First Impressions

As I write I am watching the Russian version of “The Voice”, which I am justifying as there is some Russian spoken now and again and my Russian flatmate was watching it yesterday.  It’s only been 3 days (or more like 2.5 days), but I wanted to get down my first impressions as quickly as possible.

Moscow, as I thought it would be, is HUGE. Everything is on a scale that I have never experienced. It’s generally far easier and safer to use the underground passes rather than risk crossing any roads. There are so many large, impressive buildings around the place, particular near the centre of Moscow. But where I live is also rather impressive-looking. I will be studying here at the Moscow State University for the next 3 months, getting Russian classes and attempting to understand some lectures about the history of politics in Russia. The metro system is similar to the underground, except they are far more ornately designed, something that dates back to the Soviet era, as does my university’s campus.

The Bolshoi Theatre

The main building of Lomonosov Moscow State University at night (LOOK, there's snow)

I arrived at around 3pm on Saturday at the airport, after which my amazing friend/saviour Zhenia took me the whole way to the front of the university. She couldn’t come inside with me, as they are very strict on security. The need to show ID when entering any university building and then again for my accommodation will take getting used to. It doesn’t help that I only have my visa as a means of proof, as I am yet to receive any sort of student card. I try to alternate my facial expression between panic-stricken and self-assured. The latter is admittedly harder for me at this stage, but I shall keep trying. :P Yesterday I managed to get myself to the metro station and meet Zhenia in town, where we wandered around enjoying the “shrovetide celebrations”- like pancake day, except lasting a week and involving people dressed like they’re from the middle ages. We also made it to Red Square, despite seeing police blockades near there earlier in the day.

Me next to St Basil's cathedral

View of Red Square with St. Basil's Cathedral in the distance

Today was a day of queuing really. I won’t bore you with all the details but it did involve seeing some more of the university. It is made up of lots of different maHUssive buildings. I live in the central building and the history department is about 7 minutes walk away. The picture below is of the main site, with the statue of Mr Lomonosov. That is, Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, a Russian “polymath” according to Wikipedia and in honour to whom the University changed its official title to include his name in 1940. 

The main building of MSU, with Mr Lomonosov

I managed to find my way to the various offices around the site and at the right times, which I am rather proud of. This was made somewhat tricky in the main site, where only certain lifts could go to certain floors. Yet the numbers on the lifts seemed to bear no relation to this. In any case, it has been a day full of bureaucracy, but not without its amusing moments. I entered one office, where a woman behind the desk was hidden somewhat by the smoke coming from her cigarette, and who told me to wait outside for a minute. Seeing people smoke so publicly indoors is very alien to me, as the smoking ban has been in place in the UK for a while now. Another bizarre moment was paying for my rent. The juxtaposition of pictures of kittens, puppies and horses covering the walls with the rather stern accountant taking my money was oddly reminiscent of Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter- remember her? That being said, generally the stern demeanour I encounter does not mean people are unhelpful, just not as smiley as I am used to!

Anyway, one very important goal for tomorrow is to get myself a kettle, without which I am struggling somewhat haha. Another challenge is the lack of fridge, even in the kitchen. Its currently cold enough on the window sill that I think my yoghurts will survive the next few days, but what about milk?! Will I have to succumb to using long-life milk? Jokes aside, food and drink has been one of the biggest culture shocks thus far. Drinking anything but tap water is a no-no here in Moscow, which will mean constant trips to get water from the kiosk downstairs or the supermarket 15 mins walk away. Also, my Russian food vocabulary is laughable limited. This evening there was this really tasty looking meat and rice dish. Knowing only the word for rice, I tried to get by. But instead of the dish I wanted, which turned out to be called “plov”, I just got rice and veggies. That being said, my disappointment at communication failure means I now know the name of a new dish, hurrah. Yesterday I went for the tactic of choosing anything I knew the name of.

Right, I shall stop here. Well done for slogging through a surprising long post for only 3 days…

xxx

Auf Wiedersehen Tübingen

It feels very odd to be writing my ‘rounding up’ blog of my time here. The months have really gone by very quickly, almost absurdly so! So it is with sadness (as well as laziness) that I face up to the prospect making my way to the airport and flying back to the UK.  Before I get into to reminiscing mode and you all roll your eyes and stop reading, I should probably pick up from where I last left off…

I mentioned in my last post that I was preparing to sing in a few concerts with the Tübingen Akademischer Chor. The three concerts were all enjoyable, but the last one, in the Stiftskirche in Tübingen was definitely the highlight. My mum had flown over to see me and the cathedral was jam-packed. Some lovely friends of mine also came to see me, which I hugely appreciated, particularly as it’s not a short piece…

I was also in a play on 1^st February entitled “Die Erfindung der Brezel” (The Discovery of the Prezel) with the International Theatre Group I was a was in. Some suitably embarrassing pictures shall follow. (I should probably explain that the headgear I’m wearing is an original headpiece that belonged to a distant relative of our Director. It was pretty terrifying having to wear it, since it was so old, and, somewhat disastrously it actually started to rip during the day. The woman directing us, however, was so chilled, and just said that it was great that it was being used rather than sitting in a box…) We rehearsed the whole of Saturday which was tiring but it seemed to pay off. Despite very little time for sorting out props and stage management, it all somehow came miraculously together. My role, the nagging wife of the Dukes baker, suited me uncannily well. I had little problem getting to grips with eye-rolling, foot tapping and being bossy. It was particularly fun acting alongside some of my closest friends here in Tübingen, and making new friends. Although only international students were involved, the Director was German and the play was also all in German.

My glittering sports career in Tübingen came to an abrupt halt last Monday, when I sprained my ankle in Floorball. I won’t go into the details of how it happened, but safe to say it occurred just after scoring my fifth goal of the match, certainly not due to turning to vigorously whilst flailingly (yes flailingly, failing and flailing at the same time) attempting to get the ball… It actually turned out not to be too bad, but I had to forgo Lacrosse and then a planned 5K race on Saturday (no really, I was actually planning on doing it!!) I would attach a picture of the aforementioned injury, but the pictures don’t convey how dramatic I thought it was at the time…

The academic side of things is all over since Tuesday, when I had my last exam.  They all went fine, thankfully, and I generally enjoyed all my courses here. I do sometimes have to pinch myself at the freedom Cambridge gives me to choose courses and have time to do lots of other things.

Prerequisite to going on a Year Abroad is being all spontaneous, right. I would pretend that dying my hair fits under that category but in actual fact I have been umming and ahing about it for a long while, and started to have second thoughts during it, the rebel that I am. I’m actually rather pleased with the result. Again I would include amusing photos but they on my friends phone. Maybe I can stop the incessant apologising with the promise that my next blog will be ONLY pictures and no words?!

This past few days has involved manic packing and goodbyes, both of which are the WORST. But as I consider the prospect of hobbling to the airport with my 30kg bag, I am trying to cheer myself up by reflecting on all the fantastic moments I have had here… Meeting a fellow ‘Sister Act’ fan… Eating ice cream on the Neckar bridge… Introducing the Christmas Tree dance to Tübingen night life... Trying food from around the world… Impromptu singing in front of the Stiftskirche…  

The next adventure is soon to begin, after a short stop in England. Tübingen, ich werde dich nie vergessen. xxxxx

A New Year, a New Blog

Hello avid blog reader(s)! I hope you have all had a great start to the New Year. I had a lovely Christmas with my family in Malaysia and got back to Tübingen on 5^th January.

Term started rather manically for me on 7^th, due to failing to check when classes recommenced, and what work was still left to do – (lots)! But have caught up now and am bracing myself for exam period. Now whilst I cannot say I am frightened of these to anywhere near the extent I would be in the UK, there is that niggling concern about doing exams in a language other than English. Obviously I am used to oral exams (which are probably the most brief yet intensely stressful exams that exist) but doing a ‘spoken exam’ on the topic of ‘Music of Antiquity and the Middle Ages’ is quite a different thing to discussing an article on ‘the importance of the internet’. We’ll just see how it goes!!! :O

That being said, I am managing to fit in a lot of things that don’t directly relate my work.  In fact, I just got back from a choir rehearsal with the academic choir here in Tübingen. We have another rehearsal tomorrow followed by three concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday! The piece we’re singing is a MASSIVE choral work by Mendelssohn called ‘Paulus’, and tells the story of the apostle Paul’s life and works. It is such a privilege to be able to sing in the concert- the music is exhausting for the voice but will sound great (I hope). We were rehearsing with the orchestra today who are amazeballs (never used it before and never will again), and we heard the soloists over the weekend who are also fantastic. I am getting very excited probably also because my mum is flying over to see me in it. J Oh, related to choir, there was a very surreal moment whilst we were rehearsing over the weekend, when a lovely (slightly older and not altogether sporty-looking) member of the bass section decided to do a few cartwheels in the hall during our break. It was just very sudden, and I do hope he didn’t see the hysterical laughter of me and a fellow choir-member.

On the less ‘cultured’ end of the scale is a play I am acting in with the international theatre group, recounting the tale of the invention of the pretzel.  I have particularly been enjoying nagging  acting alongside my friend in the role of his wife.

My sporting endeavours continue falteringly. I played Floorball again yesterday (hockey with plastic sticks) and was urged to try and score a goal. My enthusiastic wrist and arm flailing alas brought forth no goal but only frustration and sadness. That was almost poetic... I have also just made the potentially terrible mistake of signing up for a 5K race in a few weeks. It’s not far, but I have low expectations of a quick time. Out-of-breath photos to follow.

What else is there to report? No proper snow has fallen yet in Tübingen which is sad. Last week was positively spring-like but the past few days the rain has come and reminded me of Britain. Since I last wrote I have celebrated Christmas and New Year’s twice, owing to my Russian friend organising get-togethers for the dates of Christmas and New Year’s according to the Julian calendar. Oh I went to a really interesting lecture last week, given by a renowned German Physics professor who spoke on the topic ‘The Big Bang and the Question of God’. Loads of people came and I think what he said started some really interesting discussions about the nature of the universe and where it could have come from. The pictures of deep space and its multifarious galaxies, stars and other spacey things I don’t know the names of were pretty incredible.

It is with some bewilderment that I looked at my diary the other day and realised just how little time I have left here. I fly back to the UK around 15^th February to get myself sorted and organised before the next part of my adventure begins in Moscow. I am inclined to go into reflection mode, but I have time for all of that and don’t want to get all prematurely sad... Safe to say I am really going to miss this place and all its little idiosyncrasies.

I shall endeavour to write soon! J

Successes and Failures

Christmas is quickly approaching here in Tuebingen, seasonal lights appearing everywhere, as well as trees. Can’t quite fathom how it can already be December, but it’s exciting none the less. We got the first bit of snow the other day. I was definitely more excited than my flatmates, who declared it not to be snow. I am sure I will be less keen on it when freezing next to a bus stop- but Tuebingen in snow is bound to be pretty. I shall endeavour to do at least one more post before I head back for the Christmas holidays (on December 20^th) full of pictures of Christmassy Tuebingen. For now I need to rush through a fair few weeks of stuff that I have got up to and as yet failed to write about. For a change I thought I would separate the blog into ‘Successes’ and ‘Failures’of the past few weeks...

Success 1: Cooking

I cooked!!! Haha although able to cook basic meals like stir-fry and pasta, my dream of being a domestic goddess has yet to be realised... Thus cooking ‘something British’ for my group of international friends did somewhat fill me with dread. However, my Shepherd’s pie turned out quite well, if a bit bland. Then again the British are known for their bland food so I supposed I just fulfilled people’s expectations. I have generally been enjoying the food situation here- particularly the bakeries... The local Swabian cuisine is great, unhealthy, filling, warming stuff.

Success 2: Travelling

I have been lucky enough to travel a bit around Germany and see some friends along the way. 2 weekends ago I was in Berlin visiting a uni friend who is doing an Erasmus semester there. It was such a lovely time. We mostly just wandered around and chatted. One vaguely historical thing we did was to visit the Mauerpark, which we later found out was once a part of the 'Death Strip' of the Berlin Wall. The day we went was 'Volkstrauertag', which is the German equivalent of Remembrance day, meaning there were lots of families with young children wandering round the park, as well as the cool graffiti artists. According to Wikipedia the park attracts: "basketball players, jugglers, musicians, and many other types of people. So naturally I felt right at home there. Here is a pictures of me and my friend posing by a recently graffitied wall in the Mauerpark.

This picture is to prove I am not a complete loner- thus far all my pictures have only been of me...

Last weekend I went to Bonn (the former capital of Germany) and Cologne as part of my Post-War German History course here at Tuebingen Uni. After an early start we arrive at around lunchtime in Bonn, where we went to the 'Haus der Geschichte' (House of History) which was a MASSIVE museum detailing the history of German since 1945. Although we did a prepaid tour, it is apparently free for visitors, and there is so much information you could probably spend a week there. On Friday evening we travelled on to Cologne, about an hour or so away. There we wandered around the city, where preparations for the Christmas market was well underway, and had dinner. The next morning we did a whistle-stop tour of the city by foot, and then had a few hours free to wander into the massive Cologne Cathedral, the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe (according to my good friend Wiki) and probably the largest cathedral I can remember visiting. It remarkably survived World War Two, whilst the rest of the city was largely flattened. Cologne is also the birthplace of 'Eau de Cologne' (Koelnisch Wasser, now the term used for any sort of perfume. To my shame I only made the connection when I went into the tourist shop and saw it on the shelves. It is rather confusing that the German name for Cologne, Koeln, sounds so different...

View of Cologne Cathedral from bridge I forget the name of

Failure 1. Miscommunication

A common feature of speaking a foreign language is making silly mistakes and misunderstanding people. The strangest experience of this that I have had happened a few days ago, when I responded to the lady at the cashier at my local supermarket with the word 'no' in Russian- she then proceeded to chat to me a bit in Russian, which was lucky. I still looked like a madwoman who randomly speaks other languages she doesn't know... I think my brain is a bit confused at the moment.

Failure 2: Not making it in time to visit Berlin zoo

The picture speaks for itself

Failure 3: The ending of this blog post

It seems I have run out of witty comments and interesting stories to amaze and inspire, so I shall stop here. Hope you are all well!

Ciao! (What everyone says here...)
x

All the world’s a stage...

Apologies are boring so I shall not excuse myself for my lack of communication via the blogosphere. Actually, you should be grateful for the opportunity to hear from such a witty, beautiful and insightful person...

ANYway, how to catch up on the last few weeks. I suppose I should begin by chatting about the academic side of things. Although I am sure many of you think I am doing no work at all here, that’s only partly true. :P I have enrolled myself for 6 courses: 2 from the ‘German as a Foreign Language’ department, 2 from the Musicology Department and 2 from the Slavistic department. This week was my first ‘full’ week of lectures. Full in the sense of comprising all my courses, but perhaps not in terms of hours... In any case it has been a challenge! The mere task of making notes during a lecture entirely in German is no easy feat. Last week at an introductory lecture to Ballet Music of the 19^th and 20^th centuries I understood about one word. Even more bewildering was the surprise of a lecture-room of students banging the desks with their fists at the end of it. Seems to be the done thing here... I suppose it’s better than the awkward silence at the end of lectures back home! Russian conversation class is also not particularly straightforward after a month or so of concentrating solely on German. :S But I’m sure it will all become easier shortly.

My free slots in the day are gradually being filled with fun things. I am now singing in University’s ‘Academic Choir’ on Tuesdays and participating in an international theatre group on Thursdays. I’ve also been going along to the local Christian Union meetings on Wednesdays. I’m starting to have the pleasant experience of bumping into friends on Wilhelmstrasse (the main street where the uni canteen, library and law buildings are situated) and stopping for a chat.

This past weekend was rather random, so I should probably write it all down now before I forget! On Friday night, I and some friends went along to a party in the Stuttgardia, the building belonging to the ‘Studentenverbindung’ (loosely translated as ‘student fraternity’) of that name. These ‘fraternities’ are not without controversy, the more conservative of which, called ‘Burschenschaften’, are exclusively male, promote fencing as the sport of choice and are sometimes associated with right-wing parties. In any case, the party was fun and I was required to do any fencing- so all in all not a bad evening.

On Saturday I participated in a 24 hour theatre workshop. Some writers got together on Friday night and wrote 12 short plays. At 9am on Saturday morning, actors, volunteers and technicians arrived. We (the actors) had a quick warm up and then were assigned plays to act in. We then rehearsed for most of the day, with an hour break for lunch. The curtain went up at 8pm, and we performed what we had cobbled together in that time. It was such a fantastic experience, and one I won’t forget for a while. Having done no theatre since school, I was a bit nervous about going on stage again. But the energy and creativity of everyone involved soon got rid of any doubts about signing up. I was in 3 plays, the first two in English and the last in German. In ‘Hamlet with Zombies’, I played the part of the zombified Rosencrantz, with the thought-provoking line ‘BRAAAAAAIIIINNNNNSSSS’. I hope I did it justice.

Now it is Tuesday night, and my busiest day of the week is over with a Musicology lecture followed by a Russian conversation class followed by a German history class. This was all very interesting but a bit overwhelming for my very small brain. I reckon I need a few more weeks to get into the swing of things... hey ho!

Ooh highlight from today: Bumped into my flatmate on the bus, who said I looked tired. I agreed, but said a cup of tea would do me good, as all English people know that a tea solves every problem. An older German woman chuckled to herself and as we got off the bus told me that she had lived in England before and so understood my strangeness. TEA RULES SUPREME. I think I am tired so shall stop here. Tschüss! (Bye!) x

Becoming Edgy

OK so I have failed again to keep to my word of regular updates. I do hope you can forgive me. This time I thought I would give you a random summary of strange/funny things that have happened in the last week or so.

First of all, an update on the edginess front. Yesterday there was a random ‘alternative’ night right by my flat, with rapping, graffiti art and vegan food. I didn’t actually go, or even spend any time there... but I took a video from the bus stop. DOES THAT MAKE ME COOL?

I have now experienced two karaoke nights in Tubingen. Rapping Eminem numbers by heart seems to be the done-thing here, something I am obviously extremely good at. Video to follow... JOKES!

The number of bakeries may well kill me here- so many delicious carbs. Hopefully my over enthusiasm in signing up for Florball (what I think is indoor hockey) and Lacrosse will go some way in rectifying any damage I have already done to my health. Although according to a friend who has played Lacrosse before I may well lose all my teeth and die in the process of playing it. At least I would die super-toned?!

Travelling back from Munich during Oktoberfest season at rush hour is not a good plan but does result in a perfect opportunity for photos featuring looks of horror and dismay (see facebook...). And for playing the ‘is that man over there asleep or unconscious’ game.

I have now sampled Russian borsch, Hungarian goulash and Polish pirogi whilst here in Tubingen. I fear that my turn to wow and amaze my international friends with my culinary prowess is drawing closer. Any tips for the perfect roast/ how not to poison people would be greatly welcomed.

The ‘Christmas tree’, now my signature dance move, is gaining fans abroad (ok well maybe one fan, and probably only out of pity). I am deeply grateful to whoever it was that taught me it at a wedding reception a while back.  

Oh, and it is SOOO COLD HERE. It is apparently now colder here than in Moscow!! I shall persevere and try and resolve the issue by wearing increasing layers of clothing and pretending that it’s a fashion statement.

Sorry for the randomness of the post, probably representative of a slightly random week. I start lectures on Monday which is a bit terrifying but I will then have a bit more of a routine which should be good! J

Settling in

I have just bought a kettle. This is significant for several reasons. The first is that it replaces the rubbish one that currently lives in our flat, which constantly leaks water and has to be emptied every time water is boiled. This is not ideal, particularly as I am partial to tea and am therefore constantly boiling and emptying the kettle. Yet for me buying the kettle is also a sign that I am beginning to settle into my new habitat and claim it for my own. That sounded less pompous in my head, I promise! In all seriousness I do feel like I am starting to get into the swing of things a bit more here, whether that be timing it perfectly to sprint to the bus station (which is about 5 seconds away from my front door) or remembering that NOWHERE is open on a Sunday.

It is now Friday, and the official end of the German pre-term language course I have been doing. Tonight we are having a farewell meal with our teachers and saying an emotional farewell... OK well not quite but I have really enjoyed the past few weeks. It’s been such a ‘soft’ start into uni life, as the course has helped us matriculate and explain a lot about the German uni system. For example, one doesn’t just waltz into to a professor’s office, or even arrange a time to meet. No, the done thing is to turn up during the ‘Sprechstunde’ (Contact Hour) which is generally only once a week. Seems a bit mad to me but hey ho.

Yesterday was the ‘Tag der deutschen Einheit’ (German Reunification Day). I spent it in Stuttgart with some friends from my course. There were special tents up to represent each of the ‘Bundesländer’. For those of you who don’t know, Germany is a federal republic and is divided up into 16 Länder (or ‘states’). I would explain the intricacies of how administration and politics are affected by this but I know you don’t care and I don’t know anything about it. 

On Tuesday afternoon we took a trip to Bebenhausen, a smallish village which (according to Wikipedia, my main source of information for my blog so far...) is about 5K from Tübingen city centre.  Our tutor took us round Bebenhausen Abbey, a monastery dating back to 1183/84. One interesting fact was that after the Second World War, fro 1946-1952, the local ‘Landtag’ (parliament) met there. It was also pretty.

Now I have a week or so to wait before the real adventure begins and I attempt to understand lectures and seminars which are entirely in German. Eek... My main subject is down as ‘Slavistik’ (i.e. Slavonic languages i.e. Russian) but I also plan to do some Music and German-as-a-foreign-language courses. I have to sign up to everything online very soon. I am not the most decisive of humans so let’s see what happens!