Akademgorodok “Academy Town”

(Tuesday 20th September 2011, written up 21st September 2011)
Today was more irregular verbs. I struggle with learning all the words but it’s necessary. While it is quite possible to communicate quite effectively speaking, or writing a limited vocabulary, it is absolutely necessary to be able to “receive” words without constantly going to the dictionary. It makes life hard, but there you are.
Today’s exercises are around the words for “To see”, “To pay”, “To ask” (beg or beseech) and “To clean” (or peel, as in peel fruit). The homework exercise is around some strange character who seems to be in love with potatoes! Also, apparently, the Russian Army have potato peeling competitions!
I’m trying not to be a tourist (I have so much homework that can’t afford the time), but it was such a beautiful day that I decided to join an excursion to “Akademgorodok”. The weather was sunny and the indicators on the buildings said it was 24 deg C.
“Akademgorok” means “Academy Town”. I want to say “City of Scientists”, but that isn’t quite right. It used to be a “closed” town which meant that most Russians weren’t allowed to go there, and you had no chance as a foreigner. It is a few kilometers from Novosibirsk, and we travelled there as passengers on one of the many little buses. These are a cross between a bus and a taxi. Although they are badged “Gaz” (a Russian manufacturer), they are obviously Ford Transits (or perhaps derived from) and seat 15 passengers. They run a fixed route but have no timetable. The driver waits at the terminal stop until the bus is full, or he decides to go. They operate with a fixed fair (35 Rub = 0.88 Eur). They will drop you along the route. They definately have stops to pick up passengers. The road to Akademgorodok is a busy 6 lane dual carriageway (think motorway, but with very variable surface, and side roads). On the way our driver was stopped by the police and fined for “exuberant driving” (my words). None of the other passengers seemed the least concerned. Just one more experience.
The transit van taxi/buses are interesting. I said that there is a flat fare. That isn’t surprising, what is surprising is how it is collected. The fare is 35 rubles. All the passengers get on and take their seats and the van sets off (maybe that should be “takes off”). The passengers collect the money themselves, and pass it up to the passenger who is sitting with his/her back next to the bulkhead, who then passes it through to the driver (who is probably using a mobile phone). If you don’t have the right money, you trade with your neighbours to get the change you need. If that doesn’t work, the driver exchanges money for change until it is all sorted. The whole operation takes place in motion! Can you imagine that working in London? Or for that matter anywhere in Britain? I don’t want to think what would happen if you tried to take a ride without paying. I suppose it might work if you were a charity-case, but not otherwise.
Akademgorodok is essentially a University campus in the woods. Once you are inside the town the roads are fairly quiet. The main road in was pretty peaceful. If you look at a map, you can see that it is not a huge place. It’s quite easy to walk round.

A man called “Lavrentev” is given the credit for founding the town.

The buildings are not particularly interesting architecturally. There is a “Hydrodynamic Institute” (anyone from Feltham remember the “Ship Tank”?), one of the main meeting buildings and library is known as “The house of scientists” and accommodation is provided in blocks of flats of various designs (nothing over 5 storeys tall). The streets have flower beds, and there are paths through the forest.

You can see it was autumn. The leaves on the trees are starting to turn. Akademgorodok must be a very pleasant place to live and work. I have been told it is popular, providing of course that you can find work there.

While we were there there was a market going on.They were selling all sorts of things. Cut flowers, potted plants, mushrooms and berries collected from the forest, fruit, clothes (felt boots, socks, jumpers), arty stuff, and loads of honey!

On the way home I stopped off near Lenin Square, and took a picture of this Compass monument in Novosibirsk. The heraldic animals are from the coat of arms of the city. There is one at each point of the compass. Around the base are the names of cities in Siberia. The message is “Novosibirsk is the centre of Siberia”.

When I got home, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the entrance hall of my flats. It’s not the most welcoming place, but it is clean. This is it on a sunny day. You can’t see it, but the “nose” on some of the stair treads is worn down to the reinforcing bars.

Old Ladies help me cross the road, and a magic carpet ride

(Monday 19th September 2011, written up same day)
Well that turned out to be more exciting than I expected. No pictures I’m afraid. There was nothing very visual anyway.
It’s Monday, so it’s back to work, not that I ever really stopped. Lessons started with me being asked about what I did at the weekend? In my case that meant: the walking tour of Novosibirsk on Saturday morning/afternoon, the trip to the Opera in the evening, Sunday morning trip to view the River Ob and afternoon trip to see Dali. I’d expected this to happen, so I’d prepared notes. I’m glad I did, but I was subjected to a gentle interrogation, which was directed not at finding out what I did (I’m sure the teachers don’t care that much), but at how I could express what I did. The questioning soon guided be into uncharted territory, but I managed. By-the-way, there is a theatre in Novosibirsk called “Clockwork Orange”, after the Book/Film by Anthony Burgess!
After “What did you do at the weekend” seesion, we moved onto my translation of the text “Granny’s Birthday”. This required my to summarise the decendants on Granny’s family tree. This was followed by my answers to simple questions with yes/no answers, and then questions which required longer answers. This was all about developing my understanding of the “genitive case”. Another way of putting this is “X is the _son of_ Y”, “Q is the _wife of_ R” etc. We identified the imperfections in my understanding and moved on.
Then some exercises about negatives, “not having”. This led to a tragic story of a begger who has lost everything. My homework (apart from doing the translation) is to provide an (imaginary) explanation as to how he lost everything. I did the homework at school, and that is a very good thing.
One of the things which worries me a little in Novosibirsk is that they drive on the right. I’m worried that my reflexes will take me the wrong way. As a result I tend to follow Russians and stay “down stream of them” when crossing the road. Hence I sometimes shadow old ladies. They help me cross the road!
I left school at a little after 17:00. When I got home, there was nobody in. I went out and bought a bottle of mineral water and a bottle of beer (purely to practice my Russian in a shop, you understand). When I returned home, I put them both in the fridge and settled down to do some drills involving “Not having” in Present, Past and Future tenses. I also tucked into some watermelon I’d been told to eat.
When my landlady came in, she asked me if I wanted to go shopping? I said yes. After all, it sounded interesting. It was interesting alright! I thought she meant groceries. I was wrong! The first surprise was when I was asked to get into the landlady’s boss’s car, which already contained her sons. Next stop, the place where she is living while her flat is repaired. We off-load the sons. Next _IKEA_ where she has ordered a carpet for something at one son’s school. My job is to help with the carpet. We have dinner in the IKEA restaurant, then it’s off to the school, where two young fellows are waiting in the dark to take the carpet inside. I get to see a lot of Novosibirsk by night.
Eventful and better than my language drills!
And so to bed.

Sun, Bridges and Dali

Bridges, Sun and Dali
(Sunday 18th September 2011 written on same day)
Today was officially a day off. I walked south to Rechnoi Vakhsa (River Station). It was a beautiful day again. I didn’t see anything to indicate the temperature, but I’m sure it was over 20 deg C. The River Ob is very wide. It is spanned by a road bridge, a metro bridge and a railway bridge. There is a park and amusement park along the river bank and I spent some of the time trying to read the various signs. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes I didn’t.

The city art museum is a very short distance away. In the afternoon I went to went to an exhibition of Salvador Dali lithographs. I like Dali pictures, but they don’t make any more sense to me with Russian captions!
On the way home from the exhibition I noticed a travel agent listing places the could fly you to from Novosibirsk. Here’s the list in English: Egypt, Tunisia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Goa, China, Cyprus, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, Cuba. Russians like the sun too!

When I’d returned from Dali, I finished off the homework exercises. First, questions on a short story (eg “Whose wife is a good cook?”, “Who are Natasha and Julias parents?”, “Who studies physics at university?”. Then I have to compose a number of sentences about my own family. Not very exciting, but I can see that it serves a useful purpose.

Flying Solo: Food, Water, Beer and Opera

(Saturday 17th September 2011 written up same day)
What a fantastic day! I have literally walked miles, on a self-conducted tour of Novosibirsk. I’ve held (simple) conversations with people, bought things and been to the opera!
It’s my day off! Except it isn’t! I had to fly solo for the first time. If I hadn’t been able to speak, I wouldn’t have been able to eat, or drink. Apart from “enjoying the experience”, I set myself the objectives of:
  • Buying a decent meal in somewhere new,
  • Buying something in a shop, and
  • Buying a beer in a bar.
I “exceeded requirements” on all objectives.
My tour started by looking down one of the side-streets near my home.Wooden houses are typical of Siberia and of Novosibirsk. When this place started out in the late 19th Century, it was a construction site. The most readily available material was lumber. Here are a few photos of some old houses I noticed:
  • Wooden house dated 1906
  • Another wooden house dated 1906
  • Yet another, but I don’t know how old it is
I walked North into town. When I got to “The Centre of Russia”, I noticed a wedding party. I paused for a look and realised that couples come there to have their photos taken. Some seem to have arranged for a blessing as well. It was a Saturday, and the sun was shining brightly. A great day for a wedding. Winter is coming too. I passed the church several times during the day and saw several parties. Here are a couple of photos (Two Weddings and Another Wedding). Apparently the church is not that old. The original was demolished during the Soviet era and this replica was built only a few years ago. It seems that God and maybe tradition are stronger than governments.

I was looking for a place to have lunch. This is it “Sunny Bake”: salad and a cutlet and green tea and bliny. If you get the opportunity, you must try Russian blini. They are pancakes or crepes. Excellent! Mine was served with melted butter and smetana (sour cream) but there are a wide range of fillings both sweet and savoury, including smoked salmon, mushrooms, sugar and chocolate (not all at the same time, I hope). I ordered it all with words, not just point and shoot.

After lunch I went for a walk in “Central Park” (in Novosibirsk, not New York!). It’s a really attractive place, with fairground attractions, rides for the kids, a stage for bands. From this view along one of the paths, you can see how sunny it was. It was warm but you can also see the leaves are changing colour for Autumn, and they have started fall.

Next stop was “Novosibirsk Glavniy” (Novosibirsk Main) Station. This is on the Transiberian railway, half way between Moscow and Vladivostok. From Vladivostock you can get a ferry to Japan, via Korea. There is an enormous paved area in front of the station. The station clock and another one nearby said that the temperature was over 20 degrees C. I was thirsty. Russian street vendors were selling cold kvass (weak beer) from little tankers. How civilised! I bought a half-litre from a street vendor (17 rubles= 0.42 eur). It was excellent! The lady asked if I was German. I told her I was English. We both laughed. My Father would be horrified, but it’s easier to say that than bring in another two countries. Kvass is very weak beer, they say it is “brewed from bread”. I don’t quite understand that. It is so weak you would give it to your children, like bottled shandy. It has a slightly acid, almost lemony taste. Good for a hot day. Just off the square, I went into a shop and bought a litre bottle of mineral water (as in “Perrier” or “Evian” 35 roubles = 0.88 eur).

I walked back from the station by a different route. On the way I saw this restored church, which is right next to the Circus. I’m not sure if if there is something a little odd going on here, because in Russian the two words are very similar: Circus = “Tsirk” and Church = “Tsirkov”. Then I went along Gogol Street to join Krasny Prospect. I passed a Russian bar. I would have stopped for a beer, but I already had a plan. It would have been cheaper if I’d had the beer in the Russian bar.

Close to the school is a bar called “Old Irish”, which I had already found on the internet. I popped in there for a drink. The bar is nice enough, but the price (290 rub = 7 Euro)! The price of 1 pint was more than all my other purchases. I won’t be spending much time in there, but I will probably have a pint of Guinness on “Arthur’s Day” (sometimes I’m a mug for advertising). It just shows that prices can vary a lot and you have to be careful in foreign countries. I just put it down to experience.

On the way home I couldn’t resist taking a picture of these fountains. The building in the background is the museum on Lenin Square I visited on Wednesday.

I got home, bumped into my landlady, and just had enough time to post pictures onto Facebook before it was time to go to the theatre. The school had booked me a ticket so I felt obliged to go.
The Novosibirsk Ballet Opera is the largest in Russia. It’s not the sort of place I would normally go to, but I’m glad I did. I have some pictures of the inside on my phone. It is a magnificent building. I’ll post them when doing so won’t cost me an unreasonable amount of money. The opera was “Iolanta” (by Pyotr Tchiakovsky, which is unrelated to “Iolanthe” by Gilbert and Sullivan. That had me confused too.). The opera was entirely in Russian, with no “titles”. Strangely, I started off hearing only music or babble, but by the end I was hearing words. I didn’t understand it, but I probably wouldn’t have understood it in English either. It was a magnificent spectacle, and the staging was really interesting, making use of backlighting and projections. At one point I really thought it was raining on stage.
After the show I went home to Dinner. It was good. Vegetable stew, with pureed veg and ratatouille, served with dark brown bread and green tea. My landlady probably thinks I’m mad about food. I’m not, but it is easy to talk about: “I like this”, “this is sweet”, “what is this?” etc. I’ve found some interesting problems eg they have one word for both vegetable marrow and aubergine! I’ve also been served three entirely different things, all called “Kasha” (porridge) for breakfast. One of them was rice pudding! Good job I’m a true omnivore.
The landlady had some music on while she was doing the ironing. I thought I recognised it and checked. I was right. It was “Enigma”. Some things travel well.
Writing done, I’m going to post this.
And so to bed!
(Blog Post updated to include pictures directly, rather than as links. 17th November 2015)

Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Bus Tickets, Pleasant Peasant Dinner

(Friday 16th September 2011 written on same day)
How things change! Yesterday dinner was; early in the evening, with the upper classes in a fancy restaurant, watching an Italian chef (called “Fabio”) make pasta dishes, throw pizzas around and make ice cream with liquid nitrogen. Today dinner is eaten after 10:00, and (something like) cottage cheese, black tea and brown bread. All in Siberia.
And with a clear sky the temperature changes from hot (walk around the streets in your shirtsleeves) during the day, to cold (brr) at night.
My landlady just arrived and it’s time for dinner (after 22:00 at night). I’ll describe dinner first and then the rest of the day.
Dinner this evening is “Slava” (Tvorak (cream cottage cheece), Smetana (sour cream) and sugar mixed together), pureed vegetables (carrots and I don’t know what), several kinds of bread and black tea. Delicious!
This morning I found that I’d “got away with” my translation. I could answer all the questions (verbally) and the only significant mistake was that I can misunderstood one word and turned a desire into a reality (and future into present tense). Not too bad considering it was done under pressure.
Next was more grammar: Nominative, Accusative and Genitive cases. You don’t want to know!
After lunch, which was “you know where” all three students set off down to the bus station to give moral support to one of our number (the Spanish lady) who is making a weeked trip to Tomsk. Good for her! Mission accomplished we returned to the school, and I got on with my homework.
It was really pretty hot outside, providing you are in the sun. On the way home I took photos of the Opera House at the back of Lenin Square, and the base of the Novosibirsk Architecture Preservation Organisation (or something like that). I’m going to the Opera tomorrow.

Then I did some more homework, and fell asleep. I was thinking about going to bed when my landlady arrived.