For Every Topic a Museum and for Every Museum a Topic

There must be about 500 museums in St. Petersburg. I have been searching for the Museum Museum but have yet to find it. Just came from the Antarctica Museum. Yesterday I visited the Peter the Second museum and earlier today walked through to Fyodor Dostoevsky museum. I am totally museum'd out. They call it the "Venice of the North" and the "Cultural Center of Russia." I agree with both names - lots of bridges over waterways and lots and lots and lots of culture. Everything is under construction now for the city's 300th birthday next May.

The city has started to grow on me. Just takes a little while to get used to the radically different values of customer service, etiquette and gigantic language barrier. In Sweden and Finland practically everyone speaks great English. Here, most people couldn't say hello. NOT that I think they should, I do not want to be an arrogant American by assuming that everyone must speak English. But the barrier remains. Those that I am able to communicate with are really nice and interesting people. Life here is anything but easy and people are genuinely curious about the rest of the world.

Hope to report soon on the bar/club scene...

From Russia With Leery Love

Wrapping up the Helsinki part of my expedition: I found a really cool double-sided salt/pepper grinder that you grip and squeeze to release the spices. Very cool. Amazing sometimes how smart I am - got a souvenir for the whole family and now don't need to bother with individual gifts. Found for myself a totally rad looking watch from Japan. If I didn't have just a few minutes left here at the St. Petersburg cyber cafe I would try to find their site. it is called Sonik and has 3 different rotating dials which signify the hour, minutes and seconds of the day. A bit retro looking.

After shopping I went with a group of people to Nuxio, a forested area 30 minutes outside of town. I held an axe for the first time in my life and was a natural at cutting up wood for the fire I helped build. My usually hidden uptight NY demeanor came out to say 'no thanks' when everyone else went swimming in the lake. Not for me, sorry.

Then i stayed out way too late saying goodbye to all the new friends I made while sipping modestly from diet Coke (I hope you don't believe me on that one!). Hopped on the 7am train to St. Petersburg and here I am, having not slept in a while!

First impressions of Russia:

Beautiful, grand, huge, bustling metropolis but also slightly bleak and sad. Not many people walk around with smiles on their faces. Not that I can blame them, but still it takes getting used to. I have also started to notice the decline in my own English skills as I get ensconced in 'foreigner's english.' Going now to get some Russian food and then maybe check out their idea of night life.

Shopping Outside of New York

Is it possible to find something here that (A) I can't find in New York and (B) I actually like? Price is yet another concern, what with the Euro being more valuable than the dollar and all. That sucks for me, right?

Will let you know how I fair in trying to find some cool movie posters in Finnish - the weirdest language I have yet to encounter. I went to see 'About A Boy' last night - which is called 'BOY' over here. Another funny translated title is for the movie 'Antitrust' which is 'Conspiracy.com' here.

And for some reason I have two friends that want me to bring them back rocks as souvenirs. That is a new concept for me. Do other people also like to collect rocks? Seems weird since I could just pick some up from my backyard in Brooklyn. Of course I'd never do that... but still...

Siling Away in Helsinki

After a wonderful 3 days in Stockholm with great people, food, drinks and attractions I am now in Helsinki, Finland.

Since there is so much to say I'll just write as things come to mind:

-Never refuse coffee in Finland. it is a big no-no. And don't forget to remove your shoes when entering someone's house, lest you be seen as an insensitive foreigner.

-On the plane over here I read a small article in the Herald Tribune which proclaimed Germans as the best tourists and Americans the second best because of their cultural sensitivity, good tipping and attempts to learn local languages. The British came in last place because of their arrogance and tight purses. I must admit to being somewhat surprised by these findings since I always assume people hate Americans and think we're all arrogant, loud snobs.

-People in Stockholm are SO damn cool! It is the first foreign city I have ever been to that I think I'd like to live in. It has all modern conveniences, great long history, easy to understand city layout and really cute women who aren't hard to talk to.

-People in Finland are SO damn cool! They are so open to foreigners and are totally willing to accept them/us/me with open arms into their circles of friends. Now I am starting to prepare for my upcoming Finnish sauna experience. More on that when it happens.

-It is very interesting how Finnish people think of Swedish people. Reminds me of how NY'ers think of people from New Jersey. They are all gay, drunk and arrogant. Everything is meant in jest but nevertheless it is interesting to experience the confidence Finns have in their own country. Almost everyone I have met has travelled a good deal, including trips to America. Regardless of what they have seen and wherever else they have lived, most are confident that they'd like to remain in Finland.

-I guess before ending I should address my readers' curiosity over this blog entry's title. A major difference between Finns and the rest of the world is their tendency towards silence. In America silence is synonymous with uncomfortable. Here it is the exact opposite. Silence provides the opportunity to ponder, to relax, to enjoy life. Elsewhere silence is usually spent by people trying to end it. There is even a verb in Finnish that is the exact opposite of 'to talk.' In English we have no word for 'ok, I will stop talking and begin ______ing.' There are only phrases which describe the state of silence (i.e. ‘being quiet’), none that communicate the action of silence. So we came up with our own verb: 'to sile.'

Going to go sile a bit now, I've been writing and talking for too long.