Moscow Time
When I arrived to Russia in early September, the sun was still shining. Today, the sun shone for about 8 of 24 hours. Saint Petersburg is one of the northernmost cities in all the world, sitting at about the same latitude as Anchorage Alaska. But Saint Petersburg is a city of 5 million, the one-time capital of the world's most powerful empire, the home of Pushkin and Dostoevsky, the birthplace of Putin. There is something to be said about a center of civilization that exists on the very edge of civilization's limits. Drinking coffee on the banks of the Neva, traipsing through inches of ice and snow for a piece of a pirog, forcing open a metro door against the force of the cold air outside -- so constitutes life in a northern town.
Russian Language
Russians are often surprised you've decided to learn their language. "How is Russian? Difficult?" And it's true that Russian is a very difficult language, mostly in the foreignness of its roots, the complexity of its prefixes and suffixes, and in the diversity of its grammatical construction. While Russian is a difficult language to learn, it is of course very much worth it. A country's language is the key to understanding its culture. And Russia's culture is so rich, its history so varied, I think it would be impossible for Russia to have a pedestrian language. Sometimes it seems that every Russian's utterance could be a quote straight from Pushkin.
Of course, no language isn't worth learning. But Russia has a variety of lessons that are important for Americans to learn. People often ask me if Russia is so different from America. Russia is quite different form the US, with a much different history, a much different culture. But really, life here isn't so strange. I think that what makes life in Russia and in America similar is exactly what makes them so distinct. We both have many European influences and are part of the wider European cultural sphere, but we've taken those influences and made them our own. In Germany, walking across the street feels like a surgical affair. You push the button, you wait for the light, and you walk. In Russia, walking across the street is more like a fight against surging street forces, as you make quick judgments about when the light turns, whether the taxi sees you, whether it will stop. I'm not sure I can speak for every American, but it seems that I can identify more with the Russian way than the German.
Difficulties
Studying abroad is hard. I don't want anyone to come away thinking that studying abroad is so easy, or that life in Russia is so simple. Perhaps I've had it a little easy. I love so much that is Russian; I cross my lucky stars that I have the opportunity to study here, to learn Russian. That's often helped me, made simple moments like trying Starbucks here feel special, unique (although Starbucks is exactly the same). It's strange to always have your bearings uncertain. It's strange to feel so directly the temporariness of your relationships -- both with people and with the land. It's strange to be so disconnected from your homeland -- sometimes I feel like the whole country is falling apart in my absence. But, in the same way that Russian is difficult to learn, but still worth it to study, studying abroad is difficult, but worth it in every way. Studying abroad is an activity that broadens your horizons, that makes you feel like the individual you are. And it underscores your foreignness. We are all, in our own way, strangers in our own land, and studying abroad helps you to remember your individuality.