What I'll Miss (or Not)

Having stayed over three months in the one city, discounting the lightning visit to Moscow, I’ve grown accustomed to certain activities, people, and a way of life that is different to my old one in NZ. When I leave, I’ll miss some of this, and some I’ll be happy to be rid of.
Naturally, I’ll miss the friends I’ve made here. There’s Team America and the Germans, most of whom (both groups) are returning to their respective countries soon. There are my classmates, of whom I’m the only one going home. They’re wondering why; I’ve tried explaining that the money and time are running out and I have to go. I was only going to be here for one semester (or 15 weeks, whichever came first). As the 15 weeks expired on 12 December, I’d better be going. My teachers are sort of friends – Dmitri and Tatyana are both nice, happy people, and it’s a pity I couldn’t spend a bit of time with them outside of school. But I suppose they have to set boundaries, or they’ll get nothing done. Galina and Vladimir (who calls me “Student”) I’ll certainly miss. Both wonderful people, as are my neighbours: I’ve spent many hours, most broken into 10-15 minute segments, chatting to them. Being polite and a good neighbour helps in Russia – they value good manners.
Then there’s that cooked breakfast that arrives in the morning. I’ve certainly got used to that routine and it’ll come as a rude shock to discover I’ve got to cook my own breakfast again. And going to KGU for three hours every day is routine that I’ll miss. On the other hand, I won’t miss climbing those stairs, or cramming into the lifts. And I won’t miss the toilets, which doubled as smoking rooms. Some days the smoke was so dense it was difficult to see the walls.
I will miss all the nodding acquaintances, as they a regular faces. The guy in Книжный Дом (Book House), the laundry, the security guards at KGU; they’re all people I nodded or said hello to. They nodded and said hello back. I think I’ll miss the Mickey Dee’s on Baumana, but I’m not sure. I won’t be missing going there, and logging on for 30 minute sessions, and having variable access speed because it’s packed or somebody is downloading huge files or playing internet games. And this laptop, for all its virtues, weighs a ton! Between toting it back and forth, a couple of brief attacks (two days each) of the trots/food poisoning and the stairs at KGU, I’ve lost about 5kg since I got here. But this is yet to be confirmed by my regular scales. I know the scales at the laundrette said I was lighter by about 3-4kg, so for the first time I a long while I weigh less than 90kg. Yea me!
I won’t miss the footpaths of Kazan. They would have to be the worst I met anywhere. They exist, but half the time they are seriously pot-holed, puddle after rain and then covered in slick mud. You have to be a mountaineer to navigate some of them. Somebody could make a sizeable fortune offering ankle insurance too – you can easily twist an ankle in the crap surfaces.
I also won’t miss the semi-permanent state of confusion that descends on me the moment I start talking with Russians. It’s not that they’re confusing; it’s just having to cope with a language I’ve only partly mastered. And I will not sorry to the last of Russian toilets as a collective group (apart from the one in Galina’s apartment). Apart from the haphazard cleaning regime, there tends to be a lack of toilet paper in the stalls. This has to be allowed for before you suddenly find that the smallest usable piece of paper in your wallet is NOT a 10RR note but something much more valuable.
I’m not sure if I’ll miss winter – it never really arrived. Only today has the temperature been below 0°C by more than one or two degrees. I was talking to my Muscovite friend and realised that my bare hand had frozen. I also had very cold ears. I considered buying an ushanka (those lovely sheepskin hats Russian men wear in winter with the Captain Dog-ears flaps, but I don’t think it would be practical in Aukalofa – it’s too warm) for a few minutes.
But I miss my NZ friends and family and it’s time to get back and pay off this horrendous credit card bill. I’m dreading seeing that.
Next post: hopefully some pictures, or a commentary on the flight back.