What a Naughty Dog!

We've all heard of the story of a dog eating a student's homework. How about a dog eating a student's shoes? At home, I usually wear tapochki, or house-shoes, as Russians call them. They're usually a bit too big. Plus, Gira the puppy usually pulls on my slippers, so I decided to wear my Californian flip-flops instead.

I was speaking with my host mother over dinner, while Gira was licking my toes. I was telling her about learning passive construction in Russian, and my plans of exercising through Zumba classes this summer. At the end of dinner, we both get up. My host mother was getting ready to take Gira out on a walk. Then I look at my feet. Low and behold, Gira bites off the straps of my flip-flops. What a cute but naughty dog, haha!

Rocking out, and Great Food

On Sunday, a couple of classmates and I tried the Georgian restaurant in town. The food was amazing and affordable. It was my first time trying a dish called Hangali, which is like a pelmini or dumpling with meat and soup inside. It's delicious, and hope we have this back in the States.

Xangali, Yummy dumplings

Shashlik, BBQ basically

Later on, I met up with other buddies near the Drama theater downtown. Apparently, about 10 mins away of walking, there's a beautiful park and hotel in town. There, some local university students hosted a rock concert! There was a nice combination of songs in Russian and English. Then the rainstorm hit. And I never want to forget how lucky I am to have such fun classmates!

Encounters with the Police

I've been warned not to talk to police officers in Russia. My friends who have been to the country told me that policemen often stop foreigners and ask for their documents. Some of the native Russians have scared me with a story about a corrupt official here and there. However, there are other folks who tell me that policemen are friendly, so I have nothing to be scared of. I have been scared in the past, because the past name of the police was "militsia", which sounds a lot like military. I have never been stopped by the police in the past two years.

However, that changed today. Luckily, my encounter was of a friendly sort. I was headed home after being drenched by a rainstorm. The umbrella I was walking under hardly helped. Little did I notice, but a group of officers in training were going my way. One of the young men walked very close to my side, and was under my umbrella for a good minute before I noticed.

I was shocked, but found it funny. The officer in training asked me where I was headed. I told him that I was going home. He jokingly replied that he would call me later tomorrow for a date. For whatever reason, he seemed friendly and didn't creep me out like some strangers on the street.

For that...I have another story to tell for another time. 

I Love Rain

We were supposed to have an excursion to a historical church today, but I think the weather got in the way. Bummer. It’s been raining quite a bit in Vladimir, and I love it. The summer rains are never too cold nor windy, although I have to admit that the weather leaves dirty puddles and watery potholes on the streets. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the heat, it would feel more like spring than summer. The plants are so green and beautiful. I haven’t seen these sort of greenery outside the East Coast. I usually joke around that California desperately needs this rain more than Russia does, since we are in a drought after all.

Not sure what I will do with the rest of the day, but I'll leave you a few photos of sunnier days.

When the rain clears up, the skies are heavenly.

One of the best Museums in the World apparently, need to visit.

Academic Theater of Drama

Down the Rabbit Hole we go!

There’s two cool hangouts in Downtown Vladimir that I should revisit over the next seven weeks: the comic books store and the anti-cafe “Rabbit Hole”. 

The former probably needs no explaining; the store is cozy, but filled with American, Japanese and Russian comics. I absolutely love it, because they also sell posters, figurines, key chains and other knick knacks there. Plus, the prices are nice since the US dollar is pretty strong compared to the ruble now. (Hope I haven’t offended anyone with the last sentence.)

Голодные игры - Anyone? Watched the first movie in Russia years ago.

The latter is a bit more nuanced. I know anti-cafes exist in Los Angeles and bigger cities in America, but my experience has only been limited to Russia. At the anti-cafe, customers enjoy unlimited drinks, snacks and game. You can also play instruments, board games or video games with your friends there. Instead of paying for the food and beverage, like at a traditional cafe, you pay per hour or minute which you spend at the location.

At the Rabbit Hole, we noticed there were plenty of laptops, free wifi, Guitar Hero and loads of board games. We spent a good hour trying to explain the instructions of Settlers of Catan in Russian and playing the game. When we ended, I was in last place, but I don’t mind so much, since it was only my second time playing. Jenga and Cards Against Humanity are closer to my strength, so I’ll look if they have these games later.

Green with Envy over the Greenery here

Jessica and I tried to buy tickets for the Academic Theater of Drama, but the place was closed for the summer. We explored the city center and dog-eared places to check out in the future. This would include a billiards place and Georgian restaurant down the street. We also walked to a huge sports stadium where folks run and play soccer.

Pigeons like to hang out near the theater too. They're not scared of people like in the States.

Georgian restaurant. Gotta check this out, the food looks delicious!

If I was better at sports, I would go here more. It feels like a great background photo for a Japanese dating sim game.

Then, we stumbled into the Patriarch’s Garden in Old Vladimir. Although the place is partially under renovation, we caught some gorgeous sights of plants and of the cityscape. The entry fee was a mere 50 rubles, or a little less than a US dollar. I’m used to free access to gardens, but the small price was completely worth it in this case! I hope others get the chance to go too. :)

The garden is much bigger than expected, since Jessica and I spent about an hour and a half walking around. I’m sure children will also enjoy it, because they have a sandbox playground there. For an additional fee, you can even see the small animal conservatory they house in the back of the garden.

As for academics, things are going well. I'm learning a lot of new vocabulary, and they are pushing us at a fair pace to strengthen our knowledge on verbs of motion. Our teachers are super supportive, fun and lovely people. We get quite a bit of homework, which cuts into time for going out and/or catching up with friends online. However, I think it will pay off in the long run. 

Film recommendation: English Vinglish

For anyone who's going abroad to specifically study a language, I would recommend watching the 2012 film "English Vinglish". It's a light comedy that touches upon some moments that foreign exchange students can often relate to, such as missing loved ones, finding confidence in oneself despite language barriers, and discovering new and exciting places. The main character is a young Indian housewife who is finding herself while spending time away from her husband/kids, preparing for her sister's wedding and attending English classes in New York. Not to give much away, but it's got a subtle Bollywood vibe without being over the top. Although both the plot and character development is considered pretty shallow, I do think it's a fun movie with upbeat music.

Here is the trailer:

Downtown Vladimir & Uspenskii Sobor

Sometimes photos do more than words, so here are some photos we took during our excursion. This Saturday we're visiting a nearby town in the historical Golden Circle, which should be super exciting. Got invited to spend time in Rostov with the host family, but I don't want to miss out on this other excursion. Was a super hard choice to make, honestly would go to both if I could. I really love my host mother, have I stressed that enough? :)

Taking a break from YouTube

Some of you might have followed my channel Kathy Has Ramen, where I speak about several Asian American and social justice issues. I probably won't have time to upload more videos, so this will have to suffice.

Today was super cool, because we took a short tour of the Uspenskij Cobor in Downtown Vladimir. I learned the several bus routes to get to my home. Plus, got sunblock and sunglasses to match the hot weather and sun in the city. I'm ready world! Come at me. :)

Facial Masks, Ikra (Fish Eggs) and Sushi

Honestly, we have our "ugly" days and our "beautiful" days. It mostly depends on what you feel on the inside, regardless of how others view you. This was one of the better ones. My host mother and I went to get sunblock and cream for my super dry/cracked eyelids. During the process, we noticed a facial mask with "ikra", or salmon roe, as the primary ingredient. We were certainly tempted to try it, but weren't sure if it was worth the purchase, so my host mother asked the woman at the cashier who told us more about it. 

I ultimately didn't try the face mask with ikra, but I did paint on some papaya goop on my face. It sat for fifteen minutes as my host mother and I watched a Russian TV drama.

Afterwards, I washed it off. And this is what we got. A nice, fresh face that feels wonderful too! #Nomakeupselfie, say what you will, but it's okay to be a bit mundane and vain once in a while.

I'm excited to see what other fun beauty experiments my host mother and I try. Hoping that we do our nails together one day, and maybe play a game of cards called Durak (Idiot in Russian). We also have some cooking plans lined up. I think we'll go grocery shopping and make sushi this weekend, which should be fine, since I've practiced quite a bit. 

You can find a sushi shop on about every corner of Cheboksary, Moscow and Petersburg. Although there are a few places here, it doesn't seem as popular in Vladimir, so I hope the ingredients will still be easy to find. 

Nam nujno budet/We will need:

• Morskaya kapusta ("Sea cabbage" aka Seaweed/nori)
• Riba (Fish)
• Orgutsi (Cucumbers)
• Riz (Rice)
• Cir (Cheese, more like Cream Cheese in this case)
• Shto-Nibud xochet, i tak dela (Anything we want, and so on) 

Note: Excuse the lack of Cyrillics now, I'm going back later this summer to add them all in. This is written in haste.

Dear Readers - The Beginning

Thanks for following me in this adventure. I know that the blog is currently titled "Kathy in Kazakhstan", so it seems a tad deceptive to start while in Russia. However, I'm consolidating the two study-abroad experiences into this blog for your convenience, so you won't have to follow the RSS feed of two separate sites.

I'm currently in Russia participating on the Critical Language Scholarship in Russia. Afterward, I plan to study in Almaty, Kazakhstan for the Russian Flagship capstone program. None of this would have been possible without the generous scholarships from the State Department, like the Gilman, so I encourage others to apply in the future. I'm extremely thankful to be selected for these opportunities, but I should also note that the views on this blog are my own, and do not represent any of these organizations or scholarships.

On one of the plane rides I met a Russian women named Natalia who is in charge of marketing for international food brands. She had just left Chicago for a Kellogs conference, and we talked about about 3 hours. I would say that the plane rides were pretty comfortable, but I have to admit, my eczema has been acting up lately. My eyes burn with the flames of Hades after these several days of travel.

Lights in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel in Foggy Bottom

Plus, the original flight from LA-Houston-DC was riddled with turbulence and flight delays, mainly due to the DC storm hitting us on Thursday afternoon. So, there's a long story behind that, but to be brief, my friend Ryan and I were stuck in Richmond, VA for 5 hours in the plane. Then United gave us a taxi voucher to drive us up to DC. It was crazy expensive and took another two and a half hours before we arrived to the Renaissance Hotel at Dupoint Circle/Foggy Bottom.

At that point, I was a bit freaked about about excess luggage fees, because earlier that week I was moving out of the dorms frantically, thus I compressed all my life belongings into three suitcases and a backpack. I felt like a prissy princess with the amount of things I brought, despite throwing out what I couldn't carry. Girl, Kathy, you need to learn how to leave that baggage behind!

Thankfully, Pauline the wonderful women came to my rescue. My friend Erica and I got to visit Pauline for a bit, because she was nice enough to let me store a bag of winter clothing at her place! I felt like the luckiest person alive at that moment. Plus, she treated us to vanilla bean ice-cream. In moments like this, I sincerely hope karma works its magic for nice folks like her.

Domodedovo Airport (Moscow), where we first landed in Russia

After a long journey from Los Angeles to DC, then to Frankfurt to Moscow, and a 200-km bus ride, the other CLS students and I have arrived in Vladimir, Russia. Super excited to be here. My host family is a father and mother, who greeted me, fed me dinner and took me out to the movie theaters following my arrival. We watched Jurassic World in 3-D. It was great seeing it again, but the hall was pretty dark and since I was so tired, I might have dozed off at a few points. Nice Russian practice though.

There's more to say, but I have to get up around 8am tomorrow. I'll try my best to adjust to the time difference, so see y'all the next time. And again, thanks for reading. I already miss everyone! If you can, add me on Whatsapp or Skype!