Rapping in a Wedding Dress and the Banya

The pavement 

View out of bedroom window on the first snowy morning (of many to come)

The weather is at last becoming more Siberian! As the snow falls and melts, the lack of drainage system means roads and pavements become rivers and the verge resembles a marsh. Inappropriate footwear results in the pavements becoming an obstacle course, and unavoidably wet feet. Nevertheless now it is -10 and the snow has settled. The Russians remain certain that “it is not cold”, and when I am dressed in my warm clothes, I must admit I have to agree, except for my nose.

We decided to venture to the banya (Russian sauna complex) to find some warmth and experience an important element of Russian culture. Traditionally, the banya was a place to wash, socialise, drink and get warm. Nowadays, most people have access to washing facilities (but not all), and nonetheless the banya still plays a role in society, though it is probably more favoured by the older generations. You can buy alcohol to take in with you and ordinary banyas have a no clothes policy and there are separate ones for men and women. Since we went with one of our teachers, we were reluctant to go baring all, so we organised a ‘private room’. In our ‘private room’, there was a banya (sauna), a tiny cold pool and a dodgy freezing cold shower.  So for two hours we jumped between the three activities and tried to embrace this important Russian custom. I struggle to see the difference really between a banya and a sauna, but I think next time, when I am feeling brave, I shall go the communal one and I may have a completely different experience if I am surrounded by drinking, unclothed babushkas!

Rapping in a wedding dress

Russians love to perform, and 'it is the taking part that matters'. Last week we went to ‘First Step’, a concert for all the first years of the university. Students played music, sung, rapped, and danced in every style you could imagination. In Britain, a fair amount of the acts would have been mocked because the quality was so varied. The highlight was a girl dressed in a wedding dress and veil, who rapped with a boy dressed in a suit, and together they acted out a whole argument. At the end, there was no clear winner, since the ten judges each chose their own favourite and so the majority of the acts got to take an enormous trophy home. The enthusiasm and pride in both the audience and the participants was very impressive! This week it is the International Tomsk University Language conference and professors have flown in from places as far as Scotland to talk about their specialist subjects. Half of the first day was spent glorifying the Dean and giving her bunches of flowers (one poor boy had been given the job of collecting the series of bunches of flowers every time that they were presented-  he was busy!). The whole thing started an hour late and the Dean announced that the professors need to reduce their speeches dramatically since they had bought theatre tickets. The programme for the conference was totally wrong and most speakers were asked to speak at completely the wrong time. I cannot deny the whole thing appeared to be a bit of a waste of energy too since seats became emptier and emptier as time passed and even a professor on stage fell asleep (as did I!).

Finally, Zoe and I dared to go to an exercise class, «стрип пластика». The fierce instructor used brute force to make us do the splits and despite evidently being in pain, she would not let go! It still hurts. But I now realise why Russians make such good gymnasts.