Craftours Lifestyles Magazine December 2018 | Page 50

Russian
inspirations
by Pam Holland
Often I feel I go to some distant region of the
world to be reminded of who I really am.
-Michael Crichton-
How true that statement is.
My career as a fashion designer, photographer and Mother were
fulfilling and challenging. However, for the past 12 years teaching
students living in different cultures has changed my perspective on
many things.
I am a wife, Mother and all those other things...but it’s not until you
travel on your own and find yourself in another place that you truly
understand just who you are. Every country brings its own distinction
and I find myself immersed in a discipline that is characterized by
culture. I’ve just returned from a three month journey, teaching
quilting. USA, France, England, Russia and Thailand.
So I’m going to share with you my observations as a designer on
visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg. As a seasoned traveler I generally
research the country I’m about to visit. It’s not hard is it...looking on
the internet, read books, (my favorite are the DK travel monologues).
But this time it was different. Part of me didn’t want to know. I was
nervous at what I would find. In my mind, Moscow was grey, wet,
unfriendly, and everyone ate borsht. So I figured I would just go and
take whatever was offered. Fortunately we had our own personal
guide, Sergie.
I’ll digress a little. Sergie was a 15 year old AFS exchange student
who lived with us for a year almost 20 years ago. He arrived on a
midsummer’s day when the temperature was near the 100 degree
mark. 24 hours earlier he had left a snow covered Moscow. The
change couldn’t have been more dramatic. The Soviet Union had just
collapsed and life was rather difficult for him at the time.
On our way home from picking him up we stopped into one of
our more mediocre department stores. I will never forget the look of
amazement on his face when he saw the
We, however, took those things for grant
home was wonderful and he became pa
Sergie, now in his mid 30’s, was our g
determined that we would see as much a
is passionately
wanted us to s

It was
but Sergie wa
Red Square as
It was breatht
with a sense
photographing
had 10 days in

I’m a d
do gives me in
in Moscow are
story book atm
and dragons lu
peeking out th
look at things.

St. Bas
it is a combina
decorated wit
designs and ea
onion shaped
the dome repr
believe it is an a