On Friday, going to see Transformers 2. The fact that it was in Russian probably made it a lot better, because I couldn't understand the heavily affected voices of the evil bad-guy robots at all, and all of their lines were unnecessary history of the robot war anyhow. Plus, the bad parts of annoying stereotypes and stupid dialogue were almost nullified!A quick word about the title of this post:
Russia has a peculiar way of being very inadvertently funny to foreigners. (What a country!) Examples happen all the time here, but they're very insignificant on their own. More to come on this subject, I think, later.
Still so much to say--I want to talk more about Pskov, my impressions of the excursions, and also especially the very enjoyable night out at a bar/music club there (and the people I met there), but as always, time is short. The excursion to the Dostoevsky Museum yesterday was very short, actually, and I'll admit that because the guides are always difficult to understand and I have unfortunately not really read any Dostoevsky significantly, it was a bit boring. Actually, it reminded me of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam (and also perhaps a bit of the Rembrandt House).
Here's a short video of the tour of a Russian Orthodox monastery near Pskov, so you can see a bit of what it was actually like for us. At the monastery I bought a CD (it was about $4) of the monks that live and work there chanting. I'll listen to it tonight!
I also want to talk a little bit of personal history, such as my feelings on going to college in the first place, rewinding (remember VCRs?) to about exactly two years ago, which I think directly relates to me going abroad, about who I am and where I am in life right now. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until next time. It's a topic that is very close to me.
More dreaming--it's fuzzy, but I remember some new theatre production happening at my high school, and I'm a senior there when this happens. The important thing about the production is that it's contemporary, and that's apparently a very big deal.
Also some other adventure in a dream. Don't remember any details.
I received some information yesterday concerning my travel arrangements to Japan, and for a brief period of time I thought I might be in Boston for a bit at the end of September, but now again that arrangement appears unfeasible. Although it would be a bit awkward to bum around Tufts, I'll miss seeing Tufts friends for another whole year. Doesn't seem like it's going to make any monetary sense for me to go to Boston, though I thought that it would with the stipend for Japan. Hm.
Still thinking about and working on what to do with returning to America in August. I'm returning to Israel on the 10th of August, and I would be really excited, but I have a few problems:
I had been scheduled to return to America that same day, but when I left Israel two weeks ago I was so thrilled with being there that I immediately extended my trip further, all the way until 1am on Tuesday the 18th. So here's the problem--I have no plans to stay anywhere or do anything during that time, except for what I discussed with one new friend there about me staying at his place in Eilat from Friday until Sunday or perhaps Monday (by this plan, I would need to arrive at the airport on Monday evening [the 17th] just after dinner to get on that flight). But that leaves me with nothing from the 10th until the 14th (during that time, I had thought it would be great to go to Bulgaria and hang out with George, another friend, but that's yet another $600 I don't have). Furthermore, I'm not even sure I have enough money to last me almost six more weeks in Russia, let alone another week in Israel (where things cost more, and I'd have to spend more to support myself too). But there's even more to it than that--I'll have large heavy bags with me, and after 10 weeks abroad I'll be anxious to return home, especially since I have friends back home who will be going back to their colleges all over America very soon afterward.
Anyway, I'm not sure what to do. I'm not confident that I'd be able to convince El Al to let me change my flight again for anything less than $100, even though this would be the third time changing it. Bah, I should have waited. I'd love to see some more of Israel, but this is eight whole days and basically it's pretty inconvenient for various reasons. Supposing, then, that I were to change my flight to leave on perhaps the 13th or 14th, that might work too, but even so, I know that's during the week and many of the Israelis I know will be busy. And what would I do with my bags?
On a random note, whenever I have a couple of minutes I read Questionable Content. I don't have much time to read it here, but I'm about a third of the way through the whole thing, going from number one. It's very well done, and it's a fascinating arc to follow (as well as following the author himself in his comments on each strip). Honestly speaking, I feel that I relate to many of the characters, especially Marten, though no one exactly of course.
THE FOLLOWING is MY ADDRESS here in Russia! I should have posted it sooner, but here it is. Fortunately, as long as you're just sending a letter or postcard or something (I wouldn't recommend sending me a parcel/package), it shouldn't take more than a week or two to get here. So, as long as you send something within the next two and a half weeks, I'll be able to get mail from you! That's really good, since I'm told that to send things internationally FROM Russia is, well, unreliable at best. I'm told six weeks is an average time for mail.
Alexander Michaelson
c/o Smolny College / Bryan Billings
St. Petersburg State University
Lt. Schmidt Embankment 11, Office 416
199034, St. Petersburg, RUSSIA
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