Posts Tagged ‘Russia’

Before I knew it the day was over and I needed to catch my overnight train to the capital of Russia, Moscow. Assistance buying train tickets was necessary, as I do not speak Russian fluently, my passport was needed, and the train tickets themselves are extremely confusing. Fortunately I had purchased my tickets in St. Petersburg the previous week with help of my new friend  In purchasing the ticket, I decided to travel as cheaply as possible and sleep in the public, open seating. Uncomfortable, noisy, and with unique smell that only a train this old could produce – I attempted to get some sleep. The train itself was a series of cafe, sleeping, private, and public cars. I met some interesting characters on the train, reinforcing the tradition of Russian hospitality.

Arriving at one of Moscow’s many train stations, I quickly realized how large this city actually is. Luckily, I had some help navigating to the nearest metro and buying a ticket. In Moscow the metro uses a card reading system, so you buy a card with the number of desired trips and scan the card when entering the metro. There are local jokes about St. Petersburg using coins compared to the sophisticated Moscow metro system. The Moscow Metro is a monster itself. I am glad I had practice in St. Petersburg before taking on Moscow’s infamous labyrinth of a metro. Beautiful, yet confusing, the metro lines are color coordinated and the walls are adorned with gold, art, and mosaics. Due to the recent Moscow Metro bombing incidents, the legalities of taking pictures in the Moscow Metro have changed. I was warned to keep a low profile and not to give police or anyone else an excuse to talk to me, so unfortunately I do not have many pictures of this famous metro.

Mosaic in Metro

Luckily my hostel, Hostel Moscow, was located downtown conveniently within walking distance to many of Moscow’s main attractions. I arrived at about 6 in the morning, took a nap, and then headed out to see the heart of Russia! Again, to make things easier for me to explain, and you to read, I a formatted this in a bullet-point fashion, in no particular order:

• The Kremlin: The street plan of central Moscow forms an impressively ordered pattern of concentric circles, clearly marking the city’s development outwards over the centuries. In the middle of this great Catherine wheel is the Kremlin, the fortified hill which formed the heart of the ancient city, and which to this day houses the political head quarters of the planet’s largest nation. Within the world-famous red walls nestles a collection of buildings of various architectural styles, ranging from ancient Russian ecclesiastical, through Romanov imperial classicism, to 1960s Soviet modernism. While much is out of bounds to tourists, being part of the Government and Presidential estate, there are easily enough treasures open to the public to make the citadel an essential conquest. You will need a ticket to enter, and the holiday crowds made the lines truly unbearable. After purchasing a ticket, you have to leave any large bags in the cloakroom located near the ticket office.
  • The Kremlin Armoury is a 19th Century museum which houses Russia’s impressive collection of gold, silver, arms and imperial clothes and carriages. They also hold a collection of the infamous and rarely glimpsed Fabergé eggs (Russian: Яйца Фаберже).
    

    Red Square

• The Red Square is considered a sacred place. Various festive processions are held here as it is considered by most to be the central square of Moscow, and thus Russia.
  • The State History Museum was an extensive foray into Russian history from the middle ages of the mammoths, right up to the 19th century. The atmosphere is conducive to both wandering and musing as the museum guides are, lets say, a little less protective than usual. While the the museum  it lacks any English explanation, has an abundance of cool historical tidbits.
  • St. Basil’s Cathedral stands magnificently at the head of Red Square, and is Russia’s most recognized buildings. It was built in 1561 to celebrate Ivan the Terrible’s crucial defeat of the Khan of Kazan, a victory which secured Moscow’s position as the region’s dominant city. Beautiful both inside and out. Legend has it that on completion of the church the Tsar ordered the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, to be blinded to prevent him from ever creating anything to rival its beauty again. Today, St. Basil’s is an internationally recognized church and symbol of Russia.

  • 

    St. Basil's

    GUM: A trip here was essential and unavoidable – clean, free toilets near Red Square! This mall is three stories high and elaborate in every sense, from the architecture, to the stores within. It was built in the 1890s out of limestone, marble and granite, and was festively decorated for the holiday season with lights, trees, and an ice rink with a matching zamboni!

  • Lenin Mausoleum: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin has been on display since in Red Square since 1924. Visiting this waxy, bald and embalmed body of the founder of the Communist Party is a no-nonsense event; guards are posted at each corner. There no bags, no cameras, and no stopping as the guards will prod you forward during the viewing. Your pockets are searched to make sure you don’t sneak anything, and you are required to walk through metal detectors before entering as well.

• Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory): It was a bit hard to imagine the footprints of Napoleon while surrounded by kiosks, fast food vendors, and souvenir touts, but this area boasts over 1000 years of history! The length and breadth of the capital is quite visible from here, as well as seeing some of Stalin’s Seven Sisters. I walked the treacherous parks (ice on wooden steps) to view the Olympic Stadium, Ski Jump, and Moscow State University.
  

  Sparrow Hills

• Moscow University (MGU), one of the Seven Sisters: This building is grand, the rest behind it are frightfully unspectacular. It is the largest, oldest (founded in 1755), and tallest university in Russia. This is where my current flat-mate from Russia attends.
• The All-Russia Exhibition Centre (Всероссийский выставочный центр) formally known as the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VSKhV) (Всесоюзная Сельско-Хозяйственная Выставка) is an amazing outdoor marketplace. It has about 400 buildings and houses such monuments as: the Fountain “Friendship of Nations”, Moscow-850 Ferris Wheel, and the statue of “Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt”, for the victory over Nazi Germany.  The day I went it was bitterly cold out – so cold my camera batteries would not work! I now know why Moscow winters are notorious – they defeated the armies of both Napoleon and Hitler, and me.

All of a sudden I found myself haggling with a taxi driver, and catching a bus out of Russia. My VISA expired soon, and I had no plans of overstaying my welcome. I booked a ticket with Ecolines heading through Latvia and Estonia, to return to Helsinki, Finland. Little did I suspect price might reflect the service…

Moscow State University

Details will be spared, to spare the worry of my parents (ha ha ha). In short I found myself being awoken at 5 in the morning to let me know that we had arrived at the Russian border. The problem was, I found myself with nothing more than my purse and a water bottle. In broken  English the bus assistant informed me they could not find my bag, which had been checked under the bus Frustrated, sleep deprived, and dazed, I stumbled off the bus and went through customs. I was suspiciously eyed for what I wasn’t carrying, and then proceeded to sit at the border for hours while our bus was searched, scoured, and scanned. I noticed that four people did not get back on to the bus, as our bus slowly crept towards the Latvian border in the early dawn. I eventually found out that my bag had “mistakenly” been loaded onto another bus at one of the stops in Russia, though suspiciously nobody else heading towards Tallinn, Estonia, let alone on our bus, was missing anything. Too tired to argue, I curled up and tried to sleep so I would be fresh for my day in Riga, Latvia.

Join me next week as I try to track down my bag, get back to Helsinki, and venture into the two capital cities of Riga, Latvia, and Tallinn, Estonia, along the way.

I hope you enjoyed my Russian adventures as much as I did!

Kassidy

St. Petersburg is such an amazing city, I spent multiple days commuting to the city, and found myself hailing mini-buses in the brisk, Russian winter air, to indulge in everything the city had to offer!

Pumpkin Soup!

I ended up meeting an 18-year-old Russian student who offered to show me around St. Petersburg and act as my private ‘local’ tour guide. He  took me around the Central area while explaining a lot about growing up, going to school, and in general, living in Russia. It was especially interesting to hear how difficult it is to travel outside the country, avoid mandatory military service, and even bribe your way into college. I ended up having a wonderful lunch of pumpkin soup with sunflower seeds and a mozzarella salad at  my new favorite cafe, ZOOM. My new friend also suggested I check out one of St. Petersburg’s coolest jazz clubs, JFC . I ended up going to the JFC Jazz Club twice, once for dixie night and once for the group Volkovtrio, a local St. Petersburg group – now one of my favorite bands. I was also accompanied to the Hermitage and around the infamous Nevsky Prospekt. It was surreal to be walking down the same streets that inspired one of my favorite authors, Fyodor Dostoevsky, who often employed the Nevksy Prospekt as a setting within his works, such as Crime and Punishment and The Double: A Petersburg Poem. The State Hermitage Museum was a life-changing experience, as it boasts an incomparable collection of art and history (Click HERE to take a virtual tour of the Hermitage).

To make it easier to write, and read for that matter, I have separated the city of St. Petersburg into different districts or areas according to the famous sites that I was able to see there:

• 

  Pushkin Memorial

  The Hermitage is located in the Central Area, where I also got to see many of the other famous sites, such as: The Winter palace and Palace Square, the General Staff Building, Alexander Column, the Pushkin Memorial Flat, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, The Senate and Holy Synod buildings, and the Monument to Nicholas I.

• The famous Nevsky Prospekt had much to offer as well, such as: The Stroganov Palace, The Admiralty, The Lutheran Church of St. Peter, The House of Books, Kazan Square and Cathedral, The Bank Bridge, The Church of St. Catherine, The Armenian Church, The Russian National Library, The Alexandrine Theater and the Monument to Catherine the Great, The Anichkov Palace, The Anichkov Bridge, the Vladimir Cathedral, The Dostoyevsky Memorial Flat, the Chocolate Museum and of course, the Moscow Railway Station.

• Located near Nevsky, the Cathedral fo the Resurrection, also known as “Our Savior-on-the-Spilt-Blood”, was absolutely breathtaking – the entire interior is one continuous mosaic of semiprecious stones such as rhodonite, jasper, and rare varicolored marble. The State Russian Museum is also located in this area of the city, along with The Field of Mars.

• 

  Spilt-Blood

  The spit of the Vasilyevsky Island and the University Embankment is most famous for its Rostral Columns. It is also home to the Central Naval and Zoological Museums, as well as the Kunstkammer, Russia’s first museum, funded by Peter teh Great in the 1710′s. It is now one of the world’s largest museums of natural science. The Twelve Collegia building, Menshikov Palace, The Academy of Arts, and the Stock Exchange all add to the history and beautiful architecture of this famous part of the city.

• The section of St. Petersburg at the bend of the Neva east of the Fontanka is known as the Liteiny Area, and is most famous for The Smolny and the Church of St. Simeon and St. Anna. I was also able to visit The Kikin Palace, The World of Water Museum, and The Alexander Suvorov Museum (which is one of the largest museums devoted to the history of martial arts).

• Last but not least, The Peter and Paul Fortress and its surrounding area. I spent almost a whole day exploring the Fortress as it is made up of many different buildings, and has may historical landmarks located within its walls; the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Grand-Ducal Burial Vault, Mint, Prison of the Trubetskoi Bastion, Commandant’s House, Monument to Peter the Great, the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, and the Museum of the History of Spaceship. Outside the Fortress walls I visited the Kronwerk and the Arsenal, The Congregational Mosque, The Log Cabin of Peter the Great, The Cruiser Aurora, and The St. Petersburg Zoo – openend in 1865, the oldest zoo in Russia. I finished one of my days by walking around the canal while watching one of the most beautiful winter sunsets I have ever seen in my life.

Liteiny Area

New Year’s Eve is the most celebrated holiday in Russia, so it was only natural that I would go downtown St. Petersburg to freeze and celebrate on New Year’s Eve. A ginormous 4-way stage was set up in the Palace Square with pop and traditional music and entertainment shows going on up until the stroke of midnight. The president had a speech, the Kremlin clock struck 12, and champagne and fireworks exploded! I would imagine that it would be comparable to a New Year’s Eve spent in New York City’s Times Square – it was a New Year’s Eve that I will always remember.

Before leaving Povlovsk, I visited the neighboring town of Pushkin, famous for the Tsarskoye Selo Catherine Palace and gardens. The Catherine Palace was inherited by the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna from her mother Catherine I. I was awestruck when entering the Palace as it boasted The Golden Enfilade, The Amber Room and The Catherine Park.

It was time to head towards Moscow, and I caught an early train from Povlovsk to another famous Russian city, Veliky Novgorod! Join me next week as I  take a day trip to Novgorod, and hop on a night train to Moscow.

Let the adventure continue! Kassidy

Finally, I have gotten around to organizing, reminiscing, and writing about my travels throughout the infamous Mother Russia. Seeing as I was going to be spending Christmas alone, I decided to take the opportunity to visit Russia; I was closer than I had ever been to this alluring, mysterious country, and conveniently for my travel plans, most Russians are Orthodox – which means the country does not celebrate Christmas until January 7th. This meant that during my Christmas break the shops, hostels, trains and buses would be open and operating – unlike in Finland, where Christmas time is one of the most recognized and celebrated holidays.

Essentials ONLY!

I packed all of my belongings, stored my suitcases with a friend in Helsinki, moved out of my flat, and headed off to Russia – officially homeless and with nothing more than my 37 litre daypack. I got extremely lucky and had a mutual friend from Wisconsin who teaches English in Russia. His school just happened to be taking a field trip to Helsinki. Perfect. I met them at the Museum and jumped on their school bus to ride across the border! Hours and a Russian children’s film later, a dying iPod and a weary Kassidy arrived at the Finnish Russian border. The process of crossing the border is intese – security everywhere, a checkpoint at the Finish border, passport control, another checkpoint at the Russian border, and then a passport check to ensure everyone was properly stamped and accounted for. As your passport is checked you are presented a slip of paper that you must keep with you at all times, and have with you when you return across the Russian border – in addition, you must keep all of your paperwork, VISA, and passport on you at all times while in Russia. This is VERY important for obvious reasons. A bit intimidated, but too excited (and exhausted) to let it bother me, it finally hit me – I was on Russian soil.

Busing across the border...

After crossing the border we stopped at a roadside rest stop and I ate my first traditional Russian food: a type of macaroni and mayonaise salad, and a plate of unidentifiable fried meat. The children gobbled down their food and started a snowball fight outside. Luckily one of the boys ‘protected’ me as I borded the bus. The roads were especially dangerous that evening, with plenty of ice and sleeting snow, there was no shortage of vehicles in the ditches. I tried to sleep and stay calm, as I felt the bus fishtail frequently throughout the trip. Three minutes before the bus arrived at the school, I heard an unmistakeable gag and smelled vomit. The child sitting behind me had managed to projectile vomit down the isle of the bus. After the long day, (and the smell of fresh vomit), I was relieved to get off the bus and officially start my Russian adventure.

I started my journey by staying with an English teacher (the  mutual friend of my brother’s) in Pavlovsk, a small village is located to the south of St. Petersburg. Even though I had made it through all of the check points, it is a law that all foreigners must register their VISA and passport with the authorities within three days of crossing the border. My new acquaintance was a wonderful host  and helped me register my VISA, as well as informing me of some essential Russian survival ‘tips’.

First tip, no potable water in Russia. After a bit of online research I discovered that most of the water contains Giardia, and although there are water treatment plants located in some parts of Russia, “don’t drink the water”. Russia’s pipes are notoriously old and are known to disperse water of various colors, ranging from dingy yellow to rusty brown. In general if you do not like diarrhea, stick to bottled water – even for brushing teeth – it is available most everywhere and relatively cheap. Another bit of advice I received was: “boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it.” Got it.

Second tip, transportation. In order to travel by mini-bus, train or metro, I was told to get a map, learn the stops, learn some basic Russian, and watch my belongings. The mini-buses or even sometimes vans have numbers taped to their windows, there are no real schedules or clocks, they just arrive when they arrive, you flag them down, hopefully they’er not full, and you jump in and go. When you reach your desired stop there are no buttons to push to signal the driver to stop, so I  had two options: yell to the driver to stop in my best Russian accent, or pray that someone else was getting off at my stop and that they would yell at the driver. Conveniently there was a train located about 15 minutes from the flat I was staying at in Pavlovsk. The trains are more reliable and faster, but more expensive than a bus. Buying a train ticket was relatively easy, the hard part was not wrinkling or losing the train ticket. There are turns-dials located at the entrance and exit of the train stations in which the ticket must be scanned in order to get through; tickets are also regularly check on the trains as well. I learned that there were people who would some how manage to board trains without tickets and walk about the trains during the trip to avoid the ticket checkres, they would then leap off the platforms at their destinations into the snow to ‘bushwhack’ to their final destinations; the locals called these type of people ‘rabbits’. As for the Metro, St. Petersburg Metro is one of the deepest in the world, reaching depths of 105 metres (about 345 feet)! The St. Petersburg Metro is also known for its use of tokens. It is necessary to buy tokens to enter the Metro, after that I would then ride the escalator down into the depths and bowels of St. Petersburg, hopefully catch my correct line, and politely give up my seat to any Babushka or child. Navigating the Metro was confusing at first, but I got the hang of it after the second day. The most difficult part is dealing with the crowds; personal space is nonexistent in Russia, especially on the Metro.

Pavlovsk Park & Palace

Luckily my host accompanied me on my first trip to St. Petersburg from Pavlovsk, which made things much easier. We met another ‘expat’ for sushi one evening in the city, where I got more advice, practiced my pathetic Russian, and prepared for my  upcoming adventures, which would be alone!

Returning to Pavlovsk by train, I did some research about the village I was staying in. Pavlovsk is a picturesque ensemble in the valley of the Slavianka River. One of the advantages of staying in Pavlovsk was that my friend’s flat was literally 2 minutes from the famous Pavlovsk Palace. I took an afternoon to explore the park surrounding the Palace, as well as treat myself to a festive, winter wonderland, horse drawn sleigh ride! Unfortunately, many of the historical places in Russia charge extra if you are foreign, and charge even more if you want to take pictures – therefore I tried to find internet links that provide pictures! On the other hand,  these gouged ‘tourist’ prices enable the Russian people to have lower prices for their admission, to their own historical sites.

Next week join me as I show you around St. Petersburg!

Увидимся! (meaning ‘see you’ in English, pronounced ‘Uvidimsya’)

Kassidy

Studying, Exploring, Experiencing, and Blogging!

After surviving my winter break, and Russia for that matter, I have finally gotten settled in Sweden!

I will re-introduce myself, as my blog has recently changed locations from the MTU ParentNet Student Abroad, to the MTU IPS Student Abroad Blog. My name is Kassidy Yatso, and I have been the ‘student abroad’ blogger for the past 6 months while studying at the University of Helsinki, Finland, starting in late August 2010.

I received my B.Sc. in Applied Ecology and Environmental Science from Michigan Technological University’s (MTU) School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (SFRES) in December 2009, and chose to continue my education at MTU. I am currently part of an exchange program of American and European master’s students, leading to a dual (double) master’s degree, (in completion, I will obtain two MS diplomas, one from the US and one from an EU university). My Transatlantic Master’s Degree in Forest Resources requires a total of 2 years (4 semesters) across three universities in Finland, Sweden and the USA: 1 semester at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), 1 semester at the University of Helsinki (UH), and 2 semesters (one study year) at MTU.

I have just completed my semester of graduate studies at the University of Helsinki, and am now attending SLU. I will be blogging about academics, culture, my travels, and much more! If you are just joining me, I am in transit between Helsinki, Finland, and Alnarp, Sweden, but my blogs from last semester are archived, so you can go back and read about Finland and last semester’s adventures

Map of SLU Alnarp Campus

After repacking all of my belongings in Helsinki for the move to Sweden, I realized I had some how accumulated more possessions that I thought. Luckily, one of my fellow classmates at UH was willing to drive me to the airport so I did not have to rangle my baggage on the Helsinki public buses. I will forever be grateful. A short hopper flight to Denmark, and I was in Copenhagen in less than two hours. Alone, attempting to navigate the airport, buy a train ticket to Malmö, and manage my baggage, I was taken back by the quiet, calmness and neatness of the Copenhagen Airport. Feeling a bit more relaxed, I caught the train to Malmö Central Station to meet up with other new SLU students and a ‘welcoming committee’. SLU had graciously offered to pick new students up at the railway station and bring us and our luggage to our new addresses, saving time, money, and inevitable frustration. I am currently living in Arlöv, Sweden, which is north of  Malmö, Sweden, and west of  Copenhagen, Denmark.

My Bike "Kermit"

I live in a student flat with two other forestry students; a Russian girl from the Moscow State University, and an Italian girl who is in the Erasmus Mundus  Programme. We all attend the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) this semester, taking part in the Euroforestry programme. I had one day to unpack, regroup, and reorganize before classes started for the Spring Semester. Luckily my roommates are in the same course programme and showed me around campus and the surrounding areas. I live about a 20 minute bike ride from the Alnarp campus, and about 5 minutes from the Burlöv Center (a large mall with a grocery store in it). I was fortunate enough to buy a bike upon my arrival to Sweden, from a fellow ATLANTIS student that was already at SLU. A bike is vital for survival here.

For the first half of the semester I will be taking a course titled “National and International Forestry Policy”. We have class Monday through Friday from nine to four, with an hour lunch break. It is much more reading intensive than my courses in Helsinki, with a more demanding schedule and course load. I think it will be easier to make friends here though, because it is the same 35 students every day, doing the same homework and field trips, with some of us living together as well. I am excited about the diversity of the class; there are students from Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Uruguay, and the United States. A very exciting mix indeed!

I have convinced my house mate to help me further my Russian linguistic skills, as I have just returned from Russia. In the upcoming weeks I will talk about my first week of class in Alnarp, and my adventures in Russia!

до свидания! (Do svidaniya pronounced duh svee-dah-nee-ye) which literally means in Russian, “Until (the next) meeting”

Kassidy

Finnish Santa Claus and Mother Christmas

Contrary to popular belief, Santa Claus lives in Finland, not the North Pole! Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi with his wife, Mother Christmas, and the Elves. Lucky for me, Santa decided to come down and visit Helsinki! I even found out that you can send a letter to Santa Claus using this address: Santa Claus, Santa Claus Main Post Office, FI-96930 Arctic Circle!

Being immersed in Finnish Christmas culture, I began to get curious and I started to do some research. I discovered that the Finnish Christmas has its roots in the old pagan harvest feast called kekri, named after the ancient Finnish cattle protector and fertility god. Kekri was celebrated around the end of November, or the end of the harvest season, marking the end of the year in the old agrarian calendar. After Christianity reached Finland in the 12th century, the traditions and habits of kekri began to assimilate with Christian Christmas celebration.

Winter snow out my bedroom window.

Interestingly enough, Finns celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve on the 24th of December. Shops in Helsinki close for the 25th and the 26th of December, and Christmas in Finland officially ends 13 days after Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner is typically served between 5 and 7 in the evening in Finland, which traditionally consists of oven-baked ham, rutabaga casserole, beetroot salad, and similar holiday foods. Christmas Eve in Finland is on the also consists of joyful carols and local Christmas songs. The Christmas presents are usually given out in the evening during a personal visit from the local Santa Claus. Other essentials on Christmas Eve in Finland are Christmas mass, and a visit to a Finnish sauna, of course. Unlike on normal days, when going to sauna is in the evening, on Christmas Eve it is before sunset. This tradition is based on a pre-20th century belief that the spirits of the dead return and have a sauna at the usual sauna hours.

Aleksanterinkatu Christmas lights in November

Not for the faint-hearted, another popular Finnish wintertime activity is ice swimming. Hardy Finns drill a hole in the ice that covers most Finnish lakes and the Gulf of Finland outside Helsinki in winter, and after a session in a sauna, dip into the ice-cold water for a refreshing swim. Devoted Finns swear that ice-swimming “invigorates the mind and the body, improves circulation and keeps colds and flu’s away”, and in general leads to good health and longevity. This reminds me of the ‘Polar Plunge’ we have in Houghton every spring, where college students and locals run across the frozen Portage and plunge into a hole cut in the ice! Brrrrrr!

Christmas is the biggest festival of the year in Finland, and preparations start weeks in advance. Christmas events in Helsinki include Christmas markets, concerts and special events like outdoor ice skating. The Railway Square (Rautatientori) just outside the Helsinki Railway Station transforms into an Ice Park from November to March. Helsinki’s official Christmas street is Aleksanterinkatu in the centre of the city, and traditional Christmas lights decorate the street from the last week of November. I found out that the Christmas lights on Aleksanterinkatu are a Finnish tradition that dates back to the 1930s!

Where's your car?

In my opinion there could be no better, yet no worse place to be for Christmas. Although the holiday spirit is very alive in Finland and the festivities are wonderful, the outrageous snow is starting to remind me of the horrors of Houghton, and there are constants reminders that I will be spending this Christmas alone this year. To remedy my mood, I chose to make the most of my situation and go to Russia – which is conveniently Orthodox! They will not be celebrating Christmas until January 6th and 7th, making it a perfect time to travel and see Russia in all of its snowy, splendid glory.

I am now preparing for Russia, moving out of my flat in Helsinki, packing all of my belongings for Sweden, and celebrating another successful semester of graduate school!

“Merry Christmas!” or “Hyvää Joulua!” (in Finnish)

Until next year,

Kassidy

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Being an American holiday, Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Europe. I really missed seeing my family, and gorging myself on homemade delicacies this year! I was in class all week and had an extremely busy week in general. There are only a few weeks of class left, and many things to do, including obtaining a Swedish residency permit!

In order to study in Sweden next semester I must apply for a Swedish residency permit. Luckily, there is a Swedish embassy in Helsinki. This makes the paperwork, payment, pictures, and passport issues much easier to deal with in person.

A few items are required in order to apply for a Swedish residency:

Swedish Embassy

• an official residence permit application
• two color passport photos
• an acceptance letter from the University I will be studying (SLU)
• a copy of and proof of health insurance
• a copy of my United Sates passport
• a copy of my Finnish residency permit
• my physical passport
• an additional letter stating my intentions while in, and after I leave Sweden (entitled ‘Appendix A’)
• 109 Euros to be paid in cash upon applying

The Swedish Embassy is only open from 9:00 in the morning until noon, Monday through Friday. It is located on Pohjoisesplanadi, near downtown Helsinki. Apparently the process of applying for a residency permit can take anywhere from 20 minutes, to 2 hours – unfortunately, I ended up spending about 2 hours at the embassy. There were only two people ahead of me in line, but they were having some extreme issues with their permits, and their tempers. Finally, it was my turn.

To my surprise, when I went to apply for my permit, they informed me that the 109 Euro fee was being waived because I was invited to be a student at a Swedish institution – I was elated! I found it extremely convenient that they have a photo system/booth set up at the embassy so you are not required to bring your own passport-sized pictures; they take your picture, and it is automatically entered into their online/computerized system. This not only saved me money, but time. After turning in my paperwork, I was given a receipt with a tracking number so I can check the status of my application online. Hopefully it will not take very long for my application to get approved and processed. They told me it can take a few weeks or even a few months. From my understanding the embassy just handles your paperwork, the processing and approval does not happen there. They send the paperwork to the Swedish Migration department in Sweden, and then return it to Finland after processing. I will have to go back to the embassy to get my residency permit placed in my passport pending approval. Thus far, there has been no progress on my application according to their online tracking.

I was the first of the ATLANTIS students in my group to apply for a residency permit, and passed on my knowledge to help the other students with their applications. Hopefully we all get our permits in time to move to Sweden!

My next stop was the Russian Embassy! I am planning to spend Christmas in Russia this year and need to get a tourist VISA in order to enter Russia. Unlike the Swedish application, I found out that I needed to leave my physical passport with the Russian Embassy while my application was being processed. Because I am an American citizen, legally, they have to hold my passport for at least ten days. I was unable to leave my passport at this time because I was traveling to the Baltics the following day. I was accepted to ‘study abroad’ while studying abroad in Kaunus, Lithuania! I will have to go back to the Russian Embassy upon my return from Lithuania.

Join me next week as I talk about EU economics and rural development, Lithuanian cuisine, the historic KGB museum, and my explorations in the capital city of Vilnius.

Kassidy

On a side note, Finnish Independence Day is celebrated on December 6th. Finland declared independence from Bolshevik Russia on December 6, 1917. We did not have classes on Monday, and everything in the city was closed.

This week I got to experience one of the world’s most infamous rivalries: Finland versus Russia. Finland and Russia have a tumultuous history together, and hockey is no exception.

Graph of the evolution of the top ten men's nations (2003-2010), IIHF World Ranking, Wikipedia.

I was lucky enough to attend the opening match between the Men’s National teams from Russia and Finland for the Karjala Cup. In short, this was the Finnish-hosted first round of the Euro Hockey Tour annual ice hockey championships, held since 1996. Finland’s Men’s National  ice hockey team has dominated this tournament, winning nine times since 1996 (1996, 1998-2005). The Finnish hockey team won bronze in the 2010, and silver in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Finland is considered a member of the “Big Seven” in hockey, which consists of: Canada, Russia, the USA, Slovakia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. The Russian men’s national ice hockey team is currently rated number one in the IIHF World Ranking (see figure to the left). The team follows a long tradition of Soviet teams, which are mostly composed of Russian players.

Men's National Hockey: Russia vs. Finland

The atmosphere and attitude of European hockey is much different that American hockey, though many European players play in the NHL. The first major difference I noticed was that while fighting, checking, and violence in general is applauded in the US, it is looked down upon by most Finns. The game was quite clean with very few penalties, no fights, and barely any checking. There were a surprising amount of Russian fans attending this game, with Russian flags and the “Россия” (Russia) chant dominating the evening.The game was actually quite uneventful, with no goals scored until the end of the third period; with just two minutes left, the Russians scored an extremely lucky goal, and ended up winning the game 1 to 0. The crowd went wild! Horns were blowing, people were screaming, and someone even unveiled a giant Russian flag that covered an entire seating section of the arena!

Nine other international students went to the game as well. We had great tickets located center ice, in the first row of the upper deck. For some of the students, this was the first hockey game they had ever attended – very exciting indeed! One of the students with us was Russian; we were good friends and celebrated the Russian win, though most of us were routing for Finland.

For those not familiar with Finnish and Russian history, there have been countless territorial disputes, battles, and even wars between these to bordering countries. This rivalry has been described to me by Finns as boldly as: “David and Golliath, good and evil, democracy and totalitarianism, freedom and slavery.” I would highly suggest doing some personal research about the history of Finland and Russia, and forming your own opinions. I will say that it is very interesting from a historical perspective. Click here for video clips from the documentary aired on PBS entitled: Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia.

Kassidy