Experiences from a language trip to Moscow Russia
Our former student Roland, who studied 2 weeks at our campus in Moscow, has written down his thoughts and experiences on his trip with us. He visited Moscow in December of 2018. We are excited to share his beautifully written impressions with you today!
I am plodding through the snow and cross the Gruzinskiy lane, onwhere our school is located. Since the beginning of the week it has been snowing in Moscow and the snowflakes are whirling and shimmering in the yellow-orange light of the street lanterns.
In my mind, however, it is Russian vocabulary that is whirling around. Thoughts about conjugation of verbs and delineating substantives like sand agitated by breaking waves and not allowed to settle down. Today’s afternoon intensive class marks the end of my trip to Liden & Denz in Moscow, which I took as a part of my study leave. Tomorrow, the 22 December 2018, I will fly back home to Germany. 14 Days I spent in the Russian Metropole. I lived in the northwest part of the city called Sokol and was well taken care of by my Russian homestay “Хозяйка” Valentina.
The school, as well as all relevant sights, were easily reachable by metro. The stations resemble museums and are heated in winter. I am headed to the Uzbek restaurant “Chaykhona Ayva” which is just a step away from our school. I am already getting quite melancholic when I start thinking about my soon to come farewell. Saying goodbye to new friends from all parts of the world, to our dedicated and patient teacher Antonia, to my even more patient individual class teachers and to the friendly school staff of Liden & Denz who often times had to listen to our unpolished Russian but who would always correct us with a smile.
I order a wonderful homemade soup and a mug of tea. In the Christmas season the lively center of Moscow is seasonally decorated and at night the whole city lights up in a symphony of colors. In less than two weeks I dedusted my Russian repertoire, restructured it, supplemented it, and made plans for the future. My antiquated textbooks, which were still from my school years in the seventies, were exchanged for new, contemporary ones. The further development of my Russian language skills will be steered into new directions. Professionalism pays off. Definitely. But what remains is learning, learning, learning. “Счёт пожалуйста”, I nod to the waiter friendly, pay, go over the steps to the outside. There, the fresh air of a cold Moscow winter evening awaits me. Leaving tracks in the snow, I trot in rush hour traffic towards the metro station “Belorussky Train Station”. До свидания, Москва!
