Hockey Game
Activities
By Katie Harwick, Penn State University

     Screaming fans, beer, and cheerleaders. Sounds like all the necessary components of an NFL game. But, where would you see an “American” football game in Moscow? The answer is simple, it’s not a football game, it’s a Russian hockey game. Here, hockey and football (soccer) hold the same place in every Russian’s heart as football and baseball do in the hearts of every American.

    We had the chance to go to a Russian hockey game on March 12. It was a game between the 3rd place Dynamo and the 13th placed Spartak, both teams from Moscow. Of course this means an intense rivalry. Most of the fans were men, showing us that Russians really do believe, based on a comment from one of our Russian (male) friends, that girls are not supposed to like hockey. Many of the fans arrived wearing their teams colors, carrying banners and wearing a scarf of the team colors. The home team, Dynamo was also lucky to have cheerleaders who did short routines during the pauses and between periods. Their main dance even had male cheerleaders who helped the girls with their pyramid routine and who performed back flips. It was pretty obvious where many of Russia’s famed gymnasts go after their careers are over. As a side note, we also attended the circus a few weeks ago, which had many gymnastic-like routines performed by men.

    Irina Tulchinskaya, one of the Russian students in our program, has special connections at this stadium, which we were able to utilize. Her mother works for one of the main TV stations in the city and after the first period, she took us to see where the broadcasters sit during the game. We saw the different equipment they use and where she works up in the announcers box. She even moved our seats to a much better spot in the arena.

    From our new seats, we had the perfect view of the fans from Spartak. They were much more enthusiastic than Dynamo’s fans. The Spartak fans were dancing to every song that came on, and even at random times during the game. At the end, Dynamo won, 2-1, allowing only one 2nd period goal. The game seemed much less physical than an NHL game, even less physical than a game played by the Penn State Icers. The Russian players showed more style and finesse than typical American players. They hardly ever checked each other, and never started anything resembling a fight, at least not as we know them in hockey. But aren’t the fights in hockey half the fun?

    March 12, 2003 marked our first day of witnessing Russian agriculture. The destination was State-farm College “Yakhromskiy” located 90km away in Dmitrov. Evgueni Shmelov, one of our professors, was our contact and interpreter. While at the college we visited the food production departments, which are the open soil, the glass house, and animal husbandry.

     The open soil department is exactly what it sounds like, open fields located in a large river valley about a kilometer from the university. These fields were dormant during our visit, however we were able to learn about the crops that they grow. Some of the crops grown here are a variety of grasses, sunflowers, and small grains, which are then used to feed the farm animals at the various facilities.

     The dairy was our first look at animals, other than the stray dogs that roam around Moscow. This was the best part of the trip in my opinion, coming from a dairy background. The farm milked a total of 500 cows, in three different milking barns, using a pipeline-milking system. This system attaches the milk hose to a hollow pipe that takes the milk directly to the tank. The total number of cattle was estimated around 1300 head, including heifers and calves, which the herd’s women said the cattle were a Finish breed, however in my opinion they looked like Norwegian Red cattle.

     University farms in the states are usually equipped with the latest equipment and technology and such was the case here. The farm was equipped with a brand new milk tank, which holds the quality milk the farm produces. Cows on the farm are milked three times a day and produce around 6000kg a year, which is a high production rate in Russia. During our visit, every cow’s milk was being tested for weight, percent protein, percent fat, and bacteria count like DHIA in the states. DHIA is an organization that goes to farms to test every individual cow’s milk for the same components. Each cows’ information is then recorded on paper and on a computer in the office.

      Every cow here has a name and number just as in the US, however, the numbers here are notched in the cows’ ears, similar to pigs in the US. The farm has started to adapt to the plastic ear tag system, similar to the existing system in the US, by placing them in newborn heifer calves ears.

      On this day we also visited the college’s green house, or “glass house”, as they call it, and this building covers a total of four hectares. Here they grow two types of vegetables tomatoes and cucumbers. Our guide told us all plants are monitored everyday and are watered and pruned upon her observations. To keep the tomato plants up right they tie string around the base and attach the other end to the ceiling. The most interesting thing about this tour was observing cucumbers are grown in the same fashion as the tomatoes, not on the ground as in the US. At the end of the tour we were treated with cucumbers grown in the green house. All together, visiting these farms was a good escape from the rigorous city life we are living in now.

Hop, Skip, and Jump
Culture
By Heather McCartney, Montana State University

      It’s something that is done everyday, sometimes several hundred times. People do it with perhaps a single glance, but no thought as they go through their day. While I had never given a second thought to climbing stairs, upon embarking flights of stairs here in Russia, I found my gait off, my pace wrecked, and my brainpower actually being used to calculate how far it was from the bottom to the top of the stairs. It was an activity I hadn’t thought about since I was a toddler!

    At first, I thought I was imagining things about the stairs, because surely stairs are stairs wherever you go (well, except the ones dad made to the attic which are very steep!). Upon closer observation however, there is a difference in most public areas whether it is in my hostel, in the metro stations or at any given school. If you’ve ever counted steps in your head the rhythm usually goes ‘one, two, three, four, five, six, seven’ and then a break in the flight and the pattern repeated. Here in my hostel the rhythm is ‘one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten’ and then a break to the next flight. Psychologically, it felt like a longer ride to the top than usual, so I decided to investigate.

      At my home, the average step height is 7 inches (17.78cm) and the width average is 12 inches (30.48cm) and the distance from top to bottom is usually about 126 inches (320.04cm). Once my body learned this distance as a young child, I never had to think about it again unless moving large or heavy objects. I am sure many of my readers will agree steps are not a problem in general. Here however, the average step height is 14.5 centimeters (5.71 inches), the average width is 30.5 centimeters (12 inches) and overall distance from bottom to top step is 380 centimeters (149.61 inches).

     Is this adjustment an inconvenience? To the contrary, I have observed that the shorter steps, while creating a longer distance top to bottom, make movement much easier for the very aged and the very young. With frequent lifting of the feet, comes a more vigorous workout and that is good for health! What creates awkwardness is when a Russian citizen visits the U.S. Our friend, Yulia Lukashevich, was at Montana State this past autumn and frequently would trip up or down stairs with the exclamation, "Why do you people build your stairs wrong?” I had laughed it off as some sort of strange culture shock, until now. I realize that she, just like I, had to reprogram her muscle memory to adjust to the broadly used standards. Thankfully, it has not caused us injury and we go merrily on our way!

    What do you get when you cross the Emerald Isle with a fuzzy shapka (hat)? Dr. Gerald Parsons, from University of Nebraska, would be the answer.  Born in Ireland and raised in Pennsylvania, Dr. Parsons came into the lives of the Russian and American students on March 1, 2003.  He not only brought the macaroni and cheese and ranch dressing that the American students have been craving, but also his lovely wife Kathy.

     Why would anyone from Lincoln, NE want to come to Moscow, Russia in March?  Dr. Parsons revealed that in his studies as an English major, he read a great amount of Russian literature.  “They seemed like people with great heart and great passion,” he expressed.

     When the opportunity arose to take part in teaching Russian and American students in Moscow, he took it, feeling that it was the right time and the right situation to visit the country and culture that had so impressed him. Kathy Parsons has been a major player in the lives of the students as well.  Retired since June 2000, Mrs. Parsons has stated that she is enjoying herself, as she is experiencing the Russian culture that is so abundant in Moscow.  Attending the ballet “Swan Lake” in the Kremlin Palace, roaming through the town of Suzdal, and absorbing the artwork in the famous Tretyakov Gallery are just a few of the many experiences that the Parsons have enjoyed.

     The students have cherished the time with the fun-loving couple immensely.  Since their arrival, the memories of home cooked meals have become a reality.  St. Patrick’s Day not only brought smiles to the Irish in Dublin and Butte, Montana.  Many Russians and Americans had their appetites filled to match their happiness, as Dr. and Mrs. Parsons cooked up an authentic Irish meal of corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage. With full mouths and stomachs that evening, the students could do nothing but agree when Dr. Parsons remarked, “ In the world today there are only two groups of people.  The Irish and those who want to be Irish.”

            The course that is being taught, as an extension from the University of Nebraska, is based on leadership development in agriculture and natural resources.  Dr. Parsons hopes that the American students take away useful knowledge about the traditions and leadership figures in the area of agriculture and the environment.  This includes understanding Jefferson’s belief in the agrarian tradition and democracy, labor rights, and ethics.  “Most of these students come from land grant universities, and have no idea about the land grant traditions,” he mused.

Teaching agricultural leadership to Russian students has been an interesting experience for Dr. Parsons. “I would like them to experience something about the way ideas can motivate people toward a greater degree of autonomy and independence,” he stated.

Although he feels that the English language experience for the Russian students is paramount to the classroom, he was pleasantly surprised by their advanced English skills.

            As the Parsons prepare for their departure back to the United States, the students who will be left behind will fondly remember the excellent meals prepared by Mrs. Parsons, the class discussions with Dr. Parsons, and the enjoyable times spent experiencing Moscow together.

lized that, despite how bad we think we speak and how little we know, we actually do quite well.

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