have taken 100 pictures of it. It's my favorite, clearly! The inside is COVERED in mosaics, which are breathtaking.
The next day, I met up with my tutor - a Russian girl named Natasha. She is also a big fan of walking around the city and seeing the sights so we took a long walk over to the Peter and Paul Fortress. She is extremely knowledgeable about St. Petersburg, and it was like having my own personal tour guide. We didn't get a chance to go inside the cathedral where many of the Romanovs are buried, but we're planning on going back another day.
Today, my suitemate (Alissa) and I went on a bit of an adventure after class to see the медный всадник, or the Bronze Horseman (a statue of Peter the Great built by Catherine the Great) and St. Issac's Cathedral, which is the biggest cathedral in Petersburg. The outside is not nearly as beautiful as спас, but the interior is gorgeous. The huge chandeliers are particularly impressive. The Bronze Horseman is also way more impressive than what I had seen in photos. I also didn't know his horse was standing on a snake. I figured that the snake was a symbol of Peter's victory over the Swedes (most things related to Peter are dedicated to this triumph, but I'm not 100% sure about the snake).
Anyway, please enjoy some of my pictures below and join me in the hope that I will soon be back to feeling like my normal self!
Church on the Spilled Blood
Me!
Some of the mosaics inside the Church on the Spilled Blood
Statue of Pushkin
The Hermitage - we're going to visit it for the first time tomorrow.
The Alexander Column
Bridge over the Neva river
The Bronze Horseman
St. Issac's Cathedral
Inside St. Issac's Cathedral
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