two months to go...

Hey guys! Ваня Кенгуруевич is on vacation, so I'm filling in for him as myself. ;) I thought I'd spend a few minutes reflecting on the two and a half years I've spent in this crazy strana known as Russia. It scares me a little bit to think that despite all the hardship, despite the dark times when I was afraid of being sacked coupled with the abandonment I'd been feeling at that point, I may not be coming back to this amazing place where I've grown in my faith as a Christian, where I rediscovered my dormant skills at bowling, where I've become super obsessed with Russian grammar (most recently, punctuation and syntax).

I can recall the many hours I spent watching soccer with my host dad back in St. Pete, the countless days and evenings walking in solitude along the Neva and Moskva rivers, day trips to various and sundry towns outside of Moscow. Four years ago on this day I successfully defended my first "nauchnuyu rabotu" in Russian, a research paper on Shostakovich and his opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District." Just last week I sang "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" as part of a trio during Offeratory and last semester I sang a solo in "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." I recall with gladness the classes I taught in which students were motivated to do the work, asked great questions about phrasal verbs and helped each other. I didn't even mind that I taught on Saturdays because I had a great group of beginners. Many fond memories remain of my days at the Link in the Pru. And then there was the shashlik party. Words cannot express the awesomeness and craziness of that afternoon and evening.

What else do I remember? Yes, I'm in one of those nostalgic moods, today...Let's see. I remember rushing around for hours trying to find a bowtie for my choir concert last semester, only to discover that Corinne had a whole bunch of extra bowties at the ready. Needless to say, I was slightly humbled. 0:) I remember learning how to play Durak (a popular Russian card game) and picking it up pretty quickly (this was on our forty hour train ride to Sochi), only to never play it again, lol. I remember the awkwardness I felt starting choir rehearsal being the only tenor for what seemed like ages. (Luckily I can read music well enough, and we didn't start with "Take a Chance" so it wasn't a polny' koshmar - a complete nightmare.)

I remember my 21st birthday spent in the company of my HC friends, drinking apple juice through a straw (yes, that was my passage into manhood, hahahah....can you tell I need a woman? :p), and then the images of what was in Kunstkamera....they shall terrify me for the rest of my life...

On the theme of unforgettable birthdays, I should probably recall again what happened just a couple of weeks ago. After a lovely birthday lunch, in which Julian certainly had a good laugh at my expense, I went to a bar for drinks with some friends from Language Link, and then began the craziest 5 hours ever spent in human company. Again, I'll just leave you hanging with all the details, but suffice to say, that yes, I woke up and was one of the first in the choir to make it on church ready to sing God's praises.

All this talk of nostalgia aside, I cannot deny being both excited and scared about what awaits me back in the states: a final summer of near-idyllic (would be idyllic except for the whole thesis thing) life at Middlebury (maybe the sun will come out two days in a row this year), one HELL of a graduation party, and then, gradual transition back into the workforce. It will, however, be nice to be back at home for a few weeks to relax and plan my next move. What a wonderful thing uncertainty is. It's easy to be scared by it and get stressed out, but it's so much more enticing and (in my opinion) worthwile to think of all the possibilities instead of being dragged down by the fear of closed doors which may not in fact be closed. With God on my side, I may trip, I may fall into a prairie dog hole (well, probably not, you'd have to be a real moron to do that, not that I know anybody who's ever had the experience...;)), but I WILL NOT FAIL. And that alone is enough to give me confidence. The fact that I am not alone as I take steps towards the next part of my journey towards finding myself and my place in this world also gives me hope. My friends in Moscow have been absolutely incredible, and I will forever be grateful for their friendship and hope that they will remember me as I will them. Geographical differences can easily be overcome, as we discovered on Sunday, worshiping with the Methodist Church in Salermo, Italy via Skype. We are all one family under God. We are all brothers and sisters.

That all being said, there's still two months of new adventures. There's the fact that I have THREE choir concerts next month. It'll be good to see some of my friends. First concert is May 6 at 7 pm at the Conservatory (Rachmaninov Hall). It's a Thursday, so if you can't make it, our other concerts will be at St. Andrew's Anglican Church (metro Biblioteka im. Lenia, Oxotny Ryad, Pushkinskaya, Tverskaya) on May 14 and 21 at 7.30 (both Fridays) Come by and hear some great folk songs, sacred Russian music, John Rutter and of course, Mamma Mia! There's exams to study for, opportunities to step up my bowling game, chances to assert myself as the official Bog-Korol' of Russian grammar (Mike, you've been demoted to assistant but you can reclaim your position in due time :)) It's going to be an incredible couple of months, and as excited as I am to be going home, I have every intention of making the most of the remaining time I have in this incredible city of Moscow.

Further reflections to come, but for now, this is Comrade Jon, signing off. Have a lovely day!

not so народная мудрость

Добрый день! Позвольте мне представиться! Меня зовут Ваня Кенгуруевич Капризов, но Вы можете меня назвать "Дядей Ваней", "Дедушкой", и.т.д, только без всякой глупости и неприличных слов, хорошо? Как сказал один из мужчин в киноклассике "Ирония судьбы": "Давайте без дураков."

Поскольку читатели владеете несколькими языками (кстати, горазде больше меня. Я, например, владею русским, английским, и языком кенгуру), я буду писать свои замечание и впечателения о России и на русском, и на английском языках, пока без языка кенгуру, думаю, что будет легче так). Прошу прощениу у тех, кто не может читать по-русски, но что же делать? Пора занимаются русским!

Итак, мы с Вами познакомимся с теми вещами, которые часто удивляют, даже шокируют иностранцев. Готовьтесь смеяться (но над мной нельзя)!

If you want to know what I've been saying, non-Russian speaking friends, all you have to do is ask. But you have to ask, otherwise I will assume that you have without my knowledge acquired near-native speaker fluency in Russian in a wicked short period of time, in which case I applaud you and will pay good money to learn your secrets ;)

Ну что ж, ребята, начнём? Поехали.

1. Will I ever stop studying Russian grammar? No. Will I stop being terrified of all the exceptions to the rule which aren't really exceptions? No. Will I ever correctly be able to read fractions correctly? Yes, as long as they're in the nominative or accusative cases. ;)

2. Tell the story. (For my friends in MIC, an entire blog will be devoted to the majesty that is Sergei's attempts to give directions in English, but for now I will confine myself to a sampling of Sergeisms. Don't afraid. Don't sing like mechanical piano players.

3. Согласно Саше, моему папе, с которым я жил в Питере, я похож на хиппи, на Джона Леннона, и на медведя.

4. Я дружил с причастиями. Они меня не пугают.

5. Despite the stereotype, I will not stop smiling. Smiling is for me more than just an attitude or reflection of how I'm feeling at a given moment, it's a deeper sign of an eternal sense of optimism that despite all the bad things that have happened to me, things will work out.

6. I really can't make fun of my sister for losing her phone anymore. I can, however, say that I've never had my phone run over by a truck. That's just ridiculous. ;)

7. Last summer's shashlik party was the most insane day of my life. My birthday party on Saturday night was the most insane evening of my life. Here's to great friends! За дружбу!

8. "Это не важно". Сергей напоминает нам, что слова в песне "Либертанго" не так уж важно.

9. In Russian conversation, you are likely to hear several times, if not several hundred times, words such as вот, ну, давай, ага, же, and other particles which have different meanings and functions, depending on context.

10. Шас! Я щас!

11. "Джон, неужели ты никогда не провёл ночь с проституткой?" "Да, Сашь, иикогда." One of the many times my host dad tried to give me dating advice. On Victory Day he had me pose with a random Russian girl along the Neva holding the Communist flag.

12. Oh verbs of motion...how you confuse me.

13. Oh verbs with prefixes...how you bring me into a state of eternal perplexity.

14. Oh numbers...how I hate the fact that you decline like nouns, adjectives and pronouns. Decimals and fractions scare me.

15. Kunstkamera...the sketchiest museum to ever exist on the planet. Also, the weirdest birthday I've ever spent. Thank goodness it ended with my host mom giving me Cheburashka to offset the horrible memories of that place along Vasilievsky Ostrov.

I think that will suffice for the moment. Stay tuned for further interesting reflections on such themes as the Russian winter, the Russian soul, and more interesting battles with Russian grammar and insane drivers. Next time: a typical rehearsal with the Moscow International Choir.

Всего доброго! Буду выражить искренную благодарность за любые замечания и вопросы.

Ваня Кенгуруевич

The quarter-century club

First and foremost, I have to say how very pleased I was to receive so many thoughtful birthday greetings! It speaks not only to how many friends I have, but also to the quality of friends I have and am lucky to know. God bless you, one and all! Thank you for the creativity (Stefa, Dan, Shannon...LOVED yours in particular), the humor (JJ, Maggie), the heartfelt wisdom and sincerity (Monique...well, really everyone :)), and so on. What did I do yesterday? I treated myself to a birthday lunch at Starlite (yes, got my usual cheeseburger and cheesecake c karamel'yu, I don't mind being a creature of habit, I am one after all, LOL), and then went for a walk at Tsaritsyno. Another recent blessing has been the terrific weather we've had lately. Thanks to sunshine and mild temperatures, the snow is at long last gone, hooray! But of course, as mom and dad know, snow will always be connected with me because I was born on a snowy April day, 25 years ago...

Today was an uneventful day, with the possible exception of having an unannounced test in linguistics. I don't think I did very well on the test, so I will have to make up for it by writing a good essay in preparation for seminar next week. I will probably take the tram home later, enjoy a leisurely evening of dinner and Vicar of Dibley, in preparation for tomorrow's epic day of choir, in which I hope the level of awkwardness that is me arriving way before the other tenors is kept to a minimum, and partying in the evening. I also can't wait for Sunday, as it is tradition to get a bar of chocolate in celebration of one's birthday, with the caveat that Fr. Simon takes great pride in humiliating every single person who dares to receive his/her chocolate. I'm sure Father Simon will say something on the lines of: "We congratulate our brother Jonathan on his birthday, an important member of the church choir, of the MPC choir, and about 5 other choirs in Moscow..." Something to that effect, haha. Oh well, for chocolate it's worth it. ;)

As I turn 25, I can't help but reflect on all that I"ve been through, both the bad: 9/11, the death of my beloved grandmother Meme and other close family friends, being mugged in St. Petersburg and dealing with an overly hostile choir director, the recent Moscow bombings, falling in and out of love quicker than I would have likcd, long periods of feeling abandoned and alone, and, more importantly for me, the good: graduating from my dream school, Holy Cross, during which I made some lifelong friends for whom I would gladly lay down my life, grad school in Middlebury and Russia, where I am putting my knowledge of Russian grammar to the test through daily contact with Russian and the writing of many papers, including my thesis, which I shall defend this summer, learning to really like myself and appreciate what I can do as opposed to regretting what I cannot, discovering a love of singing while still nurturing a long-developed love of piano (and now composing), hanging out with amazing people and finding time for reading, prayer and spending time outside in the beauty of God's creation, nature. I am truly blessed to have a God looking out for me, to be part of a loving family, to give and receive love in kind without any preconditions, to know so many brilliant, kind, talented, funny, compassionate friends, which leads to awe-inspiring, hilarious, humbling, unforgettable conversations. These are the people I want to be with, today and for all days.

Thanks again for a lovely 25th birthday. Will see some of you tomorrow, most everyone else in just a couple months' time! I don't know about you, but I'm WICKED pumped to go home. As great a time as I'm having in Russia, a part of me feels that it's time to move on and think about work in the States, that is, after one more idyllic summer at Middlebury with the Russian Choir , evenings playing the piano or watching a serial on Saturday nights till the early hours of the morning and hoping that thesis will be well-received. So much in store for the future, but so much to appreciate here and now, in the moment. :) What a glorious feeling it is to be 25! How great it is to truly be alive, to be a part of God's creation! My wish for you is to be part of the creation, to do something that makes you feel truly alive, that you are so passionate about. Go out to love and serve the Lord, we are told as the end of the liturgy. Go out and live. Thank you and God bless.