The End

I guess this is the last post for this blog. My student exchange ended, as I returned to Finland on 20th of December. Here are some thoughts I want to share after staying almost two weeks in my home country:

♣ It wasn't always fun to be an exchange student. Special arrangements and bureaucracy were sometimes exhausting. I experienced how it is like to be a stranger in a foreign country. I missed my family, my friends, and my home country. The saddest thing was that I didn't get along with my roommate - partly because of me, I admit.

♣ I still had a lot of fun. I got new friends, saw new places, and got a bunch of great memories. There are still such places left I didn't see, so I guess I have to go back to Moscow for another adventure... ;) But not yet.

♣ I learned a lot of new things. I don't remember when I would've pondered my life so much than in Russia. There I could recognize what things are truly relevant to me. I really needed to "escape" my comfort zone to seen my life differently.

♣  My studies went better than expected. I completed 10 courses. With scale 1-5 ,where 3 is a pass, I got 9 times 5 and one 4. I'm really happy about my accomplishment! Though in my LUAS transcript, all the grades will only be marked as passed, so my average won't change to anything. What a pity! :P

♣ But overall... I'm really happy it's now over. Especially because my school is finally over! Or, not quite yet - I still have one more exam tomorrow, but in my home university. Actually the subject is Russian language, so I haven't stressed about it too much. I'll apply for my graduation next week, and my diploma should be available at the end of the month.

♣ Being without plans is actually really nice. I don't have to stress about anything. I can finally clear out my thoughts. And the best part is, that I won't need to go back to school. It feels peculiar though, that I'll have lost those "frames" which academic years and school tasks provide. I've studies 14.5 years without years off, and suddenly I don't need to study anymore.

 

It means that I have a new life ahead.

Again.

As the last post for this blog, I want to thank you for your attention (business students will understand <3), and wish you a successful new year 2014!

Soon... :)))

My time in Moscow is coming to an end! Tolstoy 31 leaves to Finland day after tomorrow, and the school stress is approaching level zero. Just one presentation to do on Wednesday evening (+ some boring paper work) and I'm done.

As I look back in time, so much things happened in a short time. Sometimes it was painful, but I also had a lot of great moments. At some point I regretted coming here, but now I'm glad that I decided to survive and learn my lessons. I couldn't be any happier of my new experiences and friends I got in Moscow. And soon I'll be at home :)

"Normal" exchange students would have approximately one year of studies left, thesis unfinished and perhaps internship place in search. But because I decided to do things differently, I'll luckily graduate from my home university next month! Please let this gif conclude my plans for year 2014:

(Source)

Weekend of Museums - Like a Tourist

As I've got some extra time in my hands, I've taken a chance to visit some museums! :)

On Thursday I had an intention to find The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, but then I missed the metro station. (Kropotkinskay and Komsomol'skaya DO make a difference... Oops!) After returning to the right metro station, I found the right street - but the wrong building. "The gallery you're looking for is the next one. Today it's closed though due to a performance held there", I was told in Russian. Time for plan B. I was looking for The Tretyakov State Gallery for a good while. I decided to take a break from walking by sitting in a cafeteria and finding out where to go. During my walk to the gallery I noticed that the gallery was ridiculously close to the metro station Tretyakovskaya and that I had passed it. I eventually found the gallery and enjoyed my visit. Finally I tried my luck for Moscow Manege, but they didn't take me inside anymore even though it was still open for two hours!

Tretyakov's gallery outside.

Finland's independence day was on Friday. What a great day to visit The Central Museum of The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945! (This is in Park Pobedy, which I visited with PK earlier). Actually there were hardly any signs of Finland, only a couple of maps where Finland appeared. You could spend a whole day in the museum. There is a park area which I didn't check because it's winter now, and I wouldn't have time for that. The "front yard" of the museum is already so large that it takes roughly 15 minutes to walk from the metro station to the entrance. (At least with my feet after the Thursday's adventures...) I also visited Anton Chekhov's home.

Power Rangers? The lights disturb a little, but you get the idea.

Anton Chekhov's working desk.

 On Saturday I had school, but on Sunday I saw Multimedia Art Museum and The Leo Tolstoy State Museum. I didn't take any photos in the latter one, but I added a couple of photos of contemporary art as a compensation ;)

Random Fact: Not Safe, Only Non-Dangerous

Russia seems to be a dangerous place, like, for real.

I ended up to my conclusion during the Russian class, when I heard that Russian language doesn't have a special word for "safe". It's just literally translated as "non-dangerous" (bezopasnyj).

:]

This and That and a Leaking Memory

I had to check what I've written last time. What a good memory I have!

This is my third week without lessons on Bachelor level, except for philosophy/sociology/whatever on Thursday afternoons. I've only had some Master-level lessons here and there, plus Russian lessons three times a week (!). Russian language studies are the reason why I particularly came to Moscow for this semester, so now I'm happier than ever. :) But anyway, I've had quite a lot of free time in my hands.

Due to a request by my older sister, I paid a visit to Semyonovskaya Pryazha, which is a shop for handicraft enthusiasts. There were shelves full of different types of yarns for knitting! The big disappointment was that most of the yarns were made either partly of fully made from acryl. After a careful research, I managed to find the yarns from natural materials. Alpaca. Mmm, so soft <3 (Sorry sis, I've forgotten to send the photos of your yarns!)

I made a discovery near my university. There's a really nice park in Yugo-Zapadnaya area near my university, perhaps 10-15 minutes of walking is needed to get there. I was astonished since I've grown on the edge of a forest and while staying here, I haven't seen nature for a long time :P

On Saturday, I was supposed to start a new course but it was cancelled due to teacher's sickness. To celebrate that, I went to State Historical Museum with my friend SK. I'm proud of myself that I survived well without taking photos all the time :)

And now I'm sitting in the library (my favourite place here <3), waiting that my evening class would start. Good thing I suddenly remembered during this afternoon that I actually have it.

Random Fact: Unity Day

There's a holiday in Russia on November 4th. I asked my classmates to explain the reason for this sign of generousity, - this university has no significant breaks during autumn semesters like my home university - but nobody could describe why this holiday exists. I decided to find this out by myself then.

Denʹ narodnogo yedinstva can be translated as "Unity Day", "Day of People's Unity" or "National Unity Day". Originally this day was celebrated in memory of year 1612, when Polish-Lithuanian occupation forces were pushed away from Moscow by a popular uprising, lead by Kuzma Minin and Dmitri Pozharsky. Other events celebrated are the ends of the Time of Troubles (1598-1613) and Polish-Muscovite War (1605-1618). The celebration of this day lasted till year 1917, when it was replaced with a commemoration of Russian Revolution on 7th of November. This holiday became also replaced in 2005 with 4th of November again, in order to have a holiday that would belong to all the nationalities in Russia.

Sounds confusing. No wonder Russians do not know about this celebration much. But at least we have one more reason among others to stay at home with a pure conscience and do nothing :)

(Sources: 1, 2)

Random Fact: Finns in Moscow

In 2010, there were 388 of us in Moscow. According to Wikipedia.
(This sum sounds ridiculous when the city has a total 11-15 million inhabitants...)