Rabu, 23 September 2009

A couple of thoughts about the Metro, Potatoes, Sushi and Fashion.

So on Sunday we went to the Space museum with our new Russian friends. It was so much fun! We had a guide show us round the museum and even though I didn’t understand much (it was obviously in Russian) it was still pretty interesting. Then we went to a cafĂ© and the fair with them. The space museum is next to this huge park with a fair. It is COOL. I really enjoyed it and every time I actually manage to pull off a whole conversation of Russian I am filled with a warm fuzzy feeling.

We haven’t done anything major this week. Just school, school and more school. My Russian is definitely getting better. I need to do more reading through what we’ve done in class though so I don’t forget it immediately.

As I haven’t really got anything interesting to tell I thought I’d share some thoughts of Moscow instead:

Thought no 1: The Metro.
I have a crush on the metro. It’s just such an AMAZING idea. I can get anywhere so fast. The Moscow metro is so much nicer than the London underground as well. Every station is so amazingly decorated. And the escalators literally go on forever. I keep being late meeting people because I forget that the time I arrive at a station is not the same time as the time I will be out of the station, I have to remember to add the 10 minutes necessary for standing on an escalator.
I love the way Russians act on the metro. Literally everyday I see people jump over the barriers to travel for free (unlike in London you don’t have to show your card when you get OFF the metro as well – once you’re in you’re in – I think this must make it easier for people to jump the barriers and RUN in) and the security guards never really seem to do anything. I wouldn’t recommend doing this though!
Also I love the way that people don’t have the whole ‘personal space’ thing that we have in the UK. Everyone will just crush each other onto the metro. Many times I have ended up with my face way too close to a complete stranger. People don’t think anything of pushing, shoving and throwing people out of the way when they need to get somewhere fast. At first I found it mega rude but I have to say now I join in and have pushed in front of people on many occasions. Queuing is a thing of the past for me – now, just like the Muscovites I think, ‘whoever pushes the hardest will get to the front first’.
I am still perfecting my Metro Face. I can’t seem to stop a slight smile when I catch someone else’s eye. The Russians must think I am mad.

Thought no 2: Potatoes and Sushi.
Russian potatoes are SO GOOD. I can literally not describe how tasty they are. I don’t know why they are so superior to potatoes in the UK, but they just are.
Continuing on the food theme: I have found there are lots of sushi restaurants in Moscow and they’re all pretty cheap. I had forgotten how good sushi is. I am literally addicted to it. Can’t stop eating it.

Thought no 3: Fashion.
Russian girls wear the kind of clothes to work that I would wear for a night out. I found this massively weird (and felt like I was always very underdressed) so asked Vika about it. She said that everyone wears things like that so they can go straight from work to their night out – whether it be in a restaurant, bar or club, without having to go home. Makes sense really. I don’t fancy walking round in heels all day though - I can’t even cope with them on nights out (always take flats in your bag.)

And finally…

Obviously I make mistakes in Russian, sometimes it’s embarrassing but sometimes it’s hilarious, here are two funny examples:

In the post office I asked for a carrot instead of a stamp, carrot = markov, stamp = marka. The woman wasn’t impressed but me and my friend found it hilarious.

At home I asked Vika if we had a fly in the cupboard. I wanted to know if we had flour in the cupboard, fly = mykha, flour = myka. We literally could not stop laughing.

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