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Studying In Mosow in August
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Posted by: disculmawsu

I received word today that I am going to live and study in Moscow for a month during the summer (August).
Despite having traveled to the USSR in 1986 and Russia in December 2005-2006, I am very excited at the prospect of living in Russia for period of time. I am cheating a little by living in student housing. However, I feel it is good decision because I don't speak Russian very well (my standard joke is if asked something is to say "I can write down the response in Russian, but I can't say it").
I am going to try to keep this item as a journal of the trip (I really enjoy reading about everyone's trips).
The happy ending to the story will be if I skip a entire year of Russian classes.

Posted by: disculmawsu

I officially accepted the invitation to study in Moscow on Monday.

Posted by: Cheburashka

Have fun over there. Moscow is a city filled with wonders.

Posted by: mistermopar

Sounds great,getting to study in Moscow.
Have fun...

Randy

Posted by: disculmawsu

I am really looking forward to seeing Moscow. The first time I visited Moscow the entire city was practically shut down due a CP Congress. I want see Lenin's Tomb and Kremlin.
The second time I was just passing through on my way to Arkangelsk.

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

I am really looking forward to seeing Moscow. The first time I visited Moscow the entire city was practically shut down due a CP Congress. I want see Lenin's Tomb and Kremlin.
The second time I was just passing through on my way to Arkangelsk.

Disculmawsu

I have just come back from Moscow, great trip see some of my photos here, also Red Square, Kremlin and Lenins Tomb. BTW they won't allow photo's inside Lenins Mausaleum.

Chris

Posted by: sidney

quote:BTW they won't allow photo's inside Lenins Mausaleum.

Or even a camera so leave it at the hotel. And Yes they will find it with their metal detectors.
Sid

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrismc

Disculmawsu

I have just come back from Moscow, great trip see some of my photos here, also Red Square, Kremlin and Lenins Tomb. BTW they won't allow photo's inside Lenins Mausaleum.

Chris

There is something wrong with your pictures of Moscow - there is no snow!

(I have only traveled in Russia during winter, so it seems wierd there is no snow on the ground).
My Russian textbook has some accompanying video on the author's website of Arkangelsk and it was extremely weird to see beach without snow on it or the streets without snow on them.
I should upload my pictures of Red Square from 1986 (I have go through 6-8 hours of video and do a frame capture, so it won't happen any soon).

Posted by: mistermopar

Quote:

Originally Posted by sidney

quote:BTW they won't allow photo's inside Lenins Mausaleum.

Or even a camera so leave it at the hotel. And Yes they will find it with their metal detectors.
Sid

Sid,sounds like you have been through the routine before??

Randy

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by sidney

quote:BTW they won't allow photo's inside Lenins Mausaleum.

Or even a camera so leave it at the hotel. And Yes they will find it with their metal detectors.
Sid

You can take your camera, but you have to check it in at the large RED building at the entrance, costs about 30 Rubles and they give you a tag. Then you go around Lenins Mausaleum and collect your camera again. Means you can then use your camera for the rest of Red Square, GUM, St Basils etc.

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

There is something wrong with your pictures of Moscow - there is no snow!

The pictures were taken less than two weeks ago, there was some snow all over the City but it didn't snow at all while I was there, I managed to get some quite good weather for March. However, a few days later in Ufa and it was completely different, as you can see from the photos I posted.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Just a small trip update. I received two grants from my university to travel to Moscow this summer!

Posted by: sandyska

Hi) I am from Moscow and i am very interested what exactly you are going to do in Russia/ Are you going there for buisness trip& or you are going to Study at the university? it is really interesting for me.

Простите за ошибки)) Просто я не очеь хорошо владею английским, в отличии от русского)))

Posted by: disculmawsu

�� -�� .
� �� -�� , �� -��.
In some sense I going for a little of both business and study - I am graduate student working on degree in Russian history, so need to improve my ability to communicate ��-��.
I am studying at GRINT Center for Education for month. (I wish could study the entire year at ��, but alas I can't). I think the GRINT is part of ��.

Posted by: sandyska

hm..I don't know why but I can't see your words in Russian(

Posted by: stevo

I had to change the page encoding to Cyrillic (KOI8-R) to read it.

Posted by: disculmawsu

We are working on the problem by email to sort out the problem with the encoding. I discovered that Firefox doesn't keep the encoding when moving from page to page (regularly set my encoding to KOI8, but Firefox reverts to Windows Western European everytime the page refreshes.
Thanks for the research.

Posted by: disculmawsu

I won another scholarship to support my trip to Moscow!
The professor in charge of the trip is having her first information meeting about the trip on Tuesday as well.
Finally there is some progress on the trip!

Posted by: disculmawsu

I officially signed the documents to study in Moscow this summer. I also received the syllabus for the course at my university and the assignments I need to prepare for the grade at my home university.

Posted by: disculmawsu

There is going to be a slight change to my plans to visit Moscow. I had a short conversation with the person who directs all of foreign study programs at my university.
She said that that there are only three students who signed up to study in Moscow and our adviser is thinking about making some changes to trip (mainly, attaching three of us to another university's group for the trip).
Stay turned until tomorrow!

Posted by: mistermopar

What time tomorrow??....LOL...joking

Randy

Posted by: disculmawsu

Stay tuned until 11:30 EST - when I get back from my meeting with my advisor.

Posted by: disculmawsu

An update on my trip. The news is my trip to Russia is officially canceled, but my adviser has made arrangements for us to be attached to another group studying at Moscow State University. Unfortunately, this means we will lose a week of our trip. So, instead of four weeks of study we will only get three weeks.
I wish we going to stay an extra week and I trying to figure out a way to extend the trip by a week.

Posted by: disculmawsu

I will be studying at Moscow State University in Department of Philology.

Posted by: Cheburashka

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

I will be studying at Moscow State University.

That is (in my opinion) the most beautiful building in Moscow next to St Basils.

Posted by: disculmawsu

This a very good picture of the Moscow State University.
My post trip plan is to take a train from Moscow to Kyiv. Has anyone taken the the trip? Does any one have an idea of how long the trip is - I am thinking is about two days. I can't find any information on the cost, does anyone have idea of the price of 2nd class. My alternative plan is visit Scotland.

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

This a very good picture of the Moscow State University.
My post trip plan is to take a train from Moscow to Kyiv. Has anyone taken the the trip? Does any one have an idea of how long the trip is - I am thinking is about two days. I can't find any information on the cost, does anyone have idea of the price of 2nd class. My alternative plan is visit Scotland.

Moscow to Kiev by train I have been to both but separately, but not by train. I can tell you it is around 870Km so maybe 12 hours by road probably about the same by train.

I can tell you a lot about Scotland though, I go there every few weeks to meet my RW.

Posted by: Jill

Quote:

Has anyone taken the the trip? Does any one have an idea of how long the trip is - I am thinking is about two days. I can't find any information on the cost, does anyone have idea of the price of 2nd class.

I did Kiev-Moscow-Kiev by train once--I think it's an overnight train basically. It's not a bad trip at all. I couldn't tell you the price now, though, as it has been several years since I went.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Jill and Chrismc, thanks for both your replies. I was finally able to locate some information on the train between Moscow and Kyiv. The 2nd Class is 85USD with something to eat at the end of the trip. I found a cheap hotel 44USD per night(I need to get a sense of it location relative to sights before I make a committment, but I think that will do for four or five nights - all I need is a bed and a TV with access to English languge broadcasts). The airfare (round trip Detroit to Moscow and Kyiv to Detroit) is 100USD more expensive. I contacted the hotel as to whether they have a car service to pick me up from the train station and take me to the airport and waiting for their reply. Tomorrow I will check with the Ukraine embassy about letter of invitation and visa (I remember reading they had drop a visa requirement but will check to make sure).
Scotland will be put on hold until next year. I have cousins living outside of Glasgow so I will them next year (the big plan is to visit "The White Sea Rivera" for a short vacation, study in Ukraine and stop and see my cousins on the return trip).

Posted by: Jill

Quote:

Tomorrow I will check with the Ukraine embassy about letter of invitation and visa

US citizens do not need visas to visit Ukraine. Kiev is a fabulous city--I much prefer it to Moscow. You should have a great time

Posted by: disculmawsu

Well, folks I am going to Kyiv for five or six day after Moscow. As soon as my adviser tells me the scheduled end date for Moscow, I will book my flight and hotel.
The adventure begins!

Posted by: disculmawsu

What is the collective wisdom of renting an apartment for a week vs a hotel? I like the idea of being able to cook for myself and do my own laundry (since I won't be arriving with fresh clothes). Plus, it will add extra dimension to the adventure.

Posted by: nsua

We traveled Moscow to Kiev by train this last March. It left (Kievsky station in Moscow) at 2:30PM and arrived at about 9:00 AM the next morning.

Based on a couple of days in Moscow, and a couple of weeks in Kiev, I have to agree with Jill that Kiev is a much nicer city. Getting around is much easier, and crowds are less of a problem.

David

Posted by: Cheburashka

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

What is the collective wisdom of renting an apartment for a week vs a hotel? I like the idea of being able to cook for myself and do my own laundry (since I won't be arriving with fresh clothes). Plus, it will add extra dimension to the adventure.

Absolutely right! Apartments are the ONLY way to go in my opinion.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Had a meeting with the rest of my group this morning. My advisor basically went over the cultural stuff - including suggesting by some beer and sitting in the park watching poeple pass by. I asked her about the amount of free time we would have in St. Petersburg (a weekend side trip). The group is going to Hermitage and I really don't want to go. Hermitage really requires a more than few hours (like two weeks) and I have already done the Reader's Digest version. I want see the Aurora and Peter and Paul fortress - a fort design called a "star fort" - the US Army built several smaller versions of that type of fort at West Point and in Detroit (Fort Wayne). She said that would be enough time to visit places and to talk with guides about it.
I also heard there is a really good jazz place in St. Petersburg.
My quest to visit Ukraine is running into some problems. I want to fly out of Kyiv, but all the flights seem like are around 1300 USD for that leg of the trip (in addition to 1300 from Detroit to Moscow - at least on Travelocity. I also need to wait to see what flight the rest of the group is taking to Moscow.I also need to wait until she decides what the last day of the trip is going to because I can't for the Ukraine before the end of the program.
Next year I am traveling by myself!

Posted by: disculmawsu

There are new problems with the trip. Apparently, the Russian government is refusing to issue me and my classmates student visas. As a result, we will enter Russia with tourist visas. This in turn creates a new problem. Since we are not entering Russia with student visas, we are not permitted to stay in the dormitories at Moscow State University. Hopefully, my adviser will able to arrange home stays for us with Russian families.
I am little anxious about this situation because my Russian is not very advanced (the other students are third year students, I am only a first year student and have extremely difficult with talking in Russian). My adviser said she would try find a family with some English speaking members. Otherwise, I think I am going in for a long three weeks. Yes, I know it is an adventure and will proablely learn a lot, it is still scary.

Posted by: disculmawsu

I have all of my tickets plane and train - all I need is visa and a place to stay.

Posted by: mistermopar

Hang tight my friend....the Russian people will take care of you.

Randy

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistermopar

Hang tight my friend....the Russian people will take care of you.

Randy

Thanks for the support. Your taking a job and living in Russia sounds like even bigger adventure. I was thinking about doing something similar next summer.

Posted by: disculmawsu

I would like the community's view of what I should bring my host family in the way of a present. I have no intelligence on the nature of the host family, so for now some general ideas would be appreciated.

Posted by: mistermopar

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

I would like the community's view of what I should bring my host family in the way of a present. I have no intelligence on the nature of the host family, so for now some general ideas would be appreciated.

Maple syrup,local booze,fine choclates,shot glasses with the name of your town/city on it??

Randy

Posted by: disculmawsu

A very small update on the trip. My visa application went on July 5th. Hopefully, there will be no problems with it.

Posted by: mistermopar

When will you be in Moscow and untill what date???

Randy

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistermopar

When will you be in Moscow and untill what date???

Randy

I am going to be in Moscow (hopefully) between August 1 and August 22 (my train leaves for Kyiv in the evening of August 22).
When are you leaving for Volgograd? Are you stopping over in Moscow before you go on to Volgograd? If so it might be fun to meet if you have time before going on to Volgograd.
In any case, I would like to have a chat with you (in person or by email) at some point about finding a teaching position in the Russia (I am mostly interested in teaching for the summer, to help pay for an extended trip).

Posted by: mistermopar

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

I am suppost to be in Moscow on August 31st and stay there a week for some training before going to Volgograd.
I want to try to come over a week or two earlier for a holiday before starting,but don't know if it will be possible yet.I will let you know when I find out.

Randy

Posted by: disculmawsu

I have good news - I have a visa and a place in Moscow to live for three weeks! This should be an interesting experience because I am going be living with a father and his son whose wife/mother died in April. The family looks like they are Ukrainian instead of the Russian judging by the last name (it ends in "ko").
So, all is go for 31 July.

Posted by: mistermopar

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

I have good news - I have a visa and a place in Moscow to live for three weeks! This should be an interesting experience because I am going be living with a father and his son whose wife/mother died in April. The family looks like they are Ukrainian instead of the Russian judging by the last name (it ends in "ko").
So, all is go for 31 July.

Hey thats great news disculmawsu.
I have to be in Moscow for the 31st of August,but I want to try to head over earlier.Will you be checking your emails while you are there?
If you are and I can get over earlier I will email you.

Randy

Posted by: disculmawsu

I should checking emails almost daily. I need to write my adviser at least three times a week to inform about my adventures and progress in learning Russian (and I suspect to make sure I don't fall into the clutches of some Russian woman

Posted by: mistermopar

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

(and I suspect to make sure I don't fall into the clutches of some Russian woman

Gee's..they have to take all the fun out of going to Russia.......LOL

Ok,I'll email you if I can get over there early.

Randy

Posted by: disculmawsu

Hi folks!
I made it to Moscow! I started my classes and have some to explore Moscow. I visited Kremlin on Friday and Red Square on Saturday.

Posted by: mistermopar

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

Hi folks!
I made it to Moscow! I started my classes and have some to explore Moscow. I visited Kremlin on Friday and Red Square on Saturday.

So everything is going good?
Is this your first time in the FSU?

Randy

Posted by: Chrismc

Did you watch the guards changing outside the Kremlin? with their funny walk!

Posted by: disculmawsu

I am sorry for not keeping this item update during my trip. I had a difficult time finding time to write on this forum and keep up with all the other correspondance I needed in the hour and half I allocated to Internet - I want to see much of Moscow as I could. Unfortunately, I was living in district that seemed to devoid of Internet cafes.
I have many observations about Moscow, Russia and Russians, so I will post them time to time.
I will no doubt raise a firestorm of angry protests from the community with the first one, but such is life.
I believe that is myth that Russian women are any more beautiful than American. Since I traveled the Metro everyday I had a chance to observe a fair cross section of Russian women. After observing about 2000 women, it would appear that beauty in Russia is normally distributed in population - there were a few extremely beautiful and ugly women with most being average. The same is true for St. Petersburg.
Second, Russians seem believe their corner of the world and country has the most beautiful women - women in Moscow seem to think Moscow had the prettiest women, women in St. Petersburg seem to think that St. Petersburg had prettiest women. Russian men seem indifferent to beauty (n=5).
Based at looking at women's fingers for wedding rings and rating their appearance, average looking women seem to more likely to be married than above average or very beautiful women. The latter two categories more likely to have male companions in Metro than average women.

Posted by: EasyTarget

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

I believe that is myth that Russian women are any more beautiful than American. .

Well everyone has a right to their opinion. Some people will say Japanese women are the most beautiful. It comes down to everyone's personal preferences.

However I do want to hear more about your impressions of Russia, living in Russia, how was life on a day to day basis.

Posted by: disculmawsu

I saw something usasl during my trip to Moscow and perhaps someone could tell me if this common.
One day while walking to the Metro, noticed a rolled carpet or blanket with a pair of legs sticking out of it. An old lady was sitting next to it (I could see her face). A young pull up in a car and picked up the bundle and stuffed it into the backseat of car.
It appeared to me that someone had died and the body was being taken to the morgue or for burial. Is this a correct assumption?