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What I Learned In Russia

  • Landon Hacker
  • Nov 12, 2017
  • 4 min read

As you have seen and read, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Russia. I thought I would dedicate one post to talk about what I learned in Russia.

Before even leaving on the trip, the study abroad office here at LCC strongly encouraged we learn the sounds and symbols of the cryllic alphabet along with some basic words, phrases, and numbers in Russian. Therefore, I was able to learn just a few things in Russian. Here are some of the things I learned to say (most definitely not how to spell them)

Hello- Добрый день (doe-bray-dien)

How are you-Как дела (kak-dlah)

Excuse me- Извините (iz-vay-knee-tsay)

and most importantly...

Do you speak English-Ты говоришь по-английски (vay-gavar-e-tay pan glees kay)

I could also count relatively well.

I really love the way the cyrillic alphabet looks. It was very cool to learn. It was the first time I tried to learn a completely new alphabet. I enjoyed doing it.

Plus I would have never known this said Burger King without my training!!

During the traveling portions of the trip, I learned how to pass time with no wifi or data on a 17 hour train ride (a horrible thought for many 21st century college and high school students). We just talked to each other (a seemingly lost art) and played multiplayer games on our phones or card games. The point is, we had fun together, it was a great time!

Upon our arrival to Russia, it was really cool to see the place that seems almost always villainously portrayed in the United States. One thing I saw was just people being people. Kids holding their parents' hands, a waiter at the restaurant just trying to make some money and do his job, and little old, sometimes feisty, grannies trying to navigate the streets and metro. It is comforting to see that despite our differences with other people across the world, we are strikingly similar. However, there are always some differences, even if just minute ones, that are fun to pick out and see. One thing I did notice is that sometimes people just get mad at you really fast. I have noticed this in Lithuania too. It seems like older people in general, will just start yelling at you even if you have only done some minor thing wrong. For example, back in Lithuania, we were moving soccer nets in the gym. We moved one along a wall by a basketball hoop of a small, community, recreational basketball league. Once they saw the final resting place of the net, two or three of them just started screaming at us to move it away (at least that's what I assume). It was probably better I couldn't understand them! This thing I have noticed and learned is a possible reality, especially among the older folks.

Kids will be kids! haha. Our little companion on the train. As you may remember from a previous post.

One of the Biggest things I learned on the Russia Trip was the fact that I am not very good at living in the moment, enjoying what is right in front of me. I am the kind of person who likes to go, go, go and keep going. I am always planning and thinking ahead. Now in general, these are great qualities to possess. However, too much of a good thing is almost always a bad thing. These traits of mine were still overactive despite the fact there was no need to rush around and plan too much ahead. I would find myself looking forward and waiting to go to the next attraction of the day instead of enjoying the one I was at in the present. This is not a good thing at all. I tried to improve on this deficiency during the last half of the trip. One time where I truly believe where I was fully living in the moment was during the Feel Yourself Russian show. It was such an enjoyable, interactive spectacle that I was able to just focus on it and just enjoy it.

I was very excited to go on this Russia trip. I was looking forward to the trip for months. Then within 8 days time, the trip was over and life resumed to its normal pace. Now this may sound kind of depressing, but I believe when I look at this fact I can extract a lesson of sorts. The things we look forward to only last a short time, generally. If we only get joy out of life by looking forward to things then what is the point? We just hop and skip aimlessly from experience to experience, chasing the wind in hopes to find some satisfaction. In the end, the event passes and life moves on. Today I may just be doing homework, I am just looking forward to when it is done. After that I can relax a little. When I get up, however, I have a quiz. Then, I will be looking forward to when that darned quiz is complete. I am also going on a trip next weekend. I am super excited and just want the weekend to come. I use these true life examples, to show how easily and effortless I seem to wish away little chunks of time that can turn into large swaths of time. I need to work on living in the moment and enjoying where I am at now, even if that involves Calculus...

I also learned another aspect about life in general during this trip. Life is short! To top it off, it seems we don't remember a vast majority of it. I promise I am not trying to send you into a depression! I have taken enough trips and vacations to know that these things I look forward to so much come and go quickly. I remember a lot of the notable things I did, people I was with, and things we laughed at. However, the other details, seem to just slowly fade into oblivion. It was actually was pretty cool to think, during some portions of the trip, how it would one day just be a blink of an eye, when compared to my whole life. When I had that perspective, I was able to distinguish what was important and worthy of doing and remembering. It was an interesting experiment.

In all, I learned three main things in Russia. The cyrillic alphabet, how to enjoy the present by living in the moment, and I learned to put more value on the things that I will remember and think fondly of many years down the road.

 
 
 

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