Today’s post is long overdue. «Я знаю!» [I know!] It’s been almost a week since the last post. «Простите меня!» [Forgive (pl.) me!] But there’s a reason for the delay – or, many reasons even! «Будьте снисходительны!» [Be (pl.) permissive; pardoning; forgiving!] Today’s post is named «возвращение» [return] but it won’t be about the splendid movie «Возвращение» [“The Return”] by contemporary Russian movie director «Андрей Петрович Звягинцев» [Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev] – though I highly recommend you watch this movie in the original Russian (with subtitles if you can find it) – but about another «возвращение» [return]: «моё возвращение в Россию» [my return to Russia]. «Моё возвращение на Урал» [my return to the Urals] took place on Sunday evening, and since it’s already Thursday you might be wondering what I’ve been doing during the past four days? Since I’ve evidently been far too busy to blog about grammar and the like? Well, as always «моё ежегодное возвращение в Екатеринбург» [my annual return to Yekaterinburg] means dealing with a lot of stuff, mainly collecting «разные справки» [different ‘documents’ – the magical Russian word «справка» means ‘reference; enquiry’ in English but exists in Russian reality in the form of a small piece of paper that proves something or other about your person and is authorized by an official stamp and an accompanying signature]. Life in Russia demands a wide and assorted array of different «справки»! First of all I had to gather together a small collection of «медицинские справки» [medical ‘documents’] in order to be allowed to live in the university’s «общежитие» [dormitory; hostel]. Most of you readers are already – I think – aware of the rule of having to obtain a negative HIV-test before applying for a visa to the Russian Federation. Well, actually you have to prove you’re even healthier than that once you arrive in the country – at least if you’re going to be living in a «студенческое общежитие» [student dormitory]. You have to а) «сделать флюориографию» [do fluorography (i.e. make sure your lungs are free from tuberculosis)]; and б) «пройти санпропускник» [pass a sanitary check-up (i.e. make sure your hair is free from lice)]. If you’re not sure what Russian «справки» might look like, check out my impressive collection below:

«Справка» – «существительное женского рода» [is a feminine noun] and that’s why it changes into «много справОК» when put in the case that we all love and know as GENITIVE PLURAL – meaning that they’re ‘many’. If you don’t have one then you have to say: «У меня нет справкИ». But thankfully – as you can probably tell by the picture above – I didn’t have that problem this week when I officially reclaimed my room in the dormitory for yet another year to come. My favorite is the one with the x-ray of my lungs… looking good, «не правда ли?» [is it not true (or: don’t you think so)?]

Now the picture above is all that remains of these «справки». I had to hand them over to the «заведующая общежитием» [manager (fem.) of the dormitory] order to receive my new «пропуск» [pass] and be allowed to come and go here as I’d like for the next academic year.

 Generally speaking, I’m very excited to be back in Russia! Even though this is my sixth year in Russia – «мой шестой год в России» – and I should be getting tired of this country by now, I am not. Not at all! There’s always something left to explore here, and that’s one of the reasons why «я так люблю эту страну» [I love this country so]! Russia is always a surprise, sometimes not-so-pleasant, but most of the time very pleasant indeed. And one can never learn everything there is to know about Russia, not to mention everything there is to say in Russian! On Monday afternoon, as I walked the streets of Yekaterinburg for the first time in more than a month and a half, I couldn’t stop smiling. It feels good to be back. And I hope that my return to Russia will mean more inspired as well as more frequent blogging! The summer is always a slow time, but I have lots of new ideas that I would like to try on the blog this fall. I am hoping to be able to give you tips on Russian movies to watch (see the title of this post for where to begin if you feel like getting a head start). I thought we’d mix Soviet classics with contemporary Russian movies, and that I would only recommend the movies I’m sure you can get a hold on out there in the world. «Как вы думаете, это хорошая идея?» [What do you think, is it a good idea?] I’m usually not a movie person, but this summer I happened to watch the Soviet classic «Влюблён по собственному желанию» [‘In Love out of Free Will’] from 1983 and fell completely in love with it! Out of free will, by the way!

As a way of preparing myself for this fall’s new classes «в магистратуре» [in the Master’s program] I bought «очень патриотические тетради» [very patriotic notebooks]… they only had three different ones and so I had to buy two with the red Kremlin on them. And that’s okay even though my personal favorite is the one with the big Russian flag…