Pardon the completely random title, but I was reading an article in The Moscow Times about it (check out my link on facebook to the article) and laughed out loud at the total absurdity of it all.
Everything has been absurd as of late, not the least of which being the weather (my deepest sympathies lie with the people of Chile, Haiti, Hawaii and everywhere else affected by natural disasters). I am very glad to see that there is more and more daylight each day, that temperatures are starting to warm up, and even the cameo appearance of the sun is reason to celebrate. But with warmer temperatures and melting snow, there is also flooded streets, and to my intense chagrin, ice patches EVERYWHERE. Inevitably, I fell yet again this afternoon after church. Granted, it was the first time this semester, but there seemed to be something inevitable, I don't know.
To complement the rough week I've had, I spent a very pleasant weekend playing Strategic Command with Mike and experiencing my first taste of rugby. Unfortunately for Mike but very fortunately for ye Irish fans (Eileen :)), England lost to Ireland 20-16 in a well-fought match. Don't ask me to explain the rules, that will require me to watch about 5000 more matches before I can comprehend them, LOL. It was still great fun, though, just spending the weekend with a good friend. There's nothing in the world better than great friends.
I don't intend to stay depressed for long. Yes, I am sad about being single, but I don't intend to let that ruin my last semester. Relationships take time and need time to grow and develop. That much I know for certain, from experience. Quite frankly I just don't have the time right now, nor, just as frankly, am I ready for that kind of emotional commitment. It's really hard to give all of one self to another person, but if it's to the "right person", one who loves you and you love back, well, what could be greater? People keep telling me: "You're a great person, Jon. You'll find that girl one day. Don't rush, you're still young." I'm finally starting to really appreciate the wisdom of my well-meaning, and truly fantastic friends and family, whom I miss terribly and love more than words can ever express. Anyways, I've done some soul-searching this week and have come to a decision with which I am at peace. It will be better for both of us in the long run. Thank God for listening to my prayers and walking with me in this trying week. I feel better and more content and ready to face a new day. My butt is in more pain than my heart (CURSE YOU ICE!!!!!!! I curse thee with the fiery wrath of every movie villain!) :P
On a lighter note, I do wish I had more time to watch the Olympics this year, but I am proud of the Americans for a great showing and congratulate all athletes for incredible, inspiring performances. The next winter Olympics is in Sochi, so who knows, maybe I'll be back in Russia in 2014? Who knows.
There is so much good to look forward to in the coming months...Easter, April 8 (which should be an international holiday, hee hee...working on that), choir concerts in May, and one more idyllic summer of working out at the gym, practicing piano at the tsentr iskucctv and fun Russian choir rehearsals. Man, in just a few months, I can add the words M.A. to the end of my name, haha. Whether or not I go on for my Ph.D is far too soon to tell, but you never know, you could be seeing Dr. Tardif in Stein one day at Holy Cross, or even walking along the quad at Middlebury, relaxing at Lake Dunmore. It's fun to fantasize...
Thanks to everyone who comments on my blog, I always appreciate hearing from you! Hope all is well, wherever you are! Peace and love, Comrade Jon :)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Shto takoye colntse?
Good question. It's hard to come by here in Moscow and on a rare day when the sun does come out, it's about -10 (Celsius, that is, but still cold, brrrr). Snowed all day again yesterday, I swear we must have about 4, maybe close to 5 feet of snow on the ground. If I'm exaggerating, it's not by much. Oh well. Lots of time to read and thesisize. :)
Right now I've got about 3 pages done on the thesis. I've said repeatedly that my main academic goal for the semester is to finish a working first draft so I can spend the summer doing revisions. I don't pretend that my work will be publishable by any means, but I'd like to know that if I do a good job with my thesis, I can maybe then rewrite it so it can be published. I love classes, but at the same time am pretty much at the point where it's now time to take everything I've learned in 7 years of trying to understand verbs of motion, let alone PREFIXED vom and apply myself to research. I do love to read and write and I'm sure I can find several topics which I might like to develop into an article or, (I'm being super optimistic here), a dissertation prospectus. I'd love to do research on pretty much anything from Soviet cartoons to the Gulag to the stylistics of a favorite Russian author, etc.
Talking of classes, I'm only in class once a week at the moment, but am still trying to keep up with all the readings, mostly for linguistics, but just got a seminar assignment for my Russian music class. Totally managable, with some very interesting topics like "cvoi" and "chuzhoi" in Russian musical culture, origins and development of art in drevnii Ruc', and so on. My listening comprehension is getting better by the day, as is my reading. Still working on trying to increase my vocabulary, but not trying to overdo it. I know my strengths and my limitations.
Outside of academics, I'm enjoying a very busy social life. Choir is going well, staying at church (I gave up going to the Diner for Lent, but I'm afraid I may fall off the wagon, LOL...). And yes, for those of you who don't know (which I suspect by this point is probably only one or two of you, hehe) I'm dating a cute Russian girl named Nina. It's nice to be in a relationship, and also nice that it has in no way detracted me from my studies. All in all, a healthy balance of linguistics, God, and good friends.
I can't believe I've been back for three weeks already. Seems like just yesterday I was home, waking up at ungodly hours but elated to be home. Looking forward to another brief respite in the Throp before I go back to Vermont and wow Middlebury with my thesis. :) It will be very difficult to leave Russia, possibly for the last time, but I still have four months to enjoy to the fullest, so my dear Moscow friends, you don't need to miss me just yet. JT is sticking around for some laughs, some great music, and, it goes without saying but I will anyway, Strategic Command. "Welcome to hell!" (inside joke, no need to look shocked, hahaha)
Talk soon, everyone! Sending you my love from the Motherland! Do keep writing back! :)
Right now I've got about 3 pages done on the thesis. I've said repeatedly that my main academic goal for the semester is to finish a working first draft so I can spend the summer doing revisions. I don't pretend that my work will be publishable by any means, but I'd like to know that if I do a good job with my thesis, I can maybe then rewrite it so it can be published. I love classes, but at the same time am pretty much at the point where it's now time to take everything I've learned in 7 years of trying to understand verbs of motion, let alone PREFIXED vom and apply myself to research. I do love to read and write and I'm sure I can find several topics which I might like to develop into an article or, (I'm being super optimistic here), a dissertation prospectus. I'd love to do research on pretty much anything from Soviet cartoons to the Gulag to the stylistics of a favorite Russian author, etc.
Talking of classes, I'm only in class once a week at the moment, but am still trying to keep up with all the readings, mostly for linguistics, but just got a seminar assignment for my Russian music class. Totally managable, with some very interesting topics like "cvoi" and "chuzhoi" in Russian musical culture, origins and development of art in drevnii Ruc', and so on. My listening comprehension is getting better by the day, as is my reading. Still working on trying to increase my vocabulary, but not trying to overdo it. I know my strengths and my limitations.
Outside of academics, I'm enjoying a very busy social life. Choir is going well, staying at church (I gave up going to the Diner for Lent, but I'm afraid I may fall off the wagon, LOL...). And yes, for those of you who don't know (which I suspect by this point is probably only one or two of you, hehe) I'm dating a cute Russian girl named Nina. It's nice to be in a relationship, and also nice that it has in no way detracted me from my studies. All in all, a healthy balance of linguistics, God, and good friends.
I can't believe I've been back for three weeks already. Seems like just yesterday I was home, waking up at ungodly hours but elated to be home. Looking forward to another brief respite in the Throp before I go back to Vermont and wow Middlebury with my thesis. :) It will be very difficult to leave Russia, possibly for the last time, but I still have four months to enjoy to the fullest, so my dear Moscow friends, you don't need to miss me just yet. JT is sticking around for some laughs, some great music, and, it goes without saying but I will anyway, Strategic Command. "Welcome to hell!" (inside joke, no need to look shocked, hahaha)
Talk soon, everyone! Sending you my love from the Motherland! Do keep writing back! :)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Maslenitsa > Valentine's Day
Okay, so while I can the attraction that Valentine's Day holds for many, particularly for those who happen to be in a relationship, let's compare it to one of the merriest (and yummiest) of Russian holidays. So Valentine's Day: sure, you might some nice flowers, some chocolate, a trip to London and Paris (best gift EVER btw :)))) , your guy might wait on you hand and foot (men who happen to be in Russia, do not despair, Feb 23 is YOUR day), but really, that lasts only a day (unless you happen to have a quality guy who is nice enough to love you each and every day, and give you flowers just because. And yes, I do believe (naively, perhaps) that the spirit of Valentine's Day should last not just one day, but the whole day long, but that's just the hopeless romantic optimist in me, lol.
Let's look at Maslenitsa. I'm not here to give a history of how it started, I'm just saying it's infiinitely better than Valentine's Day. Why, you may ask?
1. It lasts a week, leading up to and culminating in Shrove Tuesday.
2. Pancakes pancakes pancakes! Among other traditions, you basically are free to consume as many pancakes as humanly possible for an entire week. And really, what could top that?
That's about all I got, actually, haha. Like I said, this wasn't meant to in any way be an information introduction to all aspects of this great week-long tradition, I just wanted to state an opinion. In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I've got to say about that."
In other news, I have successfully gotten over jet lag now, and thus am getting up at much more convenient hours. For the moment I'm only in class one day a week (just started this past Friday), but surely that will change soon, and my schedule will be completely insane. I've got to write around 50 pages or so before I come home in June, so I really do need to start making some major headway with my thesis, because I was just assigned a major paper for my class on a survey of Russian music from ancient times to the 17th cent. Very interesting course, but don't really need the extra work, lol .And then, because I'm completely insane, I decided to take an introductory course on linguistics, or yazikoznaniye. Three words, or rather, 3 letters, because Russians just love abbreviations: SMR, translated in grad-school speak as SO MUCH READING! But I do love languages, and I do think this course will be both beneficial towards future studies as a Slavic scholar and interesting in and of itself, so I'm willing to make the commitment. I may need to be committED when all is said in done, but I'll do my best, lol.
In choir news, we are singing John Rutter's Gloria, which in my opinion is ACCIDENTALTASTIC (music scholars will hopefully laugh, but I know Jennifer will, because as we all know, she adores accidentals, especially in John Rutter's music! :)) We are also singing some folk songs from Russia (and it seems England as well), and, if I heard correctly, selections from Mamma Mia. I kid you not. ABBA will be sung by the Moscow International Choir, so I fervently encourage all ABBA fans who are in Moscow in May to come and check out our concert! :D Take a chance on us, and then thank us for the music, LOL! :)
That's all I really have to say for the moment. I'll try to keep up with the blog this semester, it will be particularly gratifying to take some time to do some writing in English and stay in touch and hopefully hear from people that I haven't spoken to in like 5000 eons but are still my close friends. :) You stay classy, wherever you are, hee hee. ;) Talk soon, and enjoy the Olympics!!! And a happy Valentine's Day to all who celebrate it! Or a happy Singles' Appreciation Day to those who strive come hell or high water NOT to! Meanwhile, I"m going to go have some blini while it is still very much socially acceptable to do so. Actually, it is ALWAYS socially acceptable to eat blini, but this week, it's pretty much my duty as a student of Russian culture to do so. :)
Let's look at Maslenitsa. I'm not here to give a history of how it started, I'm just saying it's infiinitely better than Valentine's Day. Why, you may ask?
1. It lasts a week, leading up to and culminating in Shrove Tuesday.
2. Pancakes pancakes pancakes! Among other traditions, you basically are free to consume as many pancakes as humanly possible for an entire week. And really, what could top that?
That's about all I got, actually, haha. Like I said, this wasn't meant to in any way be an information introduction to all aspects of this great week-long tradition, I just wanted to state an opinion. In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I've got to say about that."
In other news, I have successfully gotten over jet lag now, and thus am getting up at much more convenient hours. For the moment I'm only in class one day a week (just started this past Friday), but surely that will change soon, and my schedule will be completely insane. I've got to write around 50 pages or so before I come home in June, so I really do need to start making some major headway with my thesis, because I was just assigned a major paper for my class on a survey of Russian music from ancient times to the 17th cent. Very interesting course, but don't really need the extra work, lol .And then, because I'm completely insane, I decided to take an introductory course on linguistics, or yazikoznaniye. Three words, or rather, 3 letters, because Russians just love abbreviations: SMR, translated in grad-school speak as SO MUCH READING! But I do love languages, and I do think this course will be both beneficial towards future studies as a Slavic scholar and interesting in and of itself, so I'm willing to make the commitment. I may need to be committED when all is said in done, but I'll do my best, lol.
In choir news, we are singing John Rutter's Gloria, which in my opinion is ACCIDENTALTASTIC (music scholars will hopefully laugh, but I know Jennifer will, because as we all know, she adores accidentals, especially in John Rutter's music! :)) We are also singing some folk songs from Russia (and it seems England as well), and, if I heard correctly, selections from Mamma Mia. I kid you not. ABBA will be sung by the Moscow International Choir, so I fervently encourage all ABBA fans who are in Moscow in May to come and check out our concert! :D Take a chance on us, and then thank us for the music, LOL! :)
That's all I really have to say for the moment. I'll try to keep up with the blog this semester, it will be particularly gratifying to take some time to do some writing in English and stay in touch and hopefully hear from people that I haven't spoken to in like 5000 eons but are still my close friends. :) You stay classy, wherever you are, hee hee. ;) Talk soon, and enjoy the Olympics!!! And a happy Valentine's Day to all who celebrate it! Or a happy Singles' Appreciation Day to those who strive come hell or high water NOT to! Meanwhile, I"m going to go have some blini while it is still very much socially acceptable to do so. Actually, it is ALWAYS socially acceptable to eat blini, but this week, it's pretty much my duty as a student of Russian culture to do so. :)
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