The Info:

One thing I noticed was that outside on the streets in the winter time, which was when I was there, Russians looked pretty much the same. Coats were usually black leather for the guys, and long, dark, heavy cloth, leather, or sometimes fur for women. You NEVER see a Russian without a hat in the winter. Hats for guys are large fur "shopkas" or golf caps. For women there are also shopkas or, especially for younger women, berets. Masha, my host sister, had three berets, one which I wore all the time because I forgot my hat at home. Also most people wear scarves, and sometimes gloves or mittens. Footwear was usually black or brown leather boots. Sometimes women try to wear dressier shoes, but it's usually easier to just carry nice shoes so they don't get dirty in all the snow and ice. Short skirts or nice pants are common among teenage girls, but rarely jeans unless they're skin tight. Guys basically wear black pants or jeans, or Adidas sweatpants around the house or docha. Older women wear long skirts. Most of the variety of the clothing is in shirts, which are very interesting and pretty.

In the summertime I'm told it gets really warm, but I don't know what people wear then since I've only been there in the winter.

No matter when you go to Russia, you should pack light. Russians tend to wear the same clothes over and over so you shouldn't feel out of place if you only have a couple outfits, and big suitcases are a pain to carry around, literally.

As part of the exchange I was expected to go to school every day. The teachers were wonderfully accomodating to us, and prepared special lessons for the seven school days when the regular students were on Spring Break. They also provided interpreters, lunch, and special activities.

Russian school is a bit like college in America. They don't have the same classes every day, and while sometimes they only have a couple classes a day, other days they are in school for most of the day! People also take homework more seriously, but it's not a big problem if you're late to class. Students in general are smarter in most academic areas than Americans, but they don't have extra-curricular activities like sports, theater, and music. Also we noticed that the curriculum is stricter, and less open to change. They are graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best. And Russians all have the same handwriting! They often get ten or fifteen minutes between classes, and that was nice for us because we could walk down to the "secret kiosk" to buy food and pop.

The school building itself was pretty neat to look at. It was three stories, and a bit confusing at first. Some of the rooms were pretty ornate, with fancy ceiling, curtains, and furniture. They didn't have as much special equipment as we do in America, but the teachers were really good and actually intelligent. There is also a nice lobby in front, with couches and fish tanks.

Communication shouldn't be much of a problem in Russia, unless you're going to a hick village. In Moscow many people speak English and often there are signs in Russian and English. The street vendors on the Arbat ("I hev special deal, just for you!") even know enough English to get their products sold, and will often insist on speaking English with you. I liked it better when they respected me enough to use Russian, though. Anyway, if you know any Russian you should try to use it. Not only does it flatter the Russians but also it makes you more respected and you have a better time. I wish I would have used more when I went, but most of the people I hung out with knew English better than I knew Russian, so for communication purposes we used English. I did, however, find that my comprehension in listening improved greatly, and I picked up a lot of new words. Also I have more confidence in my speaking. Never travel without a dictionary, though, and try to have some good, solid previous knowledge of Russian before you go. Things are more fun that way.

Russians are probably the most hospitable people on earth. Somehow they manage to find out exactly what you want, and then will go to any cost to try to get it for you. It really made my stay nice, to have so many people watching out for me and caring for me. Sometimes it got stifling, when they bundled me up so I was sweating in my clothes before going out into the harsh Siberian winter, or when packing me a ton of food for the train, but usually it was comforting, especially since it was my first time to really live in a foreign country. If you go over to a person's house you will probably eat first thing, and it will be the best they have to offer. That's just one example, though. Another example is that when you go visit someone and you stay too late, and the buses stop running, you will either be openly invited to stay, or will be provided with an escort home. Russians don't seem to think of guests as simply guests, while you're in their home you are either a part of the family, or royalty, whichever fits the occasion. It's a great feeling.

Most Russians, especially in cities, live in apartment buildings, and often without elevators. And if there are elevators, they are usually either very small, broken, or both. But Russians have a remarkable way of cramming themselves into tight spaces. If you don't believe me, ride a bus at rush hour. I lived on the fifth and top floor of an apartment building. Every time I came home, no matter how tired or weighed-down I was, I would climb up 95 uneven steps to my host family's apartment. For a couple days I also had to dodge some drunken bum on my way up. That was pretty thrilling for a naive girl like me. The apartment was a lot nicer than I expected, and big, too. And incredibly clean! My room was the living room, which was in easy hearing distance from the train. When I first heard the train I thought I was lying down on the floor of a grocery store while someone pushed a grocery-cart chain by me, only it was a lot louder. The train came quite often, though, and once I figured out that it wasn't going to come and eat me I got used to it. The kitchen had a very small refrigerator, which seemed to be mainly used for bananas and cucumbers. There was also a little table, with countless little stools, a little washing machine, and a little television. And a little balcony, which is always used for storage and laundry. There were two tiny bedrooms and one bigger bedroom. Russians sleep on these neat little couches that you change into a bed every night. They're comfortable enough for me, but I'm not picky. As couches, they take getting used to, especially since sitting comfortably on them is a challenge. They are so wide that if you want to lean back your feet will dangle, but if you sit with your feet on the floor you have to sit up straight without back support. I don't know how Russians managed it, but they could do both. I usually either shifted positions a lot, or sat with my feet on the couch cross-legged or off the the side. I think that might have been considered a little rude, but I wasn't sure, and I got so all I wanted was to be comfortable.

The bathroom is an interesting situation. The toilet is in its own little room. Public toilets, when they exist, are sometimes quite terrible, and they often cost money and don't have toilet paper. Bring your own. Little tissue packets work well. Although I never used a squatter, I often squatted on the toilet. Also, the toilet structure is different, and sometimes they don't flush well. But you'll have to discover the joys of that on your own. Never in Russia did I take a shower with a shower curtain. That was a challenge, and often my clothes laying on the floor would get wet. But all of the shower heads are detachable, so the problem can be overcome. Also, I was never surprised to see laundry floating in the tub. Laundry is a problem in Russia. Their washers are miniscule and dryers are uncommon. Things don't get washed all that often.

The apartments are small, and so often siblings will share a room, and the parents will sleep in the living room. One thing I thought was strange was that even if Russians have a key, they will often knock and wait at the door for someone to answer it for them. And then they unfailingly take off their shoes. Never wear shoes in a Russian abode! I had a pair of topachky, slippers, that I always wore around the house, but socks are okay too.

In most Russian cities, the main methods of transportation are buses. There are many, but it's still hard to get around. Usually whenever I wanted to go anywhere, I would take a 10-15 minute walk to the bus stop, get on a bus and ride for usually no less than 15-20 minutes, and then walk another 5-10 minutes to my destination. That's a lot of time! It doesn't cost much, though, only two rubles old money (about 30 cents). Trolley buses are about the same, though not as common. The four guys who were there for a semester thought up an interesting game called "Bus Tag." They'd each get on a different bus, getting on and off periodically, and then try to find each other. Sounds like fun! I also walked a lot. It's the best way to see a city, and can be as quick as taking the bus. The streets aren't always the best, though, in the winter. There are at least six inches of ice on the sidewalks, covered by a thin layer of dirt. I fell twice, and other Americans fell often, too, including my teacher. We'd take pictures, and then help each other up. I only saw one Russian fall, and I felt bad when I started giggling. There is also a lot of "yellow snow," due to the numerous stray dogs. The metro system is very good in Moscow, and not too hard to understand. They are beautiful, too, the cleanest and nicest in the world, as I've heard from a world traveller. They only cost two rubles. You get a token, put it in the thing (if you walk though without putting in a token a different thing hits you in the knees hard enough to hurt), and then go to a long, super-fast, steep escalator. At first I was scared of them, but now I think American escalators are incredibly tame and boring. I think my favorite way to get around, just because it's so unacceptable and rare in America, was "taking a taxi." Although we went by "taxi" several times in Tyumen', I don't remember actually riding in one. What they called "taking a taxi" was actually hitch-hiking! It's safe, they say, as long as you're not alone with more people who you don't know than just the driver. It's easy, too. If it takes more than two minutes to catch a taxi, something must be wrong with you. It's expensive, though. the standard fare, for anywhere in Tyumen', was ten rubles, or $1.60.

Russian driving is to be admired. I noticed three lanes. Two regular lanes and a passing lane in the middle. We came really close to some head-on collisions, but Russians are good at avoiding accidents. Their cars get incredibly close together, though, and that's scary.

One of the most interesting parts of my trip was travelling on the Trans-Siberian railroad. We spent about 34 hours on the train from Tyumen' to Moscow, and it was really pretty nice. Everything was laid-back and relaxed, which was wonderful since I had only gotten about an average of four or five hours of sleep a night for the past week. That's incredibly hard when you're in a foreign country.
Everybody has a bunk, and there are four bunks to a little room. It's very crowded. Fortunately since I was travelling in a big group I knew everyone who I shared a room with. There's about one bathroom (toilet, sink, and drain) for every 40 people. And you can't use it in the city because they lock the doors, to keep the tracks clean. There was also a dining car, but I only visited there once. My host family made me stock up on food before I left, and so did everybody else's. Our car had a table full of food, and the traditional bag of boulachki (little bread things.) All together we had a couple loaves of bread, four cans of Fanta, some great banana cookies, a bag of yummy shortbread-ish cookies, sliced cheese, mustard, Snickers (which are better than American Snickers), Nutri-Grain bars, Regular, Cheese, and Paprika (the best!) Pringles, all of which are better in Russia, cucumbers, bananas, oranges, apples, orange juice, two kinds of sliced meat, granola bars, and some apple juce that was more like apple puree or watered-down apple sauce, but pretty darn good anyway. I had a huge jar of it, and though it got old, I enjoyed it. Don't ask me how I remember all that food. I guess it's because I spent a day staring at it. Also they had a water faucet, so I filled an old Fanta bottle with the first water I'd had in 2 1/2 weeks! Anyway, we were creative and made sandwiches with bread, cheese, meat, mustard, and cucumber, all with my little Swiss-Army knife. They were really great, surprisingly. Then we stored things in the "fridge," the space by the window.
The halls were small, but had little seats you could pull down, and big windows. The view was always gorgeous. The countryside was snowy and forested with white birch, and sometimes we'd go by a quaint little village. When I woke up the first morning we were going through the Urals, from Asia to Europe. The weren't high, but they were very scenic. We had a window in our room, and I spent hours staring out of it.
We were on the train for two nights, a day, and a morning. It was a great place to sleep. Though it got a little warm, the motion and noise lure you to sleep quite easily, and calm you down. I even took a nap in mid-afternoon, something that I haven't done since before kindergarten. You have to pay a little extra for sheets, but it's no big deal. The first night we all went to sleep fairly soon. The day got long, but it was kinda fun. We'd just hang out and talk, listen to music, etc. We listened to the "Titanic" song about a total of 18 times, in only two sittings. Every once in a while a crazy, or drunk Russian would come in to our room. That was weird, and sometimes scary. I basically stayed in my same little corner for the whole trip. If I was alone I'd read, write, listen to music, or look out the window. If someone came in I'd offer them food like a true Russian and then talk. It was really nice. The second night everyone was basically doing one of three things: getting drunk, taking care of drunkards, or having an interesting conversation in the non-drinking room. That was my room, and it was great. I had an hour-long religious discussion with an atheist and two jocks. It doesn't get stranger than that! The next morning was kind of annoying. We were bored, stiff, sick of the train, excited to get to Moscow, hot, and dirty. Overall, it was a great experience. Probably the weirdest thing I've done in my life.

Hotels can range from horrible to pretty good. In Tyumen' there was an American hotel, which I walked by and heard had incredible food and accomodations. I think it was a Quality Inn. The one we stayed in in Moscow was really nice, I thought, especially compared to what I was told happened last year. Last year, they had roaches and cold water. But in the hotel we stayed at I never saw a roach. There was a television and radio, warm water, a little refrigerator which was wonderful to have, a couple nice chairs, a table comfortable beds, and an ashtray that all the smokers wanted in their rooms. The elevators worked, and we were served breakfast every morning. Some people liked it, but I usually didn't. One thing that was really weird was the personal relationship that our maid developed with us. It was kinda nice, but she was kinda freaky. There are about one or two maids to each floor, and ours was the most outgoing. They would get you tea if you wanted it, and did a wonderful job of cleaning the rooms. They actually organize your stuff for you! But we lost our key, and that got pretty intense. There's only one key to each room. You're supposed to leave it at the desk every day so they can get in to clean. She completely searched us and our room, frantically. When we left for the day she searched our room all over, and pounced on us when we got back. She was really concerned for us, not mad. Fortunately it was found in my roommate's pocket. More hotel stories later... (particularly, "the kiwi incident")