Pictures

Just want to provide some pics that we have taken.

The Moscow River by Gorky Park

Jay by the Moscow River

Jay by Belya Doma (the 'White House'). We took this picture on June 22, which is why the flag is at half-mast (marking the start of WW II).

The Ring Road in Moscow - this road literally forms a ring around the center of Moscow. Not sure this does it justice, but it is extremely busy and anywhere from 4 to 8 lanes in each direction.

Garages just outside Moscow. No, I'm not kidding...people actually park their cars in these things!

Moscow Update

The only thing that has happened lately that could be remotely considered 'exciting' was the removal of two of Olga's wisdom teeth. One could seriously challenge the 'wisdom' in waiting until arriving in Moscow to have these removed, but we won't go there right now. The American Dental clinic that she went to actually looked like a dentist office...much more so than the one that I saw her in over here 7 or so years ago anyway.

The dentist, well he was....let's just say 'interesting'. I prefer my dentist to be a bit more clean cut than this guy, who resembled a heavy-set Kenny G (no really, he had a pony tail and ear rings!). We went back this week to have the stitches removed and he walked through the waiting area in a sleeveless T-shirt...NICE. Never mind the fact that he was 45 minutes late. Oh well, at least she is feeling better.

Since I have mentioned the dentist showing up 45 minutes late, let's chat a bit about the efficiency in Russian labor...or lack thereof. We have been in our hotel now for just under 30 days and we have been watching the progress of the construction workers across the street. During this time they have been 'working' on the same 20X20 square of the walkway in front of the building. We're not sure if they have finally finished it, but we did notice that one of the individuals appeared to be sweeping the side of the curb the other day, so we assume this means they are close to being done.

I also read an interesting article in the Moscow Times the other day (here's the link http://www.themoscowtimes.ru/article/1010/42/368400.htm ). This may be difficult for many to comprehend (at least those of you that have never lived in Chicago), but bribery is a serious issue here in Russia and it is very out in the open. Unfortunately, this will also keep the country from emerging fully into the international business community. It's extremely difficult to do business with those that make the rules as they go (even if there are rules currently in place).

For those of you that are interested in keeping up with the goings-on over here, the link to the English ('American' for you Jim) of The Moscow Times follows: http://www.themoscowtimes.ru/index.htm

The Metro

Olga and I decided to explore a section of Moscow that required the use of the Metro (see pic. of sign in a station) and in order to make it more interesting we decided to have me lead the way. Since I had done my research and I knew which way to head out from the Beloruskaya train station, I was feeling confident that this would be a successful test.

We decided to first walk over and check out a different hotel, as the one we are currently in has some construction going on. I'm thinking this isn't a problem as the hotel is by the Mayakovskaya stop, which is only one stop away (so my wife promises). Well, she is incorrect and we are now two stops away. Not much of a difference, right? WRONG! The stop we are at is on the ring and has three stops, all with different names and I have to figure out which one to get us to. Nice.

After a bit of anxiety Olga reminded me that we are on the green line (thankfully the lines are color coded) and I remembered that Tverskaya is also on our line. Whew! I found the correct line and then got us on the train heading in the proper direction, ultimately directing us to get off at the correct stop as well . I have to admit, I was a bit anxious over a minor event. The metro is fairly easy to navigate so long as you can read the signs (which I can now do, albeit somewhat slow). I'm not going to attempt the bus system yet, but I now feel pretty good about my ability to find my way around the city...even the parts that require train rides!

Who let the American loose in Moscow???

So, my wife informed me late last week that she would have an overnight 'business trip' on June 17th. At the time I thought, 'no big deal, I'm good'. OK, so maybe I was a bit over-confident in my Russian language skills. I decided to walk past a few restaurants that Olga and I had been looking at in hopes that I could break away from the Italian cuisine that we have been living on. I appeared to be a bit under-dressed for the most promising (and closest) place, as most people looked to be wearing Russian, business casual attire (I'll explain Russian 'style'in a different posting, as that will require pictures for full appreciation) and I was prominently sporting the classic American look of jeans and a t-shirt. With that place crossed off the list I headed further down a recently discovered street only to find that I was under dressed for many of the places.

Forty minutes later I arrived at a 'Pub'. I passed through the doors with confidence only to be met with a number of people standing around apparently waiting to be seated. Not to be deterred, I walked up to the man standing at the entrance and then fully realized that I had no friggin' clue what to say to him after I said 'hello'in Russian. While I am capable of reading a menu (with a bit of assistance) and placing my order, I have always relied on Olga to get us a table. At this point all of my Russian ran from my head and I stood there trying to ask for a table in English. Needless to say, the guy was not impressed and the severe look on his face showed it. After a few minutes of him speaking harshly to me in Russian and me responding with 'I don't understand' I decided that we had both had enough and I left. Only after I had left did I understand one of the phrases to be 'we have no room'. Nice.

I then promptly went back to an old stand-by, Italian joint and order my calzone and beer. While this was not one of my finer moments, it has provided topics for lessons from Olga!

Language update

OK, I'm feeling better now about my progress with the Russian language. Apparently this is going to be a roller coaster ride with some days much better than others.

I am now able to order my own food using the correct phrases. I ordered my food on Friday night and even received a nod of approval and a 'nice job' from Olga. For those of you that know Olga, you realize how big this is (Azmyra, you know where I'm coming from). I know I'm not fluent by any stretch of the imagination, but it's nice to be able to read the menu in Russian and understand most of it.

We are at Svetlana's again this weekend, as we wanted to say hello and we needed to do some laundry. There are a few downsides to living in a hotel, one of which is the limited wardrobe and the lack of a place to do laundry. In NYC we could get our laundry done for 70 cents per pound (this includes pick-up and delivery). I miss this. Apparently there is no such service in Moscow so we will either go back to doing our own laundry upon finding an apartment or we will need to find a cleaning person (I'm in strong favor of the latter).

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well in the US!

Let the lessons begin!

I started my Russian lessons on Tuesday, June 10th. Two days in and I'm still not fluent. What the h#$%? Day one went really well for me, as the material we covered was mostly review (numbers, colors, greetings, etc). Day two, the star has faded.

Did I mention that these are one-on-one lessons that go for 2:15 each day? Oh, and the best part....NO ENGLISH DURING THE LESSONS! Me, the stupid американец (that's Russian for 'American') and a native Russian speaker, Elena, sitting in a room trying to figure things out. She is amazing, I am not. Did I mention that today was a bit more challenging? We are now into the variations of each word depending on the object or gender of the person being discussed. Oh joy, me putting neuter endings on feminine objects. It's amazing Elena can keep a straight face.

We also entered into the all-important arena of one of my favorite topics, food. I now am familiar with many of the food types that I would and would not eat. For example:

курица (koo-reet-za) is chicken
салат is salad
яблоко is apple

I have to do my homework (I have to write out a menu for a 'party' that my instructor is planning. Check out this link if you want to learn more about the Cyrillic alphabet http://www.pbs.org/weta/faceofrussia/reference/cyrillic.html

You can also check out Wickopedia.

Driving - not for the faint of heart

I thought the traffic and drivers in the US were nuts. I now have a much better appreciation for the infrastructure and rules that we have in place there. We returned from Lobnya on Sunday via car, thanks to Svetlana's friend, Valery. I was so disappointed that we didn't have our camera with us because I'm not sure that words can do justice to what we experienced, but here it goes.

Everything was just fine for about the first 15 minutes, then we hit traffic. We were on a four lane road that people turned into six lanes very quickly. That still wasn't enough room, so some of the more aggressive drivers turned the pedestrian path to the side of the road into yet another lane. This is where the pics would have come in handy. Several people walking on the path had to adjust their route in order to avoid head-on collisions. The gap between the road and the walking path turned into more of a ditch so the cars that took that route had to continue on until the next cross road in order to return to the real road.

Walking on the sidewalks here in Moscow can be just as adventurous (see pic above...nice right?). Several times I have had to make quick moves in order to not get hit by the occassional SUV coming down the way at me. No joke here. I thought they were going to just park on the sidewalk, as many others do (again, pics would be helpful here), but they continued on toward me. It's amazing more people don't get injured walking around here.

Svetlana's House

Olga and I travelled to her mother's home today in Lobneya. If you didn't guess already, my mother-in-laws name is Svetlana and she has access to the Internet, hence the new posts. I had to take a back seat today and let Olga lead the way here. The Moscow Metro is a-maze-ing. The key word there is MAZE (check out the link http://www.go-to.ru/en/support/moscow_metro.php?print=Y&). I was feeling pretty confident in my ability to find my way around after the successful walk yesterday. I am no longer under that delusion today after entering the Metro. Not only did my knowledge of the language disappear, it ran away. Add to that the high volume of people on the Metro because today was a working day and we had all the ingredients for a disaster.

I just couldn't read the signs fast enough and I had no idea which direction I was supposed to go once we hit the station. Keep in mind that the Russian language utilizes the Cyrillic alphabet and all signs are posted as such. It can get frustrating at times because I can't translate quickly enough, but I'm getting more accustomed to the alphabet.

Because Olga has been with me at all times when we are outside this has been just like any of the other vacations that we have taken here. The true test comes on Monday, as that is when Olga begins work and I'm truly on my own. That should be an interesting day. I'm also hoping to start my language lessons next week, which will not only help my Russian it will also force me to find my way around the city.

Language Update

My Russian is improving on a daily basis (obviously this is related to Jay). I've had my safety net, Olga, with me the entire week, so it's been fairly safe. I was able to order my own food the other night (OK, it was Italian, so it was fairly straight forward) and I asked for the check. I'm happy to report that both my food and the check showed up as expected. I have now graduated to greeting the people at the breakfast bar in the hotel and telling them our room number. So far so good, no large scale International incidents to report.

I was also able to lead us on a long walk around our part of Moscow yesterday and we were never lost (at least not that I am aware of). Have I mentioned that Moscow is an amazing city? It's absolutely beautiful this time of year. The temperature has been in the mid to upper 60's and the Cottonwood trees are in full bloom (it looks as though it is snowing at times). The days are long right now, it remains light until after 10PM here right now (and the sun is up before 5AM....jet lag helped me on that one).

Phase I Complete

We landed on time and have settled in to our somewhat temporary housing, the Moscow Sheraton Palace (see pic for the sign). It's not a palace by any stretch of the imagination, but it's better than the hotel accommodations we had in NYC.

We looked at a few more apartments on Tuesday and found one we really like, but there is a catch (isn't there always?). The apartment is available now and we don't need it until August since our belongings won't hit St. Petersberg until late July and the cost is $5,500. We were told the rent is 'negotiable' (I believe that is the case for everything here), so we offered $4,500/month and that we would occupy in August. It is now Saturday and we have not heard back, so we expect that our offer will be rejected.

You may have noticed that it has been quite a while between posts. That is because we are still negotiating the Internet price with the hotel. They are asking $30/day, we are proposing much less. I'm a big fan of FREE given that the daily rate for the room for the first 3 days was 22,700 Rubles (that's just shy of $1,000). Until we reach agreement on a much lower rate the posts will be somewhat sporadic.

Do Svedanya.

Day of the Flight

Only one hour and fifteen minutes until we no longer call NYC 'home'. Have to admit that I'm excited on one hand, but a bit nervous on the other. The good news, we are in business/first class so at least we will be in comfort on the way to Moscow.

We've run into a few snags the past few days as we finalize our move. First, Olga now has a pair of UGG's that will be delivered to our NYC address on 6/2 (a day late I'm afraid). Second, we didn't get credit toward our gold/platinum status with Starwood for our stay in Le Parker Meridien (this hotel is privately owned and does not award points). We were hoping to get upgraded to the Club level more quickly in Moscow, as it provides additional perks so now we'll have to see what we can work out with the front desk there. Last, we were informed that our stuff won't arrive in St. Petersburg until July 23. Yes, that is JULY 23. Apparently there is a shortage of containers around the world (I don't buy that one) and this is the first they can get our stuff on the slow boat to Russia. No sense worrying about that now, we'll deal with that as best we can.

Well folks, this is the last update from the good ole USA. The next posting will come from across 'the pond'. Later.