After spending five weeks studying abroad in St. Petersburg this summer, students from across the U.S. discuss both their favorite moments and the struggle that comes with adapting to a vastly different city, culture and people. Taking in the city as a student over a period of weeks rather than as a tourist for a few short days is something Salisbury University student Cassandra Newcomb is thankful for. Experiencing the city in this way, she says, allowed her to develop a routine and see St. Petersburg from more of a local perspective.
Daily Bruin radio reporter Lilit Arakelyan, who studied abroad this summer at St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University with the American Institute for Foreign Study, talks with students about their experiences abroad and shares her own.
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TRANSCRIPT:
ARAKELYAN: Traveling to a foreign country is an exciting and oftentimes disorienting experience. When I studied in St. Petersburg this summer with the American Institute for Foreign Study at Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University, I took with me my passport and Russian visa, a vague knowledge of the Russian alphabet, a hopeful spirit, and an open mind.
Though I was continually astounded by the city’s breathtaking beauty, I struggled to adjust to my surroundings, effectively get around the city, and communicate – in, however, simple terms – with the locals. This concoction made for an eventful and life-altering five weeks. Luckily, I didn’t go through it alone. Other students from the U.S. studying at the university shared my amazement.
WEIDNER: It doesn’t get dark. Everyone told me about it and I knew that it would happen, but actually experiencing it being light at 11:30 at night is different than reading that it’s still light that late.
ARAKELYAN: Karla Weidner, a third-year aerospace engineering student from Auburn University who also studied with AIFS, is commenting on St. Petersburg’s famous White Nights, a period in the summer when the city is submerged in daylight for the majority of the day, save for a brief interim of darkness after midnight. Ley Twining, another student who studied in St. Petersburg this summer, has been traveling widely across Europe and Asia for the past four years. Seeing the world-renowned State Hermitage Museum in person was a particularly special moment for her.
TWINING: I sat on the grass next to the building and I looked at it and said, “I’m finally here.” I was finally able to see this building in person without the filter of a camera between us.
ARAKELYAN: A lot of travelers experience culture shock to varying degrees. when visiting a country that is vastly different from what they’re used to back home. For someone who’s a beginner to the language – like me – ordering food, buying groceries and asking for directions can seem like incredibly daunting tasks. Cassandra Newcomb, a student from Salisbury University also studying with AIFS, reflects on the struggle of communicating, even with a few years of Russian under her belt.
NEWCOMB: You’re trying so hard to speak Russian to them and they don’t understand you – either your accent or you make no sense – and just everybody gets frustrated. Just trying to be patient and trying to remember that it’s a whole different culture and being able to accept that and know that it’s not going to be the same as home.
ARAKELYAN: Despite these barriers, actually living in a dormitory at a university and going to class every weekday allows students to formulate and get comfortable with a routine as opposed to someone visiting the city simply as a tourist.
NEWCOMB: Just being able to see how people live, how people go to work, go to school, live their daily lives, as opposed to the more shiny, more artificial side where all the tourists go.
ARAKELYAN: That isn’t to say we didn’t see our fair share of tourist sites. We spent hours wandering the countless floors of the Winter Palace, admiring the works of such artists as Michelangelo, Picasso, and Van Gogh. The awe-inspiring view from the top of St. Isaac’s Cathedral presented the city’s beauty in all its immensity. The vibrant colors of the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood coupled with the hustle and bustle of Nevsky Prospekt seemed to be calmed only by the sure and constant flow of the Neva River. When I ask what they’ll view differently when they get home, Weidner chimes in …
WEIDNER: I’ll appreciate being able to drink water directly from the faucet … and ice, I’ll appreciate more, and also I think it’ll take some time to get used to not seeing letters from two different alphabets everywhere. It’ll just be the one I grew up with.
ARAKELYAN: And after five weeks in St. Petersburg, what advice would you give to someone interested in visiting or studying here? I’d say, visit as many museums as you possibly can.
TWINING: Bring your pants and bring your sweatshirt ’cause it’s gonna get cold.
WEIDNER: If you walk around with a smile on your face, people will look at you funny.
ARAKELYAN: The Metro closes at midnight and the bridges open in the summer, so plan your night out accordingly.
NEWCOMB: And don’t get a gypsy cab.
ARAKELYAN: A gypsy cab is an unofficial taxi cab.
TWINING: And look at the money you get before you get out of the cab.
ARAKELYAN: And, on a lighter note, make sure to eat delicious Russian ice cream everyday! When I look back on the weeks I spent in Russia, there are so many moments that stand clear and bright in my mind – like when I stumbled upon a men’s quartet performing inside a small church while roaming the grounds of Peterhof. Or when the clock tower chimed on a weekend trip to Moscow while I turned in a full circle to take in the sheer enormity of the Red Square. Or when I watched Russian folk dancing for the first time to celebrate my last night in St. Petersburg.
But, oddly enough, what I’ll remember most clearly is traveling by the city’s metro. Maybe it’s because I traveled by it every single day. Or because each station is like a work of art, with statues, mosaics, its own unique theme. The people nodding off, selling stuffed animals or reading books while on board, and even the names and order of the stops themselves, gradually transformed into something routine. So much so that the last time I stepped off the Metro, it felt like I was leaving something familiar behind. After five short weeks, St. Petersburg had come to feel a little bit like home after all.
For Daily Bruin Radio, I’m Lilit Arakelyan.