A Place Called Here

Posted by Ksenia

(Even though the heading was inspired by the novel by Cecilia Ahern I am not going to talk about missing people – luckily everyone important in my life can be easily found).

For most of my friends in Russia two weeks of spring holidays seems a real luxury – they do not get any rest at all.  But for me it was still not enough – I wanted to get so much done, but as usual left everything (especially the revision for the mocks) till the last moment where I had to pack my bags again (I am becoming a real professional in that – practice makes perfect!).  Nevertheless I had time to do a few things in Moscow.

When our plane landed on the Russian territory and everyone started to switch on their mobile phones (even though it is strongly prohibited till the passengers leave the aircraft – but we won’t be Russians if we would listen to rules!)  I was sitting there totally shocked.  Even though I expected it to be colder in Moscow then it was in Brighton, but snow at the end of March…  I got so used to flowers, sunshine, 15 degrees Celsius and wearing light shoes so almost forgot that spring in England and spring in Russia are not the same things.

It was quite cold – around 0, cloudy and terribly messy on the roads.  At the same time I heard one Russian woman speaking on the phone and being very surprised that it is… so warm in Moscow!  Suddenly I felt a bit foreign in my own home country.  The feeling disappeared very quickly though when I saw my father waiting to pick me up in the airport and speaking to my dear mum and grandparents on the phone.  I was still welcomed and loved here – isn’t it the definition of home?

On my first weekend we went to the theatre with my mum to see “Dangerous Corner” by an English play writer J.B. Priestley.  The action takes place in a house in London (since I went to the UK everything seems to be connected with London – people, films, books and even plays!  Someone, very long time ago said that all roads lead to Rome.  Well, I guess all my roads lead to London). 

It was a detective story which totally captured my attention from the beginning to the end.  The ending was sad (a suicide of one of the main characters which was the only predictable event in the whole play), but an important conclusion could be drawn from it – sometimes its better not to know the truth (So do not ask too many questions – you might not like the answers.  Let sleeping dog lie!).  The other one was that if people spend too much time together in a close circle of friends the relationship between them may get very complicated – and its better not to be married in that case!

An alternative ending was suggested at the end where all the characters were safe and sound so the story did not make us depressed but definitely made us think.  Should we tell lies?

My ex-classmates are already on their first year at university (sometimes I feel a bit jealous about that but I remember straightway how lucky I am to have a chance to study in England) and they had lots of new experiences to share with me.  So I spent hours and hours seating in our favorite café listening to all kind of stories – funny, romantic, sad and sometimes quite odd.  I really appreciate my friends from Moscow – even though I left two and a half years ago and we do not have much time to communicate while I am in the UK, we get on together as easily as we did when we studied in the same class – always happy to see each other and discuss everything from studies to boys without any secrets.  I only feel pity that I cannot take them with me to Brighton.

Anyway, those people make my stay in Russia even more enjoyable!  On my last week we went to see an exhibition devoted to Christian Dior.  All sorts of photos covering the history of this fashion brand from the beginning in 1947 to present were shown together with the videos of the recent fashion shows (those are real performances – it almost impossible to get your eyes off the screen.  An extraordinary combination of colors, shapes and cloth, beautiful music created a magical atmosphere.  There you fully understand that fashion is real art and people who created those amazing dresses, shoes, accessories and make up are geniuses.  It is almost impossible to imagine somebody wearing these clothes in the real life – they are so complicated and unpractical but every detail seems to be exactly on its place to transmit what designer had to say.)

It was very interesting to have a look how the style of the collections changed over years but I was particularly impressed by modern photographs made by world-famous photographer Demarchelier who worked with the best models and chose dresses from the Dior collection inspired by the Asian culture.  Full of color, exotic themes and ornaments, sensual and mysterious at the same time, those photos were the real representation of the merge between the East and the West.

The other photographers also used the masterpieces by Dior to express their views, feelings and emotions in their own creative way.  Surely, it’s just impossible to describe them - you just have to see it!

I hope that everyone had a very good Easter but now its time to go back to Brighton and get on with our studies.  See you there!