Language Update

I'm still not fluent by any stretch of the imagination, but I have now graduated to ordering meats and cheeses at the deli counter! Trust me, this is no small accomplishment, as the ladies that work the counter have about as much patience for my broken Russian as my wife does trying to teach me the broken Russian. I'm always concerned that they will get annoyed with me before I can finish my order and they will purposely give me the wrong stuff.

I have also moved up to speaking to the babushka at the yogurt kiosk on the road. I have to admit that I was quite nervous the first time, as I'm not so good with the names of fruit, but all went well and I walked away with exactly what I ordered. Some of you may wondering why I would buy my yogurt at a kiosk on the road and the answer is fairly straight forward. I often can not find low fat yogurt in the stores so I go on the Moscow version of a 'walk-about' in search of yogurt with a fat content under 5%.

I'm feeling more confident now with my language skills and I understand more each day. The classes are much more challenging as we are well into learning all the verbs and they keep bringing up this 'perfect' and 'imperfect' forms. Whatever, all I know is that one is used for current action and habits and the other for past and one-time only actions. It's confusing as hell some days and I often walk out feeling as though I know fewer words than I did at the beginning of class, but at some point I figure it will all come together. Either from a light bulb clicking on in my head or a cast iron skillet smacking my head (that would be from the wife).

Things Are Tough Everywhere

I was reading the Moscow Times the other day and thought that those of you in the US may find this article interesting. I'm sure many, if not all, of you are now familiar with the oligarchs of Russia. If not, here is the Cliff's Notes version. When Russia privatized its businesses, approximately 25 or so individuals purchased nearly all the business assets. How did they do it? Well, the privatization was done through a voucher system, meaning that every Russian citizen received a voucher with which they could 'invest' in any company that they desired. These 25 individuals ended up with the most vouchers (due to most people being willing to trade them for, well, a bottle of vodka) and, therefore, the most assets. Over the course of the past 5 or so weeks, these 25 individuals have collectively lost over $230B. I'm sure the figure is much more now that oil is trading below $75 and the other commodities are being hit as well.

Yes, Olga received a voucher. No, she did not sell it for a bottle of vodka. She invested it in a bank. UGH! Yes, that bank went bankrupt. Therefore, no, we don't have a fortune waiting for us in a bank here...at least no that I am aware of. Remember, she is Russian!

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1009/42/371599.htm


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081016/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_what_crisis_1st_ld_writethru

To answer your the obvious question raised by the second article, no I have not seen empty shelves in the grocery stores. But I will admit that the selection at one of my most frequented the other day was pretty sparse!

The Good Things

Many of you have heard me talk of the things in Moscow that need to be fixed, but the link below speaks of the things that make Moscow so unique. The only thing that I will have to take issue with is where the writer speaks of how true Russians drink vodka. While it is indeed true that a pickle is used as a 'chaser' here and the vodka is meant to be consumed only in shot format, it is NOT chilled by the true drinkers. Trust me on that one.

http://guides.moscowtimes.ru/articles/detail.php?ID=368205&IBLOCK_ID=37&SECTION_ID=437

World Class - Our New Gym

Olga was kind enough to sign us up for gym memberships while I was gallivanting around the US. I have to say, she made an excellent choice. Click on the link to see details of our location http://www.worldclass.ru/members/clubs/about.php?ID=10312. OK, I know it's all in Russian, but I'm sure that all of you will be able to point and click your way around.

It's really quite a nice facility and it's not overly crowded. I noticed that the hours of operation are a bit different than I was accustomed to in the US. This facility does not open until 7AM. Can you imagine that in the US? Of course it is open until 1AM. Not quite 24 hours, but pretty darn close. I should explain the reason behind the 7AM opening. It's really quite simple....no one gets up early here! As I'm walking to my language class at 10:30AM most people are just heading into the office. Not sure that would work so well in most cities in the US.

Another great thing about the gym, everything is in Russian. Not only do I get a good physical workout each time I go, but as an added bonus I get a language lesson! Thank god I knew the words for man (муж - moozh) and woman (женщина - zhainshena) or that could have caused some serious issues. It did take me a few minutes of staring blankly at the treadmill before I started pushing the buttons (I know, typical guy, just push the buttons and hope that one of them works), but it eventually started moving. When I feel like torturing myself a bit more I attend one of the stretch classes. Honestly, I really do enjoy that class, as it has helped me to pick up a few more words. Overall, a very good investment.