It Was a Very Good Year

Snow is falling fast here and Uralmash looks so peaceful, you would never believe it was once the seat of the Russian mafia.  Incidentally, Irving Berlin was born in the relatively nearby city of Tiumen, hence the lyric, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know.”  American Christmas has come and gone, but the Eastern Orthodox church doesn’t celebrate it till January 7th.  Still, I’m all set for New Years, which is the big Russian gift-giving holiday.

But first the bad news: today I walked away from an ATM, forgetting to wait for my card.  I only realized it hours later when I tried to buy tickets from Moscow online.  I ran back to the bank, but they’d closed half an hour earlier.  Yikes!  So tomorrow I’ll be there as soon as they open with my passport, receipt and phone number of the consulate just in case.  Wish me luck, but in English, because the Russian response is “To the devil!”

My week has been quite relaxing, as my students are writing their zachyoti, pre-exam pass/fail tests.  So while they stress out, I get time off.  On Monday I went to a local kindergarden to see the kids’ Christmas pageant.  Part of the “school of tomorrow” movement, this kindergarden is conducted half in Russian, half in English.  The kids were painfully cute, singing made-up songs about Chreestmas.  I only wonder if they actually understood what they were saying.

Yesterday I went with an American friend to the Tchaikovsky opera “Queen of Spades,” based on a story by Pushkin.  I love going to the theater here in general and opera in particular.  Since operas are usually not in English, I’m used to not understanding what the hell they’re saying.  This time, I was pleased to get about 50% of the lyrics, and the rest I easily pieced together.  The production was, as always, gorgeous.  There was some weirdness after the first movement of the third act; curtains closed, houselights came on and the musicians started filing out, soon followed by many audience members.  Far be it for the Russian theater to announce what on earth is going on, but after about ten minutes, a mysterious voice proclaimed that a principal singer would be replaced by another performer.  The understudy was great, maybe even better, but died after one only scene, which makes me wonder what could have happened to the other performer?  Anyway the show was amazing and only six cell phones went off during the three-act performance.  Good job Ekaterinburg!

After the opera, my friend (his name is Mitch Richards, and anyone who knows my former speech impediment will appreciate the hilarity of that name) and I wanted to get a drink.  We came upon a Beatles-themed Yellow Submarine Bar.  Mitch was sure it was “hard-core Russian,” which sounded good to me.  But in fact, as we descended into the basement pub, we heard a live band playing “Blue Suede Shoes,” followed by a bunch of early Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd and the like.  Sitting at the bar, our English conversation attracted a great deal of attention, and we befriended a bunch of young bilingual Russians.  There was even another American there, a kid who incomprehensibly left South Carolina to come to Russia in late December.  So, not exactly “hard-core Russian,” but we had a great time.

Now I’m gearing up for New Years.  All my presents are bought and bagged, and half are already delivered.  This week I’m looking forward to a consulate holiday party, then heading to a nearby village to spend New Years with my friend’s family.  Apparently, the mother already asks about me every day, even though we’ve yet to meet.  Then, a few days into 2009, fellow Fulbrightniks Matt and Jason are coming up to begin our travels.  I’m so excited to sally forth!  So, in these last days of 2008, I wish all my friends, family and unknown readers the very best of health and happiness.  Here’s hoping the coming year will be full of peace, joy and love.   And remember, you, blog-readers, are the real heroes!