Today I leave Russia. I know, I miss the Крещение on the 19th, but I know you guys will do one cold bath for me, too. That’s not the only problem in leaving Russia today.
I came here with a few goals. One of them, given my curious nature, was exploring Russia. Another was purely linguistic: I wanted to improve my Russian. And a third, more abstract and utopian, was just to understand Russia.
I have travelled a little bit outside St. Petersburg, Moscow and the Golden Ring. I walked a lot around St. Petersburg, visited the most important museums and attractions, got to know a bit the city. But Russia is so big, and its main cities are as well, that I cannot say I am satisfied about the exploration.
I studied here at Liden & Denz for three months. Incredible teachers, who not only know what they are teaching and how to handle you. They are, first of all, persons. And what incredible persons they are! I thank you all. The teachers I’ve had, the ones I haven’t but all the same greeted me when they saw me, and the office ladies. An indeed beautiful group. My Russian has improved, but not as much as I wanted. Too little time, I guess.
The first two goals, therefore, I only pecked at. What about the third? Did you really understand Russia?
Obviously, not. I do not even understand Italy, and I’ve lived there for a long time. In the chaotic ensemble of western media, however, one could get a very wrong picture of today’s Russia. Living here, speaking with its inhabitants, I understood it better. I understood that the picture of it I had from the Russian novels I read in the past is still valid today. The fictional characters’ spirit is what animates even today’s Russians, even though new elements have come into the game, elements related to today’s society, politics, lifestyle, but those elements can only partially veil what sits inside the people here. The жемчужина inside.
I will not say that I’m absolutely going to come back here. I don’t know if that’s going to be possible, my future is not yet written, and it might bring me elsewhere. What I’m going to say is that I will forever hold with me a warm memory of this stay, one that contrasts with the cold weather I found and the grey wintery sky I’ve witnessed. A warm memory of Russia and its beautiful inhabitants.
Goodbye, Russia.