So here we are. Me with a brickload of Ice Cream (it's literally the size of an ordinary brick, and the same density probably) on my plate, plate full of regrets. And a glass of Kvas! It's like Beer but without the alcohol. The taste is essentially the same, and there are different brands and types of Kvas of course. Packed suitcase, and yet to be packed backpack waiting for me upstairs filled with goodies for my friends and fam. Got around to working out even a couple times, I'm proud of the progress I've made. There's a lot of things I've learned here. Both from TV and Movies and from my entire experience in Russia. It's been truly great here, so many new things I've learned and seen and heard. It's been great here. Oh and yeah, so much for that every day post thing. Well after writing it I realized that it would've been to weird if I just wrote what I did every day and whatnot. So yeah, this is just my post to end my "Vacation" off. Here we go.
Russia was great, I lived in somewhat of a village out in the countryside. It wasn't too densly populated so the quiteness was a great thing. Plus the moon was out on several nights during the week. I never got to sleep outside though, it gets too cold outside here. The reason being is that I'm surrounded by greenery and WAY too many plants and greenery to count, turns out being surrounded by so many plants actually cools down the air around you enough to get chills if you're wearing just a shirt and pants. Which is a surprising fact to me because no matter where you are in Toronto except the Harbourfront it's warm. I imagine it's the same for Moscow because it's a much more packed and dense city than Toronto. In terms of both population and buildings. But it was very old the first couple days here, I had to wear jeans and my sweater every day until it got warmer. Which lasted about a week and a half. But soon it got hot, REAL hot REAL fast. Around 30 degrees every day as an average, on the train it gets unbearable in the middle of the day. I mean, 80 people in a cart, thick metal train, plus all the heat and sweat of the people does not equal room temperature. The windows are of course always open even if it rains, but even then there's only a weak current going through them which is so disappointing. On those train rides, every train ride in fact, I just pull out my Music Player and turn on the Shuffle. With my recent addition of The Beatles Discography and several non-mainstream DubStep/Reggae tracks it's been a blast. Currently though, I'm listening to YONAS - Pumped Up Kicks. He's an up and coming Rapper that did a remix of what some of you may have guessed to be Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People. It's a great track, the lyrics are carefully worded which I really enjoyed bobbing to. So yeah, there's been tons of great music here in Russia. Funny how I find all of these tracks while I'm in a country where people hardly listen to this music. You'd think I'd listen to Russian music, well I'm not exactly a fan of Russian Rap. It's full of Douchebags that think they know rap and think they're all that, which gravely disappoints me of course but I don't really care :P And the thing is, I find that while I was here I had Russian culture basically stuffed down my throat. Look, I get the whole heritage thing and everything. I'm supposed to know my culture and know my history and everything but I'm just not interested in a lot of the Russian culture. Like the times of knights and Cars. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about the USSR and that era. And I will gladly read a book about it if given the opportunity because those were the times of fast change, the time when the future of the world was literally chosen. Had the Russians launched their missiles the world would be in ruins, same goes for US. And please don't start saying "OH COME ON MARK!!! LEARNING WHERE YOU COME FROM IS A GREAT AND WONDERFUL THING!! A MAN CAN'T HAVE A FUTURE IF HE DOESN'T LEARN HIS PAST!!!" Yeah well unless you come from Japan, China, Korea, or any other country with a several thousand year history, don't say shit. If you're Canadian or American, your history is around 200-400 years and everyone in North America except Mexico is mandated to know each Country's at one point in their education. Nobody is forced to know the history of Russia unless you live in Russia. And even then you probably don't learn the entire thing. And the whole thing with Russian Culture is based on Christianity, and I mean STRONG influence of Christianity. So almost every painting has a hint of Christanity somewhere incorporated in it. The thing is, I'm not really a super dedicated Christian. The farthest extent of my religiousness is taking the time out of my day sometimes and thanking God for where I am in my life and for some things that I believe happened with the help of God. I don't believe that God created us, or that he is an almighty being, I believe that he is a friend on my journey of life. So the fact that much of the art and culture is surrounded by STRONG influences of Christianity, didn't really make me happy but I dealt with it nonetheless. Onto another paragraph because this one is too long and this is such a run on sentence it's unbelievable how long this is and how incredibly longer it's getting by the second and as each second it gets longer and longer......
So the cultural differences I've encountered are actually incredible and bigger than I thought. The comedy for one is vastly different than North American comedy. Often if a Russian would tell a story about their misfortune to another Russian like getting stuck on an airplane or getting stuck in a mess of some sort, well the Russians would both laugh because they've both been in a similar or exactly the same situation as them. Or if you make a joke about the living conditions of the average Russian whether it's in Moscow or near the wild. Because it's truly funny, while in North America people would be outraged and would say things like "Oh man, you gotta report this to an official of some sort."or "Wow, I can't believe you had to go through that." even if it was something small. It's just the way Russians work, it doesn't take much to make people laugh. Turns out a bad experience like a failed attempt at washing the dog or copying a Magic Bullet infomercial. Don't ask how I know those specific examples, it's a long story and childish story. And the way that North American comedy works is that there's often a shocking ending or punchline. And most of the comedy today revolves around a lot of content where there's swearing or vulgar language. That being said, it doesn't mean it's bad comedy. It's just that sometimes its overdone and unnecessary which just ruins the whole act. Anyways, comedy is a BIG difference that I noticed. Amongst those differences, another one is peoples understanding. It's very rare that if you cut somebody off or do something accidental that people will understand what happened. Like, if somebody in your family or some relative takes one of your possesions and doesn't ask you which is of course essentially stealing well they'll most likely see it as something fine. Of course people do it in N.A. too but it's more "popular" in Russia, as in accepted. Well, it's more like people don't do anything about it or if they try people just don't listen. It's just the way things have been getting ever since the fall of the USSR. Teens younger than me smoke on a regular basis (not weed, which I understand and have accepted, but cigarettes which is pretty crap) and not to mention the drinking. Which I also understand at 16, but ar 12 or 13? That's just stupid and straight up fucked. My opinion on drugs like alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes have changed of course since my last post about drugs which was a year and a half back. Some of you might be like "BUT MARK, YOU SAID THAT DRUGS WERE STUPID AND POINTLESS" Lol I was what 14? What the fuck did I know? Really? You're going to trust a 14 year old and his opinion as truth? Look, opinions constantly change and I'm a perfect example. A couple years ago all I listened to was the Radio (Pop) and I believed that it was the only way to listen to music and it was the best music since most people listen to it. LOL YA RIGHT. My opinion on that has clearly changed of course, I've learned a lot since then and gone through a lot. Actually, imma start another paragraph.
Yes, my opinion on narcotics has changed: marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol. People say that Marijuana is the gateway drug, and boy are those people WRONG. You know what the original gateway drug is? Alcohol, if you aren't tempted by that then you'll never try cigarettes and eventually Marijuana. It's true, just think about it. Marijuana is a wonderful plant, it calms the mind and relieves great pain which has been a great advancement in the medicinal world. And yes, I've heard the news story about synthetic Marijuana and how the black guy ate the face off of another guy. Marijuana isn't supposed to be SYNTHETIC, it's a PLANT for God's sakes. Who KNOWS the horrible effects of synthetic Marijuana? Well the face eating is a pretty strong reaction of course. That doesn't mean that the plant (it's not a drug, 'nor is it a narcotic, it's a plant and so is Tobacco) is a bad thing. Somebody tempered with the nature of it and tried to make a quick buck. If you don't want anything to go wrong, then use some common sense and do it the right way and not some experimental method never tried before otherwise you'll have face eaters running amock. And the thing is, Marijuana is good for you. It eases the mind and opens it up to creativity. Just look at Dub FX and Bob Marley and Classified, ALL artists are tremendous in their art. Bob Marley is eternal, Dub FX and his words are like poems made by Angels, and Classified makes me proud to live in Canada and know that there are amazing artists right at home. The music I listen to, my laid back-ness, of courseit explains why I've changed my opinion on "drugs". I've done plenty of research on Marijuana. Seen documentaries and several shows about it. Yeah people say that you can still get smokers lung from it. Of course, if it's grown the wrong way. If your stock has mites or is infected then the smoking is going to harm your system. That's why if you want to smoke good Marijuana, you gotta get it from a good dealer that KNOWS what he's doing because it's a part of their life and not just a random hobby they picked up during College. Growing Marijuana is essentially farming, except you smoke your crop and it's illegal in several countries. The main components in Marijuana are THC and CBD. THC being the psychoactive component that gives you hallucinations while CBD is the calming and painkiller in Marijuana. The highest composition EVER of THC in a Marijuana strain is I think around 20% which is TOO DAMN HIGH. Well, it's a pretty high amount and you only know once you try. Anyways, my point being. Cigarettes are crap and not as addicting as you may think, alcohol is great in moderation if amongst friends and or family, and Marijuana isn't lethal as long as it's done right.
So right now it's 23:42 or 11:42 local time here, and I have a flight at 12 tomorrow so I really need to go sleep or else I'm gonna be messed up tomorrow. So I gotta hurry this up. It's been great writing this post and I've really enjoyed my time in Russia. I have loved this journey, learned a lot and went through a lot. Opinions changed and things happened, I moved on and became a different man. That's what life is about, change. And the sooner you accept it, the better off you'll be. I won't update the music playlists because honestly I love them too much, I've listened to them non stop ever since I found them. I'll probably just change them to new ones when I get back home, which will be in 20 hours or so I think, not so good with math at 10 before 12 <--- That was some good math right there. But anyways, thanks for reading all of this. If you didn't, you suck, if you did, +100 Mark Points for you* So Read it, Learn it, Live it, Love it, and Post it!
Cheers, MarkL
P.S. Mark points only apply if you know what it means, keep track of your balance.
Russia was great, I lived in somewhat of a village out in the countryside. It wasn't too densly populated so the quiteness was a great thing. Plus the moon was out on several nights during the week. I never got to sleep outside though, it gets too cold outside here. The reason being is that I'm surrounded by greenery and WAY too many plants and greenery to count, turns out being surrounded by so many plants actually cools down the air around you enough to get chills if you're wearing just a shirt and pants. Which is a surprising fact to me because no matter where you are in Toronto except the Harbourfront it's warm. I imagine it's the same for Moscow because it's a much more packed and dense city than Toronto. In terms of both population and buildings. But it was very old the first couple days here, I had to wear jeans and my sweater every day until it got warmer. Which lasted about a week and a half. But soon it got hot, REAL hot REAL fast. Around 30 degrees every day as an average, on the train it gets unbearable in the middle of the day. I mean, 80 people in a cart, thick metal train, plus all the heat and sweat of the people does not equal room temperature. The windows are of course always open even if it rains, but even then there's only a weak current going through them which is so disappointing. On those train rides, every train ride in fact, I just pull out my Music Player and turn on the Shuffle. With my recent addition of The Beatles Discography and several non-mainstream DubStep/Reggae tracks it's been a blast. Currently though, I'm listening to YONAS - Pumped Up Kicks. He's an up and coming Rapper that did a remix of what some of you may have guessed to be Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People. It's a great track, the lyrics are carefully worded which I really enjoyed bobbing to. So yeah, there's been tons of great music here in Russia. Funny how I find all of these tracks while I'm in a country where people hardly listen to this music. You'd think I'd listen to Russian music, well I'm not exactly a fan of Russian Rap. It's full of Douchebags that think they know rap and think they're all that, which gravely disappoints me of course but I don't really care :P And the thing is, I find that while I was here I had Russian culture basically stuffed down my throat. Look, I get the whole heritage thing and everything. I'm supposed to know my culture and know my history and everything but I'm just not interested in a lot of the Russian culture. Like the times of knights and Cars. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about the USSR and that era. And I will gladly read a book about it if given the opportunity because those were the times of fast change, the time when the future of the world was literally chosen. Had the Russians launched their missiles the world would be in ruins, same goes for US. And please don't start saying "OH COME ON MARK!!! LEARNING WHERE YOU COME FROM IS A GREAT AND WONDERFUL THING!! A MAN CAN'T HAVE A FUTURE IF HE DOESN'T LEARN HIS PAST!!!" Yeah well unless you come from Japan, China, Korea, or any other country with a several thousand year history, don't say shit. If you're Canadian or American, your history is around 200-400 years and everyone in North America except Mexico is mandated to know each Country's at one point in their education. Nobody is forced to know the history of Russia unless you live in Russia. And even then you probably don't learn the entire thing. And the whole thing with Russian Culture is based on Christianity, and I mean STRONG influence of Christianity. So almost every painting has a hint of Christanity somewhere incorporated in it. The thing is, I'm not really a super dedicated Christian. The farthest extent of my religiousness is taking the time out of my day sometimes and thanking God for where I am in my life and for some things that I believe happened with the help of God. I don't believe that God created us, or that he is an almighty being, I believe that he is a friend on my journey of life. So the fact that much of the art and culture is surrounded by STRONG influences of Christianity, didn't really make me happy but I dealt with it nonetheless. Onto another paragraph because this one is too long and this is such a run on sentence it's unbelievable how long this is and how incredibly longer it's getting by the second and as each second it gets longer and longer......
So the cultural differences I've encountered are actually incredible and bigger than I thought. The comedy for one is vastly different than North American comedy. Often if a Russian would tell a story about their misfortune to another Russian like getting stuck on an airplane or getting stuck in a mess of some sort, well the Russians would both laugh because they've both been in a similar or exactly the same situation as them. Or if you make a joke about the living conditions of the average Russian whether it's in Moscow or near the wild. Because it's truly funny, while in North America people would be outraged and would say things like "Oh man, you gotta report this to an official of some sort."or "Wow, I can't believe you had to go through that." even if it was something small. It's just the way Russians work, it doesn't take much to make people laugh. Turns out a bad experience like a failed attempt at washing the dog or copying a Magic Bullet infomercial. Don't ask how I know those specific examples, it's a long story and childish story. And the way that North American comedy works is that there's often a shocking ending or punchline. And most of the comedy today revolves around a lot of content where there's swearing or vulgar language. That being said, it doesn't mean it's bad comedy. It's just that sometimes its overdone and unnecessary which just ruins the whole act. Anyways, comedy is a BIG difference that I noticed. Amongst those differences, another one is peoples understanding. It's very rare that if you cut somebody off or do something accidental that people will understand what happened. Like, if somebody in your family or some relative takes one of your possesions and doesn't ask you which is of course essentially stealing well they'll most likely see it as something fine. Of course people do it in N.A. too but it's more "popular" in Russia, as in accepted. Well, it's more like people don't do anything about it or if they try people just don't listen. It's just the way things have been getting ever since the fall of the USSR. Teens younger than me smoke on a regular basis (not weed, which I understand and have accepted, but cigarettes which is pretty crap) and not to mention the drinking. Which I also understand at 16, but ar 12 or 13? That's just stupid and straight up fucked. My opinion on drugs like alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes have changed of course since my last post about drugs which was a year and a half back. Some of you might be like "BUT MARK, YOU SAID THAT DRUGS WERE STUPID AND POINTLESS" Lol I was what 14? What the fuck did I know? Really? You're going to trust a 14 year old and his opinion as truth? Look, opinions constantly change and I'm a perfect example. A couple years ago all I listened to was the Radio (Pop) and I believed that it was the only way to listen to music and it was the best music since most people listen to it. LOL YA RIGHT. My opinion on that has clearly changed of course, I've learned a lot since then and gone through a lot. Actually, imma start another paragraph.
Yes, my opinion on narcotics has changed: marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol. People say that Marijuana is the gateway drug, and boy are those people WRONG. You know what the original gateway drug is? Alcohol, if you aren't tempted by that then you'll never try cigarettes and eventually Marijuana. It's true, just think about it. Marijuana is a wonderful plant, it calms the mind and relieves great pain which has been a great advancement in the medicinal world. And yes, I've heard the news story about synthetic Marijuana and how the black guy ate the face off of another guy. Marijuana isn't supposed to be SYNTHETIC, it's a PLANT for God's sakes. Who KNOWS the horrible effects of synthetic Marijuana? Well the face eating is a pretty strong reaction of course. That doesn't mean that the plant (it's not a drug, 'nor is it a narcotic, it's a plant and so is Tobacco) is a bad thing. Somebody tempered with the nature of it and tried to make a quick buck. If you don't want anything to go wrong, then use some common sense and do it the right way and not some experimental method never tried before otherwise you'll have face eaters running amock. And the thing is, Marijuana is good for you. It eases the mind and opens it up to creativity. Just look at Dub FX and Bob Marley and Classified, ALL artists are tremendous in their art. Bob Marley is eternal, Dub FX and his words are like poems made by Angels, and Classified makes me proud to live in Canada and know that there are amazing artists right at home. The music I listen to, my laid back-ness, of courseit explains why I've changed my opinion on "drugs". I've done plenty of research on Marijuana. Seen documentaries and several shows about it. Yeah people say that you can still get smokers lung from it. Of course, if it's grown the wrong way. If your stock has mites or is infected then the smoking is going to harm your system. That's why if you want to smoke good Marijuana, you gotta get it from a good dealer that KNOWS what he's doing because it's a part of their life and not just a random hobby they picked up during College. Growing Marijuana is essentially farming, except you smoke your crop and it's illegal in several countries. The main components in Marijuana are THC and CBD. THC being the psychoactive component that gives you hallucinations while CBD is the calming and painkiller in Marijuana. The highest composition EVER of THC in a Marijuana strain is I think around 20% which is TOO DAMN HIGH. Well, it's a pretty high amount and you only know once you try. Anyways, my point being. Cigarettes are crap and not as addicting as you may think, alcohol is great in moderation if amongst friends and or family, and Marijuana isn't lethal as long as it's done right.
So right now it's 23:42 or 11:42 local time here, and I have a flight at 12 tomorrow so I really need to go sleep or else I'm gonna be messed up tomorrow. So I gotta hurry this up. It's been great writing this post and I've really enjoyed my time in Russia. I have loved this journey, learned a lot and went through a lot. Opinions changed and things happened, I moved on and became a different man. That's what life is about, change. And the sooner you accept it, the better off you'll be. I won't update the music playlists because honestly I love them too much, I've listened to them non stop ever since I found them. I'll probably just change them to new ones when I get back home, which will be in 20 hours or so I think, not so good with math at 10 before 12 <--- That was some good math right there. But anyways, thanks for reading all of this. If you didn't, you suck, if you did, +100 Mark Points for you* So Read it, Learn it, Live it, Love it, and Post it!
Cheers, MarkL
P.S. Mark points only apply if you know what it means, keep track of your balance.
