vkramer515 - Vince Kramer

I changed my portrait from my lastest picture from Tokyo where I saw ZED by Cirque du Soleil and even go to meet ZED.

Summer has pasted and now it is winter here in cold dark (short days with little sunshine) Russia. For those that did not hear, I signed on for another year so I will be living here in Obninsk until January 2009.

It is finally summer here in Russian so thought I would change the picture. Enjoy the stories, adventures, blunders, etc. as I live and work in Russia.

I do not want to loose any of my emails and stories, so I am just going to add to this existing one. I am chaning the picture since those who know me at work know I can be all too serious and through multiple processes, I have learned to laugh more at work; but I still get excited so do not think I have changed that much...lol. As most of you know, things are going pretty well for me here so I extended my contract until January 2008. Living in Russia took a little getting use to, but I am starting to feel more like home so I decided to stay on until the end of January. Thank you to all of my old friends as well as all of my new friends for your continued emails and support! It is because of friends like you that I could do something like this and I am proud to have each of you in my life!

Original posting: Hello to all of my friends and family. Thank you for supporting me in this adventure to Russia. I know it is going to be an exciting time, but also a sad time as I leave many of you. This will be a great opportunity and a very rewarding adventurl. It is July 9, 2007 and I have my "list" (for those of you that know me well...lol) of things to do before I go. After a recommendation from a good friend in San Diego, I thought this would be an excellent way to share my stories and adventures, both good and bad so stay tuned, plenty more to come!

Vince
I just extended my contract so I will be in Russia for another

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Joined on: July 10th 2006
Last Login: November 22nd 2009

Blog Entries: 168
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by vkramer515, order by Date newest first.

By vkramer515
May 24th 2009

Final Blog North America » United States » Florida » Keys » Key West

Mark and Vince
At the southern most point in the US (Key West, Florida).

I guess it is finally time to enter this last blog. I purposely delayed writing this last entry because my time in Russia was a significant and historical part of my life. Each of you taught me so much about the Russian people and culture, but just as importantly, you taught me to know myself and the US people and our culture. It is hard to explain in words; but at times, I felt more at home than I do in my own country while at the same time so alone and far from home. These were the times I reached [View Full Entry]

By vkramer515
May 3rd 2009

Pictures from New Home North America » United States » Tennessee » Chattanooga

Welcome
Welcome to 2513 Saint Lucie Court! It is a townhome where my unit is connected to another unit. Most people do not want a townhome so they are not very common in the US, but you will find them.

I know some of you wanted to see a lot more pictures from my new home here in Chattanooga. Part of the problem was staying home long enough to make it look like a home so I did not want to take any pictures until I got the pictures on the wall to make my house feel like a home. The other problem was staying home long enough to get this done. I am doing a lot more than 50% travel; I am pretty close to 90 - 95% but it is due to problems at our different facilities which should [View Full Entry]

By vkramer515
March 15th 2009

Stats, Might Be Interesting North America » United States » Minnesota » Winona

I promise, I am going to write a closing post when I ever get settled down for a few hours. I was just going back to remember some good times while I am stuck here in Winona, MN where it was 0oF and now 45oF just a day later...crazy weather. I will also have to tell you about my Russian sauna experience while here in the US, but until then, I thought some of you might be interested in seeing the number of hits the different posts received since I started the blog. (That did not work well to cut and [View Full Entry]

By vkramer515
December 21st 2008

If You Had Not Heard North America » United States » Tennessee » Chattanooga

Pass the Jack
No, I was not as drunk as this picture looks, now the photographer might have been ;)

I am sure many of you that know me well, could tell by the past few postings; but it is official as I am not renewing my contract for next year. There were many factors that played into the biggest one is that we were many years away from ever going to a fully cooking facility, which is my passion so in the Fall I started looking for some new opportunities. I was pleasantly surprised to find several positions of interest; but of all of them, I found Farley's & Sathers to be the most exciting with the greatest opportunity. So [View Full Entry]

By vkramer515
December 7th 2008

International Friendship around the World Europe » Russia » Centre » Obninsk

Friends through the Blog
Meet Marc and Bjorn, new friends from Germany that found me from my blog. (Please notice the "American" refrigerator in the background with all of the magnets on it.)

For as large as this world is, it really is pretty small and it is amazing how we can all be brought to gether by the smallest of ways. I thought of this last night while at Oleg and Zhana's flat warming party. Oleg's toast was actually to me and how I was the reason for most people at the table knowing each other. I had a similar toast to Freddie at my going away party that it was because of his hello in English that we really met and became friends and of course from there, I met Leo, Egor, [View Full Entry]

By vkramer515
November 16th 2008

Visit to Tokyo Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shinjuku

Cleaning Pumpkins

I have been back a week but I have not slowed down a minute since landing so I decided I had better take some time this weekend and post my travel blog about Tokyo. In one sentence, I must say it was one of the cleanest city with these nicest people! Wow, it was a great trip. I started from Moscow and headed to Frankfurt. When I first started planning my trip, Aeroflot did not run non-stop flights between Moscow and Tokyo. One of the better connections was on Lufthansa through Frankfurt, which would also make for a great short visit [View Full Entry]

By vkramer515
November 16th 2008

ZED and Cirque in Tokyo Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Me and ZED
This is me with ZED, the main character in the show. Inspired by the Fool of the Tarot.

So now for the real reason I went to Tokyo - Cirque du Soleil and their new show ZED being held at Disney Resort. I am not sure when this was, but many months ago, I was searching Yahoo Groups and I found this one called CirqueCon (www.cirquecon.com). When I joined, I really thought it was just a group of friends that were big Cirque fans, but I decided what the heck and applied for membership. I really had not kept up with the discussions, but got an email one day that they were forming a group to go see the [View Full Entry]

By vkramer515
October 11th 2008

Indoor Downhill Skiing Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow

Indoor Dowhill Skiing
Real lifts and everything. Sochi could learn from this place!

We had frost a few mornings, but no snow; but that did not stop us from going downhill skiing on Friday! Yes, there is an INDOOR downhill ski rink here in Moscow (www.snej.com Russian only). Freddie recommended we try it out and we had tried once before but never made it so yesterday (Friday) we took a half day from work and headed to Moscow. We made a few stops along the way but go to the rink (I guess that is what you call it) around 5 PM yesterday. I really did not know what to expect and as best [View Full Entry]

By vkramer515
October 8th 2008

Flat Warming Party Europe » Russia » Centre » Obninsk

The Obninsk Gang(sters)

I told you it would be a little while before I did any traveling. That does not mean I am sitting at home bored to death, but I just have not been "hopping" around the world here lately. Last weekend Freddie hosted a house warming party at his new flat. He has been working on it for some time, but finally had it finished enough to invite everyone over for his first official party. I think I have posted a few of the gathers, but they were not official parties. I do not remember how many people were there on Friday, [View Full Entry]

By vkramer515
September 9th 2008

Great Weekend in Obninsk Europe » Russia

What Form?!
It may not be pretty, but I scored my record of 161 in that game!

I know I said it would probably be a little while before my next entry, but I just have to tell this story... (and for those friends here in Obninsk that know Inna and Vladimir, please keep this among us. -- thanks) On Sunday, it was a perfect day here in Obninsk. I think it was lower 80’s and partly overcast so some new friends I have met, Vladimir and his girlfriend Inna invited Leo, Freddie and I on a biking trip. Freddie was out of town and Leo’s computer crashed but it was such a wonderful day, I did not [View Full Entry]

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