Евгений Онегин (Eugene Onegin)

Today, I had a chance to watch Eugene Onegin (Евгений Онегин) - a Russian Opera, composed by Tchaikovsky - here in DC. What an opera it was! Never before was I impressed this much by an opera performance! I was really moved by the vigor of the artistes and the way there were living the characters.


For those of you unfamiliar with this opera, it tells the story of Tatiana, who falls in love with Eugene Onegin. Eugene refuses her love interests initially, only to fall in love with her couple of years later. Tatiana gets married in the meanwhile. When Eugene sees Tatiana years later, he begs (literally that's the term they used in Russian) her to take him back, but Tatiana refuses because she can't be unfaithful to her husband. As with any Russian story, the opera finishes with a sad ending. : - )

The Opera was performed by New York's Metropolitan Opera and this is the first time I saw a full Russian opera. Apart from the performances, another very interesting aspect of this opera was that this opera was performed LIVE in New York, and was broadcast LIVE in high-definition (HD) across the country. It was an entirely new experience to watch a LIVE opera being broadcast inside a cinema!

A special friend made the experience even more enjoyable! I'd like to thank her for inviting me and informing me of this event! It would have been a pity, had I missed this magnificent masterpiece!

If you want to read more information about this opera, here's a link to Met Opera's website:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/season/production.aspx?id=8956

See ya soon, dear friend!

Often times in our lives, we meet very special kind of people. They are such wonderful people that they will leave a great impression on you, and become closest of your friends! One such person I had a privilege to know is my friend Estelle. She recently had to move back to France after working here at Maryland for the past year. What a great person she is! Not only was she there for me when I needed her help/advice, she was also was there to hang out with me on the weekends, taking trips, checking out stuff in and around DC. She even tolerated me for all the fun I made of her accent! : - ) (Remember Estelle, "Hard Hat Area"?)




On this note, here's my message to Estelle:

Estelle! I'm sure you will be reading this blog. So, let me tell you that I am really glad to have known a person like you, and I really cherish our friendship. I'm gonna miss you bad for the weekend trips and our lunches in the Union. I'm gonna miss making fun of your accent. But here's my promise (for the 1000th time) - I will definitely visit you in France!

Bon, Bon, Bon! Oui-oui-oui! Vingt ... vvvvvvvv-aaaaa ... wwwwww-aaaaa?? Right? : - )

Miss you, buddy!

Russians congregate over the Internet....and guess what happens next!!

I don't know why - but for the past few blog entries have been Russia(n) -related. Do you see a pattern? I do! Anyway, who cares if all these recent entries are Russia-related, as long as they are total fun!

By now, I'm sure you know that I love anything that is Russian - the country, food, culture, language, etc. Here's an entire article about russians congregating over the Internet (original link below) and drinking via USB shot glasses!! Oh, how I miss those weekly Russian parties in Iowa!!

"
Considering that we've all some of us have been enjoying online chats, poker, and dating for quite some while, it's not too shocking to see the Russians utilize the power of the web to bring alcoholics and social drinkers together in inebriated harmony. Sergey Mikheev, head of e-generator, has devised a USB shot glass to allow lonely, alcohol-needing individuals to get their drink on while safely at home. While we don't consider ourselves experts in Russian culture, it's apparently not tactful to get plastered solo, and while online drinking might be stretching the rules just a bit, we're sure those vodka-lovin' internet dwellers aren't complaining. The idea is to join a group of drinkers in an online lounge, where the USB shot glass levels are shown on each person's screen; once the go-ahead is given, the folks turn up their glasses and chug it down, ideally showing an empty glass after a random smashing of keys somehow spells out congratulatory phrases. As interesting and novel as this may be, let it remind us all how "getting a life" should be taken oh-so-seriously.
"

Here's the link to the article on Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/21/russians-congregate-over-internet-drink-via-usb-shot-glasses/

Drink on, guys! Cheers!

На Здоровые!

Кошмар!!

Here's something for pure random Russian fun:

OK, I'm on this Russian grammar group on Facebook. For those of you who have no idea about the Russian language, Russian grammar is really crazy hard for non-native speakers to grasp. The best you could do is ... well, to do the best you can with the different cases, endings, conjugations, etc - while keeping in mind all the exceptions - and expect whatever you said to be close to being right.

Here are some of the ACTUAL posts from some people from the Facebook group. Some of them are real funny and I thought I should post them here (totally *WITHOUT* any body's permission). The text in bold is the one I thought was funny!

"I do have a soft spot for the Genitive Plural. It doesnt try to be different or individual but it is and i think Good on ya! *Cuddles it*.
Also verbs of motion are fun once ur head is around them. By "fun" i mean youve gone into denial that the way the whole verbs-motion things works is no longer odd and well stupid but makes sense. And then twitch your eye."

"do you think russian would be half as random if it didn't have the grammar and their silly ways. sometimes i think it makes quite a lot of sense, and that english is just inferior,..."

"essentially, russian IS grammar, except when even a russian can't explain to you why things are the way they are..."

"Come on it's not that hard. wait..... maybe it is...."

"I still couldn't tell you the difference between the cases is. except maybe prepositional. i guess. 60% of the time i'm right. and russians understand it. but it is irritating..."

Never a better time to say Кошмааааааар!!!

PS: Everything in quotes is a quote! LOL!