This summer has been one of slow, drawn-out farewells. Another music post, this goes out to you Moscow:
I'm sitting in the Warsaw airport on my way home from 2 years of studying in Moscow, Russia. I can hardly believe that I am finally on my way back to the US after SOOOOO long being absent. The time in Russia was incredibly difficult on me, and I owe so much to friends and family that got me through the toughest times. I can honestly say that I've never felt more alone, betrayed, angry, and bitter than I often did in Moscow. I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship with this city (I guess I should say that city now), with a bit of a Stockholm syndrome thing going on (a bit, I mean, I'm not super in love). And yet, saying goodbye to all of my dear friends over the summer tore a bit of me out. That's the catch with living in a place so far away, you can never really take all of you along when you finally leave. Moscow, you definitely took a big part of me for yourself, but I guess in a weird way I love you for it...bitch.
The last little while in Russia I got into 'do everything Russia' mode. I ate so many pelmeni, vareniki, and pirogi that I definitely don't want to see them for quite some time now; I made it to a museum that a friend and I had tried to hit up twice before with no success; I threw a shashlik (shishkebab) roast for a ton of my friends; and I gave a talk in my church.
One of my most anticipated activities was to catch the sunrise over Sparrow Hills. To do this I had to wake up at about 4.00 am to run the 10k there and catch it on time (I could have done this at a time of year when the sun rises much, much later, but I procrastinated). I was expecting a totally tender moment with Moscow where I re-convince myself that I really do love this city. Instead I found a bunch of drunk people driving around screaming...I was pretty disappointed (although on the other hand you've got to hand it to them for still being drunk at 4.45). The sunrise was beautiful though, and at least I had a nice run without any traffic.
Anyway, after all my little goodbyes, it finally came time to go. People ask me a lot 'what now?' Now I'm nervous, excited, burned-out, tired, and a bit hungry. We'll see what comes next, but for now, Прощай, Москва.
I'm sitting in the Warsaw airport on my way home from 2 years of studying in Moscow, Russia. I can hardly believe that I am finally on my way back to the US after SOOOOO long being absent. The time in Russia was incredibly difficult on me, and I owe so much to friends and family that got me through the toughest times. I can honestly say that I've never felt more alone, betrayed, angry, and bitter than I often did in Moscow. I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship with this city (I guess I should say that city now), with a bit of a Stockholm syndrome thing going on (a bit, I mean, I'm not super in love). And yet, saying goodbye to all of my dear friends over the summer tore a bit of me out. That's the catch with living in a place so far away, you can never really take all of you along when you finally leave. Moscow, you definitely took a big part of me for yourself, but I guess in a weird way I love you for it...bitch.
The last little while in Russia I got into 'do everything Russia' mode. I ate so many pelmeni, vareniki, and pirogi that I definitely don't want to see them for quite some time now; I made it to a museum that a friend and I had tried to hit up twice before with no success; I threw a shashlik (shishkebab) roast for a ton of my friends; and I gave a talk in my church.
One of my most anticipated activities was to catch the sunrise over Sparrow Hills. To do this I had to wake up at about 4.00 am to run the 10k there and catch it on time (I could have done this at a time of year when the sun rises much, much later, but I procrastinated). I was expecting a totally tender moment with Moscow where I re-convince myself that I really do love this city. Instead I found a bunch of drunk people driving around screaming...I was pretty disappointed (although on the other hand you've got to hand it to them for still being drunk at 4.45). The sunrise was beautiful though, and at least I had a nice run without any traffic.
Then I graduated from my Master's program.
Anyway, after all my little goodbyes, it finally came time to go. People ask me a lot 'what now?' Now I'm nervous, excited, burned-out, tired, and a bit hungry. We'll see what comes next, but for now, Прощай, Москва.
Удачи, Брайс! Продолжай писать в этот блог, если будет возможность :)
ReplyDeleteDid you win an Oscar?
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say? They liked me...they really liked me. They gave one to everyone who graduated with honors.
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