Crushed Expectations

It's amazing how a city, people and even the whole country can change totally during the time. Or actually they remain almost the same, but your interpretation changes.

For example Petrozavodsk, a city in Russian Carelia, felt really unwelcoming, cold and rude three years ago while now, when I visited city last weekend, the image I got was totally opposite. Even though I ended up to awful nightclubs and met random stalkers on a Sunday walk, Petrozavodsk felt warm, welcoming and an interesting city.

For an explanation three years ago I knew hardly any Russian and working in a small Finnish newspaper in Russia wasn't only an easy experience. Nobody understood me nor I understood them. When I went to cafe and ordered coffee I got milkshake; and when I went to restaurant I managed to order potatoes with smashed potatoes. In a marshrutka it was always a horrifying moment to get out because I didn't know how to stop minibuses. Maybe that's one reason why I always got lost when I travelled to the Soviet style suburban to aerobics which was held in a local school number 42 (in Russia school don't have names, only numbers). And of course I met hardly any people because I didn't know the language, and it didn't feel too good to sit alone in the bars and waiting for somebody to talk to me (I tried once but left quickly because I realized how it looked like to be a lonely girl in bar). 

To be honest, I was a bit scared to go back to Petrozavodsk last weekend for a seminar on environmental politics. But as always my prejudices collapsed almost the minute I arrived. City looked so friendly, clean and quiet after the busy and growded St. Petersburg. The student dormitary were we stayed was newly renovated and super-neat, only minus was that the light didn't work. But it didn't mind because sun was shining during the day and in the evenings we were exploring the activities of Petrozavodsk. Also the University of Petrozavodsk where the seminar was held was more modern than I expected and computer rooms filled with brand new computers!

City itself looked almost the same but the atmosphere seemed to be totally different. Maybe also thanks to my imporved Russian skills, I got coffee everytime I ordered it and this time I could order something else with potatoes than other kind of potatoes. People in the public transportation helped us to get out at the right bus stop and even the statue of Lenin and Ulitsa Karl Marx were more funny than scary this time.

Same theory applies for people too. I always thought that Russian girls were a bit silly with their high heels, mini-skirts and non-stop mirroring. I also felt that Russian women were somehow exhausting because of their arrogant and rude attitude. Maybe that's because I don't know too many Russian girls personally. After three days of seminar in Petrozavodsk with Russian students I had to crash my prejudice. During the seminar I became fan of Russian girls.

After a three days with Russian students, who were all under 20 years old, I was more than impressed by the level of their education. Especially the girls in the university of Petrozavodsk were not only beautiful (or ridiculously beautiful like my American friend call Russian girls) but also smart, confident and what surprised me most, fluent in English. They all studied international politics which include one year of studying only English. According to their professor the students of IR should be fluent in English. What a change of paradigm, before Russian language was the only important language now but obviously the new generation knows the importance of globalization.

During the weekend in Petrozavodsk, or actually during the whole spring, I have started to appreciate Russian girls more and more. I thought before that they are rude and selfish but I have started to realize that they are only confident about themselves. At the seminar they were always willing to speak in front of the class and they weren't afraid of telling their opinion out loud while Finnish girls were usually unwilling to stand in front of the class and speak English in front of a big audience.

Maybe that's because Russian girls don't take themselves that seriously: they can go to strip aerobic without any problem because they are confident enough and also their sense of humor can handle also some silly things. I could never wear as high heels or as short skirt as they do because I would feel that all those super-feminine things make me less convincing. Like the looks of person determines what's inside the head. Well, in Petrozavodsk I learned that you can have both: model-appearance and brain of a scientist.

Maybe one day I will have the same confidence and self-respect to give a shit about what other people thing about me. It still far away: only on Tuesday I missed my last chance to participate the strip aerobics at my gym. I already was at the door but I didn't have the guts to enter the room. Instead of learning some new, interesting moves I escaped to the spinning room. What a boring finka I am!