Temporal Anomaly

The whole time I've been in Russia, my family has been enjoying pointing out that I'm in the future. "It's Sunday where you are?" they'll ask. "Here it's only Saturday night! Crazy!" And it's true: St. Petersburg is eleven hours ahead of Utah. While that makes it slightly difficult to schedule Skype sessions - we have to talk early in the morning or late at night, in one place or the other - it hasn't really mattered to me day-to-day. My days are just as long here are they would be back home, except that there's a lot less sun. (The sun hasn't been rising until around 10:45am lately.)

However, the whole mess of time zones will become rather interesting once I start flying home tomorrow. Because although December 21st is supposed to be the shortest day of the year (astronomically speaking), this December 21st is going to be the longest day of my life. Literally.

Here, let me show you my calculations:

My Temporal Paradox


The first plane I take, from right here in St. Petersburg, doesn't take off until 7:35am. So that's 7 hours and 35 minutes already.  (Subtotal: 7 h 35 m) (Official Time: 7:35am) 


My flight to Frankfurt is scheduled to last 3 hours and 15 minutes. (Subtotal: 10 h 50 m) (Official Time: 7:50am)

Our layover in the Frankfurt airport is 2 hours 20 minutes long. (Subtotal: 13 h 10 m) (Official Time: 10:10am)


From Frankfurt, I'll be flying completely over the Atlantic Ocean and almost the entire continental United States - to San Francisco. That flight is 11 hours and 30 minutes. (Subtotal: 24 h 40 m) (Official Time: 12:40pm)

Then, in San Francisco we have a very long layover - 6 hours and 20 minutes. (Subtotal: 31 h) (Official Time: 7:00pm)

At long last, I will fly from San Francisco to Salt Lake City, Utah. That flight only takes 1 hour and 42 minutes. (Subtotal: 32 h 42 m) (Official Time: 9:42pm)

Finally, I will go home to my old bed in my old house in my old neighborhood. And I will sleep - but there will be 2 hours and 18 minutes left before midnight. That brings us to our


GRAND TOTAL: 35 hours


. . . in one day.


Albert Einstein, eat your heart out.


Now, there may be some of you clever folk who are thinking "Bah! That's not really a paradox. When you flew to Russia you lost time, now you're just gaining it back." Well, that's a valid argument. Or, at least, it would be . . . if it weren't for Daylight Savings Time!

See, this is where it really gets weird: when I left Utah and flew to St. Petersburg, I lost ten hours. But since I've been here, the good folks in the USA have changed all their clocks for Daylight Savings Time - and Russia doesn't participate in Daylight Savings Time. So when I fly back to Utah, I will be gaining not ten hours, but eleven.

That means coming to Russia gave me an extra hour of life.

How sweet is that?!



Sidenote: This post may or may not be an attempt to prove to my friends and admirers that when I get home I will be too exhausted to come to all of your parties. The invitations are, however, appreciated.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

First, I want you to look at this building. Just look at it!

Is it not one of the most beautiful buildings you have ever seen? The Church on Spilled Blood is one of the main attractions in St. Petersburg, and it's easy to see why. It's something you can admire and appreciate without needing to know its history. However, like most of the sites here in Russia, learning the history behind the beauty can add a lot of meaning to it.

I am no historian. Actually, history was always my least favorite subject in school; it was so much harder for me than everything else. However, being in Russia has given me a true appreciation for history, as I've spent time listening to Russians tell the story of their country. So I'll share what little I know of the history of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.

(Amidst pictures, of course.)

 The Church on Spilled Blood (as it is nicknamed) was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III in 1883, as a monument to his father, Alexander II - in fact, it is built on the exact spot where Alexander II was assassinated. (Hence "on Spilled Blood.") It took 24 years to complete construction of this marvelous building. This is partly because the Russians chose to rebuild the canal around the area, so that they might include in the cathedral the square of sidewalk where their Tsar lay dying. It is still there today, inside the cathedral's walls, with a small memorial built around it.

Another reason it took so long to build this cathedral is possibly because of the extensive artwork. As you can see from these pictures, the inside of The Church on Spilled Blood is covered with beautiful decorations. It reminds one of the gorgeous paintings in St. Isaac's. However, that is deceiving; those depictions you see on the walls and ceiling are not paintings. They are, in fact, mosaics. Over 7,500 square meters of mosaics line the interior of the Church on Spilled Blood; more than almost any other cathedral in the world!

In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the church was looted and badly damaged. This was the beginning of a hard time for this cathedral. In the next couple of decades, it would be abused harshly. It was closed by the Soviet government in 1930. Then in World War II it was used as a dumping ground for bodies during the Siege of Leningrad. Even after the war, it was used for a long time as a warehouse for vegetables. This earned it the sardonic name of "The Church of the Savior on Potatoes."

(A little nativity picture for you guys. Merry Christmas!)

 However, during these dark times, a miracle occurred in this building that Russians still remember. In World War II there was a terrifying moment when one of the bombs dropped upon the city fell through the roof of the cathedral. It fell through the huge chamber and landed heavily on the smooth floor. But, for reasons still unexplained, the bomb never detonated. It simply lay there on the floor, quelled, until some workers were brave enough to carry it away. The Soviet Union was an officially atheist state at the time, and yet - so I have been told - this instance was seen by many Russians as proof that there was someone there, protecting this place.

(Pictures on display of the bomb and damages. Sorry about the lighting.)

Starting in 1970, renovations were done to the Church on Spilled Blood. For almost thirty years, Russians and tourists alike walked by this amazing structure, but were not allowed to go inside. It was not reopened until August of 1997. (So recently, the first ILP volunteers in St. Petersburg never got to see the inside of it!) Now, at last, people are able to go inside and marvel at the beauty and the history of this fantastic place.

It's a great story. It's a great building.

I've had such a great time.

Christmas in St. Petersburg

'Tis the season to get into the Christmas spirit. I'm sure that in America there are Christmas songs playing on all the radio stations, Christmas shows playing on all the TV channels, and Christmas decorations in every corner of every state. Everyone's planning for it, shopping for it, thinking about it. So it might surprise you to know that here in Russia - nobody cares that it's almost Christmas. In fact, they still have a month to go before they even celebrate Christmas!

See, here in Russia (as in most Eastern Orthodox countries, so I've read) they celebrate Christmas on January 7th. In fact, Christmas only recently became a national holiday again in Russia - it was surpressed for a long time by the Soviet Union, because they were an officially atheist state and didn't want to promote such a religious holiday.

Because in Russia they do focus more on the religious aspects of Christmas. They go to church on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas day. (To read more about that, click here.) Christmas is kind of the conclusion to the holiday fortnight that begins on New Year's Eve.

Because New Year is the big holiday for Russia. It's their biggest holiday, and most of the decorations we see in the store or around town (lights, trees, etc) aren't for Christmas; they're for New Year. (What I've read says that this is because when the Soviet Union cracked down on Christmas, a lot of the traditions from Christmas shifted over to New Year so they could still be practiced. I haven't verified that with any real Russians, but it makes sense from what I've seen.)

Anyway, they do have a lot of Christmas-type stuff around. (A lot of it is just for tourists; St. Petersburg is a big tourist city.) They have trees, Santa Clauses - though it's debatable exactly which incarnation of Santa is being depicted most of the time - lights, ornaments, candies, costumes, and more. My favorite distinctly Russian thing is the Snow Maiden. You'll see her in the pictures.

Enjoy! And play a little Christmas music while you look at the pictures, why don't you?

At the market, where you buy matrushka dolls and the like,
you can get these carvings of what looks like Santa.
Here, though, you'd call him Дед Мороз.
(Grandfather Frost)

Advertisement for a musuem of chocolate.
A life-size chocolate Santa! (or, Дед Мороз?)

Christmas goodies.

A tree outside one of the Metro stations.

Same tree

The grocery store - they love decorating, too.

Half of their decorations are dragons, though. For the New Year.

I love this girl. She's снегрочка ("snegurochka") - the Snow Maiden.
Granddaughter of Дед Мороз, the grandfatherly gift-bringer.
Here, read about her on Wikipedia.  

Lots more decorations...

etc...

etc...

etc...

Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden again.

Popular Russian cartoon characters Masha and Bear,
all decked out in their snowgear.

Giant Christmas tree in front of the Hermitage - the Winter Palace.
Yes, that's the building where the Tsars would have spent Christmas.

This is the tree at my host family's apartment.
My host sister Evelen put it together. See her there?

100th Day in Russia

It's not strictly accurate - we spent ten days on vacation in Estonia and Sweden, after all - but I have been "here" for a full one hundred days now. That is quite an awesome feat, in my opinion, and I am proud of it.

In celebration, I am posting (mostly re-posting) some of my favorite pictures of my adventures thus far. My very favorite pictures are of my students, but I don't want to post those on such a public site. You'll have to wait until I get home if you want to see them. (And trust me, you want to see them!)

The last four pictures on here are a panoramic of the entrace to the school I teach at. Just a taste of my teaching experience, which is the richest experience I'm having out here.

It's been one hundred days. Сто дней, правдо? Let's look back on some of the more photogenic parts of this journey.

P.S. Chelsea, don't lose hope! I'm working on a Christmas in Russia post for you. It'll be up soon.