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In St. Petersburg: Saturday, July 31st, 2010, 4:54 am (GMT+3) Weather Temperature: C (32° F) • Barometer: 30.03" Hg C • (32° F) • Lo 18° • • Sunrise: 5:37 AM (939 mmHg) • Feels like: 17° • • •

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I promised to show up in late February, now it's late March. Oh-oh, seems like I owe you guys one issue of the newsletter. I'll try to compensate it by making this newsletter bigger, better, fatter, more.

Firstly - I don't know how you feel, but for me it's hard to stay calm during US vs Iraq war. Russians I talk to seem to be amused (that's the right word!) by US long-term pressure on Iraq, followed by an invasion. Why, they ask, should it be done, and why now?

Looking from St.Pete, there is no other reason to start a war than to spoil the city's 300th anniversary. With the war, world travel is dropping significantly, and many wannabe travellers are deciding to stay at home. I would like to say there will be a celebration here in St. Petersburg anyway, come rain or shine, even if Mr.Bush decides to conquer Antarctica to disarm deadly penguins.

Disregarding the war, new tourisits and students keep coming to Russian St. Petersburg and EducaCentre. There are so many requests for May-July 2003 time, that RST decided to open its own place to stay - Russian St. Petersburg Hostel (details in News Section)!

In one of the past issues, we finished with greetings. To say hi you use "PrivEt" or "ZdrAstvuj" (friendly form) or ZdrAstvujte (offical form). Then it usually followed by "Kak delA?" - "How do you do". But beware! In Russian, it is a real question, like "What has happened since the last time I saw you?". What you hear next really depends ... a Western oriented guy or girl will reply "ok", "khoroshO" (things are fine), "normAlno" (good), "tak sebE" (so-so). Other people might bother you with a coffee-break-length story about their problems. Because you asked for it! :) The safest way is to ask questions with the ready answers in them: "Privet , vse normalno? " (Hi, are things fine?), or "Privet, kak u tebya dela, vse ok?" (Hi, are you doing well?").

And here is piece of advice on answering to "Kak dela?", when in Russia. If you came as traveller or student, you don't have to be okay, fine, great all the time. You are in another country, it's okay to have questions and misunderstand some things. If you're being asked by your travel agent or teacher or host family "Kak dela?", feel free to talk. Please! Just talk!!! To know more about students and tourists experiences and needs , EducaCentre/RST people sometimes have to ask 3-5 neutral questions in a row, until the American or European "remembers" about a little problem he had with .... the whole of last week. Usually this problem has one-minute-workaround, which is being applied immediately.

I hope that with my Russian lessons, you can express yourself in Russian, thus making everything easier for your Russian friends. More lessons and advices in the next issues, and now I'm happy to introduce you to:

Peter's Walking Tours
This company uses my name without paying a royalty fee! The only excuse I found, is that they were founded 7 years ago and named after their president and CEO, Mr. Petr Kozyrev, who has the same name I have. In view of these strange and intriguing circumstances, and also being inspired by them after our meeting - Petr and the crew have a Western code of rules and thousands of clients, I decided to ... cooperate with them. Starting with this issue, Peter's Walking Tours will be running their own column within the newsletter. The column will be dedicated to practical and cultural aspects of visiting St Petersburg, featuring the most important themes for travellers going to Russia. This issue's hot topic is:

Not one of the immediate stereotypes coming into your head when you think about Russia, but nevertheless a huge thing here - as our obsession with flowers. It comes as a revelation to practically all first-timers in St.Petersburg - fresh flowers are sold everywhere, you can't move for them. Little kiosks near metro stations, vendors lining up with their buckets of flowers along the stairs in the subways, shops selling standard roses and rare freesia along the main streets, flower boutiques offering tastefully arranged bouquets.

With temperatures in St. Petersburg keeping below zero for seven months a year it does not seem to be the friendliest place on earth to grow tulips. Well, what the hell, we import them. The cardboard boxes in the shop corner tell the tale: Ecuador, Holland, Canary Islands. Any month of the year, day and night. One never knows when he might need flowers, so many of the shops are open 24 hours a day. We spotted a flower vendor recently, sitting in the street, next to a man-size glass cubicle full of fresh flowers at 3 o'clock at night. Way out in the outskirts, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by dark windows of massive concrete apartment blocks, the man was half-asleep, but wouldn't give up. The temperature was minus 15 C (5 F).

Flowers are by far the most popular present for a birthday, and considered an acceptable way to congratulate both men and women on any personal or public holiday. Flowers must come in an odd number - even numbers are for funerals only. Besides the seasonal specialities, like mimosas or dahlias, the mainstay is the good old rose - usually coming on an extremely long stem, the longer the more expensive. You can buy roses from 40 rubles($1.3) a piece; the nicer ones could be 100 rubles ($3.22) or more. Another popular one is chrysanthemum - the author recently bought a bunch of five of those, with fluffy white heads, long stands densely covered in leaves, at 60 rubles ($2) a piece. Mimosa, by the way, is the big hit on the Women's Day, celebrated in Russia on March 8 - the whole St. Petersburg is covered by a bright yellow carpet during that day.

The most amazing variety of flower vendor you'll find in St. Petersburg is an occasional old lady, standing in the middle of a busy metro platform late in the evening with tiny bunches of charming little forest flowers, at a mere 10 or 15 rubles (30-50 cents) a bunch of freshly picked blue snowdrops or white-and-yellow forest daisies attract young dating couples, husbands hurrying home, or indeed, other old ladies alike.

Thanks for that story, Petr! Hey, reader, got comment or question to column author? Go and ask at info@peterswalk.com!

More on flowers: one of the readers asked me for advice - he's in correspondence with a nice girl and wanted to congratulate her through some local St. Petersburg newspaper by posting a personal message. I answered:
It will be much easier and cheaper to order delivery of flowers or chocolate box. I know two good services http://interweb.spb.ru/flowers and http://www.northernpalmira.com, you can find some others on the net, by typing 'flowers delivery St. Petersburg' in search engine. Be careful with giving your credit card info. A must-be : always check for real street address and phone numbers to be listed on the web site.

Sweet memories : it was real experience, when one of the girls of EducaCentre International Dept all of a sudden has nice roses delivery from her online Turkey friend. He only knows her work address, so the event was a hot office topic for weeks!

When I was a kid, I flied a lot - like the birds do. That was some miscellaneous day activity like kindergarten, walks, TV, listening to boring do and do not stories, but I only lived 100% in my night dreams where I was flying. A couple of years ago, when I first came to the Gondola cafe on Staronevsky avenue, I felt something like nostalgia.

Gondola's theme is flight - from Icarus to the first planes.
A space is filled with wicker withy, sand bags and photos, showing Russian aviation enthusiasts of 1886 - 1913. a specially invited designer from the puppet theatre has created a doll of an airman (sitting near the bartender), doll of Icarus (by a miracle he flies under the ceiling) and little romantic balloons that work as lamps for each table.

The cuisine is a mix of European and Russian cuisine - unlike other restaraunts on Nevsky, Gondola has affordable prices, prompt service and tasty food - all at once. For a cappuccino and a piece of cake I came here weekly, and make Gondola the destination for meetings when I need to strengthen my opinion with a well-done stake and a glass of wine. About wines: they have all-around-the-world choice, including France, Italy, Spain, US, Chili, Georgia, and a very detailed wine card, for those who'd like to read rather than ask.

On weekends, after 8 pm and till 11 pm, there is a musical performance - good old Russian&Western rock and pop classics are played. For a small fee you can ask for a song on your choice, for another small fee (slightly bigger), you can buy&present flowers - without moving from your table, which can be a tough challenge after you have eaten everything you ordered.

You came here once, you love the place, you will return - that's the idea, and it works. Gondola is located on 150 Staronevsky prospekt, works 24 hrs, their phone number is +7-812-277-2154.

We touched a musical performance theme, so here is a story from Howard Vickers, former EducaCentre student, Englishman now living in Africa (!!!). He decided to share his experience of music in St. Pete with us.

I’ve studied at EducaCentre a couple of times now, and each one has been very different. Both really enjoyable and productive for my Russian, but different. Why? Well because St Petersburg itself is so different, depending on how you look at it.

Take the music scene in St. Petersburg – you think immediately of opera and ballet. Now, no one should miss out on what the city has to offer here, but if something a little more funky gets your foot tapping, then it’s time to check out the jazz bars.

I was lucky enough to live in the next house to the "Jimmy Hendrix Blues Bar" – a restaurant with live bands playing far more than just blues. Just around the corner is the "Neo Jazz Bar", a far more intimate affair down a few stairs (as jazz venues so often are). Further on towards the river is my favourite – a bit difficult to find, hidden in a courtyard, but worth it as the JFC is the real thing, with the city’s young jazz loving crowd regularly filling the bar. And if wheat beers are you thing, you’ll be pleased to know that they have Baltica 8 on tap.

As for favourite bands? Well it has to be Acid Man – a local group playing funk and acid jazz regularly at JFC and Jimmy Hendrix. And as a bonus, JFC sells on CD what they play on the stage. So you can continue to enjoy St Petersburg’s jazz scene long after your stay in the city.

What's new in Russian St. Petersburg Tours and EducaCentre

Today we have news on Russian St. Petersburg hostel, chain of visits by UK language institutions, financial aid for your Russian studies, EducaCentre to participate in International exams and tests exhibition, and newsletter archive finally on web.

Due to the uncertain cituation with accommodation during 300th anniversary, RST decided to open its own hostel - RST hostel from April 25th. There will be 20 beds, room will overlook Neva river embankment. Hostel guests will have access to all EducaCentre/RST facilities, including free high-speed Internet access, kitchen, TV room, round the clock security service. Details and prices available here. To make reservation, please write us at hostel@russian-st-petersburg.com.

Financial aid for your Russian studies
On http://www.educacentre.net/learn-russian/finaid.htm you can find financial aid for your Russian studies. Currently, we have recommendations for citizens of USA, Germany and Sweden, we hope to update page with new info, as soon as we have it. Please send your comments and ideas to rus@educacentre.net

On March 28, EducaCentre will participate in International exams and tests exhibition, organized by American Councils . We will organize hot testing of English language skills for hundreds of visitors expected. Among other organizations are the British Council, the Goethe Institut, and Alliance Francaise . We sincerely thank Zinaida Rudaya, American Councils educational consultant, for the invitation to participate.

Newsletter archive
2001-2003 newsletters archive is now on the web.
Please, click here to access it.

International Maritime Defense Show in St. Petersburg in June
Thirteen ships of the Baltic Fleet and two Navy cruisers from Germany and Norway will attend the International Maritime Defense Show scheduled to be shown in St. Petersburg on June 25-29. Modern naval artillery will be shown at the event. The program of the Maritime Defense Show includes artillery exercises. The show will also include a Navy aircraft parade over the Finnish Gulf. Strizhi and Vityazi military aerobatic teams will present their shows on June 25 and 28. Official delegations of 75 countries were invited to take part, St. Petersburg will welcome delegations from France, China, Germany, UK, Greece, Norway and South Africa.
source : www.petersburgcity.com

One of the St. Petersburg register offices provided its premises for wedding museum exposition, based on the private collection of designer Olga Morozova. There are wedding gowns, nuptial cabases, gloves, and suits, which have been made in XIX and XX centuries. Each item has a sign of its time, for instance, bride of the XIX century, by wearing cream color gown was saying that it is her second marriage. Same to the men - the white suit made of synthetics can appear only in 1960s, when after Gagarin flight, the "Cosmos" cloth came into fashion.
source in Russian : www.utro.ru

European route will appear in St. Petersburg
A European route will appear in St. Petersburg in October of the anniversary year. Richard Wright, representative of the European Commission in Russia said on March 12 that the project was intended to underscore the historic ties of Europe and St. Petersburg. 15 plaques (one for each of the current EU member states) will be placed on downtown buildings that are in some way related to European countries. A team of St. Petersburg historians is now working on selecting historic personalities and writing their life stories. Each of the plaques will show the flag of the corresponding country and a brief description of a historical figure from that country, who contributed to St. Petersburg. A catalog of all 15 plaques will be published.
source : www.petersburgcity.com

Spring cleaning month to begin on April 14
The month of spring cleaning will be held from April 14 to May 17, 2003 and utility service staff will be aided by volunteers in the cleaning of city yards, squares, parks, gardens and other territories. Two major citywide cleaning days for volunteers were scheduled to be held on April 19th and May 17th. Housing and utility service staff will be aided by volunteers in the cleaning of city yards, squares, parks, gardens and other territories.This year cleaning of the city streets was made more difficult by the weather conditions, as precipitation in the winter season of 2002-2003 exceeded the normal range by a large margin. Some 3 million cubic meters of snow were evacuated from city streets this winter, which is twice as much as last year. The current main problem is to finish up cleaning the streets of snow and ice. This work is expected to be completed by early April. On April 1st the necessary equipment must be ready to begin cleaning the city streets. Sidewalks and troughs will be cleaned, and lawns will be tended. Snow will be removed, and dirt and sand will be cleaned off. Next the lawns will be weeded, new soil will be added and grass will be planted.
source : www.petersburgcity.com


	!!! See you in April 2003 with my new stories !!! And if you have QUESTION, please ask at peter@russian-st-petersburg.com !

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