Destinations: A History of Global Education at Dickinson College

The title is from the quote “One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things” by Henry Miller, which I found on the internet

Один день на даче

Sunday morning we all got up early and took the metro to Bixino, where we bought tickets and took elektrichka (the commuter/regional train) alone to Kratovo, about 40 minutes out of Moscow. We had been invited to the dacha of Irina Nikolaevna, who is a long time host mother for the Dickinson program and an [...]

Почти Всё

I now have a week left in Russia, and the list of things I wish to see is just as long as it has ever been. We have had more free time, and I have spent a lot of it sitting in different parks around the city. Most notably, I found Partriarch’s Ponds, which is [...]

Санкт Петербург

Monday morning on the overnight train we arrived back in Moscow from St. Petersburg, the second capital of Russia. St Petersburg was established in 1703 by Peter the First (or the Great, whatever) in order to open up Russia to the rest of Europe and compete in trade and military strength. The position of St. [...]

Владимиро-Суздальского Княжества

This past weekend we traveled to Suzdal, in Vladimirskii Oblast, which is about three hours from Moscow by electric train. The area used to be it’s own kingdom before what I guess could be called the unification of Russia. Suzdal is one of the oldest cities in Russia, and remains completely un-industrialized – the Russian [...]

Как дойти?

Russians generally don’t look happy when they are on the street, especially in Moscow. This is not because they hate everyone, but rather just custom. I also imagine that it would be rather tiring to be pleasant to everyone you pass on the street. This trait combines oddly with the fact that it is impossible [...]

Красный Октябрь

Red October probably reminds most people of the Tom Clancy novel, but in Moscow it is a wonderful place. It is the name of one of a 150 year old chocolate factory in the center of Moscow, where they make many kinds of chocolate, including my favorite, Алёнка. We received a tour of the factory floor, [...]

Первые Выходные

This weekend was really busy. I won’t write about all of it.  On Friday we went to the Kremlin, Which is basically a big inside the walls where there are churches and government buildings and the former armory where they now keep all of the jewels and royal stuff from before the revolution. Saturday we [...]

Five Stories Down

The metro station that I most often use is called Novoslobodskaya, which is on the northern edge of the center. To get to the platform, you swipe your card at the turnstiles,  and then join the crowd of people pushing to get to the escalator going down. The first time I was not prepared for [...]

Pasternak and Parking

Today was our first day of Russian lessons, in which we are joined by two other students in addition to the the other students from the Dickinson program. One is from England and one has lived in Russia her whole life, but her family is German and she went to an international school, so she [...]