IT’S NOT A BOND MOVIE, BUT MOVE TO RUSSIA SHOULD BE EXVITING
Colorado Springs Gazette, 1-8-09
I always
said that if the Democrats won the election, I would leave the country. So I’m heading out in a few days. I won’t be back until the summer.
Actually, I
never said anything about leaving if the Democrats won. This trip has been planned for a while. But leaving does give you the opportunity to
be creative. When people ask about my
plans for the New Year, I can have all sorts of fun. “Well, the Broncos didn’t make the playoffs,
so I’m leaving the country.” “’Boston Legal’ got cancelled, so I’m leaving the
country.” You get the idea.
I’m off to
Russia, teaching at St Petersburg State University. You might have images of
students shouting “Go St Petersburg State!”, like “Go
Colorado State!”, but the Russian word for “state” doesn’t translate well
here. It’s more like “government” or
“national”. Unlike America, the oldest
Russian universities are all government institutions. SPSU was founded in 1724.
Right now,
St Petersburg is dark and cold. “Piter”, as the natives call it, is as far north as
Greenland. The days have only just
rounded the curve of the winter solstice, and are now frantically sprinting to
catch up with the nights.
Not that it
will matter much for a while. When my
plan touches down at Pulkovo Airport, the city’s six
hours of daylight will have long since passed.
On my first jet-lagged morning, the sun will peek over the horizon at
ten o’clock and peak above the horizon at nine degrees. You’d have to be insane to visit Russia in
the winter. Just ask Napoleon.
But all
Russians know the promise of spring, and the summer will be worth waiting
for. The beliye nochi, or White Nights, are a stunning
solstice festival of light, sound and culture.
By mid-June, the sun won’t go down until ten,
and twilight will last long after that.
During that time, the bridges over the Neva will be raised and covered
with lights, twinkling like thousands of stars along the river. There will be fireworks, concerts, and manic
natives mingling with European tourists.
I might even meet an American or two.
It’ll be wonderful.
In the mean
time, I’ll have plenty to do. I’ve got classes to prepare for, and I’ve got to find an
apartment. Even more important, I’ve got
to get online. Having a place to live is
all very nice, but I’ll die without broadband internet.
If you’re
my age (and I hope you’re not), do you remember those “World of the Future”
exhibits you saw as a kid? They had these amazing things called video
telephones. They were just like regular
telephones, but you could see who you were talking to. I thought they were totally cool.
With the
internet and webcams, it looks like the future has finally arrived. So far I’ve tested video calls to my kids at
college, my brother-in-law in Texas, and even my mother-in-law in New
Jersey. It’s free, it’s
video, and the sound quality has to be heard to be believed. Can’t wait to test it
across the ocean. Fun stuff.
So it’s
going to be an interesting six months.
Russian-American relations are a little dicey right now, but I hope I
can represent America well. I hope I’ll
get to know my students, get some good work done, bust a stereotype or two, and
broaden my horizons a little. I’ll
continue to write my column, though as you might imagine the perspective is
going be a little different. I hope
you’ll still find it interesting.
None of
this would be possible without the fortunate convergence of circumstances in my
already ridiculously privileged life.
I’m grateful for the support of my employer, for the encouragement from
my kids, and most especially for my impossibly understanding wife, who has
demonstrated her support for me by getting her concealed carry permit and
becoming a crack shot. That, to me, is
what America is all about. It makes me
love her even more.
See you in
St Petersburg.