On Wednesday, January 30th, residents of the Grinnell College Russian House hosted the first Чаепитие (Tea Time) of the Spring 2013 semester. The event, which traditionally has been held later in the evening, has undergone a transition this semester–instead of evening tea and Russian treats, Russian Tea Time at Grinnell has become a dinner event, now occurring weekly on Wednesdays at 18:00.

The first Tea Time was a success, despite the frigidity of Iowa’s January weather. The main course: Russian-style Borscht (Борщ), prepared by Russian major Anthony Wenndt ’15. Complete with Russian music and pleasant conversation, the first dinnertime Чаепитие at Grinnell certainly set the stage for a semester of fun and food at the Russkii Dom.

Left to Right: Anthony Wenndt ’15, Sydney Devine ’13, Christopher Squier ’13.

2012-2013 Russian Language Assistant Elvira Fattakhova

Welcome back, one and all! We hope you enjoyed a pleasant winter break, both productive and restful, and we also hope you are ready for Spring 2013 (though it hardly seems like spring at the moment: ХОЛОДНО В ГРИННЕЛЛЕ!)! We look forward to seeing those on campus at our weekly Русский стол on Fridays at noon in the dining hall, and Русский дом invites you to come to its weekly Чаепитие (Tea Party), which this semester will be held on Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. in Русский дом (see below).

Чаепитие!

The first Чаепитие will be held this evening, January 30th; Борщ, made by Антон/Anthony will be featured! 

We also have a number of other events planned for the semester, including our annual Maslennitsa/Масленница celebration in March, Slavic Coffeehouse/Славянское кафе in April, and a screening of the Russian film Стиляги (Hipsters). Watch for future posts on Novosti for more information!

Guests in Grinnell for Spring 2013

We’d also like to welcome to campus an old friend of the department, RCEES concentration, and College, Mr. Konstanty (Kostek) Gebert, who is the 2012-13 John R. Heath Professor.  Having just completed a stint as head of the Warsaw office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, Kostek is an “international reporter and columnist at “Gazeta Wyborcza”, Poland’s biggest daily. He was a democratic opposition activist in the Seventies, when he was also an organizer of the Jewish Flying University, and an underground journalist in the Eighties under martial law. He is the founder of the Polish Jewish intellectual monthly Midrasz, and a board member of the Taube Centre for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland and of the Einstein Forum in Potsdam, Germany. He has taught in Poland, Israel and the US. He wrote ten books, e.g. on the Polish democratic transformation and on French policy toward Poland, the Yugoslav wars and the wars of Israel, Torah commentary and post-war Polish Jewry.  His essays have appeared in two dozen collective works in Poland and abroad, and his articles in newspapers around the world” (from: http://ecfr.eu/content/profile/C126). Kostek is teaching two courses this semester in the RCEES concentration (“Comparing Genocides” and “Polish-Jewish Relations in the Twentieth-Century”). He will also be giving a public lecture this semester; please watch for more news on this event. Welcome back, Kostek!

Students in Russia

Good luck to our students studying in Russia this semester! Arthur Richardson ’14 is studying on a Middlebury program in Irkutsk, Russia, and Stephanie Porter ’14 is studying in Saint Petersburg, in the Bard-Smolny program.  We look forward to hearing from them as they experience Russia for the first time!

Funding Opportunities

Finally, watch for future posts regarding funding for summer and post-graduate study. For now, students should check out the Russian Department website for information on two important opportunities, the Anne K. Hanson Award, and the John Mohan Russian Study Award.  Please contact Todd Armstrong if you have questions about these awards.

Русская кафедра желает всем нашим студентaм и друзьям счастливого и безопасного пути домой! The Russian Department wishes all our students a pleasant and safe journey home! We hope you enjoy the winter break, and we look forward to working with you in 2013. We have lots of interesting events and guests in the coming semester; watch for future postings for more information. 

Музей советских игровых автоматов

[Soviet Arcade Game Museum]

Leann Wilson ’07

For those of you planning a visit to Moscow, I highly recommend taking a side trip to Metro Baumanskaia, where you’ll find the not-to-be-missed Soviet Arcade Game Museum. While you can arrange an official экскурсия, this isn’t your average gallery of untouchable artifacts. For an entrance fee of 300 rubles you’ll receive fifteen 15-kopeck coins that will allow you to play a wide assortment of refurbished Soviet arcade games.

Ever find those pesky, seemingly useless, 1-kopeck coins in your change purse? Keep ‘em! Right as you walk in the Museum you’re tempted by three fully-functioning газировка vending machines. If you want to tickle your palate with a fresh glass of Tarkhun or Orange Syrup Water, you’ll be needing those kopecks. Is your inner numismatist unwilling to part with those elusive 1-kopeck species? No problem; you can always get your fizz fix at the kassa for 50 rubles.

Most of the games have been restored to working order, but be forewarned that here, as at any arcade in the whole world over, your money will get eaten up by rapacious coin slots eager to deny you a fulfilling gaming experience. Ну, что же делать? In order to minimize disappointment, I advise you to seek out the following machines:

As alluring as the lush landscape of the Ни пуха, ни пера! Soviet Duck Hunt game is, in the first-person shooter category, the aspiring ФСБшник will want to head straight for the Sniper franchise (though this sharpshooter was unable to discern much of a difference between Снайпер-1 and  Снайпер-2).

There’s no Tetris to be found here, but under the “classic games” rubric, don’t miss the electronic version of the ancient Russian log-toss game Городки.

A personal favorite of mine is the Магистраль racing game. Pro tip: Attempt it one-handed and stay in the учебная mode. Motorists from the West are no match for Russian roadways.

Did you bring a buddy along? Then you can’t go wrong facing off at foosball, hockey, or basketball.

If a flight to the Russian capital isn’t on your horizon, you’ll have to settle with the Museum’s website: http://www.15kop.ru

Designed by the ultra-hip design team at the Art Lebedev Studio, the site comes complete with Flash emulators of the Soviet originals that you can play to your heart’s content. Be advised, though; it’s more addictive than krokodil!

For additional images of the Museum, click over to Leann’s Facebook album or Grinnell Gallery.

Greetings from Tomsk!
According to Lonely Planet, Tomsk is one of the “undiscovered wonders of Siberia” and “Siberia’s most attractive city.”  It’s a cozy town known for its traditional wooden architecture and its many universities.  I arrived here about two months ago, and have really enjoyed exploring so far.
Winter is starting to settle into Tomsk, and the most surprising thing is how often it snows.  Many days it seems to snow constantly.  It may or may not accumulate on the ground, but the air is always filled with small, white flakes.  We recently had our first day of -30°C (-22°F) weather, a sign that winter has truly arrived.

I’m here in Tomsk as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, and classes have been going well.  At the beginning of the month I discussed voting and elections with my students, and last week we learned about Thanksgiving.  Until now I’ve only been working with students who study English as their primary language, but I recently started working with a group that is stronger in German than in English.  I’m looking forward to working more with them in the coming months.

While not working, I’ve been attending weekly Toastmasters’ Club meetings at the American Center, and last week it was my turn to give a speech.  Normally the speeches are given in English, but I did mine in Russian for some extra practice.  I spoke about Pella and Tulip Time, starting the speech off with a Dutch dance.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I was happy with how it went.

On Thanksgiving I was able to have a small celebration with two friends.  I made chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.  It was my first time making cranberry sauce from scratch, and it turned out wonderfully!  I also made the pie from scratch.  At first I wasn’t sure where to find a pumpkin, but then one of my students brought me one from her garden.  It was huge, so I ended up making pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin pasta, in addition to the pie.

Last weekend I visited a friend in Abakan, in the republic of Khakassiya.  This involved a 15 hour bus ride there, and another 15 hours back, but the journey was surprisingly calm.  We watched lots of movies, stopped occasionally to eat, and, of course, slept.  While in Abakan, I spent one afternoon outside of the city in the steppes, one of my favorite landscapes.  We visited Salbyk, often called the “Stongehenge of Siberia,” a traditional Khakas burial site.  There used to be a large pyramid which contained the bodies, but now all that remains is the large stone outline of the pyramid.  What with the mountains in the background and the steppes all around, it was a tremendous sight.

One of the things I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving was the opportunity I have now to live in Russia, and also for the fact that I was so well prepared for this experience by my time at Grinnell.  Not only is my base of linguistic and cultural knowledge from the Russian Department coming in handy, but I find myself using other skills that I wouldn’t have expected to use in Siberia.  I speak Italian everyday with my neighbor, have been solicited for help with math, and am the resident expert on post offices both in my dorm and in my office.  So take advantage of your time at Grinnell and participate in all sorts of things – you never know when seemingly disparate skills will come together!

Всего всего хорошего,

Kristen

Дорогие друзья, здраствуйте из Тольятти!
Dear friends, greetings from Togliatti!

My name is Rev Darragh.  You may not know me – having majored in Political Science and German, I have been a somewhat secret member of Grinnell’s Russian community.  I took only two Beginner-level classes with our excellent Russian Department.  But I am now happily living and working as an English teacher in Togliatti, in the Samara region.  Though many citizens call it a small provincial city, Togliatti is the center of the Lada company’s automobile production, making Togliatti known throughout Russia (and even Europe), and earning the name “Russia’s Detroit” (only, Togliatti’s economic prospects are better).

Imagine my surprise when I saw Nicole Stevenson ’12, also an alum, get out of the car in front of the apartment we now share.  We were both “recruited” by 2011-2012 Russian Language Assistant Yulia Fedoseeva to work at Windsor Linguistic School.  Windsor is easily the best English school in Togliatti.  Since opening 12 years ago, it has opened three offices (soon to be four), including a headquarters in a snazzy shopping center-hotel complex.  They have had 2-3 US or UK teachers for at least the past several years.  The prestige these two accomplishments bring is a key advantage in a market for which passable knowledge of English is the key to working for one of the international automotive companies – some of the best jobs in the city.

I work full-time, and dedicate the majority of my “free” time to studying Russian language.   I teach three groups of teenagers, 4 groups of adults, 6 individuals and conduct a “Speech Club;” my hours are distributed in 4-11 hour chunks over 6-7 days (my one Sunday student cancels a lot).  Now three months in, I mostly understand how to tailor each class to the personalities and language needs of each group.  Teaching is very challenging, especially with adults, who think far too hard and crave simple rules they can follow to speak correctly (read the next paragraph for my view on grammar).  I am very lucky that three of my adult groups are all studying at the same “level.”  By the third time I teach the material, I feel confident and encouraged – helpful feelings for weathering more difficult days.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, I have boosted my Russian language “productivity” since my work-weeks reached 40 hours.  Though it took several months of meeting different people to find people with whom I substantively shared interests, I now regularly meet with a few colleagues and students (separately) to speak alternately in Russian and English about topics of mutual interest.  For us, these are business, economics, politics, and interesting macro-social questions.

I am pleased to now have middle-Intermediate skills, with very strong and fast-growing vocabulary at the “cost” of somewhat undisciplined grammar.  Reading is the core of my approach to language-learning, followed by conversations to solidify the concepts I have drawn out of the text and actively learned.  My philosophy is that as you listen to real or TV/radio speech, you can only recognize the words you have previously (and “actively”) encountered.  The most efficient way to gain these words is to read a newspaper or a kid’s history textbook; I don’t have the time, energy or patience to re-undergo childhood-length progressively-mothered language acquisition.  Newspapers are also the best vector for tapping into locals’ societal discussions.  While my vocabulary is skyrocketing, I learn grammar organically, learning from the corrections people make of my speech.

I have three pieces of advice for students going to Russia.  First, start intensively, actively reading text BEFORE you go.  Prime your brain early, so that you don’t have to spend valuable time at your desk once you have arrived (I made this mistake for 3-4 weeks).  If you know the words on paper, in many contexts, your ears and tongue will learn quickly once you start working hard, “on the ground”.  In dollar terms, each day not spent actively expanding your targeted language skills costs >$150, if you are on a typically-priced study abroad program.   Second, only speak Russian.  By the third time someone speaks with you, he/she will accept your insistence, and be glad to get to know you.  Don’t TELL them you want to only speak Russian, just DO it – no explanation is needed.  Third, do NOT sit on the Internet, whether chatting with friends or watching American TV/movies.  Live in your city, eat what they eat and watch what they watch.

—

To conclude, teaching English can be a great way to get to your target country.  The people are great!  If your students are like mine, they will invite you to dinner (this evening), or to bowling (next Saturday), or just want to chat with you long after your next class is supposed to begin.  But never forget why you are in-country, and what you have paid in financial and personal/relationship costs to get there.  Unlike study abroad programs, there are no syllabi or helpful professors/office staff to nurture your language skills.  Be disciplined, and relentlessly pursue the goals you set for yourself.

I don’t know if Novosti has a questions/comments function.  But if anything in this letter has inspired a question or comment in you, you can always reach me at my Grinnell address:darraghr@grinnell.edu.

From Russia with [Warm Regards],
–Rev Darragh ’12

Russian and RCEES alumni and faculty descended on the Big Easy November 14-18, 2012, for the 44th annual convention of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES, the association formerly known as AAASS).

Grinnell was well-represented at the annual conference in New Orleans, which brings together scholars from all disciplines engaged in Slavic, East European Studies. Faculty and alumni participated in various capacities at the annual meeting of our field.

Russian/RCEES Alumni at the convention:

Naomi Caffee ‘04, pictured to the left with the discussant on her panel, Псой Короленко,  presented ”Virtual Peripheries: The Effects of Mobility and Internet Publication on Central Asian Russophone Poetry.” Naomi is currently working on her dissertation at UCLA

Avram Lyon ’06, currently in the Ph. D. program at UCLA, participated on the roundtable  ”Non-Monogamy in Russian Literature and History,” and was a discussant on the panel “National and Russian-language Schools in the Soviet Union and Post-Soviet States.” Avram is the proud father of a new daughter. Поздравляем!

Lindsey Martin ’07 is working on her PhD in Stanford, and was at the conference after a year of research in Moscow.

Naomi Olson (née Bethel) ’04, pictured to the right, presented “Nabokov and the Brain: The Narrative Logic of Neurological Conditions.”

Joan Neuberger ’75 presented “Tackling the 1920s–1930s Divide:  Filmmaking Continuities in Pre-Thaw Soviet Cinema, and

Beth Holmgren ’75 presented ”Lopek and Company: The Warsaw Careers of Kazimierz Krukowski”. Beth is at Duke, and wanted me to pass on word of their Slavic and Eurasian Studies MA program

Russian/RCEES faculty at the convention:

Raquel Greene was a participant on the roundtable “Inclusitivity and Academic Diversity in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies,” and participated on the roundtable “Young Adult and Crossover Literature in the New Russia,” and convened, in her role as the organization’s president,  the annual meeting of the Association for Students and Teachers of Color in Slavic Studies. Kelly Herold chaired the panel, Childhood as Contested Space I: Violating Boundaries and Crossing Borders, and participated on the roundtable  ”Young Adult and Crossover Literature in the New Russia.” Anatoly Vishevsky chaired the panel “Children‘s Literature Across Borders: Smuggled in Translation.” Ed Cohn (History) was also in attendance, as was Danielle Lussier (Political Science) who presented ”The Social, Demographic, and Attitudinal Roots of Post-Soviet Russian Political Participation”–continuing her work on the changing political scene in Putin’s Russia. Todd Armstrong was a discussant on the panel “Overcoming Trauma: The Instability of Space, Genre, and Identity in Modern Polish Literature,” and chaired the panel “Between Autobiography and Authorship: Constructing Jewish Literary Selves.”

Tolya, Lindsey, and Naomi catching up the conference.