derek

My first day of teaching is February 10th. That’s when the new classes start. Unfortunately, I’m only getting two classes which total 16 hours of work a week. It’s not quite enough, so I’m going to start looking for private students. The financial crisis is hitting Russia’s economy extremely hard, and every day fewer people can afford to learn English.

Yesterday I had my first experience at a Russian doctor. Since I got sick two weeks ago in Hungary, I’ve been near-deaf. I kept waiting for it to get better by itself, but I finally had enough — I needed a doctor. Tried to go by myself, but it was a disaster. Nobody spoke English. Thankfully a friend was free, met me in the city, and acted as my translator at the clinic. Spent about $71 (sans-insurance) to see a doctor, get an xray, and buy a bunch of medicine. My hearing is slowly coming back.

In more fun news, last night I…

…partied!

That’s Luke on the left, a British guy who’s also here teaching English. We’re in a bar called “Fidel.” Luke tells me it reminds him of a bar in England called “Cuba.” How ironic.

One of my favorite features of St. Petersburg is the “yards” — which means something very different than it does in the United States.

Russian buildings are usually built like square donuts. The “inside — the yard — is outdoors. Sometimes it has a playground, dumpsters, or decorative items.

More often than not, the yards are post-apocalyptic scenes. They’re littered with trash, there’s dilapidation everywhere you look, graffiti, and bits of buildings falling off. I love it! They really convey character.

This is one of my favorites.

“No future forever.” I’m tring to think of a joke with the word “paradox” but nothing is coming to mind.

Beautiful.

Above: Nevsky Prospect, around midnight.

I’m back in St. Petersburg. It’s the third time I’ve come to this city. Now, when coming here, I have the strange feeling of returning back home — to a familiar place — after a vacation. That is, of course, absurd.

I went to the Orange Language Centre, my future employer. Wednesday is my first day — signing an official contract, deciding my class schedule, etc.

I’ll be living in the hostel, once again. But, the hostel is moving to a new location today. So, for a few days I’m staying with a friend in a communal flat. These things really have to be seen to be believed.

Communal flats are relics from the Soviet Union. They’re exactly what they sound like — one flat several families live in, each with a separate room (single room per family), all sharing one bathroom and one kitchen. Above: the entrance to the flat. That door leads to the dark hallway to the other rooms. It’s always that dark. There’s no light.

Creepy, dark hallway with camera flash.

Kitchen and toilet.

Like my friend said, in the flat, you “really get a sense of history.”