Saddened Knowledge

So I've been back in the U.S. for about a week; and I have a confession to make...I have culture shock. Three months ago I thought that I would come back to the states unchanged and knowing everything that I liked and disliked about being apart of America's community; and as usual I was wrong. I returned home, welcomed by my mother, people everywhere speaking English, and IHOP Red-Velvet pancakes; they were delicious, glad it was my first American meal back. But, I looked around and I listened to everyone, I understood everything that was being said: every consonant, verb, noun, stress on each word, and emotional content. I listened and heard everything that was being said; and it scared me.
 I just emerged from a three month trip where language was a distant worry, now I am back and I have to worry about how to phrase my words, in order for people to understand the full content I what I want to convey. I didn't realize how much I appreciated not having to worry about what people said and how they said their words. I was surrounded by my friends and classmates who spoke English, but it was more of a reminder of home. Now I'm home and English is all around me. This language and the words I write aren't a reminder of a place where I felt safe, it's a reminder of what America has become in the past years.
Not only was I bombarded by sentences and phrase of English, I was bombarded by merchandise, advertisement, big business consumerism and unhealthy living. It disgusted me. I drove by so many fast food restaurants and see people on their phones instead of talk with the people they were with within the first ten minutes of being back. I knew all this existed, but returning from a country where intimacy and realistic communication were present made me sad. People read books on the subway in Russia, people scroll through a meme on their iPhone in America.
Something I learned, more than anything, in Russia was that you can't sit and suffer through life. Chekhovian character's lives are miserable, but they're comical characters in a comedy that plays on the depression of these characters. Stanislavski has a quote that has stuck with me my entire trip: "Higher, lighter, simpler, more cheerful." It must be a purpose to understand what is troublesome and have that as a base foundation to reach a higher level of happiness.
I didn't actually think that I would miss my time in Russia, but I do. I miss walking down cobblestone streets listening to Bon Iver. I miss saying "Спасибо" (thank you) and "пожалуйста" (you're welcome). And I definitely miss eating buckwheat in the cafeteria. One day, maybe, I will return to Moscow, possibly as a tourist, and fill the space that has opened in my heart.

Worlds Away from Home

Well, I guess this is goodbye. In a few hours I will be on a plane that is bound for Germany, then I'll be on a plane to fly back to Illinois. As I leave this great city I have much to take away from it. My three months here have been short but it has been a great learning experience for me.
My life I've always have sheltered myself, being inexperienced on how to live my life and what choices to make. Being in Moscow has changed that: it has made me want to do things that I want to do, not that someone else wants to do and I just roll along with it. This trip has taught me, more than anything, that I need to live my life for myself; not for anyone else.
I am interested to see how my family and friends will react to me being abroad for such an extended period of time, I am also excited to analyze how different American culture is from the Russian culture. I have been exposed to American life my entire existence, but I've never acknowledged the sort of qwerks that Americans possess. What I see may not be what I want to see and understand, but it's a learning experience that we all must acknowledge.
My biggest lesson on this study abroad: there are worlds elsewhere. America isn't the center of the world, a state isn't where you have to be raised and die in. There is more out there than just a land with imaginary borders that keep us confined in a non-existent bubble. More people, more cultures, more lifestyles exist all over the 510.1 million km² of area that covers Earth. We have the possibility to explore those different places and experiences through programs such as study abroad, which I have been so thankful to be apart of, along with other ways of traveling and different programs.
I would suggest to everyone: travel. Travel when you can and are able to, it's an opportunity that doesn't come along everyday like the daily newspaper. And I'm not talking about traveling to a different state, I'm talking about traveling to a different country! People breath and eat and sleep all over the world; they have history deeper than the United States. We shouldn't ignore such wondrous places away from home.
My time in Russia is up. Maybe I'll come back, I wouldn't mind visiting as a tourist. That would be fun. I'll let everyone know when I get back to American soil. See you soon!

An Evening of High Class Dinning

I'M DONE!! I'M FINALLY DONE!!

Library Hall

Today was my last class at MXAT and in Moscow. I finished up Russian Cinema History and realized all that was left was to watch and support NTI's finals over the next two days. Thursday was my Acting final and it was also the last final I would take in Russia. How did I celebrate finishing up finals? Yesterday, I dined at Cafe Pushkin with a few of my friends to celebrate my classmate's birthday. It was more of a celebration for my friend, but I also thought of it as treating myself to completed hard work. My opinion: it was the fanciest place that I have ever been to. Period. First, you aren't allowed in the restaurant if you are not dressed nice and fancy; after entering it I realized why: everywhere was so clean and punctual, they gave metal tags for your coat checks (Oh yeah, coat check rooms are a big thing in Russia), the room we dined in was called the Library Hall which made you think you were being catered to inside of a library itself. At all times we had a waiter on hand to serve us and take our fake plates - it's so fancy that they have plates just for show when you sit down at the table; and water and wine glasses. This place was also very expensive, depending on what you wanted - a main course meal could cost as high as 5,000 Rubles (which is roughly $83). Since I'm a college student, I ate cheap: I ordered a Stewed Cabbage Home Made Pie, which rough is about the size of a bread roll, and Mushroom Dumplings. For any future travel to Russia, if there is one food to try while in Russia it's their dumplings: Pelmeni's. These things were deliciously satisfying; they were not served in a large portion, but I would buy them again just to get the tasteful delight that is the essence of Pelmeni.

PELMENI!!!!

As the night went on we were then serenaded by a beautiful harpist and a lovely flutist. They didn't play solely for us, they were playing for the entire hall, but we just happened to have the table right next to where they played. So the night went on and we talked: we talked about our finals, health, fitness, acting, and held conversations that flowed so unceasingly that you couldn't consciously acknowledge how fluid it was while you were in the discussion. When we finished we grabbed our coats - and this was the pinnacle of my evening - I handed my tag to the man behind the counter and he grabbed my coat, got out from behind the counter...and put my coat on me! He held out my coat and helped me put it on! I have never been to a place, or had the luxury, to have an experience such as that. It is a small moment, some would probably consider it insignificant, but coming from a living situation where I had to be grateful for the money that was given to me and that I earned - it made me feel like a man about town!
After leaving Cafe Pushkin, we went back to our dormitory and held a freestyle rap session in my friend's room; as a birthday present to my classmate. That night only lasted for about three or four hours, but eating at that restaurant made me feel like a person of great esteem, a person of wealth - that is something that I have never had and never wanted. To this day I still don't want what I had last evening, but it was an experience I hadn't explored and I was excited to trail this different social environment. As a final result: I am glad that I was given the experience of this evening; I had a great time, but I think I will stick with my daily breakfast of fruit-filled oatmeal and simple-living style.

Outside of Cafe Pushkin

I'm leaving in less 50 hours, now is the time to say my last farewells and goodbyes to the cobblestone streets and the non-existent outside heat. Also to pack. Packing is very important.

Time's Running Away

Well, it's that time: I have one week left before I leave the beautiful city of Moscow. As of right now I am more focused on finals than I am finishing up activites to do in Moscow. I have finals and classes till Saturday (well actually my last final is Thursday, but I still have classes); then I am done. After that I will be using what little time I have left to spend with my classmates and say my partings to Moscow.
Also, remember when I mentioned in an earlier blog that about half of my classmates got sick, well guess who got sick now: me. I was hoping the bug wouldn't come around to me, but it figured its way into my immune system, clogging up my nostrils and infecting my lungs. It just so happens to be finals week too, just my luck. Maybe it was a bug, but it could have come from our silverware and plates on our floor. Unlike in America, it's very unsafe to drink water from the tap. Brushing teeth is fine, but actually swallowing water is unhealthy because of the different types of bacteria and viruses that exist in the liquid. My floor has been having a lot of trouble cleaning dishes and making sure they're sanitized, that is what possibly started the bug. Instead of filling from the tap there are a lot of purified water dispenses all around: every floor in our dorm, every floor at school and it's recommend to get bottled water before getting something from the tap.
All in all, time's moving; it's moving fast. It's at the speed where it's something I can't catch. It's a like life -- make the most out of the time you have. I won't be making another post till after Thursday; so then I will be able to focus on my finals. When I'm done I will be back and I will have more to talk about and adventures to share.
See you soon.

Persevering Through the Rough

I've been away for a bit of time due to constant rehearsals and seeing shows, along with classes most of the day. This last week we finished a straight ten days of class. It was a long and tiring process, but my classmates and I persevered through it. Unfortunately, my classmates started getting sick one by one; until there was only about eight or nine, out sixteen students, could go to class because they were healthy. Thankfully, I was not touched by the sickness, and hopefully I will not be touched by the sickness anytime soon. There's an old saying that as long as you keep denying that you're sick, than you will never be sick; kind of a mind beats the body sort of mentality. Yet, at that time if you're sick you need to rest up and get better to continue your job.

Our Thanksgiving Party

This past week we also hosted for Thanksgiving for all of our Russian professors and everyone involved with the American Studio at MXAT. I had the wonderful opportunity to help cook the two of the turkeys we were given for the dinner. First of all: Russian turkey's are very small; about two turkeys make up a regular turkey that an American family would eat. And we had to cook enough food for roughly around 70 people (46 students and 15+ professors, translators, etc.). I have to say: I've never cooked a Thanksgiving turkey before, and it's not something that I would like to do very often, but the pay off is wonderful. I helped my classmate prep and cook a turkey and her family recipe of Thanksgiving Stuffing, which is fantastic and the best stuffing I've ever had!

The Krusty Krab

After all that I had the wonderful opportunity to eat at the Krusty Krab. I know that sounds a bit confusing, but there is really a Krusty Krab in Moscow. There is this street that has a lot of odd activities and houses that you can go into such as: the Optical Illusion Museum, Upside Down House (where everything is upside down), the Mirror Maze and more. My favorite out of any of them was the Optical Illusion Museum, because it was the place where you could stay there for a long time and get the most bang for your buck. As for the Krusty Krab, I did not have a Krabby Patty, but I was heard it was very good. Instead, I got a Krusty Krab Pizza (it was called something else, but it was pizza and it was at the Krusty Krab, so I'm calling it the Krusty Krab Pizza).
When you are in hard circumstances, you just have to push through till you see the light at the end, then what is waiting for you is bliss and happiness.

Me and my Friends at the Optical Illusion Museum

Thanks everyone, I'll be in touch soon!

A Tremendous Spark

Hey there everyone!! I've been away for awhile, but I really have a desire to write something down after today's adventures. You know where you have an experience that just impacts you in the best way possible, where you have so much positive energy that you're not entirely sure what to do with it? In short: that's what I'm feeling right now. I've been gleaming with positivity and I thought the best way to channel it was through a blog post.
A few hours ago my classmates and I returned from a show called: A Modern Concert performed by the Meyerhold Center. Side note, I haven't really kept up on reviewing the shows we've seen, but I will write an entire post dedicated to detailing the shows we've seen. Continuing on, this show was about 2 hours worth of musical review from the 1920's-present day; and it was phenomenal. Most songs were in English, some were in Russian, French, and Italian. Each and everyone was beautiful and different. They preformed Elvis Presley, an emotional acapella version of "Yesterday" by the Beatles, Abba, Queen, a jazz version of "Billie Jean", Adele and many more. All the while a young man dressed in each sort of military uniform in the given era, until finally he marries the woman he loves. It was a powerful message to me about music's influence and the transition of youth and separation cause by foreign conflicts.
One big thing I've noticed in Moscow is that most music I hear is American or music in English. I asked a few of my Russian friends and they responded that they like the way it sounds. I thought it was odd, because in my head I was thinking that since it's in English, some people wouldn't understand the point of the song. I told myself it doesn't really matter if you understand something or not, when you like something you like something. I've felt that way with songs that I hear what they're talking about, but I don't know what it is they're saying till I look it up. A few hours ago, I had a revelation: music is the one thing that will always bring unity to different cultures of people.
I sat in an audience with people I did not know, most of whom spoke an entirely different language as me. But they were the ones I was able light wave with to "Hotel California". They were also the ones I was able to rock out with to a Russian song I didn't know the name of; and that was an amazing thing. Being able to to feel like having a community with unknown faces for one common event was a beautiful moment.
Recently, a lot has changed for me, my friends and my home country of America. No matter how different people are, music can always bring people together. It was the way we first communicated: just by creating sounds and rhythms to try and evoke emotion in ourselves and others. Music is a beautiful gift that has a mighty power.

Listening to the rhythm of a beat,
and the movement of the feet,
inspires a tremendous spark
That unities our separated hearts.

Closer to the End Than the Beginning

It's been a while since my last blog post here. It's been about...a month since my trip to St. Petersburg, and I've been busy with classes for most of that time. My only time I have free is only on Sunday's, which is the day I use to recuperate, relax and catch up on any homework that might be due for the next week. So here is my current status of where I am at in Moscow.

Entrance to the Flea Market

Last weekend some of my classmates and I went to the Flea Market, that was a really fun experience, besides for the fact it was snowing. Oh yeah...IT'S SNOWING!!! Previous students that went on this trip said that it would barely snow, they hardly saw it; it's been snowing for two weeks straight - and it's only the beginning of November.

Wolverine stood guard at the Flea Market

Back to the flea market, while there I looked around and saw hundreds of little trinkets and memorabilia that people found from all over to sell at some price or another. I didn't really buy anything, but a man really wanted to sell me a hat. His original price was was 3,300 rubles (which is around $50), I walked away and he followed me, dropping his price lower and lower till it got to 1,300. My cut off was 1,000 so I said no. It got to a good price, but that wasn't enough for me to buy the hat. There is something about people who keep trying to sell you something I don't trust, whether it's the authenticity of the merchandise or them as a person; I don't trust someone who's begging me to buy something, so they drop down to less than half their original price. I know the rules of the game is haggling is to get the lowest price possible, but, morally, I can't handle trying to deceive people to get a product at a cheaper cost. I would want to deal with a person who has confidence on what they're selling and knows that their price is right and someone will buy it for it's authenticity. There's my rant about haggling.

Besides that, we saw a few shows - don't worry, I'm going to post an entire post on my opinion on all the shows we've seen. We also "celebrated" Halloween, nobody in Russia celebrates Halloween, so it was kind of a dead holiday for myself. Some people in our studio put on a Halloween dance, where they invited some Russian students as well, so it was good to socialize.

On this trip, I've been exploring, trying to figure out what to make of this entire trip: I only have one more month in front of me, I'm half way through this trip and I'm struggling to figure out what to make of all this. I fight to find the meaning and the take-aways of this trip, but that might be my fault in it's self: I try too hard, that's what my acting teachers always have told me. It's the same situation here. I'll let you know when I figure it out.

History In Front of Me

Time flies by so fast. A month ago My classmates and I left American soil and were on our way towards Russia. Two weeks ago I was in St.Petersburg....I entirely forgot to write about St. Petersburg. Well, now better than later they say.

We spent the weekend of Oct. 6-9 in St. Petersburg. Actually, we left the night of the 6th on an overnight train and arrived early morning on the 7th. I enjoyed myself on the train ride there, mainly due to the fact that I was able to sleep. I slept in a compartment with 3 of my classmates, so that made the experience all the more enjoyable. When we arrived, we had breakfast at a small hotel cafeteria and afterwards I had the opportunity to sleep even more on the bus. I was very well rested for the day!

Afterwards we went and toured at Catherine's Palace, I have to say it was amazing to see so much history in one place. We walked through the same halls as the same Tsar's when they were alive and healthy. It amazing to think that ages ago that these great figures would be walking on the same floors as I was, there's something meaningful in that. Also it was just a beautiful place, I mean, look at it: spectacular.

 

After that we checked-in at our hostel, which I just have to say, was very nice. There was 8 to a room, and it was an enjoyable experience to be able to spend more time with my classmates.

Our next day we got to visit the Hermitage, which was overwhelming. Being able to see such a historic site and see such amazing paintings with the building was an exciting experience. We saw paints and art from all around the world, there was even an Egyptian exhibit with a mummy. I didn't take a picture of it because it was unsettling looking thing, but here is a picture of a sarcophagus.

 

Don't touch the sarcophagus.

After that visit, one of my classmates found a sort of urban art gallery, which was like a apartments put together but had a galleries and music in them. We found a shrine to John Lennon and we also looked at a gallery and learned the history of Russian Rock music.

John Lennon's Shrine

Our last day in St. Petersburg we took a bus tour around the city and we're able to look at great sites such as the Mariinsky Theatre, Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral. The Peter and Paul Cathedral is the oldest landmark in St. Petersburg and it has the remains of almost every emperor and empress of Russia. I got to see the tombs of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicolas II and even Anastasia!

Nicolas II, the last Tsar of Russia, and his family

Seeing the Cathedral was my favorite part of my trip, because you were in the same room as people who you read about in books and saw in movies. In that moment, I was standing above human beings who shaped a country; and created history. It was a blessing to stand in the presence of such timeless people. Here are some more photos from my trip.

Nice view

 

 

Gotta get going, but I'll keep in touch soon!

 
 

 

My Journey So Far

     Man oh man, oh man! Where has the time gone! I would have posted earlier but I have been crazy busy with monuments, tours, and classes. I’ve been here for almost 3 weeks, but I feel like I’ve been here for months. It’s crazy how taking in new information and how it affects our perception of time. I have so much to fill you guys in on after such a long period. I guess I should start at the beginning.

Touchdown in Moscow!

     Well, we flew out on the 16th on an 8-hour flight to Frankfurt. Time moves fast when you have a myriad of films at your selection to watch (Shout out to Lufthansa). Then we had a short layover in Frankfurt till our 3 hour flight to Moscow. I literally mean short: they started to board the minute we got to the gate. Since I didn’t sleep on our last flight I took a nice nap on this flight. Everything was great except for one thing: My classmate failed to wake me for breakfast. They were serving pancakes and eggs…I was very upset. Continuing on: we arrived in Moscow, thus started my first steps on the Russian turf.
When we arrived at the dorms we got settled in and took a tour of nearby locations, thus began my first test of Moscow life: Grocery shopping. My classmates and I chose to shop at a store that was the furthest from the dorm and started our search trying to understand Russian language and culture. I discovered, for produce, they have a scale where it prints a receipt so that the cashier will easily know how much it was. I then started checking out my groceries, and the cashier spoke something really fast in Russian. I didn’t understand, and she tried again, making hand signals and pointing at the bags. I later realized she was asking me how many bags I wanted, because I didn’t know Russian I stressed out about the whole situation. I tried so hard the first few days I was in Russia to try and act and be Russian. I finally figured that I need to bring myself to Russia; just being yourself in a different circumstance. Once I realized that things became calmer and I was much more open and receptive to new interactions.

Stanislavski's Grave

Later that day Alex Gelman, the director of our program, took us to Novodevichy Cemetery, where Konstantin Stanislavski and Anton Chekhov are buried. I have to say, that it was a powerful experience to visit the grave of two men who contributed so much to the theatre world and without their contribution to the theatre world we wouldn’t have any sort of modern day techniques in acting. I just realized I never explained who these two great men were:
     Stanislavski was one of the founders of the Moscow Art Theatre (we call it MXAT in Moscow) who also created the Stanislavski System: An acting technique which talks about how an actor should more closely represent characters’ lives to that of living-breathing humans who have their own thoughts, dreams and fears.

Chekhov's Grave

Chekhov was a playwright that considered one of the fathers of the birth of early modernism Theatre (basically it means he started the movement of acting being a reflection of real-life interactions between people). Stanislavski staged a majority of his plays and they helped become a centerpiece to help translate the Stanislavski System into the acting world.
Sorry, I got a little off topic, but I just wanted say that without these two inspiring men, I wouldn’t be in Moscow studying the legacy that they left behind.
After visiting Stanislavski, we then explored Red Square: which has Saint Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin, Lenin’s Mausoleum (which has Lenin in it) and right across from that is GUM (a large shopping mall, a little ironic right?) It was amazing to be able to see so much history in one compact spot. I wasn’t able to go into Saint Basil’s or Lenin’s Mausoleum at the time or since, but I plan to soon!
After that we started classes at MXAT. Our class schedule consists of us leaving the dorm to get to class at 11 am (10 am on Saturday’s) and have classes till 6 pm in the evening. Within that schedule we have Fencing, Russian, Stage Combat, Singing, Movement, Theatre History, Scenic Design, and Acting (Acting is every day for two and half hours). So, we have a pretty rigorous schedule that doesn’t allow a lot of flexibility to go out and explore the city, except on Sunday. But even then that day is filled with catching up on laundry, grocery shopping, homework and relaxing. When we find time we try to go exploring when we can.

Alex's last night with in Russia with us

This last Sunday a few of my classmates and I found time to be able to go to the Moscow Zoo. It was interesting to see the difference between seeing zoo’s in America and how they compare and contrast to this zoo in Moscow. Obviously they’ll have some different animals, but the way people interacted with animals was very contrasting. In America we were told never to feed animals and not to touch them. As we walked around we saw people throwing small snacks to the animals here and there. I stood and watched a woman feed a camel an apple, that was two feet away from my face. I also watched as people threw carrot pieces to a sloth bear. I at first thought it odd but then I realized that it’s just part of what they do, and I have to respect.

The Camel that ate the apple

While I’m on the topic of Russian culture I need to share my impressions on the people and the culture so far:
• They know if you’re American! There are tell-tale signs to suggest if you are American or not, and one of the biggest is smiling! It’s not that Russians don’t smile, they just seem like a more reserved people, because of that they are a lot less big and expressive as American are and come across off as.
• Everyone dresses really nice, like extremely nice! I walk down the street everyday seeing as men walk in suits and dress clothing and the women in heels and skirts. What’s even more interesting is that they’re always so clean, their clothing is always lovely; especially their shoes. I walk into the theatre and they have a dress shoe cleaner!
• They always know what they’re doing. Whenever I walk down the street I always see them with their heads up and walking directly to what they’re about to do. If there’s no room to move, they make room: they squeeze past or find a way through.

Well, as of right now that’s all I have to say for this blog entry. I’m going to be away till Sunday going on a trip to St. Petersburg! When I get back I will write about my adventures in a different part of Russia. Till next time!

Moscow Bound

.

всем привет!! That means “Hello everyone” in Russian. 
For the next three months I have been given the opportunity to blog about my upcoming trip to: *drum roll*…MOSCOW, RUSSIA!! I will be chronicling about all of my experiences and adventures in “The Third Rome” starting…now.
First things first, I should introduce myself. And while I’m at it, I’m going to tell you why I am going to the other side of the planet:
My name is Eliyah Ghaeini, but everyone calls me Eli. I’m from the great mountainous state of UTAH. Salt Lake City, to be more precise ;). I decided to study at Northern Illinois University to pursue a BFA in Acting with the School of Theatre and Dance.

As part of our program, my classmates and I are required to spend the fall semester of our junior year in Moscow to study at the Moscow Art Theatre, which is one of the most prestigious theatre schools in the world! Only a handful of other universities in the USA have a partnership to study at the Moscow Art Theatre. Some alumni of past semesters abroad include: Elizabeth Olsen (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Jon Bernthal (Daredevil), Joe Minoso (Chicago: Fire; also an NIU Graduate), and many, many more.

Moscow Art Theatre

While studying at the Moscow Art Theatre, we will be taking classes focusing on topics such as: The Stanislavski Method, Mikhail Chekhov Technique, Theatre History, Fencing, and more. Along with classes, we will be getting an in-depth experience of the Russian culture by seeing various shows and going on different field trips around Moscow.
I am beyond grateful and blessed to be able to embark on this journey. I have so much more to say and discuss, but look at the time...I have to start packing!!

I’ll keep in touch, Eli.