A letter from Hart Moede
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Dear Russian Club,
I hope all is well, and ya'll have picked up plenty of new members. For those of you who I never met my name is Hart Moede, and to Professor Gomer's delight I am spending the next year in Russia. Thus far I have spent two months here this summer, and I just returned from holiday with my family in England and Switzerland.
I am enjoying Russia so far, it has been an interesting place. I have made some great friends with not only Americans and Russians, but also Swedes, French, and Swiss. That is one of the great aspects of St. Petersburg is that it is such an international city. The Russians I have met have also been wonderful. I was lucky because the program I was in during the summer had Russian tutors, who were all my age. I have gotten along well with most, and have become good friends with some. We were highly encouraged to speak only Russian to them, and when we were at school they were only allowed to speak Russian. I have also made friends with some Russians who I met rather randomly. My one friend named Nicholas is the manager of a sports store near where I live. One day I went there to buy some running shorts, and ended up talking to him for a while. He invited me back to his store that night where I played ping pong, and met a few more people. He speaks about as much English as I speak Russian, so that makes for some very interesting Russian-English conversations.
The weather was wonderful for most of the summer. I would say on most days it is like it is in Charleston during the mid to early fall. The temperature hangs around seventy to eighty degrees, and it typically rains at some point during the day. We were able to make it to the beach just a couple of times. The first time we went while we were in Novgorod. There was this lovely, man-made beach on the River Volhof. We stayed there for a while, and my friend Dimitri, who is from the States, and I took a quick swim. I must admit it was rather cold. The second time we went to a beach outside of St. Petersburg, and went swimming once again in the incredibly cold water of the Gulf of Finland. As an interesting fact, even though the Gulf of Finland is more or less a part of the ocean, it is fresh water. This came as a pleasant surprise to me. Sadly though, I have to admit the beaches are a lot better at home, one of the things I greatly miss.
There are plenty of great things to make up for this lack of good beaches, although. I went on many different excursions with my group. I have been to Peterhof, Pushkin's apartment, Peter and Paul fortress, St. Isaac's's Cathedral, the Cathedral of Spilled blood, and many other places. There is also a great night life in the city, with plenty of bars and clubs. One night we went over to a bar called Liverpool, and saw a Beatles cover band. There seems to be many fans of the Beatles here with which I have no problems. Another day, I got to watch the Rolling Stones play on Palace Square. There are many different things always occurring on the Palace square, whether fairs, concerts, or just meandering tourists. We also have spent some nights at the Opera and Ballet. Normally I must admit that this is not a place I would have expected to find myself but I enjoyed both experiences. I saw the opera Yevgini Onegin and the ballet Swan Lake.
On a final note, to anyone who is considering studying over here, I think you should, at the very least for a summer. It does not even matter if your Russian is not all that good. I swear I was the worst student in my class, but as soon as I arrived here it was amazing how quickly so many things fall into place. I still have trouble holding many conversations, but I am to the point where I can fairly successfully make my way around the city with my communication skills. I cannot wait to come home and see if I can speak with professor Gomer in Russia.
With that I wish all of you a great year, and if anyone ever feels like emailing me please do. I would love to answer any questions. My email is hjmoede@gmail.com.
