This was one of my homework assignments for my "doing field work in Russia" class. We were doing an exercise to practice observation skills and techniques. We weren't given any guidelines or told how and onsite observation should be done. We were just told to observe and make field notes. I chose public transportation and decided to take a bus that went down nevsky prospect, the main street in St. Petersburg. I decided to observe and takes notes like I was writing a journal or something. My idea was to sit on the bus for 30 min. and literally try to write down everything that I saw. I was very difficult, since I had no purpose, no specific task of what to observe, but this is what I ended up with.
Bus # 22 from Плошадь Восстания to Маринскии Театр
16:40
I’m in the back of the bus, not to many people right now, 12 maybe, quiet at the moment, no one talking except the conductor taking money and asking who hasn’t paid. Middle aged man in front of me is reading a book, although I can’t tell what it is. There is a small tv in the front showing an ad about love. Crossing the fontanka now and the streets are lively with people. A young girl, probably 20 or so is texting on her phone, while a man across from her about the same age is listening to music. The conductor gives me a strange look, I assume because I keep looking around and writing stuff down. Not much going on, everyone seems to be keeping to their own business, apart from two young boys actively looking out the window and commenting and laughing about what they see. More people are on now, a young guy about my age is sitting next to me now and he has his music turned up so loud that I and probably everyone else around can hear it. There are only a few seats open now, I feel a bit annoyed and distracted by the music blaring from my neighbor. The guy in the front of my has become annoyed with his book, letting out a sigh as he puts it away. We’re crossing the Moika now. Several young people have just gotten on, and they prefer to stand rather than take an open seat. The conductor mingles through them collecting their fares. Everyone seems quite calm at the moment, not much talking. Two other young people have now started reading books. One girl seems to be studying, looking over some notes in her notebook. The guy next to me answers his phone and has a brief conversation without really turning down his music. Phones ringing seems to be the trend now as two more go off. A young boy moves in front of me with a Canada hat on, he’s probably around 12 accompanied by his parents probably. The man who gave up on his book anxiously waits at the back door with a cigarette in his mouth ready to go. No one in the seats around me in the back half of the bus are talking to each other, one woman is talking on the phone, however, and she consults her travel partner about something from her phone conversation. The temperature on the bus is quite warm, but nonetheless people still have their scarfs and hats on. A good looking girl with very tight pants gets on in the back and all of the men around notice with a quick glance, myself included. The boy in the Canada hat can’t sit still, he gets up and moves down to the front of the bus where he was sitting originally for the second time. Now he waits with his parents to exit. The tv screen is showing some kind of funny animal videos with a dog doing tricks. Several people wait to get off now, and they exit on пл. труда. More people enter and now the standing area in the middle of the bus is slightly crowded. I can hear a small child talking and giggling, but only slightly as the guy next to me still has his music quite loud, and it’s techno, which is really starting to annoy me. We’ve now arrived at the marinsky theatre and the time is 17:10. As I move to the front of the bus I see the two small girls talking and laughing as they play with each other. There are many more people now, but we’re stopping our observation now.
