I never thought I’d say this, and I may change my mind in a few weeks time, but I’m really glad I came to Russia during the winter. During orientation, the speakers told us that this is most Russian’s favorite time of the year. It is when they feel alive. Initially, I thought I’d prefer a dead feeling Russia in exchange from some warm weather. But I think they may be on to something. (And coming from perpetually cold Amy, this means a lot)
Every society or culture aspires to define themselves by what makes them unique from other cultures. Though Russia has many amazing aspects and an incredibly rich history, I think they way the define themselves the most is by their winter. In my opinion, it takes an incredible person to go through this kind of a winter year in and year out. They know this, and I think it is their biggest source of pride. They’re tough people, there’s no denying it. A lot of older ‘babushkas’ make their living shoveling snow and chipping away at ice (both amazing and sad at the same time). Now that I’m here, a feel a kind of pride in surviving the winter thus far that lets me hold my head a little higher. The cold is invigorating and fresh, and maybe, just maybe, I too feel just a little more alive in it.
At the same time, however, a new cold front has led me further discover the joy of objects freezing. I’m not sure why I didn’t discover this in my first few weeks here, but if you don’t stretch out your eyelids nice and wide every minute of so, the snowflakes forming on your eyelashes will actually start to crust together. If your not paying attention and ‘stretching,’ the very edges of your eyes will weld shut. This was not a fun discovery to make. I also get something of a ‘snowbeard’ and out of sheer embarrassment; I’ll let you figure that one out for yourself.
On another exciting note, my teachers decided to start talking entirely in Russian with me today. Russian winters are nothing compared to the Russian language. It was really hard, and I feel slightly brain dead right now, but it was challenging in the best sense of the word. In a weeks time, I have no doubt I will be entirely fluent 