After my time in Kazan, I flew to Moscow, where all of the Fulbrighters were gathering to have our final orientation. It's actually quite disappointing that this will be our last time all together as a group. For those of you Fulbrighters that might stumble upon this post, thanks a lot for your presentations in Moscow. You helped me get mentally prepared to return to Ulan-Ude and really get some work done. Other than the orientation, I had a wonderful time in Moscow going clubbing with the Fulbrighters (and having adventures at Subway) and eating Georgian food.
I then flew to Vladivostok with two other Fulbrighters. There were several remarkable parts of the travel experience itself. First off, I've never flown out of Moscow Vnukovo airport. I was assuming that it just barely be a step up from the Kazan or Irkutsk airports, but it was actually the nicest airport I've been in in Russia. Completely new, huge, and without the insane crowds of Domodedovo. Secondly, I take great efforts to avoid flying on Russian planes, especially Tupolev planes. So, when booking this flight, I made sure to book on the Airbus plane. Unfortunately, as we approached our plane, it was the Tupolev version of the Boeing 767/Airbus A320. "Ok," I told myself at a slightly panicked pace of thought, "these planes fly all the time without too many crashes." After getting on the plane, all seemed fine. It looked almost exactly like the interior of an A320. "I'll survive this." My chair was the most uncomfortable chair that I have ever flown in. "No big deal, it's just a chair. At least they cut costs here and not somewhere else, right? Right?" After deicing and other pre-takeoff activities, we were at the end of the runway (sidenote, this is the first flight I've ever been on with no English). As we began speeding up, all seemed fine. Regular acceleration, not too bumpy. But then we left the ground. My ears immediately began popping. Weightlessness. "We're falling out of the sky. I'm going to die." The only way I can really describe the next 10 minutes of the flight is "hurtling through the air." I don't know how Boeing or Airbus does it, but my ears pop a little and everything feels under control. This was the first time I could actually tell that I was speeding through midair at upwards of 500 miles an hour. And then we reached cruising altitude (which was much lower than I've seen before). And then it was the smoothest 9 hour flight that I've ever been on. Landing was pretty uneventful as well (except I've never been in a ruder crowd at a baggage claim.)
We slept almost all day thanks to jetlag (Vladivostok is 8 hours ahead of Moscow). When we finally made it out, we went to the central square, which contains the biggest middle finger to the West (in this case, East) that I've ever scene. For those of you unfamiliar with the history of the Russian Civil War, after Russia left World War I and the Bolsheviks claimed power, the territory of Russia was embroiled in one of the bloodiest conflicts in world history. The main participants were the Red Army, the Whites (monarchists and democrats), and the Allied Intervention (Japan, USA, UK, etc.). Vladivostok was occupied by Japan. The occupation of Vladivostok by the Red Army in 1922 is considered by most historians to be the end of the Russian Civil War. The main square has a large statue facing East with text honoring the partisan forces who defended the city from intruders.
That night, I had the best sushi I've ever had. We then spent much of the night getting to know the other guests at the hostel. There was another girl from Ulan-Ude and several Koreans. There's a ferry that runs from South Korea to Vladivostok, so Vladivostok is a popular tourist destination for Asian tourists.
The next day, we took the funicular to the top of the city. A funicular is a small train that only goes up a hill. It cost about 25 cents. It took us to the top of the city. From there, it was possibile to see much of Golden Horn Bay and the Golden Horn Bridge, one of two cable-stayed bridges being built in Vladivostok (the other one will be the largest in the world).
We then descended down to the shoreline, where we found an old Soviet submarine. This sub was the most successful Soviet sub during World War II, having sunk 10 Nazi subs. You could wander around inside and see much of the original interior. I took full advantage of the photo opportunities.
That night, we got on the Trans-Siberian to head home, to Ulan-Ude. 3 days on the train is difficult to quantify. While on the train, it feels like 3 days. However, once you step off, you can't believe that three days have just passed. Most of the time on the train consisted of sleeping, playing Euchre, and watching Game of Thrones. I did venture to the restaurant car once, where I was befriended by a group of typical train-traveling Russian males and obliged to have some beers. I also managed to buy a meal and a computer charge for just one dollar (the men and the waitress were astounded by my American money). I felt guilty, but I did try to convince them to take more, and they did ask to see it in the first place!
So, that's my journey, summarized for the interwebs. Now, life is back to normal, perhaps even more so than 2 months ago. I have deadlines now, which will hopefully help me keep on task. So, if I don't post again for awhile, you understand why.
I then flew to Vladivostok with two other Fulbrighters. There were several remarkable parts of the travel experience itself. First off, I've never flown out of Moscow Vnukovo airport. I was assuming that it just barely be a step up from the Kazan or Irkutsk airports, but it was actually the nicest airport I've been in in Russia. Completely new, huge, and without the insane crowds of Domodedovo. Secondly, I take great efforts to avoid flying on Russian planes, especially Tupolev planes. So, when booking this flight, I made sure to book on the Airbus plane. Unfortunately, as we approached our plane, it was the Tupolev version of the Boeing 767/Airbus A320. "Ok," I told myself at a slightly panicked pace of thought, "these planes fly all the time without too many crashes." After getting on the plane, all seemed fine. It looked almost exactly like the interior of an A320. "I'll survive this." My chair was the most uncomfortable chair that I have ever flown in. "No big deal, it's just a chair. At least they cut costs here and not somewhere else, right? Right?" After deicing and other pre-takeoff activities, we were at the end of the runway (sidenote, this is the first flight I've ever been on with no English). As we began speeding up, all seemed fine. Regular acceleration, not too bumpy. But then we left the ground. My ears immediately began popping. Weightlessness. "We're falling out of the sky. I'm going to die." The only way I can really describe the next 10 minutes of the flight is "hurtling through the air." I don't know how Boeing or Airbus does it, but my ears pop a little and everything feels under control. This was the first time I could actually tell that I was speeding through midair at upwards of 500 miles an hour. And then we reached cruising altitude (which was much lower than I've seen before). And then it was the smoothest 9 hour flight that I've ever been on. Landing was pretty uneventful as well (except I've never been in a ruder crowd at a baggage claim.)
We slept almost all day thanks to jetlag (Vladivostok is 8 hours ahead of Moscow). When we finally made it out, we went to the central square, which contains the biggest middle finger to the West (in this case, East) that I've ever scene. For those of you unfamiliar with the history of the Russian Civil War, after Russia left World War I and the Bolsheviks claimed power, the territory of Russia was embroiled in one of the bloodiest conflicts in world history. The main participants were the Red Army, the Whites (monarchists and democrats), and the Allied Intervention (Japan, USA, UK, etc.). Vladivostok was occupied by Japan. The occupation of Vladivostok by the Red Army in 1922 is considered by most historians to be the end of the Russian Civil War. The main square has a large statue facing East with text honoring the partisan forces who defended the city from intruders.That night, I had the best sushi I've ever had. We then spent much of the night getting to know the other guests at the hostel. There was another girl from Ulan-Ude and several Koreans. There's a ferry that runs from South Korea to Vladivostok, so Vladivostok is a popular tourist destination for Asian tourists.
We then descended down to the shoreline, where we found an old Soviet submarine. This sub was the most successful Soviet sub during World War II, having sunk 10 Nazi subs. You could wander around inside and see much of the original interior. I took full advantage of the photo opportunities.
That night, we got on the Trans-Siberian to head home, to Ulan-Ude. 3 days on the train is difficult to quantify. While on the train, it feels like 3 days. However, once you step off, you can't believe that three days have just passed. Most of the time on the train consisted of sleeping, playing Euchre, and watching Game of Thrones. I did venture to the restaurant car once, where I was befriended by a group of typical train-traveling Russian males and obliged to have some beers. I also managed to buy a meal and a computer charge for just one dollar (the men and the waitress were astounded by my American money). I felt guilty, but I did try to convince them to take more, and they did ask to see it in the first place!
So, that's my journey, summarized for the interwebs. Now, life is back to normal, perhaps even more so than 2 months ago. I have deadlines now, which will hopefully help me keep on task. So, if I don't post again for awhile, you understand why.
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