greetings from "The Collective"

Hello again. It's been a while since I've last posted, so I apologize (especially to my family, who I know are diligent readers and are always telling me UPDATE!).

Since I have last written, a lot has gone on in over here. I spent a week in Russia (SO COOL!), and I have so much to talk about. So I won't just ramble on and on, perhaps we can start with some structure?

1.Germany up until now:
Well, I haven't done anything too exciting since my last post here in Germany. No more breaking into apartments (knock on wood). I've done some shopping. Souveniers and gifts mostly, and every now and then I stop by H&M and get a sweater/shirt (always good to have). I also got an umbrella last week, which is really cute and will be so useful. Germany can go from absolutely beautiful to complete downpour in minutes. Sounds familiar...hmmm....New England anyone?? So yeah, that was a good buy. I also got myself some really cute black leather heels/boots for 3o euros. Everyone in Europe has these great boots, and of course, why shouldn't I? They were cheap! woo! and cute. And I can walk around in them and my feet don't really hurt. I think I win. sweeeeet. We have also recently been frequenting this place called "Another Country" which is an English Bookstore in Berlin. Every Tuesday and Friday they have a movie at 11pm, and home cooked dinner for sale at 9pm. The people here are all either ex-pats, or people from the UK or Australia..or even Germans who want to practice their English. It's a pretty great atmosphere.

2. German Night Life:
To be completely honest, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about German night life at this point in time.... I mean, don't get me wrong, I LOVE to go out. It's just so expensive!! haha. I really like going to cute little bars on random streets, and every now and then going to a club for some dancing. The only thing that gets a little crazy is that we seem to ALWAYS travel in a huge group. I like the people I'm with, but when just a couple of us decide to go out..it usually ends up being MOST of us. And I just feel like that many americans huddled together in one place just gets awkward for Germans, and thus I have been pretty much unable to make German friends on the weekends when I go out, because I'm always surrounded by Americans. I don't know. I like my friends, but I also want to see more of the city, and not always go to the same places. Also, I want to meet Germans and have a more "authentic" life here. Maybe I'm just being idealistic. Who knows. I guess either way I'm having fun, so that's what really matters!

3. DEUTSCH!
My German has gotten remarkably better since I have been in Berlin. Also, with my pink hair, I must look a little German, or at least like a Berliner, because I am frequently asked for directions in german from visiting Germans, and even foreigners. I really like it when people who obviously speak English try to ask me for help finding something in German, and I know they know english so I speak back in English. They always look really relieved, and I'm glad to help them because I remember how hard it was to find things in berlin when I first got here. I went to a souvenier shop a couple weeks ago, and refused to let them shopkeeper speak to me in English, and he told me that I had very good German for a student! I win!! :) He also thought I was from France...I don't really understand how that was decided. Either way..my German was complimented, and that must be good! Also, it has gotten MUCH easier for me to understand when my friends/teachers/people in general when they speak German. I've come a long way since my German classes at Colby!

4. RUSSIA!!!!
a) The People: Russian people...really are crazy. The men in Russia...well, we pretty heinous (with the exception of a few, of course). However, the women were absolutely GORGEOUS. Apparently, they don't go out of the house unless they have gotten dressed to the nines. It's insane. Really, I'm not even exaggerating. Here's an idea of the typical russian woman you might encounter on the street: First of all, she's taller than average, has light skin, dark eyes and hair, and a TON of makeup. Lots of black eyeliner, mascara, and bright colored eyeshadow (this shadow thing goes more toward the older russian women...who apparently think Mimi from Drew Carey was some sort of fashion icon). Then all of the women..with the exception of maybe two women in the whole of Russia, wear this insane pin-thin stilleto black leather boots. In addition to this, they wear wicked tight jeans or black pants tucked into the boots. For a jacket, of course they go with leather or another very nice fabric. And all of the jackets are lined with really nice fox fur (they are OBSESSED...let me repeat...OBSESSED with fur! It's a little unnerving that so many animals have been killed to serve russian women's needs for beauty. Apparently though, when the iron curtain was up during communist times, the only imagery that had from the west in terms of makeup and beauty was stuff from magazines and movies (aka: TONS of makeup and really expensive clothings..really dressed up, etc) Oh, and Russian men have this strange affinity for the mullet. YES. the MULLET. it's not as bad as the average American Trailer Trash Mullet...but shit. It's bad. Think updated and a little more sleek of a mullet...i like to call it the Modern Russian Mullet...if you will. I really don't know what they are thinking.
b) STRAYS: There are stray dogs and cats EVERYWHERE!!! It's really insane. I got a lot of pictures of stray cats and dogs. Apparently, russians don't care so much for pets...or strays. Such a contrast to Berlin where everyone has their pets..dogs, etc. Here, the animals are essentially wild. I felt so bad for them. Russians will often kick them if they are in the way or sleeping, so the dogs are really scared of people, so they run away if you are coming, or get out of the way to avoid being kicked. It's so twisted and evil. SO, because I felt so bad for them, I stole sausages/hot dogs from breakfast at the hotel. I carried them around with me all day purely to feed the dogs and cats I found on my way to lectures at the local university. I did my part for the needly pets of Russia.
c)Russian Vodka: yep...it's strong. We all tried it..but it's CERTAINLY an upgrade from Orloff's! woo!! Also, everything in russia is crazy expensive..especially the alcohol...though vodka shots are generally inexpensive. Also..in russia it is considered rude for a man to order a cocktail with vodka in it. If they want some vodka, they need to just drink it straight!! This little thought about men (Russians can be pretty sexist) probably contributes to the many drunk men on the streets of St. Petersburg.
d) Church on Spilled Blood: THE most beautiful church i have ever seen in my life...seriously. It made me want to cry it was so beautiful. By far my favorite place that I saw while in St. Petersburg. Check out the link to my pictures to see it. It looks like an extremely fancy version of a candy house. Beautiful.
e) Russian Language: is so hard to understand. The characters are completely different (cyrillic), and its difficult to read. Hwoever, we did learn some really useful phrases, etc.
f) Russian Metro: The Metro Stations in St. Petersburg are the deepest in the world. Many of the suvway stations are located 500 meters below ground. This is because when they built them they had to avoid underground lakes, above ground canals, etc. Because its so deep, one must take an over FOUR MINUTE escalator ride into the underground station. Where you don't even have to think about getting on the train, especially during rush hour. During rush hour, the people around you put you on the bus. Everyone is pushing, etc, alllll into this really small subway car. It's absolutely crazy. But very interesting. Russians also don't have a sense of personal space. They are literally in each others faces all the time, and no one has a problem with it. They are SO close to each other on the metro...everyone is literally on top of one another. you can't even move...shit, if the train were to hit a wall, i wouldn't have moved because there were so many people wedging me into the middle of the train. But, it was pretty exciting to take the metro---its so intense in russia! to many people in the city. I missed Berlin's quiet trains...haha
g) KSYUSHA!!!!: I got to see my friend Ksyusha while i was in St. Petersburg because she lives here! I was so excited to see her. She brought me to a couple really cool bars, and her mother cooked me some really amazing and delicious russian dinner. We had a lentil soup with vegetables and ham, meat bilinis, some cheese bilinis, a pickeled cabage salad, bread, and some really great juice. It was great, and so much fun. It was SO amazing to see her--it was way too long of a gap!! I was also able to meet a bunch of her friends, who were also very nice! I love my crazy Russian Ksyusha!! haha

Alright, well that's all for now. I'm SO exhausted from running around St. Petersburg for 5 days straight..soooooo tiiiireed.... gah. I'm so excited to sleep in tomorrow. WOO!! :)

Also, please check out my pictures!! liebegruesseausdeutschland.shutterfly.com

liebe Gruesse!!
Jenn