Victory Day - День Победы

Last night, we had dinner at the спб, (http://www.barspb.ru). Huge, smoke filled student club on the second floor. Not predominantly a restaurant, but a bar featuring numerous beers, and fun paper table mats in the manner of newspapers advertising specific events, and stories about beer, with lots of English expressions in Cyrillic, which makes it fun to decipher.

Very young crowd, all sitting in front of huge drinks, and the specialty being beers, most groups get 3l containers with taps in the middle of their table, from where they refill their own glasses. I loved my Russian, unfiltered beer. Very yeasty. At the next table, two girls kept ordering bread sticks with a kind of dip, so we got curious and ordered some too, after dinner. They were actually quite tasty, dark fried bread sticks, mildly crunchy and really good with drinks or beer. What a great idea! Unthinkable that no one offers this kind of simple but slightly salty and yummy apéro or snack in Europe! One could simply call it "Russian Bread Sticks", which ought to make people want to try - не правда? (nie pravda = right?). Which brings me to this morning's word du jour: I remember vividly as a child there was often talk of "the official Russian party newspaper "Pravda" (Truth) in the news. Easy word to remember.

After dinner, a heated discussion about tipping or no tipping started. Two of us just felt like tipping the young overwhelmed waiter Vladimir with the unfortunate haircut, who catered to us with undiminished patience and always a friendly smile during our two-hour stay, but some felt that was not good for the system, as they did not expect a tip. Having jobbed as waiter myself in my early years, I remember having appreciated tips not only for the money's worth, but as a sign of appreciation from customers who I felt were happy with my service. Plus it is true that on"good days" it would be great to end your day with hurting feet and (in my case usually a very dirty white waiter's uniform), but with a big "Trinkgeld" (we call tips "money for drinking" in German) in the "Portemonnaie (Schwyzerdütsch = " wallet). Though of course nobody wants to offend people in Russia. The schools information letter mentions that people rendering services do not expect tips, but we decided to check back whether that one is free to choose, or whether indeed it is discouraged. Definitely something to ask the teacher today. Class starting in half an hour, thus better showered and dressed now.

...after class (and extensive visit to the town center, market, and quitte a crowd because of День Победы (Victory Day), which is celebrated today, May 9. Feedback from the study coordinator and my teacher: Tipping is fine, just not expected or compulsory, but of course it is appreciated.

Quote study coordinator: "Read your second post. About tipping, in the letter I wrote that it is not necessary to tip our drivers or so. In restaurants or bars it is common to give 5 to 10% tip on the total bill amount. It is even so (unlogically) that the higher amount, the higher percentage of the tip... (if you go to very expensive places, then tipping 10-15% or even 20% is normal); the logic behind is that richer people can tip more, than normal people."

Glad we cleared that up, because myself and others I have met here just like to tip when service is good and friendly. Speaking of which: We went to a phone shop to get my SIM card working, and the staff was very helpful, also with my friend who was looking for a connecting cable, which they did not sell, but happened to have lying about. After telling us he could not sell it, the shop assistant came up to us after we had already left the shop and just gave my friend the cable. Such things just make your day! So happily we dove down into the metro station, and the downward trip on the elevator stairs seems to be endless. It is true that the crowds do seem a bit sinister in the beginning, and most people don't really look at you, but rather at their feet or the ground, which might strike as unfriendly at first sight, but it is a relaxed crowd, even today, with all the festivities going on. People seem less unselfconscious than Western Europeans, where sometimes it feels like everybody and their mother is preparing themselves to appear on the X Factor or some other talent show.

Lunched in a crowded and busy Egyptian snack bar. Tasty and again, very friendly. Also, I was on my best behavior today and until the very end of our excursion nothing untoward happened. After a lot of shopping of course Swiss Borat forgot half of the bags at the cashiers' but again a security guy ran after me and told me to go get it. Большое спасибо! Thanks a lot, security guy. Then, while we were sitting outside relaxing and having some juice, another guy came up to me and I thought he wanted me to empty the trolley, so in a hurry I obviously spilled my fruitjuice over all the bags, but all things considered, that is not too much clumsiness for a whole day, really. Walked home with heavy, sticky bags on feet of fire.

Oh and the first class went very well. Thank goodness my teacher Mascha is very structured which is ideal for me, as I tend to jump all over the place. Though after a whole morning of class, my head gave off smoke signals.