March 8: International Women’s Day
It has been a hectic few weeks in St. Petersburg as usual. Midterms coming up and then, Spring Break! Friends and I are going to Istanbul Turkey, which I am beyond excited for. My best friend in New York is from Turkey and so I cannot WAIT to see where she is from.
Beyond that, a few things I would like to make note of in the last few days. My roommate and I met a local Russian named Slava and he looked straight out of the Williamsburg Hipster set. He took us to a party and everyone else also looked as though they might at any moment pick up and go back to Brooklyn. I found it curious because frankly I anticipated that even if “hipsters” existed in Russia they would be somehow different that those in New York. That the “stereotypical hipster” would not be cross cultural by any means, and yet, it appears that they are. It appears that even across oceans people there are ideas and moments about and in culture that exist simultaneously.
I have also found that language is mostly not an issue. If you speak as much Russian as another person speaks English you can have a conversation. If you have seen enough movies with a certain pattern of events and understand how they work and progress, you can see a movie in a completely foreign language and understand the main ideas with little help on translation. If you can count, you can buy things, and if you know basic phrases, you can order food at a restaurant. Talking on the phone is the most difficult because you can’t see expressions and gestures which, in reality, are the backbone of international understanding. I have friends here whose English is minimal but who I have come to appreciate for their personality, humor, and way of life, as much as they have mine. We probably won’t keep in touch after I go home to New York, but more than likely, we won’t forget the things we learned from each other. I used to think language was so important to relationships and friendships, but now I realize that what defines a friendship is the ability to read emotions and the ability to pay attention to everything besides what is coming out of another person’s mouth. When someone you cannot have a full conversation with sees you and gives you a hug and is genuinely pleased that you came, it becomes hard to deny that language is perhaps not the most important part of communication. We take it for granted how much easier it makes building bonds with others, but it is not essential in the way that I have always thought.
Finally, and most importantly, today is international women’s day and there are no classes. A day of studying and a day of celebration for women around the world. So, happy women’s day! We should be proud of ourselves for the things we have accomplished and they ways in which women have made the world a better, more beautiful, and more equal society.
Emily