I had the pleasure of going to the doctor yesterday and it was a..strange experience. I did not get to experience a state-run hospital, but instead I went to one of the international clinics in Saint Petersburg. How did i end up there in the first place? I am always crazy sick and I figured that I should get myself checked out here, especially if I needed an excused absence. I already missed class once and I was worried about my attendance. So I took myself to the doctor. I managed to struggle my way to the bus stop and get myself to MEDEM. The first thing that struck me when I entered the office was that people were required to wear shoe covers before entering the clinic.

I forgot to save a picture of me wearing them, but they are basically shower caps for your shoes.

The second thing that struck me was that how fancy the clinic was. You could easily mistake this building for a hotel.

Reception area of MEDEM, building consists of six floors.

What did not really surprise me was that there was a coat check. Totally normal. Even at the university, there is a (free) coat check station in every building/department. Once I had that sorted through, I went to the front desk where I told them my information. I had scheduled an appointment the night before since they work 24/7. Normal paperwork and waiting time. I was sitting on a sofa for about five minutes before someone escorted me to the doctor’s office. Turns out, she was a translator. All the doctors speak a good amount of English, but they always have a translator there too.

This is when everything starts to get confusing. I met with a general practitioner because I did not think I was suffering from anything major. I thought I had the flu from one of the people in my program. The appointment quickly escalated from them taking my temperature, taking my blood, and then taking me to get a sonogram. I told them I had stomach pains and they took that as a “let’s look at your abdominal organs!”

My “complex ultrasonic examination”.

Everything was normal including my blood, my temperature, internal organs. I received a total of three ultrasounds yesterday and I still do not have no idea why. I learned that the price of a sonogram here is approximately $20 U.S dollars, and this is at one of the most expensive clinics in the city. It really makes you think about health care prices in the states. I spent a total of three hours at the doctor and I learned no new information about my illness. It was certainly a whirlwind experience, especially since the procedure of seeing the doctor is a little weird.

After each meeting with the doctor, you get sent back to the reception and you get sent to the cash desk, where you pay for the services you just received. After you pay, you wait around until the reception workers send another person to bring you to the second doctor…and so on. So it was a lot of running around and walking, which did not really make my mysterious illness any better. Now I know I will not go back to the doctor unless I am totally desperate, but it was in fact a really weird experience….

Until next time! (When I am actually feeling better)

До свидания (goodbye).

Justine G.

Жюстин, usually Джастин, Жастин, or Жустин.

I occasionally get homesick while at Richmond and a big part of it is due to the lack of Chinese food in the city. I also rely very heavily on public transportation because I cannot drive. Since Richmond’s public transportation system is not so great, I often have to pretty walk from shuttle drop off locations. However, it is almost the end of my third week here and I feel perfectly at home. The public transportation system here is very efficient and I like commuting. I spent all of middle school and high school commuting to school by bus and by subway, so this is the life I am used to. People here also walk extremely fast, which I appreciate a lot, but I also cannot believe they are able to walk that fast on iced over sidewalks.

To give you an idea of how snowed-in and iced-over Saint Petersburg is:

When I left the house this morning, it was 0ºF (-17.7ºC).

But have you ever seen actual snowflakes like these?

The down escalator to the metro (about 3 to 4 full minutes to reach the bottom or top of a station).

I also just received my official student ID from Saint Petersburg State University. This is by far, the best ID (and best picture) I have ever received.

Speaking more about holidays, February 16th was the start of Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any local events related to Chinese New Year, but my friends invited me out to eat Chinese food. Although, I have not seen many Chinese people in this city (aside from tourists, it’s pretty easy to tell if a person is a tourist), there are so many Chinese restaurants here. Although, quantity does not necessary mean quality, every place I have been to so far has been really good! I am sure there is a big Chinese population here, but I live in a touristy-but-not-really type of neighborhood, so I do not see a lot of people.

Biang-biang mian (flat-hand pulled noodles with chili oil) and Roujiamou (lamb burger)

Different restaurant from the first, but I was happy to find great Chinese dumplings here!

This past Sunday (February 18th) was the end of Maslenitsa (Мaсленица), also known as “Butter Week” (maslo/масло means butter/oil). The holiday is celebrated the week before Lent, so people have this week to enjoy themselves. This holiday is also celebrated to say goodbye to winter and welcome spring. People celebrate the entire week with different activities, including making and eating tons of blini (Russian crepes). The most interesting part of Maslenitsa to me is that blinis are supposed represent the sun, so they are welcoming the sun……by eating it?

My dinner on Maslenitsa (blinis pictured on the plate). Often eaten with jam or sour cream (or both).

Also, at the end of Maslenitsa, they burn a giant straw doll / scarecrow to commemorate the start of spring. Unfortunately, I was not able to stay so late and see the burning myself, but I did buy some dolls before I left.

Some straw dolls / scarecrows (чучелы)

I just talked a lot about food and holidays, but not so much about academics (this is indeed study abroad). Homestay life is really helping me out in speaking and a little in reading/writing (see below).

My host mom and I often leave notes for each other if I leave the house early or she plans to go out before dinner. The note says: “Justine, blinis can be heated on the pan or in the toaster oven. Eat with sour cream (in the fridge)!” – L

At school, what we do in our conversation/grammar classes are a little confusing right now. Because of an odd schedule mix up, the class we thought was grammar was actually conversation, and vice versa. One language class is significantly harder than the other, which makes it weird because we’re all in the same level for both classes. Otherwise, everything is going great in my elective classes. I am also got permission to audit a Master’s level class called International Security Regimes (taught in English) at the university itself and I went to the first lecture this week! The class has about twenty-something students and only about 1/3 to 1/4th of them are Russian. The rest of the students are exchange or international students, which I find really interesting. I took some political science / international studies classes at Richmond and really wanted to continue to pursue it, but I did not have the time. I have not been so good about planning my free time here so far, so this will be one of the things I will be looking forward to every week. I also will be volunteering at a site (all semester), but I will talk more details next time! Thanks for reading.

До свидания (goodbye).

Justine G.

Жюстин, not Джастин