Day 3 - Moscow State

Today was nothing short of exhausting. I slept very well last night, and when I woke up I felt great, but now it’s 8:00 PM and I’m ready for bed. Today I met Galina’s son, Leonid; he ate breakfast with us and walked me to the Metro station. I met Laura and her host mom there, and we took the Metro to the University.
The Moscow subway system is amazing. I haven’t taken pictures yet, but each station has its own theme and aesthetic. Kievskii Station is the one closest to my apartment, and it also happens to be one of the oldest stations in Moscow. It was made of white marble with paintings on the walls and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There were thousands of people in the station; it was quite chaotic. To get to the university I have to take the Koltsonay Lineya (Ring Line) to Cultural Park station, and then I switch to the Red Line to get to the Universitetskii Vokzal (University Station). Laura’s host mom told us that the Cultural Park station is the oldest in Moscow, but it was very loud in the station and she was speaking Russian so I’m not sure. It was also white marble with chandeliers. The stations are all very warm, even standing several yards away from the door of a station is enough to stay warm in the Moscow cold. We all met outside the University station, exchanged travel stories, and set off for the University.
First, we got our student IDs, which allow is to get into any building. There are guards everywhere, it’s very disconcerting to know that you are always being watched (well, they’re supposed to watch you but from what I’ve seen so far they don’t really pay that much attention). Once we had our IDs we went to a classroom, in which Diane laid out the plan for the day. There are a few students at Moscow State who are going to be going along with our group excursions and sitting in on class because they are learning how to teach Russian. We met them, and then divided into groups. We had two of them with my group, Yulya (I guess the Russian form of Julia) and Varvara (Barbara?).
Now, let me say this: Russian girls are ridiculously hot. Especially at Moscow State. Nearly 90% of the girls I saw at the University were head turners, and I saw maybe 5 girls that made my "Hottest Girls I've Ever Seen" list. Just saying. I didn't get a picture of Yulya, but she'd be a good example of the average hotness at the University. I could go on, but there are more important things to discuss.

We had met in 1 GUM, or Humanities Building 1, and our group left to go explore the main Moscow State building. Pictures cannot do this building justice, it is by far the largest building I have ever seen. Not only is it tall, it is probably 150 meters wide as well. The inside of the building is as impressive of the outside. There are marble columns and staircases, golden railings, and there are 3 different rows of elevators, each with a specific grouping of floors that they go to. We, of course, went to the very top floor, the 28th. The geology department is located on the 28th floor. Once we got up there, we were able to look out on the entire city. Moscow is designed so that Moscow State, the Olympic Stadium, and the Kremlin are all in a straight line, so I was able to see part of the Kremlin from the University. Moscow is unbelievably huge, from the 28th floor it stretched as far as the eye can see. After the professors who were hanging around the geology department showed us the various buildings that can be seen, we went back downstairs and outside.

We walked on the square that leads to the stadium, up until it reaches a giant hill that offers a grand view of the city. One thing that I noticed is that all the trees are planted in straight lines, while the rest of the city is very chaotic and unplanned. My guess is that the trees were planned in the Soviet era as an example of planning and symmetry that is the basis of Soviet philosophy. Or maybe that’s reading into it too much. There were vendors selling Matryoshka dolls and Soviet propaganda all along the edge of the hill, and there were tall structures that serve as slides to go skiing or sledding down. The Moscow River is a very important part of the cityscape. To the left of a hill was a church, I don't know the English name but it was very beautiful on the inside.

I wasn't sure if I was allowed to take picture, so I didn’t, but it was filled with icons, candles, and many of the walls were covered with gold. After we left, we walked back to the University to see even more of the huge buildings there. The philosophy building is very big.

And so is the library. I was actually unable to find a good spot to get it all in frame, I'll wander around sometime and try to get a better picture, but here's what I have now.

The exam wasn't too bad, basically what I expected. I had a short interview with the professors, which consisted of them asking me to tell me about myself, which I've gotten to be quite good at. They seemed very friendly, so I'm very excited to take classes at Moscow State.
Moscow State is like Hogwarts, if Stalin had been in charge. The main building is huge and looks like a castle, the professors are stict but open, and the students there are very bright. Attending Moscow State will also give me a good idea of what life at a huge university is like, even though all of my classes will be with 3 other students from Carleton. Yes, that's right, 4 of us with a Moscow State professor. Oy. My group consists of Me, Travis, Nikki, and Charlie. Travis has been in my Russian classes forever, probably since 101, but he's also the weirdest person I have met at Carleton. He is a CS geek with a very odd sense of humor, so seeing him interact with Russian professors will be interesting, to say the least. I think that I got placed in the "can't speak Russian" group, except I don't understand why Nikki and Charlie got placed with me as well, because they're both 3rd year Russian students who speak very well. Class starts Tuesday, so we'll see how it goes.
After we finished at the University, we all went back to the University Metro station to meet our host families again, and Laura and I rode the bus back with Galina. Galina pointed out many buildings to us, such as a beautiful monastery that Laura and I plan to visit tomorrow. She also pointed out how to get to the Arbat, which is the main artisan street in Moscow.
If you have ever read about modern Moscow, you will know that a new swathe of buildings are being build called New Moscow. I live about half a mile from New Moscow. Last night it was too dark to see when I was walking, but today they were a very prominent presence in the skyline. I also live very close to the Evropeitsa square, which is now dominated by a huge shopping mall. Galina doesn't like the mall and wishes it were still a square, but it is a very modern building that could be the focal point of any American city. It's right across the street from the Kievskii station. Laura lives right next to the Evropeiska mall, and about 5 blocks from me.
When we got home, Leonid and his son, Maksim, were waiting for us. Maksim, Galina's grandson, is 4 years old and one of the cutest kids I have ever met. While Galina was making my dinner, Maksim made me play with him, he especially enjoyed climbing on top of a couch and jumping down so I could catch him. He had legos that he made into a robot, a dinosaur, and he went around pretending that Galina was a lion and he was a tiger.
So here I am now, sitting on my bed, and I was just interrupted by Maksim, who wanted to give me his dinosaur, robot, chair, lawnmower, and shovels. He's very cute, and it's interesting to listen to his Russian. It's difficult when I don't understand him because telling him that I don't understand doesn't really work. They were reading him books, and he was watching something while I was eating. Galina is a wonderful host mom, living here is really going to help me learn Russian.
Tomorrow, I'm meeting Laura at 11 to make our way to Cherry Towers, where about half of the group is meeting to buy Russian cell phones. Hopefully it won't be too expensive, but we'll see.
Oh, I forgot to mention my surprise at seeing a power plant in the center of the city. Smoke stacks are a very strange sight, at least coming from Wichita, where our power plant is like 100 miles away.
Also, you know how advertisements on the internet are like: "Free PS3!" or "Free iPhone!"? Well, on the Russian internet, advertisements are for a life-long green card in the US. Nice.
Another thing I forgot: last night I was reading a book about Moscow's history and it mentioned a monument that I drove by when entering the city that caught my attention but didn't understand. It looked like some very large jacks (as in the kids game) sitting on the side of the road. Turns out, they were a World War 2 memorial, marking how far the Nazi tanks got. We were about 15 miles from the center of Moscow. The jacks were actually tank traps. Crazy.
I also forgot to mention that on the streets, vendors sell all sorts of foods. Including bottles of beer that make 40s look like the children's size cup at a restaurant. Those bottles are huge! Ok. That's enough for this post.