Yeah so it's been a while since I posted something here. I've just not felt like bloging the last few weeks, but I've kept myself busy!

School is going well, I have learned a lot of Russian and I continue to try and learn as many words as I can. You might say I have got into a rutine by now. I usually go to eat lunch after school, mostly to the resturant my friend (who unfortunatly left already, damn Germans) showed me. I sit and read for about an hour every day while eating lunch. After that I go home to study, watch some movies in Russian. On tuesdays, thurdsdays and saturdays I have aikido, I'm really happy that I begun training here and I very much enjoy meeting everyone there.

Partywise, it's been a bit slow for a few weeks. After 'ze germanz' left I thought I would stop partying for a while. But, I've meet a few Russian friends who have visited in Sweden. Obviously I might have had a few drinks when hanging out with them...

I drink tea like a crazy person while I'm here, I have already finished a pack of over 100 teabags. Good thing it's weekend I can mix it with some beers.

Until next time.

Word of the Day: движущая сила (dvizhusjaya sila) - Propulsive force (also figurativly as in motivation)

Yesterday I went to Veliky Novgorod, which is a town located 3 and a half hour south, going by bus, from Saint Petersburg. I've been there three years ago in November, and although I got up quite early it was worth going there in summer. Veliky Novgorod is a very important historical place for Russia since it holds many of the oldest settlements in Russian history, for example the Cathedral of St. Sofia from the 11th century.

It is also interesting for someone from Scandinavia to go there since a man called Rurik, believed to come from Scandinavia, ruled there in the 9th century. Later, this dynasty led to the Tsardom of Russia (this is according to Wikipedia so please read the historical information with a critical eye; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurik ).

Novgorod is famous for the Kreml, which is an old fortress. There is also an interesting museum of wooden art and architecture in the outskirts of the town.

In one of the wodden churches, we attended a short concert of a male ensemble singing orthodox folk music. One of the songs they sung was "Когда молод был" (Kogda molod byl) - then I was young. When I got back to my apartment in the evening, I wanted to hear that song again. Looking for it, I came across another beautiful, orthodox russian song. It's called Душа моя (dusha maya) - My soul:

My plans for today are to visit the Palace of Peterhof which was built by Peter the Great. And maybe study some more words for tomorrow.

Be well!

Word of the day: По - льститъ (po - lstit) - To flatter someone.

I'm a bit tired at the moment, but in a good mood. Yesterday I once again attended aikido class where I met with my trainer, Viktor, who will help me explore the art. We trained Bokken (with wodden swords) and it was very interesting and fun. Also, I am surprised of how much I understand from the instructions, given in Russian. Now it's just a matter of memorising everything and applying it.

Today we visited a vegetarian restaurant after class since a friend of mine here is a vegetarian, it was very good. Currently, I'm doing my homework so that I don't have to study too much during the weekend since I am going to an old Russian village called "Novgorod", which I will tell you more about after the weekend, and writing on my thesis. However, I have so many new words to learn over the weekend. This is because we watched an Russian movie from 1977 called "Служебный роман" (Sluzhebnyj raman) - "Office romance". Even though I have watched it many times, there were a lot of words that I have to look up. Here's а clip with a nice tune from the movie:

Furthermore, today I made Pelmieni once again, I guess it is obvious that I love it. I'm also enjoying a beer called "Kozel". It's actually a Czech beer that I think is quite good (I will tell you more about Russian beer in a future post). The word "Kozel" means goat, as the picture below indicates. In Russian, it's spelled "Козёл" (kazjol) and it's not a very nice thing to call a human being.

Well it seems that today's post is a bit longer than usual, I hope you enjoyed it. Увидимся (Uvidimsja) - See you!

Word of the day: учреждение (uchrezhdenie) - institution, a word that you never get tired of typing when you study political science ;)

First, I must apologise for the fact that the WiFi in my apartment seems to be unstable so I cannot post as often as I would like, that is daily.

My Russian classes have already started and I'm slowly sinking into the frustration I felt before leaving here the last time. It's so hard for me and sometimes I feel like I'm not making any progress. However, outside the classroom things are turning out very well.

  Yesterday I cooked "Pelmeni", it's a typical Russian dish which is similar to ravioli but it's another type of dough and is usually filled with meet and spices. It's traditionally served with "smetana", which can be translated as sour cream. I've noticed though that the kitchen seems to only have one pot, which makes it difficult for a masterchef, such as myself.

Today I've had my first workout, I friend of mine in Sweden recommended me to try Aikido and through another friend I came in contact with a very nice Russian fellow who trains Aikido. Everyone at the training were very nice to me, they even picked me up and drove me to the dojo. They say that Russians aren't always very nice, but I've found that to be false. Just like in every other country, there are nice and there are unpleasent people. Instead, I think that when you've successfully befriended a Russian, they are very loyal to you and can be very helpfull.

That's it for now folks. Stay tuned!

Word of the day: в меру (v mero) - "moderatly". For a swede, this expression is interesting. There is a Swedish word called "lagom" and it's usually said that there is no word for it in any other language. It basicly means balance, that there is not too much of anything. I've been tought that when the vikings made a toast, they drank out of the same cup. For the drink to last, everyone needed to drink so that there would be enough for everyone. They needed to drink so that it would be enough for the team (lag) around (om). This Russian expression seems to be the closest translation there is to this word.

I'm currently sitting in my apartment in Saint Petersburg. It feels so good to be back, and I must say that the city is even more beautiful in summer (I've only been here in fall, winter, and spring). My apartment consists of 4 rooms, including the kitchen. This is my room:

The apartment is nice and seems to have everything. The stairwell looks a bit shady though and several steps are broken. I've noticed that it's usually like this in Russia; the stairwells are old and not renovated but once you enter the apartment, it's like another building. My flatmates seems to be out at the moment.

Tomorrow I will be at school early to do start my classes, I'm eager to start even though it will be hard. The Russian language consists of six cases which mean that nouns and substantives have different endings. Also, the verbs consist of two versions, one incomplete and one complete, they must be conjugated like in most other languages. Even though language is a challenge, I still recommend studying it, it is a very beautiful language, especially for singing. I will include youtube videos of Russian songs in my future posts.

In the mean time, good night!

Word of the day: Преодолевать/преодолеть (Preodolevat/preodolet) - To overcome. As you can see there are two versions of the verb. The latter is the complete form.

About 4 years ago, a coworker of mine reminded me of what I always need to hear; life is short and one should make as many dreams as possible come true. She encouraged me to do something I knew I wanted to do. This made me go to Saint Petersburg two times, 4 months all together, to study Russian. Now, three years since my last homecoming, I’m returning to this fantastic city once again.

Last time I was there, I started this blog to keep my friends and family up to date on my adventure, writing about the Russian culture and language. Since then, I’ve acquired many English speaking friends, leading me to restarting this blog in English this time. For those of you who are new to this blog: Welcome! Here you will learn about my experiences in Russia and about the Russian language; in every post I will provide the word of the day.

The purpose of this blog is threefold; to tell my friends and family about my life in Russia, to teach the readers about Russian culture and language and therapy for me to use the blog as my diary whilst struggling to learn Russian.

Furthermore, a few apologies are in order. First, English is not my native language and even though I will try to check my posts thoroughly before posting, I will make spelling and grammar mistakes. Second, knowing myself, I know that I will get tired of bloging as my stay in Russia progresses. The posts will be fewer and fewer as the end of my adventure approaches. Third, in accordance with one of the purposes of the blog, I will consider it my prerogative to write about whatever I want and when I want. This suggests that some days I will be in a bad mood and this may affect the post in terms of language and length.

Now, for those of you who do not know Saint Petersburg, it was founded by Peter the great in the year 1703. It is populated by around 5 million people, depending if you count the entire province of Saint Petersburg. I will live close to St. Isaac's Cathedral. My school is at the Russian Museum (to the right in the map below), near the corner of Sadovaya and Italianskaya Ulitsa (“Ulitsa” meaning “street”).

I leave on Sunday the 9^th of August and I will go home again on the 20^th of December. Hopefully I will have learned Russian by then.

Kind regards,

Anders

Word of the day: досуг (dosug) – leisure.

Jaha, då var man hemma. Hemresan gick bra och det känns skönt att vara hemma igen, även om vistelsen på planet från Frankfurt till Landvetter kändes något "bonnig". Svenska är helt enkelt inte lika "exotisk" som ryskan... Väl här hemma så är lägenheten storsanerad och käket fixat för morgonagens arbetslunch.

Har inte så mycket mer att tillägga, tack för att ni har läst bloggen. Ser fram emot att få träffa er öga mot öga.

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Dagens ord: возвращение (vasvrasjenie) - "Återvändning"

...och 200 te-påsar (har gjort av med 2 lådor om 100 st), ska jag nu resa hem. Jag har packat men inser att jag kommer få betala fet övervikt. Vidare ringde vi till ett taxi bolag för att de skulle komma kl 16.45, istället ringde de imorse 04.45 och stod och väntade här nedanför. Jag hoppas att de kommer senare idag också, smått nervös över detta...

   Jag har verkligen haft det bra här och min Chasjajka är helt till sig över att jag ska åka, har fått en duk av henne och igår bjöd hon på tårta och Borsj innan jag skulle iväg på VODKAPARTYT! Efter vodkapartyt begav sig några av oss till en restaurang/sushibar/(strippklubb?), vi hade en trevlig kväll. Jag kommer onekligen sakna alla här.

Jaja, jag skriver mer utvecklat i sista inlägget när jag kommer hem.

Tjoflöjt!

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Dagens ord: Вспыльчивый (vspyltjivyj) - Lättretlig (se bara hur irriterad man blir av att försöka uttala ordet...).