Blogs from Moscow, Northwest, Russia, Europe - page 75

5am: Wake up in disbelief at where I am. Put on my clothes over my pajamas, yet again without a shower, and met Chris J outside the language school to start our way home. 5.50am: Taxi from Yartek to Yaroslavl Glavnyi station. A hug and a kiss from the lady who made me the coffee yesterday. 7am: Train from Yaroslavl to Moscow. The only ticket I could buy was first class so I was eight carriages away from Chris, and slept through the added comfort. 11am: Arrive in Moscow and get a taxi, 40 minutes across the city to the airport. 12pm: Arrive at Domodedovo airport. Sit around for three hours. 3pm: Meet Clare, Chiara and Chris W. Chris J's bag was almost twice as heavy as is allowed so he was fined a lot of ... read more

Also ich bin wie erwartet sehr gut eingetroffen. Ich wohne und arbeite jetzt also in der deutschen Botschaft in Moskau. Für die nächsten zwei Monate. Was ich mir vor allem vorgenommen habe ist mein Russisch zu verbessern (mit Sprachkurs diesmal) und natürlich ein wenig in die Arbeitswelt des Auswärtigen Amtes hineinzuschnuppern. Daneben werde ich soviel mitnehmen wie nur irgendwie möglich. Aber dies trifft nicht nur für Moskau zu… Also, ich wohne in einem Kurierzimmer auf dem Gelände der deutschen Botschaft. Hier gibt es eine ganze Menge. So zum Beispiel neben den Wohnungen eine eigene Turnhalle und Schwimmhalle, ein Restaurant, und einen Arzt. Rundherum sind verschiedene andere Botschaften (z.B. Schweden), und hier gibt es ab und zu internationale Fussballturniere… Arbeitstechnisch bin ich in der Wirtschaftsabteilung, wie es genau weitergeht kann ich noch nicht sagen da hier nur ... read more

Date: Dec 27, 2005 Christmas, St. P to Moscow Temperature: -10C Snow Cover: 20cm (35cm in Moscow) I trust this finds you all well. I spent Christmas with two of my new Russian friends: Sasha and Andrei… there was no turkey or lamb to be found so I pulled off my tried and tested chicken penne. We also feasted on lemon sardines, red fish, chocolate and of course vodka. We then met up with Andrei’s sister Nastya and her friend Gunya and headed out for some reveling. We wound up in a VERY dingy smoke filled bar with a bunch of ex-pats from New Zealand and the US which was fun. All in all it was a great Christmas and it snowed ALL day! I spent Boxing Day doing laundry and tidying up the apartment which ... read more

The plan was to have another lie-in but I had to get up early. As soon as I woke up I remembered that on my 'secret' santa present to Clare I had written 'love Jon xxxx' so I had to guiltily sneak into the boys' room and tear the label off before anyone noticed! It was snowing when we all got up. Moscow skyscrapers aren't a traditional Christmas scene but for us today was about doing something different, not trying to recreate what we were missing at home. We had breakfast in our room at 10, Buck's Fizz and sandwiches of ciabatta bread with spanish sausage and russkii mayonez. Then we opened our present. I think Clare liked her DVD from me. Chris W bought me a hip-flask with the Russian eagle on it - which ... read more

I got up at 7. After a quick shower I left the flat as soon as possible, after a polite, insincere thankyou to Marina Ivanovna. It was still dark outside, and a very cold minus 12. I arrived at Yartek at 8, half an hour before Clare, Michael, Chris J, Chris W, Emma and Chiara who were saying real goodbyes to their hozyaikas. Our minibus left at 9. Viktor, Olga, Nina the art teacher and Natasha came to wave us off. The five hour journey to Moscow was boring, and the heating was turned up so it was also uncomfortable. When we got to the south-west Emma left to go to the airport for her flight home and the rest of us were dropped off at the hotel, which is irritatingly named 'The Central House of ... read more