Lex Libertas

If you thought that America was having a rough time trying to maintain a positive public opinion in Europe, take a look at Russia’s numbers:

GlobScan poll shows positive perception of Russia has considerably shrinked in 2005, in old EU countries as well. The positive rating shrank from 38 to 22 percent in Italy, from 38 to 27 percent in Great Britain. Poland, where 56 percent of citizens are anti-Russian, is not very different from France now, where the positive rate decreased from 30 to 21 percent, and the negative rate increased from 57 to 62 percent. The poll was carried out before the gas crisis in January.

I find this advertisement extremely disquieting. There’s just something about a hair-covered lightbulb that awakens a deep-set revulsion. What’s even stranger is that it’s an ad for furniture. How does the picture represent that???

Haiku

We wait for the grades.
Quiet. Where are professors?
I want to go home.

Tanka

Yet still we sit here.
The results have not come in.
How long can we wait?
Saakashvili not agree.
This is not democracy.

Here’s a picture of the former monestary (turned girls finishing school, turned Lenin’s command post) that now houses the international relations department. One of my classmates, Boris, is trying to hail a gypsy cab (a normal car that stops and you haggle over the price):

There are three requirements for the completion of the MA program here at St. Petersburg State University. You have to pass all the exams, defend your dissertation, and pass the State Exam. It consists of three questions, and you have an hour and a half to answer each. The first two questions are general, and in the third you are required to analyse a document.

In the beginning, everyone was freaking out because they gave us a list of “themes” to study. While it’s nice to know in advance what the questions might be, you get a little overwhelmed when the list is 120 themes long!! In the end it all worked out. Though in line with Russian tradition and culture, there was some cheating involved. I didn’t use it, but the internet was active on our computers, and you could tab back and forth.

We started at 10, finished at 4, and had our results by 7:30. Waiting for the results in a big room with dozens of other people reminded me of my debate days. I, along with two other classmates, got a 5. Additionally, Danielle and I got a special minus sign written next to our total score of 5, so it looked like “5-”. Needless to say, this concerned both of us. A professor somewhat clarified, explaining that it actually means we were singled out for special recognition, that our work was of the highest quality. What’s still unclear is whether or not that will have any effect later on down the line. Is it mentioned on the diploma or something?

I’ll post my essays, and I’d love to hear feedback. I’m not going to change anything or correct any mistakes I may have made. We wrote them directly on the computer, but they didn’t have an English-language spellchecker installed. I got a five on each essay. All together I wrote a surprising amount. A total of 16 pages, with 1.5 spacing. If only I could write my dissertation that fast!

The Russian system has four grades:

5 - Excellent
4 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
2 - Unsatisfactory

Here’s me waiting in the cafe area waiting for the grade announcements, unshaven and somewhat dazed.

I’ve been without hot water for 4 days now, and I’m told it might not be back for at least another two. This is just a warm-up. The city shuts off the hot water completely for a month in June or July. I’ve missed it the past two years, but I’m likely to experience it this time around.

It’s been rather cold here recently, not making it above 10C (50F) for the past week. And that’s in the middle of the day, in the sun. Of course by this point they’ve turned off the central heating, so the apartments are back to being cinder ice boxes. I’m very glad that I bought a space heater this winter, it’s the only thing that keeps my room habitable. I knew it’d come in handy, but I didn’t think I’d need it in late May!!! The only plus is that these lower temperatures are killing the mosquitoes who decided it was time to reawaken.

With this in mind, the water isn’t just cold, it’s only barely above freezing. A shower is out of the question. It wouldn’t be a “cold shower,” it would be “swimming in a freezing river in January.” This also makes washing dishes difficult. Firstly, the food doesn’t come off, I think it gets frozen to the plate. Secondly, my hands go numb after half a minute, so I have to take shifts. Brushing my teeth is also a problem. I have to hold the water in my mouth for a bit to warm it up. If not, my gums cry out in agony.

Yesterday I took a shower at a friend’s place in the middle of town, but I was in such a hurry that I didn’t have time to shave. Plus, I’m in serious need of a haircut. I should take a picture and put it up, I’m starting to look like Wolverine! I’m studying for the State Exam tomorrow, but I might take a break this evening to travel an hour each way and shower at his place again. I don’t want to take the chance that tomorrow there’s still no hot water, and go to the exam like that. Normally, I need a shower to wake me up, but I feel even worse if it’s been two days. That’s no state of mind to be in during the test.

I really should have been keeping a running tally of days without (hot) water since my arrival. I’m sure it would make two or three months solid.

I’ve found a church reasonably close by that I like. The only problem is, they tend to run long. They have an auditorium in a hotel, and the room is booked from 11 to 2. As if three hours weren’t enough, they always end up going over and the hotel staff hangs around the door looking somewhat disgruntled. Seriously, three and a half hours, and they’re still going strong! Well, I guess now I know what it was like for my Mormon friends growing up. The reason it goes so long is because they have two people speak every Sunday, and each gives a full sermon. Additionally, they like to sing, which is one of the things I like most about the church. So the first hour is usually singing, followed by two sermons, with some more singing in between.

I went to church this morning, but had to cut out early to make it to a poker game. I actually had a pretty full day planned. I wanted to go to church, play a Texas Hold Em tournament with some friends, then head up to a classmate’s place to study for the State Exam (on Saturday, huge test, I’ll write about it later).

I’m not the best poker player, I know that well. In fact, I’d say I’m average in the group of about 7 people that we play with. Today, however, was my lucky day. We used to do a cash game, where you could buy back in if you went bust. Recently, we decided to change to a tournament format. Everyone buys in for 100 roubles (about $4), the runner-up gets his money back, and the winner takes the rest. I played this way once before, and was promptly eliminated within the first five minutes. I guess I played a little too aggressively. This time however, I felt more confident in my decisions, like I was playing the cards better. I won the first tournament, it finished in less than an hour. I figured that I should leave to study. After all, I just won, and no need to tempt fate. Temptation won, and since it was still relatively early, I decided to play once more. Another hour later, and I emerged the winner. This time, though, I really did excuse myself from the table. Feeling rather pleased, I left 600 roubles ($22) richer than I came.

Perhaps more astounding, I came to the game with only 100 roubles, all that was left to my name after giving to the offering. I planned on losing it, and I had enough change for transportation. This evening I had to meet my landlady and pay rent, so I knew I’d get to an ATM later in the day.

To those who see something incongruous in putting Church and poker back-to-back, I would simply respond that I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about…

I’m leaving tonight to see the May 9th celebrations in Moscow. I’ve made some progress on my dissertation, but still have a lot of work to do. However, I’ve been meaning to visit Moscow for some time now. I’ve still never really had time to just walk around the city. Also, there are some friends there that I haven’t seen in a long time.