I guess I could begin by talking about how lazy I've been to post, or about how stressful the past few weeks have been, or how excited I am to be going home in a week, but I have some anecdotes which span the past few weeks in which I have been totally absent from my blog. I'll begin with today, which sucked, but then later was totally awesome.

So the first of my two stories of today is the story of how I almost didn't get to go home. A note on Russian registration laws: the entire concept might be, nay probably is, totally absurd to most foreigners, but you need to register in your home city, deregister when you leave, and reregister when you come back. For me this means taking a marshrutka bus to the center and then walking to the university headquarters on 1 Karl Marx St. where the International Office is located. There I meet a woman who is the actual holder of my real visa (ie I only have a copy in my personal possession).

So when I purchased my plane tickets a month ago to fly home for a two week vacation I knew that it was necessary to de/re-register for my trip. Unfortunately for me, and my psychological health, I totally forgot about this until last night around 12pm, at which point I started totally stressing out. I didn't know if the office was even open today because all Russian governmental institutes go on holiday around the 28th or 29th for 10 days of New Years/Russian Christmas celebrations. Today was the 30th, which meant when I woke up, there was approximately a 50% chance I would be totally screwed by the fact that the international office would be closed and locked, including the containment of certain precious items such as my visa.

So I woke up this morning and called my attache at the university who, with utmost helpfulness, assisted me in contacting the woman who is my normal visa-helper-person. Naturally, it turned out she was on holiday, and wouldn't be in that day. "Daniel the American?! He should have come in two days ago!" She did, however, say that "there may be someone there who can help me" and I should leave as soon as possible. Thus, with severe doubts about my flying home situation, I left my room and immediately proceeded to the center of the city praying to god that the building was open, and the office staffed.

Luckily, I crashed their New Years' party. Basically that meant walking in on 10 people who I basically/informally know and who were drinking champagne and I asked them to go back to work, just for me. Fortunately, Russians are famously nice during holiday time. Ever so generously, two of them went to their desks and began sorting through various paperwork which included my registrations but more importantly, giving me my visa. All in all, despite a solid 12 hours of 'oh shit I might not be able to go home' stress, I received my visa, and I was deregistered off the list of foreigners. All this despite the fact that this was the very last day the office was open, and very well possibly the very last hour I possibly could have completed these tasks.

Now, for my second adventure of the day. As I mentioned above, Russians are famously happy around holiday time. So, when I went to the university for the second time today (the first time of the day was for my last Russian language class of the semester) I should not have been surprised to have been invited (coerced) into a party with some of the lovely ladies who manage the day to day task of handing out room keys. That's right, these 6 babushkas have the leisurely job of looking condescendingly at everyone who passes only to hand out keys and make sure that we teachers fill out the proper forms in order to access the actual teaching areas. Despite the fact that today was my legs day, I sat down at a table filled with traditional Russian holiday foods and vodka. Exercise vs. alcohol? Who do you think won this won? For anyone who has not been to a Russian party, good luck refusing alcohol, or food. It's basically impossible unless you outright insult your hosts. Nevertheless I'm not that rude, and it was a great opportunity to practice Russian. "Danya we love you! Have some more chicken!.. Yes! Of course it is absolutely necessary to drink the entire thing!" 'Thank you ladies, I just wanted to use the trainers' room, but yes, sure, what's the harm in another shot'...

Often I think that some sort of crazy spirit or being controls the fates of people in this country, and with a sharp sense of irony. I began the day with the incredibly stress of thinking 'oh shit, what if I have to tell my parents i'm actually not coming home?' and only a few hours later, unable to physically exert myself as was my intention, I was forced to consume some form of liquid contention. By the way, have I mentioned how poor quality Russian vodka can be? Really its quite disgusting and the hangover can be equally as brutal. Not that it matters, it's New Years and its best to treat life as the Russians do. Really, the whole process of cultural exchange has taught me that, despite decrepit streets and a sagging economy, there are a few things we Americans need to learn from the Russians. Most importantly, when it's holiday time, it's ever so important to make sure to, as belligerently as possible, stop some relatively unknown person, that is a person who you see regularly but do not know, and make good friends with him. If necessary, include alcohol. If necessary, provide unnecessary amounts.

Terrific NYT Article

I think this is probably one of the best news articles I have ever read about Russia (it's from Oct. 16, I just forgot to mention it), entitled "Darkness on the Edge of Monotown." It fully encapsulates the enormous risks shrouding the Russian econo-political system right now. For clarification, the city of Irkutsk is a major city (a surprisingly wealthy one at that - coal), not a monotown as described by this article which are still predominant in this country. The financial crisis has put enormous pressure on everyday people just to get by, and the government is significantly concerned about further unrest. Russia is a truly fascinating country and it's changing so quickly - often it is easy to forget that its been less than 20 years since communism. Had I been born a generation earlier, this country would still be closed to foreigners. Take your best guess at what's going to happen: clearly no one knows, but I'll be among the first.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/opinion/17aron.html?scp=34&sq=russia&st=cse

Russian History 101: Wait a second, aren't a few years missing?

What better way to understand the history of the Irkutsk Oblast than a trip to the history museum? The exhibits in the Irkutsk History were quite informative and there were plenty of interesting photos which were great for supplementing the limited amount of information I was able to obtain from their accompanying Russian language captions, but what was even more confusing than deciphering the language were the large gaps in covered history. History of early indigenous cultures? Check. Early colonial history? Check. Imperial Czarist era? Check. World War One? A little bit, revolution, somewhat. Russo-Japanese War - Completely missing - maybe it wasn't that important anyways. But did anything important happen from 1917-1939? Apparently not, because according to the exhibition material from these twenty or so years (maybe 3 photos) everyone was happy and living well in the young communist country. Regional history of Eastern Siberia of this era as a major gulag hub is curiously and surreptitiously missing.

Having researched the Soviet 1930s extensively last year in college I was more surprised than I probably should have been. Historical reconciliation, dealing with the dark, dark past is far from complete in Russia. During the 1990s, the Russian government and society at large made significant strides towards reopening painful memories of revolution, civil war, and the catastrophic effects of 1930s Stalinist revolution; today most of those progressive movements have been reversed by a more conservative government which has been far less inclined to openly discuss these emotionally difficult historical topics. The 1930s were the formative years of Soviet society, culture, and government, so for a museum to be missing an entire twenty years of crucial solidifying Soviet history sends a message about how open this country is to dealing with reconciliation. For more on this topic, here's an NYT article I used last year: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/world/europe/27archives.html

History is everywhere here, not just in the museum, and most of it is untold (and certainly most Russians are unaware). Perhaps the best example I know of is Olkhon Island - see my first blog post from 6 weeks ago - beautiful Lake Baikal, surreal skies, magnificent cliffs, and unique wildlife. Like many places in this country which could normally be considered uninhabitable, the 1930s was an era of enormous upheaval as people were exiled not just to Baikal (they would have been comparatively lucky) but to the furthest geographical reaches of the Soviet Union, places which were actually uninhabitable. For the people exiled to Olkhon, the island was very much a prison, and strangely enough, today it is an ecological tourism paradise.

I asked some of my students about the missing 20+ years in the museum and their response was that some years ago there was a fire so maybe that explains it. Fire seems to explain a lot of things in Siberia, after all, almost all structures are made of wood.

Big News! The biggest and most important event in my life over the past 3 weeks has been moving into the Obschezhite, or dormitory, which will be my residence for the next 9 months. The good news: it's very, very close to where I work, and it's very, very cheap. The bad news: The building itself is damn disgusting - (BUT!) my room, which is normally reserved for foreign professors, is extremely generous, especially by Russian standards. Unlike the rest of the building, my apartment is recently renovated, and I have two rooms to myself. I use the word apartment seriously here, as I have 2 rooms and a bathroom (all to myself). So while my good friends live in squalor downstairs, for example, 4 germans to two bedrooms, I live in 2 rooms, each larger than their entire combined area. To put it simply, I live like a king compared to everyone else in my building.

Previously, I lived in an apartment in the center of Irkutsk, which was nice being located in the center, where there are things to do, but it was loud and full of obnoxiously drunk people everyday after approximately 8pm. Not to mention, I had an extremely difficult time sleeping because I was awoken maybe every other night by stray dogs barking/fighting/harassing the foreigner living on Kievskaya (me). I've always thought that dogs were secretly super-intelligent, and these Russian dogs were undoubtedly aware that a foreigner was living in their territory. They absolutely went out of their way to make sure my sleeping schedule was severely disrupted. However, now that I live at Universitetskiy, which is much quieter, I don't have to worry about being woken up by stray dogs at four in the morning; instead they have been replaced by Russians who enjoy blasting techno music from their lada's. Still annoying, but a good trade none the less.

The best part about being here is knowing that my Russian language skills are definitely improving, albeit slowly. I am definitely not a natural language learner, but already in 6 weeks I have made significant progress. When I arrived, having not spoken Russian for more than a year, I was hardly able to say more than 'My name is..' or 'I would like to buy that..' Now I can actually have real conversations, and about real things!.. Not just what kinds of food I like or that I have two dogs at home or that I hate the service in our university cafeteria. For better or worse, I am more or less able to communicate, including my my many complaints.

Despite the minor inconveniences, all is well. My classes are particularly rewarding as I have never before had a 'job' which I actually looked forward to! I actually enjoy working; last week I introduced my students to American college life by hosting a film screening for the movie Animal House. Students definitely did not understand the word plays but at least they understood the situational humor. "Double Secret Probation?" Что?? American and Russian humor are just about as different as their respective educational systems. In almost every way Russian universities are absolutely not comparable to the American education system - I'll skip over the details but basically there is nothing in common. Generally, Russian college students are more similar to American high schoolers. I am trying in the process of introducing them to educational material which is more interesting than traditional university materials which have been used for decades. Last week - John Belushi; Next week - Halloween! Really I don't know how successful this will be because this grandiose holiday is not widely celebrated in Russia so I am going to attempt to boost awareness. More to come on this topic next week.

New Update!

So its been about 4 weeks or so since I last posted, partially due of laziness, but also because my internet account ran out of cash and I was in Moscow for a week, which was sweet! But now I'm back in Irkutsk and a lot has changed! Having been gone for one week, I can definitely feel winter coming along, of which I am quite scared. More about that in a few weeks, but for now, the major change is that I moved out of my apartment in the center of the city into the university's dormitory, conveniently located right next to where I teach. I've been given a room normally reserved for highly esteemed foreign professors, which means I basically live in a spacious two room hotel room whereas most students live in much less generous quarters.

Over the past few weeks I've had a few nice trips around the city of Irkutsk as well as back to Baikal. The university doesn't have any problem with classes being cancelled for field trips, and my students took me on a tour of the city, mainly to the river embankment and some downtown churches. Only one or two important buildings actually survive from the 19th century because of a fire which destroyed 80% of the city.

Fifth year students and me by the river Angara, which is the only river which flows out of Baikal.

As I mentioned above, classes are easily cancelled, so it was no problem when a few teachers wanted to take me to Listviyanka, about 40 minutes away from Irkutsk and the nearest point on Lake Baikal. What's better than teaching on fridays? How about drinking beer on top of a mountain with half a dozen coworkers overlooking the world's greatest lake? I love my job... I also got to see Nerpa seals for the first time, albeit they were in an aquarium as seeing Nerpa in the wild is extremely difficult - although I am quite tempted to try sometime in the spring when it's warm enough to go hiking around the lake - we'll see if I'm able.

Below: Friday afternoon - way better than classes!

My highly esteemed coworker, Olga, is personally responsible for me having been sent to Siberia... Us with Baikal below!

Nerpa! - Mother and daughter seals which were, apparently, hurt by hunters but then saved by the museum and now they live in this tank.

The following weekend (two weekends ago) I went to a student's dacha for a few days, also near Listviyanka, or about 15 minutes away from Baikal. Dachas, or Russian summer houses, are generally traditionally spartan, for example, heating and electricity are not seen as necessities. However, this particular dacha was luxurious as the student's family is planning on moving in year round sometime soon.

Above: The Angara River at sunset from a forest next to the dacha.

Below: From Listviyanka, on a clear day, you can see across a narrow part of the lake to snow capped mountains. I like this photo and a few others in particular because the mountains look like they're hovering over the fog, over the lake. Really the lake has a mysterious effect on individuals and it's easy to understand why various indigenous cultures saw the lake as so spiritually important.

Above: Me with two of my fifth year students.

Below: Dacha! (Most Russian dachas are little more than log cabins - this one was quite nice)

Welcome to Siberia!

So I'm publishing my first post after I've already been in Russia for two weeks, but what can I say, getting internet set up wasn't exactly easy, and getting adjusted has in itself been time consuming. I arrived in Moscow on the 28th of August, spent 2 nights there, and one 6 hour flight later, I landed in Irkutsk, the most important city of East Siberia. I'm here to teach English as a foreign language at Irkutsk State University as per my Fulbright ETA (English Teaching Assisant) grant. Despite having the title of 'assistant' I have in fact been teaching mostly my own classes so far. Students are motivated to learn from a native English speaker, which apparently, the university has not had in many years, if ever. The weather has been beautiful so far, but at night it can get quite chilly, and, I'm afraid to say, the mornings and evenings foreshadow what's to come in only a few short weeks. Clearly I need to make use of the good weather while I can by seeing glorious Lake Baikal before it freezes over with over a meter of ice. Hopefully I'll update my blog periodically (maybe once every two or so weeks) depending on if anything exciting is going on. Really, this blog is more of an online journal and I do not intend to do too much research or include outside information, at least for now. So far, so good.

Week 2 in Irkutsk: As group of about 40 people from 10 different countries we traveled to Olkhon island which is located in the center of Lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake by volume. The lake is famous for its wildlife, which is about 80% indigenous, and its indescribably beautiful terrain. Baikal is the center for two diverging tectonic plates so eventually, in millions of years, the lake will be an ocean, and Russia will be located on two separate continents. Already, however, Baikal is really more of a sea than an ocean. The water quality is unbelievable: it is clear and almost tropical looking despite its near freezing temperature currently and it is perfectly fine to drink the water straight out of the lake. So swimming in the lake was a great experience albeit barely tolerable - after about 30 seconds my body went numb so I couldn't feel it after that anyways.

We stayed on Olkhon Island for 3 days, 2 nights. On day one we got settled in and met native Buryat inhabitants who have lived on the island long before Cossack explorers 'discovered' Baikal. They introduced us to native Buryat dances, cuisine, and other practices. They practice a form of shamanism but unfortunately we did not have the opportunity to meet shamans at this point.

Day two: We had a 7 hour excursion around the island, transported by what appeared to be Russian military ATVs from the 1960s. We made about 7 stops of various lengths and each was specifically selected for the incredible beachside or cliffside views of the lake. I'm slightly afraid of heights so while I was able to climb up certain places, I wasn't able to jump over to some of the more perilous rocks - left that to the Swiss and the Austrians, the most natural mountain climbers.

Naturally as it seems to occur when you have such an exciting group of young absolutely different people (German, Austrian, Chinese, and others) good times abound. Night two was especially fun and included a multinational mix of campfire tunes, nighttime volleyball, and of course, vodka. Three of us decided it would be a great idea to go swimming around two in the morning so we set off in the pitch black night, and using an ipod for light, we were able to navigate to a field where we wisely decided to turn back due to the abundance of steep cliffs in the area. Nonetheless, it took us about half an hour to navigate back to the hostel.

Day three: We went swimming in Baikal and I realized where we had wandered to the night before and frankly it would have been impossible to scale cliffs down to the beach using only an ipod. Despite appearing so close on a map, it took us seven hours by bus and ferry to get back to Irkutsk.

Next week: going back to Baikal but to a different area - Listviyanka - which is much closer and located on the southern shore of the lake. Stay tuned - pictures of nerpa seals coming soon.