Blogs from Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 2

As previously mentioned, I have spent a significant amount of time in Novosibirsk speaking English with Russians who are trying to learn the language. I also sometimes simply read out paragraphs so that the students learn how words are pronounced. For advanced students, these can be on strangely specific topics - like the full page I read out on the subject of arable farming. I am quite happy to do this as many Russians are helping me with Russian, and it also helps me when Russians can speak English :) Occasionally a student will pick up on my accent (which I think is quite impressive). I had a long conversation with a guy in his mid-twenties who was very interested in Manchester - asking me what became of the Hacienda, telling me how much he loved ... read more

Today I made my first-ever trip to see the Russian ballet, at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. The ballet, "юнона и авось" - I guess it would translate as something like "Unona and Avoss" - is extremely popular in Russia, on a par with Swan Lake, although I had never heard of it. I knew a little of the story beforehand thanks to my Russian family: a Russian man travels to Mexico, meets a Mexican woman, they fall madly in love, he has to leave, they promise to wait for one another, but he is killed, and she tragically waits forever. Apparently it is based on a true story. Knowing this did not make it much easier for me to follow the action, particularly as it is as much an opera as a ballet, and ... read more

For the next two weeks, I will stay in Novosibirsk, and attend a language school here with the aim of improving my (pretty basic) Russian language skills. I am also staying with a Russian family so it's meant to be "immersion", although my family speaks perfect English, so it's hard to resist the temptation to speak English around them, as Russian can be an uphill struggle. Today was my first day of lessons, and after over a month of "just" travelling, it took a bit of adjusting to: lessons from 10am-1:15pm, then a tour around the city, then a tutorial until 6pm. Although I have used my Russian over the past few weeks that I've been in the country, it's only really been for practical stuff - checking into hotels, ordering food in restaurants, and so ... read more

One of the most interesting aspects of a homestay is discovering what everyday life is really like for the locals. In my case, the homestay has been particularly interesting as my "family" have many friends keen to practice their English language skills, so we have spent a lot of time comparing life in the UK with life in Russia. On the surface, the differences are not that obvious - in many ways, life in Russian cities looks the same as life in European cities, though poverty is more visible. Many Russians I met described life in Russia as very hard, and express envy for the apparent ease of life in Europe, although also great pride in being Russian. One regular complaint from the Russians I spoke to was that in Russia there is no middle class ... read more

Today was Easter Day in Russia, a national holiday and day of celebration. Like Christmas in the UK, it is celebrated very religiously by some, but more out of tradition by most of the population. In Russia there is no chocolate egg tradition, but instead it is traditional to decorate boiled eggs, either by dipping them in coloured dye, or by sticking onto them specially-produced decorated wraps. These eggs were everywhere: even the Russia Starbucks equivalent, Travellers Coffee, had them as table displays. Also very popular is Easter cake, which in Russia is a plain cake the colour of Victoria sponge, but with a texture more like panettone, decorated with icing. To me it was dry and flavourless, but again it was everywhere (including in huge supermarket displays) for Easter. In Novosibirsk, there was a parade ... read more