Forgive me. It has been far too long since I've written anything proper here on my blog. I do have an excuse though and I'm rather hoping you would like to hear it: essays (and studying in general)! To prove this I'm going to post two of my rather interesting and more popular essays in this blog just after I'll finish relating this update. I further hope that you'll have both the time and the interest to give both of these essays some of your time.
In December I only wrote a hasty translation of a song by a Finnish musician, Hector. The very next day I flew to Finland where I stayed for both the Christmas and the New Year. Few days before my departure I bought some mistletoe near Hampstead and took it with me to Kauhajoki, to my parents house. It so happened that the flight was a real mess and by the time I came back home most of the mistletoe branches had broken into debris. Luckily one branch survived and some, bit unorthodox, kissing (this Xmas tradition is unknown in Finland) took place under it:
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'All in all my Christmas was rather boring. I was able to do some studying but I wasn't too productive with that 'cause my father was too keen on making sure I had some proper housework to attend to. Fortunately, I was able to escape into South, to Helsinki. In the Finnish capital I spend a fabulously intimate week with my girlfriend and my closest friends. The highlight of my visit back to the North was our celebration of New Year, which our company (my two friends and our beloved partners) did in almost Russian fashion: a lot of food, some vodka, plenty of champagne and fireworks. However, we did have a British addition in the programme as well: after spending the midnight outside with cigars and fireworks we came back home and sang Auld Lang Syne full-heartedly. The following days in Helsinki were rather picturesque with enough snow and time to enjoy the unbearable lightness of wasting away the days simply by enjoying everyday life:
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On New Year's Eve I came to an interesting conclusion: I realised that I was, to certain extent, actually envious to myself. While imagining my life year before I had achieved quite a lot during 2011 AD (getting my first diploma of B.A., working for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, studying in UCL and, most importantly, meeting Sasha (my girlfriend)!). Hence, a friend of mine suggested that I should write a letter to my future self in order to remember this sense of sincere and joyful envy. And to have a better understanding of where I was coming from (there in the future). So, I took up a pen and wrote a letter to my future self. The letter is to be open on New Year's Eve 31st of December in 2019. Now the preservation of the letter is invested with Sasha (and I know she's going to take good care of it).
If you are wondering about the actual content of the letter let it suffice to say that I related my present life as I see it now, gave few advices to my future self (what to bear in mind) and also I wrote quite frankly where I see my self in eight years time. Just for the record I'm not planning on taking over the world in this amount of time. And, believe it or not, I chose rather modest but more realistic ambitions (e.g. to become a high school teacher).
On 8th of January (that is already two weeks ago) I returned to London. For the first few days it was extremely odd to be back here in the Great Smog. But on the other hand Bloomsbury has become my second home by now so, after those few exceptional days, I've been feeling rather comfortable with being back here in UK. Lately I've had some new experiences with my Mediterranean friend Ville. On Friday we did the chilling Jack the Ripper Tour in Whitechapel and yesterday we visited both Charles Dickens's home museum and the Britihs Library (both of which are situated practically on my doorstep here in Bloomsbury). And speaking of yesterday, I found the very first draft of Beatles song 'Yesterday' by Paul McCartney in the permanent exhibition of the British Library:
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Now then, few more words about the future. It seems that I'll be extremely busy these coming weeks with the sheer amount of studying I'll have to do. I have a presentation about Tolstoyism and Romanian Fascism to prepare. There's also a plenty of history and literature to do. With my friend Ville I'm now more regularly taking care of my fitness by doing some sports (gym and swimming). I also have many adventures awaiting: going to Cornwall with Sasha within a month and a grand tour of Europe in April (Finland, Czech Republic and France). There are also some people preparing to come over and visit me (including my brother from St. Petersburg). I also might pay a visit to a colleague of mine in Amsterdam later on in spring. So, if you keep on reading and give me a hint of encouragement every once in a while I'll be surely able to relate you all of this and more when the time comes As they say here on Albion: "Keep calm and carry on!"
Yours calmly,
-Stefan
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