Far and Away

Featured Image: A view of the Russian Orthodox Church in Helsinki. I hate being in-transit. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing new places, I just dislike the in between part; the part where one gains or loses time, and isn’t home but hasn’t reached the final destination either. This feeling of liminality is further highlighted by how gross traveling makes me feel. Without fail, every time I enter an airport, I am some level of exhausted and slightly sweaty. And…

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Featured image: An anatomy modeling classroom in St. Petersburg’s Russian Academy of Fine Arts, which was formerly known as the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. There are some famous alumni of this institution such as Marc Chagall. The Academy is also incredibly (almost brutally) selective, with usually an acceptance rate that boasts about twenty applicants vying for a single seat. One of my instructors Yulia had to apply three times before being accepted while most others have to apply about five…

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Featured Image: Henri Matisse’s famous paintings Music and Dance, currently on display in The Hermitage Museum. The version of Dance which is on display in New York’s MoMa was a study for the painting in St. Petersburg. Some Russian rat bastard stole my phone. In the past I have been to many big cities in the United States and Europe, and I always prided myself on never having been pickpocketed. About two weeks ago, that streak came to a tragic end. Allow me to illustrate:…

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Last week my Russian professor asked me if I own a gun. For anyone who knows me well, that question is a nonstarter. I abhor guns. I abhor what they stand for in American culture. And I abhor the idea that they make us safer. I responded with a scoff. “Не Конечно!” (“Of course not!” in English) But as she went around the table asking the other students the same question, I realized her inquisitiveness was not part of a…

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