Tomsk is a day behind Moscow

….at least in the media. I have been asking around at various kiosks lately for my weekly (at least I attempt to read it once a week; in Moscow I only succeeded in reading the headlines and maybe one article, so I can at least say that I’m making some improvement) read (Russian reporter). I was told that after Monday (Jan 11th) it would be available. That there is a media slowdown over the holidays is understandable; everything slows down over the holidays. Fewer buses run (most buses are privately operated), businesses and the like have reduced hours and Tomsk has been feeling much more quiet than usual,  sleeping under the heavy blanket of overeating, catching up on lost sleep and visiting friends. Nevertheless, the fact that the news is not news is hard to come to terms with- hopefully the kiosk I happened to be buying at that day had just sold out of today’s. Tomsk is three hours behind Moscow (originally four) and three nights and two days by train…but all the same, shouldn’t today’s news be today’s and not yesterday’s? Hm. It is printed in Novosibirsk, just 4 hours away.

On another note, today is the eve of Stariy Noviy God (Old New Year) which commemorates the date noted by the Julian calendar (which was abandoned after 1918). Supposedly tonight is an opportune time for divination. I see all my students coming to class in 2009……

I am currently teaching a two-week intensive English course for employees of my faculty, which is why I am still in  Tomsk. I’m heading to Novosibirsk for a few days as soon as this commitment ends, and then soon it’s back to work again, as my students come trailing back after a month of forgetting pesky phrasal verbs and all those enriching lessons I gave. Vitamin G(rammar), anyone? Yum.

The January series of banya visits

Having been struck by a virulent cold, (I have a whole new pocketful of words now, but most of them would only make you squeamish) I took advantage of our neighbourhood public banya. Banya № 3 is housed in a gloriously non-descript grey building on Sovetskaya street, near where the tram turns. On first visit we were met by a temperature of about 90-95 degrees followed by a cool (public) pool. The second visit illustrated the problem of global climate change; the sauna itself was scorching (115) and the pool (which by tradition should be cold verging on icy enough to make your teeth chatter if you are submerged for over a minute) was bathtub warm. There was a cold shower though, but no towels this time round for rent. Like the answer one can often hear having gone to buy something, dear Banya №3’s towels had run out, or in the Russian fashion, had ended. On a side note, I recently learned that there is a more macabre expression  to express the unwanted running out of something by saying it `died`, in the somewhat coarse expression вздохнуть (vzdokhnut’) which is reserved for when animals die. But this is already slang… Oh, how Russian continues to entertain, amaze and torment me all at once!

Banya visits, in conclusion, are essential if you want to protect or recover your health, and steaming properly like any common lobster (I know they are usually boiled, but it is an excellent image of me: lobster-red in the face, though winter-pale in the limbs) should be taken seriously. Citrus fruits are a must. You don’t have to lightly beat your fellow banya-goers with pine branches, following tradition, but I recommend a good scrub at some point.