Only in Russia

I should know by now that anything and everything I do in Russia is a new adventure. I brought my application to the Hermitage expecting to drop it off and have an interview or a conversation about scheduling. I was immediately photographed and asked to work that evening. I finally understood that a preview of a new sculpture exhibit by Antony Gormley was being held in the evening after the museum had closed.  I was instructed to stand outside the gates of the Museum, welcome guests, and check for their invitations. For a split second, I was delighted because interacting with and assisting people is work I really enjoy; I also had a fantastic experience doing that this summer (Thanks Kajsa!). I was jarred back to reality when I realized I overlooked one important detail: I needed to speak Russian. I was able to think of two useful Russian phrases that I kept repeating over and over, “Good evening, do you have an invitation?” and “Thank you, please proceed to the museum”. However, I was completely useless when trying to explain that the museum was closed and that an event was taking place. I was even more helpless when someone would ask me a question or ignore my request to see their invitation and kept walking. Even if I understood the question, I didn’t have the information or the Russian words to help! The other girl with me accidently asked a policeman for his invitation, and she got the death glare of the century! What a frustrating yet wonderful night.
We were then brought up to the exhibit and were able to look around. I ended up chatting with Antony Gormley’s brother about the peculiarities of Russia and about museums in general. It was comforting to have one conversation of the night that was not in broken Russian, and he and his brother were lively and congenial!  When I got home, I did some research and found out that this is the first time a living artist has had an exhibit in the Hermitage Museum. How fortunate I am to have opportunities like this even if some of the art displayed horribly confused me.