Classin' it up

I am not much of a fashion person.  Like, at all.  My friends, roommates, and boyfriend can all tell you I wander around much of the time in jeans and t-shirts with various graphic prints on them.  I wear sneakers instead of flats or heels and I style my hair in that just-rolled-outta-bed look.


That being said, I tried to help my boyfriend pick out a suit.


Or rather, I critiqued the guy helping my boyfriend find a suit.


He was a quiet man, shorter than I (if that's even possible), and spent a whole lot of time taking measurements.  It reminded me a lot of when I used to dance and we would have to sit for measurements for all those sparkly sequined costumes.  Since I never bothered to pay attention to what people were actually measuring (and this time was no exception) it just seemed like a lot of extraneous movement that produced a magical number that became a piece of clothing.

Beats me

So the suit salesman took all those measurements that meant nothing to me and whisked the tape measure back to the dark hole from whence it came (his pocket).  This was not a trip for me, and indeed, the store was designed to scare away anyone vaguely identifying as female with its dull colors and impeccable racks of dark cloth and cuff links.  Seriously.  Not so fun.  So what do you do?


I tried to help.


Usually this doesn't go so well.

Shopping trips back home meant that I sneakily sigh over clothes and things I want until my mom suddenly finds herself walking out with a bag or two for me and none of the things we were supposed to get.


What am I supposed to get at a suit store, a tie??  No thanks.


So instead I started following the salesman around.  He was busily diving into a rack of fabric and debating the colors of each suit against my boyfriend's pale skin and dark hair.  First pick was a dark suit.  NOT black, as I was corrected.  Close, but not really.  The salesman helped my boyfriend into the suit and I swear, he had it on for less than thirty seconds before one of them said something to the effect of

Well, there goes that suit.  Maybe something lighter??  I started poking over the salesman's head as he pulled out different suit jacket sleeves from their home trapped against one another on the rack.  He grabbed one or two and pulled them out.  There was another one, kind of charcoal-ish, that I made sure came out with them.  That one was chosen to be tried on.

Now for a shirt........


Suddenly watching "The Devil Wears Prada" last week made me into an expert on fashion.  I was picking through ties and shirts, pointing out color combinations and complementary styles like a pro.  Now I was having fun.  The salesman and I came back to a little table where we displayed our findings for my boyfriend's inspection: ties with patterns, ties with stripes, shirts in different colors, more ties.  Each could be placed on the suit to have a mock up of what it would look like on.  And then we had my boyfriend try on the suit itself.

I thought it looked fantastic.  But then again, I'm quite biased in this.  So now, he's got a fancy new suit and looks horrendously dapper and it's fabulous.  Excuse me while I now go reevaluate my own closet and wonder why I don't have more classy things to wear.

So done with everything already

Sooooooooo I have five classes between today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday).  Out of those five classes, four of them have very time-consuming projects due that require lots of extra work beyond reading and textbooking and using my brain.


This is a massive problem.


Four projects due within two days??  Like, are you serious right now??


I spent my weekend furiously doing work and trying to get everything done in time, stress panic attacks popping up along the way.  I did what any sane college student would do with so much work due all at once.

Totally my own fault for taking four block classes, one normal class, and a practicum.  But still.  This early in the semester??  So not cool.


To all of my professors - thanks.  Thanks a lot.

Back to the Grind

Oh wow.  It's been almost a month since the last post.....

My bad

Things I have done in the meantime include such exciting activities as

• sleeping
• waking
• running
• eating
• finishing up work
• despising the above-mentioned running
• watching TV
• moving
• going to classes

I have moved back the 400 or so miles south to my home in DC because guess what - classes started.  As you can tell, I'm super thrilled about this.

For those of you who are out of college and happy ensconced in your life, maybe you forget.  For those of you just starting out, you will soon learn.  Free time is a myth your professors tell you about to give you hope as you slog through the semester's papers and projects and busywork.

There's also the lovely college triangle.  It looks a little bit like this:

You can only pick 2

Thus, college.

This year actually isn't so bad.  Yes, I'm overwhelmed already.  Yes, I had a project due already.  Yes, I have write-ups and papers and textbook exercises due this week.  But one thing's helpful here.  I like most of my classes.

God help you if you don't like your classes.

And do not follow my example if you don't!!

I only had two classes I really didn't like here at college.  I got pretty good grades in them, too.  I just rarely showed up to class.  Bad idea.  Bad Caitie.  Don't do that.  College is expensive as all hell to begin with - that's technically just money down the drain to miss classes arbitrarily.

Oh well.

My classes this semester are actually pretty cool.  I have my Russian classes (both grad level), which are kinda scary but also feel very much like home (since I miss speaking Russian all the time with my host family).  They involve long discussions on grammar, translating news articles, and feeling like you're being mauled by words.

I have a class called "Writing for Visual Media", which is a really fancy title for "Scriptwriting for Dummies".

Another class, this one on Photoshop, that teaches you how use software better than the major magazines (who apparently can't understand the laws of reality or any sort of user-friendly interfaces).

And a film class, with a TWO TIME OSCAR WINNER

You wish your professors were as awesome as this guy

So yeah.  Classes.

Excuse me while I procrastinate.

Camp Tales

I've been home for the summer.  Whoop-de-doo.  What have I been doing??

Working.

Work is literally my life in the summer.  I'm glad I get the hours I do - almost full time during the week.  I'm even happier that I get paid for those hours (aww yeah!!).  What am I??

I am a summer camp counselor.

I'm an activity counselor, not a group counselor, so I see every single kid that steps onto the camp grounds.  My areas of camp expertise (that being a relative term) include things like

NATURE

LESSONS

HIKING

SCIENCE

What my camp kids see.........

NATURE

LESSONS

HIKING

SCIENCE

Thus is camp life.  Excitements include the daily snacks (Cheez-its on Friday!!!), going crayfishing, and all the four year olds (who are beyond cute).

The camp story of today is from my first year working at the camp.  I was new.  I new practically no one.  And I was expected to teach small children??

Wait, expected to teach small children between the ages of 4 and 13?!!

Oh geez.

So I start my sessions off with the rules of my nature/science station.  Things like listen when I'm talking, don't pick the grass, and DON'T UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TOUCH MY TENT IT'S SO UNSTEADY MMKAY THANKS BYE.  For my four year olds, I guide them to "don't pick the grass" by asking them what they can see that's green, and they come up with the idea to leave it alone.

Well, it's the start of a session.  I ask my littlest ones where they can see green.  All my four year olds raise their hands and say the grass is green, the leaves are green, my storage hut is green.

And this one little boy raises his hand and says "You can find green up your nose!!"

Ummmmm well.........yes......I suppose you can find it there

Ewwww.  But what can I say??  Yes, you can find green up your nose.  Please please don't try.  And for heaven's sake, don't show me proof!!

I move on to say if we pick the green it'll turn to brown and dirt and dust, so what should we do??  My whole group shouts to leave all the green alone.

And that one kid calls out "Yeah, leave it up your nose!!"

Thanks snot boy.  Thanks for the help.

Being Home

Well, I haven't posted in a while.  And truth be told, I didn't think I would ever post again.  I repurposed this blog to chronicle my study abroad adventures in Russia.


But now I'm home.


I've been here for two months.


........can I go back??

I forgot what being home was like.  Sure, I missed my family, my boyfriend, and my friends (yes I have those).  Actually, I missed them a whole hell of a lot.  It's hard to be abroad and away from everyone for months on end.


And on top of it all, I miss my host family.


Anyway, I'm home now.  Home is America.  Home is, while I'm still a poor broke college student, at my parents' house.  And with my little brother.  For all that apartments are small in Russia, I had a bit more space there.  At least, it feels like I did.  Could just be that the freedom granted by a nearby metro station made it feel like there was a lot more space.


Speaking of space, America has a ton of it.  And we pile it full of a lot of crap.  On the ride back from the airport, I was quite a bit dazed and confused - time differences and all - and I couldn't stop staring at the side of the road.  It was an old highway strip, and there was so much stuff crammed into every slot there was.  Restaurants, gas stations, bars, more restaurants, pool stores, liquor stores, music stores, fast food restaurants.  There was just so much.

It was unnerving...


Now after a few months in the States, life has returned to what I once would call normal.  I wake up every morning.  I go to work at my summer job.  I come home.  And I crash on the couch.


Two weeks to go though.  Then I'm off for the last year of college life.


Then I have to enter the real world.........wait.....do I have to??


Must I??


Not sure if I'm ready for that.......

Goodbye Russia

By now, it's Friday.  I've been gone for several days now, hoping that it won't hurt as much to write this up with some distance and time.  Didn't really work.

The wonderful thing about this study abroad was that I made so many friends, and gained a family.  Yes, it was halfway around the globe.  Yes, it was in another language.  But when it came time to leave, the tears came streaming down my face.

I didn't want to leave my city, I didn't want my friends to scatter back to the four corners of America, and I didn't want to say goodbye to Yulia Georgievna and her husband, Vladimir Nikolaevich.  My host family had become such a big part of my life that I couldn't bear to leave them, and I seriously dreaded when the taxi would show up and I'd be forced to say goodbye, possibly forever.  It was all the harder because my host mom was also fighting tears.  To try to make us both stop crying, she looked me in the eye and smiled and said that I'd be coming back in the future.  And next time I'd bring my mom and my dad and my boyfriend and my brother, yes, even Ben can come.

So tears still streaming down my face, but now with a little smile, I got in the cab and my life in St. Petersburg was left behind.  A couple hours later I was on a plane, flying off to England to meet my aunt and uncle and cousins.

Thus, my time in Russia has come to an end.  No amount of words here can describe the thrilling feeling of living abroad in another culture, in another language, and becoming immersed in it.  I can't force my emotions into words, either written or spoken, to describe my time in Russia.  Just know that it was challenging, it was enlightening, and you come back not quite the same person as when you left.

And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Procrastination makes perfect - a finals update

Hello hello!!  Soooooooooo it's that time of the semester again.  That's right - finals season is upon us.

SEND HELP I BEG YOU

Everyone else has been freaking out and turning into zombies for their own finals.  Now it's my turn.  I'm spending my last week - that's right, my LAST WEEK in St. Petersburg - in a little ball of stress studying for tests.

But but but wait a minute.  If it's finals week, why am I posting an update??  I should be studying, right??

WRONG!!!

Over studying means more stress and more stress means Caitie starts to freak out for no apparent reason and random freak outs means I does poorly on said finals.  I'll go back to studying for each test as they come.

In the meantime, happy finals!!  I'm gonna go play with Risi.

Smolney

It's almost the end of the semester, I've a week to go, and I still haven't posted about my school and what it looks like.

I should fix that.

For comparison, this is where I went to high school.  My friends and I used to joke that we went to school in a castle.

We had arrow slits and everything, and English was taught where the stables used to be

Now here is my school in St. Petersburg.  This is the front of it.

Smolney cathedral, in all its majesty

Glorious, no??  The cathedral is the first thing you see when you walk onto the school grounds.  This massive blue, white, and gold structure with the giant bell out front - that's the entrance.  There are wrought iron gates to the sides where you walk into the old monastery/convent complex (Russian only has the one word - monastery - for both).  Walk all the way behind it and you reach a little sign by a door.

The politics department

This is me.  The CIEE program runs out of the political science department here at St. Petersburg State University.

So quick - some background info on Smolney.

Smolney's cathedral complex is super baroque, having been originally built for Elizabeth I (daughter of Peter the Great) way back in the first half of the 1700s.  Well, Elizabeth took the throne and died before the convent was finished, so no nuns ever lived here.  Instead it just kinda sat there until this woman came to power.

Russia's beloved and not actually Russian empress, Catherine II

That's right.  Catherine the Great saw the Smolney complex and had the brilliant thought of turning the never-opened convent into a school for noblewomen who weren't so well off.  They could come and learn the fine art of being a lady of the 18th century, with classes in foreign languages, needlepoint, and music, among other lessons.  Problem was, Catherine the Great HATED baroque style.  She wasn't willing to tear down the complex, so she simply had the next architect build the additions in a different style.

They still left the baby blue paint job though

If I haven't already mentioned it in previous posts, Russians (and Eastern Europeans in general) are the masters of repurposing buildings.

Then everything changed when the fire nation attacked.

LENIN FOR PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT, 1917 (no tsars allowed, too bourgeois)

The people revolted, the tsar abdicated and was sent into exile with his family.  On the heels of the revolution, Smolney closed its doors in the early 20s.  It was left on its own as the country around it stabilized and went to war again.  The Germans had about as much of a brain as Napoleon did, and had quite a decisive loss against the new Soviet state.

Idiots.  Didn't you learn from Napoleon?? Never pick a fight with Russia

As the years passed, people began to look at Smolney again.  It's a pretty big complex, and one of the tallest points in the city here in St. Petersburg.  And it was just sitting there......Someone decided that it was only fitting to put another school in there.  And so the Smolney cathedral complex became a part of the St. Petersburg State University.

Ok, that's enough history.  Back to me.  I mean, the present.  You know what I mean.

Quick, here's a picture!!

This is one of the upper halls where I have chorus.  Other CIEE classes meet up here, and it gets more light than the ground floor does.  But this is generally what the inside of my school looks like.  Pink walls.  White molding and fancy detailing.

Fancy chandeliers

And the staircases have fancy wrought iron detailing.

So fancy 

The ground floor classrooms are the original locations for what would have been the nuns' cells.  Each room is well sized for one bedroom, and all the windows have gates and locks on them to prevent burglars from breaking in and stealing things.  Though what there is to steal, I haven't the faintest idea.  They can take my homework though.

Just take it, please

The international relations wing of the complex was recently redone.  Not gonna lie, I didn't want to go back to my own department after I saw the renovations.  The halls were so light and clean from the fresh coat of paint and touched up woodworking.  It was glorious.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh it's so pretty.  I want my part of the complex to be just as pretty, but renovations have yet to come around to us

If you pay money in the cathedral itself, you can walk up to one of the belltowers.  From there, you can see the surrounding area and across the city.  On a sunny(ish) day, the sun glints off of all the cathedral towers and off the water.

Just look at that view.  Look at it.  Yes

Also, if you time it just right, a guy sometimes comes out of the cathedral and rings this giant bell.  I heard it for the first time as the school shuttle trundled up to the gates.

BONGGGGGGGGGG BONGGGGGGGGGG BONGGGGGGGGGG

Here ends my tour of my school.  Now for the last week here.

Yay??

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Not yay.