Russia

I apologize for the delay in posting!! It has been a whirlwind of a week, and the Wi-Fi has been unpredictable at best.

Friday (May 27^th)

After a 16 hour sleeper train ride (best sleep I’ve had on this trip so far), we arrived in Russia on Friday morning. After a quick breakfast we headed to a briefing with a company that produces packaging. We had just come off of a week learning in-depth detail about Russian history and economy, so it was very interesting to hear the perspective of someone actually doing business in Russia. A student asked him why he chose to go into packaging, and he stated that with the economy the way it is, he needed to do something that would always be useful to people. Living in the United States, the sanctions against Russia don’t seem to mean much, but the impact of the political climate was very real and very clear throughout all of our business visits.

Our big Friday night plans included dinner and a trip to go see Swan Lake. SWAN LAKE. IN RUSSIA. Wow. It was amazing. When I was younger, I did ballet for maybe 2 years? I hated it and my mom will tell you how much I cried every week when it was time to go. But as I grew up, I was always interesting in learning about the world of ballet, so this was an amazing experience. Seeing a ballet in Russia is maybe one of the coolest things I’ve done so far. Everything was flawless and just so beautiful. Even the guys in our group loved it.

Saturday

Saturday was a long day packed full of some pretty touristy things. We began the day at the Red Square, where we were turned away because they had closed the entire thing down for the day without notifying anyone (which is always comforting…). Once we readjusted our schedule, we headed to the Kremlin Territory and began with a tour of the Armory, an amazing museum of Russian history. I love museums but I don’t love museum tours quite as much… But we learned a lot and got to see some incredible coaches, coronation gowns, and Faberge eggs, which I’ve always wanted to see. After the Armory, we walked around Cathedral Square and saw the inside of a few cathedrals. The architecture was gorgeous and so far, I haven’t gotten tired of looking at old churches.

In the afternoon we took a river cruise down the Volga River, which gave us a new view of the city, as well as some time to relax.

We ate dinner at a restaurant that was a lot like a cafeteria (a lot of restaurants in Moscow were like this), you went through a line with a tray and pointed at what you wanted to eat and then they just rang you up at the end. I am fairly convinced every cashier hates us because we are given stipends for our meals in pretty large denominations in each city, and when all 41 of us go to the same place and try to break them… It’s a bit of a mess.

After dinner we headed to the Russian Circus, which was a very interesting experience. I’m not a huge fan of clowns so this wasn’t exactly a personal highlight. OH. One thing about entertainment in Russia… Instead of giving standing ovations at the end of something really good, everyone just starts slowly clapping in unison. It is honestly one of the creepiest things, and some students in our group have started trying to get it to catch on whenever we clap for something. Not the best thing that has happened.

Sunday

On Sunday morning we attended part of a service at the largest Russian Orthodox church in the world. It was breathtaking, figuratively and literally, because there was a lot of incense involved. But it was so beautiful and it had me wondering if church architecture is representative of worship or of pride. I’m sure it can be both, depending on the circumstance. We then attended a service at an international church, which was a pretty typical church service.

After lunch, we went to a place called Bunker 42. It was a bunker used by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, 65 meters underground with tunnels spreading out all over the city. Our tour here was fascinating because it was the history of the Cold War from the Russian perspective. I think that whenever I learned about the Cold War in school, I did not really understand the significance and the enormous implications it held for the trajectory of human history. This visit made it feel a lot more real.

After climbing back up 18 flights of stairs, we headed to the Red Square. This was my favorite part of our trip so far. It was magnificent and so full of history. I’ve seen a million pictures of St Basil’s Cathedral, but it was so much more impressive in real life. We ate dinner inside the mall on the Red Square, in another cafeteria-like restaurant. This was a very long day, but it is definitely one that I will never forget. Although, as I was writing this I definitely forgot about the bunker part and had to add that.

Monday

Monday was full of corporate and organizational visits. First, we went to a sci-fi themed conference room of sorts, where we heard from to expats on their business endeavors in Russia. One runs a non-profit, while the other runs a language school. They talked about their businesses a bit, but they also talked about following God wherever He leads. This is a difficult message for a group of highly motivated business students to hear, but it was also very encouraging.

In the afternoon, the accounting majors on this trip were beyond excited because we had our visit to Ernst & Young, one of the “big four” accounting firms. This was an extremely professional visit, and we learned about EY Russia, as well as the current state of the Russian economy. This was interesting because we got the perspective of an international businessman and the perspective of a Russian citizen. Needless to say, they were very different opinions.

Tuesday

Our final day in Moscow was a whirlwind of packing, a corporate visit, and airport security. We visited KPMG, another big four firm. Professor Rich would be so proud of all the accounting things I learned this week. Our presenter here was a Christian, and he spoke about how to be a Christian in any work environment. His advice was so encouraging, and all of us left hoping to find a boss like him one day. He was fully focused on loving God and loving others, and it showed even in the short time he was able to speak with us. That is something so unique about this program. We have had some incredible speakers who care about this next generation of potential employees, and we are getting some world-class advice.

Now

I am currently in Germany, and will try to post about it soon! Here’s a sneak peek: the fire alarm has gone off a few times in our hotel. So that’s always an experience.