The Nuclear Power Station and the Potato Festival

When I tried to find out about Tomsk before I arrived, the images that appeared on google where grey, Soviet-looking and full of power stations. It is a relief that it is actually a pretty and friendly city. Nevertheless, one afternoon when we had nothing better to do, we decided to try and visit Seversk, the ‘secret town’ just outside of Tomsk, which is home to an enormous nuclear power station and in 1993, was the scene of one of the top ten nuclear disasters. We had been told that the town is very Soviet and that there is a huge statue of Lenin dominating the centre square just off ‘Communist Street’. So why not go and see it? As it turns out, a quick tourist visit to a nuclear power station is impossible. As the bus approached the town gates, everyone got out and headed to a small, grey side building which was the security gates. We waited for the queue to disappear and then Alex approached the guard (who I doubt has ever laughed or smiled). “We’re tourists. Can we come through?” And we all presented our passports. The guard looked completely confused and called in her ‘comrade’. (They were all addressing themselves as ‘comrades’, whilst holding guns.) I do not think that ‘tourists’ have ever tried to go to Seversk, and another terrifying guard was surprised we even knew about it, and that we definitely could not come in. But I must admit that it was worth the journey to the security gates just to see how parts of Russia are still scarily Soviet and oppressive.

Seversk Security Control Point (sneaky photo courtesy of Zoe, as cameras were banned)

The more cheerful event of my week was the best of my whole stay so far. The Tomsk Potato Festival. After meeting our teacher at the Chekhov statue we ventured forth into the festival. Wow. There were about a hundred stalls selling all sorts of homemade products and crafts, people dressed in traditional clothes, music playing and a mini concert to celebrate the potato harvest. There was a delicious smell of barbecuing shashliki (kebabs) and samovars boiling with tea. People had dressed up as bears, chickens, pel’meni ((the famous Russian ravioli) and tomato sauce bottles. We were invited into one stall to test the first tea from the samovar as well as a honey liqueur to warm us up (it was quite chilly). They told us that the Town Governor, who I assume is like the mayor, comes round each stall and tests everyone’s food. We also joined in dancing at the potato concert, and talked to all sorts of Russians who were obviously so proud of their homeland and its traditions and full of joy to be at the Potato Festival. (Definitely beats Brent Pelham Harvest Festival – sorry!)

Baby from the cabbage patch!

Dancing Bears

A Choir

The Dance of the Potatoes

Fresh and not so fresh home products

"And why are you here?!"

A wooden house in Siberian autumn

It is becoming increasingly clear how rare foreigners are here. I apparently ‘look foreign’ and therefore am the subject of a lot of staring from confused looking Russians. Often they will stop me and ask where I am from and more importantly why I am in Tomsk, or Siberia even. They are all genuinely interested and very friendly, and find it quite surprising that a British girl would chose to study here. Every time I reel off a list of reasons:  studying Russian at Tomsk State University, the excitement of living in freezing cold Siberia and the different culture.

At the moment, the different culture is the most exciting topic, and I can’t say much about the weather since the harsh Siberian winter has not arrived yet and instead it rains every day.

1- Gold teeth. It may seem like some sort of cliché that Russians have gold teeth, but it is absolutely true, they’re everywhere and appear when you least expect them. One day we were trying to find a sports centre which we have still not managed to find (the street names and numbers do not correspond), and we asked 3 people consecutively. Every one gave us a grin of beaming gold nashers, including a boy of about 12 years old (I thought there was generation of gold teeth bearers but apparently not). Then whilst sitting on the ‘matrushka’ one afternoon(the horrible little buses that are the most efficient way of getting around the city), I sat opposite a husband and wife who smiled at me to reveal two full sets of polished gold teeth. The worst thing is that you cannot laugh, as this could end up in a confrontation where I would literally be lost for words.

2- Clothing. Autumnal clothing appears to range from winter coats to topless men. The babushka with whom I live will not let me out the house until she has checked how many layers I am wearing. She tells me that I simply do not wear enough and I will get ill. As a result, I have to put on half her wardrobe every morning (as my clothes are “just not warm enough”) so that I am let out the door (which I then take off as soon as I am out of sight as otherwise I would turn up at university as red as a tomato). The other morning this reached new extremes. I woke up at about 8am, by which time Tatiana’s friend, Yadya, had already come round. They were both waiting for me to get up and pounced on me as I came out my bedroom door. I was pulled into the sitting room for a lecture on warm clothing and Yadya brought out a large bag in which she found a warm coat which she insisted I borrow, a jumper which she had knitted for me and a matching scarf. This garments had to be put on and paraded around the sitting room where my new outfit was admired. In the meantime they continued to tell me horror stories of people getting colds and going to hospital.

The International Cat Exhibition

In contrast, the clothing worn in bars and nightclubs is quite the opposite. We ventured to a nightclub at the weekend where the stage was home to two girls dancing in sparkly corsets, knickers, knee high socks and diamante high heels. And their dancing could not be described as ‘timid’. If this was not enough, half way through the evening they asked three boys to come up onto the stage with two girls each of their choice. The girls were then asked to strip the boys (they were definitely not men) down to their boxers. This got a great feedback from the crowd, which was heightened by the ‘boys’ then taking off the girls’ underwear from underneath their dresses. Apparently this is totally normal and it is actually quite a well paid and respected job to dance at clubs. I apologise for the lack of photos but there was a photographer at the club and therefore cameras were banned. This policy was strictly upheld by some fierce security guards who made you delete your photos.

Also only at the club did I realise that Russians use different measurements for shots.  One shot in Russia is two shots in England. So the ‘double’ vodka and orange drinks I had been casually drinking were actually the same as Klute’s ‘Quady Vody’. Whoops.

The star of the cat show!

On a tamer subject, we went to the ‘International Cat Exhibition’ on Saturday. This was probably the weirdest event I have ever been to. There were cats everywhere of every shape and size in a large room with a huge chandelier and ornate decoration. Some of the cats were for sale, whilst others were competing in the competitions that were being organised by a fierce lady who definitely considered the event to be as important as a military operation. There was even a competition was for ‘British Cats’. The most amusing sight was the cat owners who dressed like they were cats- flurry gilets to match the fur of their beloved ‘koshka’ and dressed their cats in jumpers.

 

And to finish on a suitably weird fact, apparently Siberian bears are exported to Armenia where they can eaten as a delicacy. Poor bears!

All Things Weird and Wonderful in Tomsk

Okroshka and some other treats

As I mentioned in my first blog, the Russian cuisine is like nothing I have had before. This last week has been filled with new delicacies. Okroshka was probably the most novel. Since the weather has been glorious, Tatiana thought she would treat me with some traditional summer food. Okroshka is a cold soup, which is made with chopped up vegetables, kvass (a beer-like Russian alcoholic drink), sour cream and chopped up meat. Russians think it is delicious! A breakfast treat this morning was kissel, a fruit soup thickened with potato starch. Tatiana encourages me to eat lots of healthy food before winter sets in, and she likes to describe all the vitamins that can be found in each delicacy. Another breakfast treat was «творог», cottage cheese, with sugar and apricots. It is often eaten with pancakes, but I was given just a whole bowl on its own. This is apparently also “very healthy”. Nonetheless my taste buds are quickly adapting and I now consider semolina to be the best breakfast of the week!

Tomsk State University

Russian hospitality may not be widely notorious but I have discovered how important and impressive it can be. Everyone is very keen that we should be looked after and they are prepared to give up their own time to take us interesting places. We have been escorted by at least 5 students to every museum for example. We were also invited by some Russian students to come to one of their flats one afternoon. We arrived not knowing what to expect. The door opened and up sprung ten girls all welcoming us in. They had prepared a mountain of «блины» (blini / pancakes), cupcakes, a pile of chopped fruit, chocolates, biscuits and ordered pizzas and rum... A feast. And that was not all. They had organised a game of “Mafia” (a murder mystery game) and a Russian version of articulate. It was a hilarious afternoon and felt very spoilt!

My expedition to the Post Office demonstrated the inefficiency of Russian bureaucracy. I simply needed a stamp for St Petersburg. I eventually found the right building, along with what seemed to be the whole population of Tomsk, all in several disorderly queues. I chose a queue, not really knowing what queue was for what, and waited. The fierce woman who was serving my queue then announced that  she would not serve anymore people because it was lunch time, (despite the fact that they were closing at 2 o clock anyway as it was Saturday). Most people disappeared begrudgingly but I stood my ground (as did the woman in front of me) and surprisingly she took sympathy on me and served me. The process of buying the stamp took about one minute, but my trip to the post office took a whole hour, and I forgot to buy an envelope, which I later found out they only sell in the post office, so I shall be going back on Monday!

The Post Office

You would imagine that Siberians would not feel the cold as much as Western Europeans since their internal thermometer functions in extreme winters. Tomsk’s coldest day on record was -60 degrees.  However, it appears that they are actually much more sensitive to the cold than we are... I am regularly stared at in astonishment for my lack of clothes, and consistently asked if I am warm enough. It has been 20 degrees this whole last week! Today my hostess Tatiana insisted I wore my winter coat (as it is 10 degrees), and declared she could not go outside because of the low temperatures. They tell us that it will be -40 soon, I do wonder what I will be expected to put on then?!

First Impressions

Where on earth is Tomsk? When I signed up for a term in Siberia, I had no idea. But I can tell you now! It’s in south west Siberia, above China and Kazakhstan. And yes, it is miles away, with a 6 hour time difference from British Summer Time. It also turns out to be quite an interesting city. First of all, it is not cold. In fact it has been about 22 degrees everyday and the sun has shined like it would on the Mediterranean. The city takes pride in its famous wooden houses which are beautiful although sadly a bit rundown. Despite selling itself as Siberia’s oil and gas centre, it is not a very big city and is not even directly on the Trans-Siberian Railway (I think Novosibirsk deserves the title more). But don’t get me wrong, it is much more cosmopolitan than one would expect, boasting shops such as Levi and Calvin Klein, and 7 universities! As a result, the youth of Tomsk are the city’s heart and soul and therefore there is a good reason for why I am here.

The past 4 days since my arrival have been overwhelming. For starters, how can Russian girls walk in 4 inch stilettos all day, every day? And how can it be acceptable to keep bears in cages next to restaurants? And why do the babushkas still live like peasants, when the majority can afford not to? It is all very bizarre, and only one adjective springs to mind... It is all very Russian.

Our first excursion was lead by our teacher, Natasha, who suggested we went to see her dacha. We whizzed out of Tomsk in the black, leather seated 4x4 BMW and suddenly we were in the middle of nowhere. The other side of the River Tom’ (the city is based to the east of the river) is bare, and soon we are in the well-known and never-ending Siberian forest. It is just what one would expect- a lot of trees and not a lot else. But it is very impressive, and the mushrooms that can be found within it provide a lot of babushkas with a day’s entertainment, as they scavenge for the edible fungi and then sell them on the roadside in large buckets.


Natasha’s dacha is a “posh dacha”. It has a banya (a Russian sauna), a beautiful and well-maintained garden with a view of the River, and Jane Austen’s literary works lay casually on a chair within the wooden walls. Despite being called ‘posh’ it was quite enlightening to see what a Russian would consider a ‘country house’ and how they like to spend their free time. Quite a few of the surrounding dachas had all sorts of fruit and vegetables in their gardens and they evidently pride themselves on their home grown products.
The next stop was a shashliki (a Turkish kebab which is very popular in Russia) restaurant, which was just outside of Tomsk, standing alone except for a large cage to its right. This is where we spotted the bears. These enormous creatures had been captured (apparently their mothers had been killed by poachers) and kept behind bars. It was a sad sight, and the poor bears did not even seem to notice our presence, instead they sat looking bored and lifeless.

The cafes in Tomsk are the best place to find wi-fi, and reasonably nice coffee (at a price). One of my favourites is “Boulangerie”. Its name is evidently taken from the French for baker, yet its decor and ‘French delicacies’ would offend a passing Frenchman. However, they always have a nice atmosphere, offer a range of drinks and ‘torti’ (cakes), all at reasonable prices, and the wifi is speedy!

I have not yet mentioned hot water issue in the Babushka’s flat, where I am living. It is normal that the hot water is turned off in summer months, apparently there are repairs that need doing, but it seems odd that they need to be done at the same time each year for months on end. This was one of the first culture shocks I was met with when I arrived but I was kindly informed that it would be turned on soon, it was just a matter of when. Sunday was the day! I was just preparing myself was a scrub in the sink, when I heard Tatiana (the Babushka) shout from the kitchen, “HOT WATER! I can do the washing up!” On the subject of Tatiana, she is delightful. She told me the other evening that she had been a singing teacher and burst into song. I sat awkwardly on the sofa, admiring her grand collection of tea spoons and mini bells, whilst she sung me «Катюша» and «Тёмная Ночь» (for anyone who knows Russian songs). Every day she makes me breakfast and supper. To most Europeans, breakfast is a very different meal from lunch or dinner, but in Russia there is little to distinguish meals because they all are the same. One must eat meat at every meal (often several kinds of meat alongside fish and eggs) and the origin of this meat is unknown, whether it be from a cow, pig, chicken or dog, it does not seem relevant. I cannot say that any of this is delicious, I eat it for its energy content not its taste... It also struck me the other day that I have not used a knife yet for any of this meals - usually an essential piece of cutlery, it remains absent from the table.

The cuisine is not a disappointment. Russian food has a reputation for a reason! Nevertheless it would not be fair to say that everything is disgusting. The usual staples such as bread, pasta and rice all appear and the supermarket shelves offer Activia yogurts and Rye vita. “Pastamama” restaurant (a Russo-Italian copy of Wagamama perhaps?) embraces European cuisine and a chicken breast with grilled vegetables costs about 300 rubles (about £6), which would revive any European suffering from a meat-and-potato overload.
Yesterday I went to the opening of a photography exhibition at the art museum. It began with a talk, which started well, but by the end the microphone had been hijacked by a passing madman who proclaimed his respect for the photographer and gave a speech which completely lacked sense. The photos were amazing, very abstract and gave an interesting take on everyday city images.

We met some girls at the university who took us to their student halls. They are renowned for being grim. The bedrooms mostly have 2 bunk beds, a fridge, microwave, a desk and some wardrobe space. There is one shower per block, which therefore means that they have to wash in the sink.  Although they are far from luxury, the students pay 1000 rubles (£20) per year so they cannot really complain!

To end this blog entry, my first impressions of Tomsk are very positive. Everyone is very friendly, there are some beautiful buildings and the youthful atmosphere makes it a fun place for a foreign student. This next week shall hopefully include some student activities, and we have been invited to the Irish Pub (!) on Friday night with some Russian students...