5-й день Wonder Woman/Speedy Gonzales

Viviiiii!!!! Madonna! But really! It is funny only for you if I walk backwards because I am still talking to you and then bump into a car, thus almost getting lynched for abusing the car by a very upset and angry looking driver! For me that's just rather embarrassing, annoying and not least I actually hurtful. Well with hindsight of course it is funny for me too, been a Swiss Borat too long for not appreciating that my awkward ways might be funny to others. (So you think you can multitask?)

Now some clarifications: Vivi is the Tyrolean diving instructor, and - as she corrects me - not from North Tyrol, but from South Tyrol, thus Italian and not Austrian. I realized she was Italian, though as she (also) speaks German, I automatically made that North, though of course its northern Italy. Having said this, I should warn future friends of Wonder Woman, or Speedy Gonzales, as she should probably call herself. Vivi does not walk, she runs constantly. No wonder she's afraid of the cops stopping her, the way she moves it really looks like she is escaping from somewhere or running away after hitting someone on the head and robbing them. Oh! And sorry to say, but you are even worse than me when it comes to orientation. So the two of us looking for the registration office took about 3 hours, (though in all fairness we now must have seen most of St. Petersburg, albeit in a great big hurry), as it should have taken us maybe 20 minutes to get to the registration office. Needless to say that after unwillingly having run the St. Petersburg marathon early in the morning, no need to visit the local fitness center later on, as had been our plan.

No lessons today. I forgot to arrange for a special lesson, which the school offers, where students accompany you to either visit sights, or do menial things such as shopping or other everyday things you need or want to do, guiding you in Russian. What a splendid idea. Vivi has booked hers, so I am left dangling. It's ok, and actually it will force me to get organized. Shall hop on a tourist bus or boat. None of the guides we approached yesterday asking for directions spoke anything but Russian, and we even managed to stutter our questions in Russian but beware of the answers: Streams of Russian, and lots of waving about in all directions, so afterwards we'd  usually end up more confused than before. Until we picked up the magic word мост (bridge), and the waving of hands unmistakably directed in the direction back to Newski Prospekt, which is not at all where we had been searching and running about aimlessly for the past two hours. So my guess they will let out the foreign speaking guides during high season - June, July and August, when the prize tags will probable go up as well.

Actually, the guy waving us in the right direction was a policeman. We both were a bit apprehensive about approaching one, having heard or read that one should avoid doing so, but at that point we were quite desperate, and he looked friendly enough, in a grumpy sort of way.

As mentioned before, people usually do not look at you in public. I feel that if you do look at people in the street more than furtively (as they do), it might give the impression that you were in some way coming on to them. Thus, when you read that you should not look a policeman (милиция?) in the eyes, it is probably just common decency not to stare at one, and might offend them, just as it might civilians. Also, don't expect the cashier at the supermarket to reciprocate your smile or до свидания. Nothing personal.

Another beautiful, sunny day: Gotta investigate. Ready or not, St. Petersburg here I come...

...Visited the Дом книги (House of Books) before looking around for some souvenirs. Can anybody tell me where I might find some quirky skirt for Nina, my 12 year old niece? She asked for something "special", above knee-length, that will "swing in the breeze" (her words). Browsed the souvenir market and one thing I do want to buy is an old belt from former soldiers of the USSR. Found this really nice guy who sells them. The fun thing about it is that the soldier's names are written on the inside, and one can adapt the size to one's own measurements. So I will check what name (and year etc.) will speak to me. Hope it won't be of some poor guy who died in battle. Belt look tough so will probably outlive me.

Short boat tour, the views are breathtaking, overwhelming. According to weather forecast this might be the last sunny day for a bit, so wanted to do that now.

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.