From Tomsk

Well I made it in on Sunday. Svetlana from the department was there at the airport to meet me (bright and early) and had a cab drop me off at my dorm. The dorm is for foreigners, is about 10 stories tall, and is pretty luxurious as far as Russian dorms go. I have a fridge, a microwave, a tv, some shelves, a desk, and sheets that almost cover the bed that I can almost fit on. I have a little subdivision «Секция» where 3 or 5 other people live (I can’t decide), all of whom speak Russian way better than me. For some reason I have feeling way too shy to talk to talk to anyone around the dorm, but maybe eventually I’ll make some friends. I asked this administrative lady at the university about the cockroaches in the kitchen, and she said it was because of the Chinese students. My eyes bulged and she apologized and said that they make a lot of food and leave it out.

Anyway, so I passed out for 7 hours and when I woke up, I realized I had nothing I needed to survive: no food, no towel, no soap, no utensils, no plates, no card for my phone… I could go on and on. Anyway, I went out to see the city and try to track down the things I needed to get me through the night. My host contact Svetlana, who, by the way, speaks great English, was skeptical about my being able to find a SIM-card for my phone, which surprised me (since they’re sold on every corner in every Russian city I’ve ever been in), but I found a million stores selling them. I had to go back to my dorm before I could actually get one, since I didn’t remember my address. I wandered around tracking down the necessities: a plate, a bowl, a mug, a fork, a spoon (I later accidentally threw the utensils down the trash shoot and had to go find new ones). Yesterday I even got a pot and a pan to make pelmeni and who knows what else in the future.

The city is pretty gorgeous as you can no doubt tell from the pictures. Coming in from the airport the landscape changes from deserted wilderness (dark, dark forests) to large city in a matter of seconds. Still, even in the city there’s lots of vegetation and plenty of parks that look as dense as the forest surrounding it. When I first set off into the city it seemed a little desolate, but then I wandered over towards the main drag (the Prospekt of Lenin) and was amazed at everything that was available. Luckily I had studied a bit of Tomsk geography on the internet before arriving, so I had an easy time of getting around, at least on the main streets. I’ve figured out that the #3 bus gets me everywhere I’ve needed to go so far.

Evidently I’m going to be taking some Russian classes, but not yet, and it’s not really clear when I’ll actually start teaching English (supposedly it can be as late as October), so really, I have nothing to do yet. I’ve gone from buying the bare necessities to starting to consider some clothes that I might need, including new shoes (I’m thinking I need to pointy Russian-man shoes, to fit in), but they don’t have a lot in my size, which, as I learned last summer, is 48. I found a couple of pirated mp3 cd’s (4 bucks for the complete collection of any group you can find). I took home the complete Leningrad and the complete Kino but might go back for Snoop Dog and a few others. I really need to start buying some more substantive food and things to make it with, but finding it for a good price isn’t always easy. In short, I’m still finding my way, but I’m getting very good at spending money.
Today I stopped into the American Center, which is in the middle of the huge library of TGU (the other big university in town), and once I explained my way past the surprisingly formidable security checkpoint, I slowly made my way to the center.

When I introduced myself as the new American in town, I got the whole she-bang. The lady explained all about the center and told all kinds of stories about Megan, the former Fulbright ETA who evidently made a pretty big impression on everyone here. She showed me their video collection, which I think will come in handy, and let me browse their American literature section. She then insisted on showing me all the reading rooms in the building, setting up a tour of the historical books for me, showing me the section on Russian art, and getting me a little pass so I can come back. It was nice to get to see what seems to be a pretty great resource, but I was detained so long that I was late in meeting Svetlana to go get my registration.
When I got there she was talking to the French “Specialist”. I forgot to say that my official title here is “Specialist”. Not bad. I think I’ll get it put on my “Vizitka” (business card, if only I could see Anatolii the doctor with that kind of vizitka to give out!). Anyway, I confused the French girl for a Russian student, because she was speaking in English me. Oh well!

I got my passport , migration card, and brand-new registration from a lady at the university and now can say that I officially exist in the Russian Federation. Great!

Well, I’m going to crack open one of the books I just got at «Академкнига» and round myself up some dinner. I’ll post this whenever I get my hands on some internet. Enjoy the pictures. I will have included a few from Moscow and a few from Tomsk. I’m going to try to find a good place to post more than 5 pictures at a time for you all to admire.

That’s all for now,
Jason