traveling to russia
Feb. 27th, 2006 12:56 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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learn_russianI'm going to study abroad in Russia in two days (yay!), and I could use a little quick advice from you all! It's mostly not linguistic, so I'm sorry for being off-topic, but I'd also like to screw up cultural stuff as little as possible.
First of all, I will be staying with host families. I have assorted housegifts, but I am not sure how to go about giving them. Do I put them at the top of my bag so I can hand them to the hosts when I meet them, or get them out later, or what? Is there something special you say (besides general thank yous)?
Second, open question: what else should I know? Do you have any random advice that I might not have learned in class, or particularly useful phrases? (I'm in my third year of Russian, and I'm terrible at conversation, but pretty good with grammar and a dictionary.)
Third, I'll be there over Easter. What is the greeting? I know there's one in a couple other Orthodox cultures along the lines of "Christ is risen, indeed he is risen" so I assume there's one in Russian, and I'd like to be able to share it if I have the chance.
Fourth, and least interesting, I've been advised by the program advisor that we will be doing some train travel, and trains don't fit bags larger than 21"-14"-7". My suitcase is 25"-16"-9". I haven't done much train travel and I don't know what our trips will be, but we may be taking trains from one homestay to another, so I don't know if this is going to be a big problem. Would it be rude of me to e-mail the program advisor back to ask (I haven't met her), or should I just start throwing out stuff to leave home? I really, really don't want to be rude.
Thank you very much for any advice!
First of all, I will be staying with host families. I have assorted housegifts, but I am not sure how to go about giving them. Do I put them at the top of my bag so I can hand them to the hosts when I meet them, or get them out later, or what? Is there something special you say (besides general thank yous)?
Second, open question: what else should I know? Do you have any random advice that I might not have learned in class, or particularly useful phrases? (I'm in my third year of Russian, and I'm terrible at conversation, but pretty good with grammar and a dictionary.)
Third, I'll be there over Easter. What is the greeting? I know there's one in a couple other Orthodox cultures along the lines of "Christ is risen, indeed he is risen" so I assume there's one in Russian, and I'd like to be able to share it if I have the chance.
Fourth, and least interesting, I've been advised by the program advisor that we will be doing some train travel, and trains don't fit bags larger than 21"-14"-7". My suitcase is 25"-16"-9". I haven't done much train travel and I don't know what our trips will be, but we may be taking trains from one homestay to another, so I don't know if this is going to be a big problem. Would it be rude of me to e-mail the program advisor back to ask (I haven't met her), or should I just start throwing out stuff to leave home? I really, really don't want to be rude.
Thank you very much for any advice!
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Date: 2006-02-27 06:22 am (UTC)Well, what do you mean by "housegift"? Is that just usual present, or something special? No such word in dictionary. If just usual present, then there's no special tradition :) Yo may give them either when you come, or when tou leave, or at any other time, and it will be OK :)
Note that not all Russians celebrate Easter. The greeting is correct, in Russian it sounds like Христос воскрес! - Воистину воскрес!
And as for me, I never heard about problems with big bags in our trains :) Still, you'd better ask.
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Date: 2006-02-27 06:42 am (UTC)We usually use "Church Slavonic" (Old Russian) for this: "Христос воскресе — воистину воскресе".
And,
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Date: 2006-02-27 07:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 05:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-28 12:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 05:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 06:23 am (UTC)But be careful and make sure your vis-a-vis is Orthodox, because there is plenty of people who don't believe in God.
As for travelling by trains, I've never experienced any difficulties with my baggage, though I usually travel with two pretty small bags:). But I think it will be all right if you go with your suitcase - I can hardly imagine someone threatening you because of some two inches:). But you can e-mail your adviser, of course. I think she'll understand!
Welcome to Russia! Have a nice time in our country!:)
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Date: 2006-02-27 07:55 am (UTC)I'm non-believer but I see no harm in saying Христос Воскресе! - Воистину Воскресе! It's just nice tradition for me, so I don't feel offended at all when somebody greet me with the words. And I doubt any atheist would feel offended either.
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Date: 2006-02-27 01:37 pm (UTC)Yeah, if someone will be offended by "Христос воскресе", that means he's somewhat ill mentally, in fact.
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Date: 2006-02-27 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 05:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 06:06 pm (UTC)As to Sanct-Petersburg, it is a mix of cultures and nations, like every megapolis. So, if I were you, I would not be 100% sure that you will be placed with a practicing Russian Orthodox family.
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Date: 2006-02-27 06:33 am (UTC)I would recommend keeping them on top of your bag, so if they greet you with gifts, you can do the same. Otherwise, it would not be unreasonable to give out gifts after you have settled in a little bit and unpacked. Gifts are always welcome and appreciated, so do not feel too awkward about it.
Depending on whether the host families have hosted students before they may have different expectations. Patience is important whenever you are staying in somebody elses home, as well as a willingness to not sweat the small stuff. Don't be afraid to use your dictionary, or ask the host family how to say something in russian (if they speak english). There will be a few awkward moments on both sides, but the feeling of accomplishment when you successfully communicate something is great.
Talk to your family. One of the best ways to get a sense of the culture and the language is to use it. Ask them about the Olympics, what they do and so on (of course don't just barrage them with questions, be prepared to answer their questions in return). Don't be afraid of asking, if it's rude they will tell you so and, likely, will not get offended, or chalk it up to your inexperience with the language.
The traditional greeting/response amongst those who celebrate is (as far as I remember it): "Христос воскрес." / "Воистину воскрес." But, feel free to ask in advance what that family usually does for Easter. I am sure they will be happy to tell you about it. They might even involve you in the preparations, if you express enough interest.
Those dimensions are probably the dimensions of the space under the bunk where you would normally put your bag on the train (in a sleeping car). If your bag is bigger and does not get smaller, I would recommend perhaps getting an additional smaller bag you would keep with you and having the bigger bag in such a way that it can fit. I do not know what kind of trains you will be travelling on, so I can not say how inconvenient it could/would be.
But, certainly email the advisor to check! If anything, she should know. It is always better to ask than to find out later that you were wrong.
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Date: 2006-02-27 07:46 am (UTC)2. Well, it's hard to say, but one thing spings up immediately, right after reading the question about luggage size: just forget your inches. Russia is as thoroughly metrical as it gets. Your suitcase would be 63x40x23 cm and nothing else.
3. It worths to mention that Orthodox Easter is 23'th of April this year, and doesn't coincide with Western one. And easter greetings are indeed used, but observance vary greatly: some peoples are completely secular, some may observe rites just partially, and some might be religious or no Christian at all, so it's better first to know about a person to greet.
Greeting itself would be "Христос воскрес!" and answer "Воистину воскрес!". Some people prefer Church Slavonic variant, which is esspentially same, but with "воскресе" instead.
4. As far as I know, there is actually NO limitation on luggage size in trains: you can have any size that you're able to bargain with conductor. There are, in fact, some regulations, but with some greasing everything can be solved. However, the problem will start with much bigger sizes, and the one you said is pretty modest, I'd say.
There are luggage trunks under the bunks in compartments, which are indeed useful, because train theft is common, but I hardly seen the suitcae which didn't fit there. And if your one somehow don't, you can just store it outside, but then better watch out, especially if you're going in a common carriage.
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Date: 2006-02-27 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 05:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 09:26 pm (UTC)p.s. I'm sorry for my English :)
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Date: 2006-02-28 12:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-28 04:45 am (UTC)