As this week winds down, it’s nice to be able to get a bit of rest in, but it’s very sad to know that this next week is going to be our last one here in St. Petersburg. There is still so much I want to see and do here, and I’m sure going to miss all of my friends that I’ve made over the past month or so. There are so many experiences that are worth repeating too, and we just don’t have the time since we are so busy! We’ve had such a great time, made so many memories, and share so many little private in-jokes that it’s going to be pretty tough to just say good-bye to all of that.
But we’ve sure been making the most of our time here! Russian language class has been going great this week. I look at all the things we’ve learned so far and it’s kind of hard to believe that everyone in class came in knowing little to no Russian upon entry. I’m going to have to find some people to practice with in the States because I would be a little bummed if I just let it all go to waste and forgot it all. And there’s still so much more to learn, too!
Voice and speech is pretty interesting. We do so many tongue twisters and enunciation exercises and I would never have imagined what kind of hard work that can be. I’m doing well in the enunciation and have been getting compliments from the teacher, Maria, on it. That has been a nice self-esteem boost, but tongue twisters are killing me! It gets much easier with practice, and I know it will pay off with amazing articulation skills. I have a big problem with rolling my R’s though. Our teacher speaks only Russian, a language with a lot of R rolling, so that figures into the exercises. It’s just going to take a lot of practice, and I do love a good challenge, so this is really fun despite its little stumbling blocks.
Acting class has been really intense. We are working through every little detail that we can in our scenes from “The Seagull.” Our teacher, Mikhail, is really a stickler for detail, so sometimes we’ll do a scene over and over and over again. He is so insightful however, that it is really a pleasure to hear his feedback, and he also is giving some amazing notions on how to see the characters and circumstances in this show. I just wish we could do the whole show instead of just a part of it, and I’m considering trying to find some way to do it in the States later on.
We went on a little adventure to a town called Vyborg just the other day that wasn’t on the school’s agenda, but is be a destination that anyone traveling near St. Petersburg should see. It’s a medieval town with buildings dating back to the thirteenth century, and it is simply one of the most beautiful spots I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in Russia. We hiked around the whole day, had a great meal at a local restaurant, and saw some of the most amazing architecture. Yulia, one of the coordinators from our school, came with and she told us stories and little facts that made the trip all the more entertaining. We climbed up a castle tower, which I was super excited about since I had never even seen a real castle before. And then we went to Monrepos Park, which sits on a lake, is full of statues and islands, and is just too beautiful to describe. We even caught a free concert at a rustic mansion on the lake. The trip might be coming to an end soon, but we have been seeing it out in the most exciting ways you can imagine.