Всем привет! Hello!

My name is Tilly and I am proud to introduce myself as a new intern at Liden & Denz, St. Petersburg. I arrived in this beautiful (but very wet and cold!) city from England (also wet but not quite as cold!) and am looking forward to spending the next 4 months here studying Russian. I am currently on my year abroad from the University of Bristol and will return there next term to finish my final year. I have been studying Russian since I was 16 and it all started by chance! I picked up a copy of ‘Преступление и наказание’ (Crime and Punishment) and to my surprise I became completely absorbed. From that point on, I knew I wanted to learn Russian. Once the initial stumbling blocks were overcome (two alphabets?!) a whole new culture emerged before me. From Vikings to revolution, from Alexander Nevsky to Peter the Great, from Pushkin to Mayakovsky, Russia was a country that was just waiting to be discovered.

Soon after, I did visit St. Petersburg, and 2 weeks spent in such a vibrant and historical city reaffirmed my belief that Russian was the language for me. Although Russian is a tough language to learn, for me it feels like a code that needs to be cracked and learning a foreign language opens up so many opportunities. Luckily, I have had the chance to visit a few cities in Russia, including Stavropol, Ufa, and Novosibirsk, and last term I was in Moscow working as an English tutor and studying Russian (and surviving the snowiest Moscow winter on record!). My favourite cities are St. Petersburg and Moscow – it’s impossible to pick between the two. Personally, Moscow is more ‘Russian’ to me, with the twisting, fairy-tale cupolas of St. Basil’s Cathedral juxtaposed by the newer, more industrialised parts of the city. St. Petersburg feels more ‘European’, ‘the window to the West’ dominated by its Baroque-style buildings and multitude of theatres, museums and art galleries. I believe that the best way to truly understand a language is to understand the culture and history, and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to study and live in St. Petersburg. As you can probably tell, my main interests are history, literature and art, and in my spare time I love going to museums and art galleries, so St. Petersburg is the perfect city for me! I’m really looking forward to immersing myself in the Russian way of life and exploring more of this enchanting city, so stay tuned for more blog posts about my adventures and experiences in St. Petersburg!