Goodbye 2009!

Well, 2009 certainly has been an interesting year - many changes and a very exciting new beginning! I'm finally in Moscow, and I couldn't be happier. I'm about to spend New Years Eve watching fireworks over the Kremlin - how wonderful is that? I'm looking forward to what 2010 has in store for me - many adventures I'm sure, and certainly lots of pictures!

So, farewell 2009, Happy New Year, and С новым годом!

Internet!

I finally have internet in my apartment, on my own computer! I've never felt so free!! :-D You don't realize how much you miss something until you are forced to be without it. Now I can finally post regularly on here, and my other two blogs! *insert shameless self promotion*
Reasons I Love Europe - photo blog with pictures from my travels
Moscow Daily Photo - self explanatory :) I share this site with another photographer, Irina.

It doesn't feel like the holidays here yet, most likely because we work until December 30. Some of the teachers are getting together and having a Christmas party tonight. Everyone is cooking some kind of traditional food from their country, so I'm looking forward to trying lots of new food! Maybe that will foster up some holiday spirit? I think we're all really looking forward to the New Years break - we're off from December 31-January 10. I'm personally looking forward to wandering around the city and finding more churches, and I'm hoping to get some pictures when it's snowing too.

Speaking of weather, it's quite a change from a week ago - it's now +1C/34F and raining. It's still cold enough that the rain leaves a layer of ice all over, unfortunately. I much prefer snow - a lot prettier to look at, and not so slippery! I am enjoying the mild temperature though - after my class finished on Thursday night, I spent an hour and a half taking pictures, and I didn't freeze! I'll post more later, but for now here's a picture of the New Years tree in front of Red Square.

Visas suck!

The title says it all, but I'll reiterate just for the emphasis - VISAS SUCK. Russia decided to change one of the visa laws/actually pay attention to it, and that means that I can't get the visa I was supposed to. I came here on a single entry visa that was supposed to be changed to a multi entry 1 year visa upon my arrival - sounds good, right? Well, the law basically got rid of the type of work visa I have, meaning it can't get changed now.

So, I'm in Russia until January 16, when my current visa expires. Then I'm back in the US for two weeks to get a new visa. The thing that really sucks is that all I can get now is a 3 month business visa... so in 3 months I have to leave Russia again to get a new visa! There are no other options, as the multi entry business visa only allows you to stay in the country for 90 out of every 180 days. I miss the gold old days of true 1 year multi entry visas :(

I don't have to go back to America to get my visa, but it's the easiest option. I could go to Ukraine, or another non-EU country, but between the tickets, hotel, and food costs, it would probably cost me close to what it's costing me to fly home to America! Plus, what would I do by myself for two weeks in Ukraine?

It's not all bad, really. I was planning to go back to America in March or April anyway, so it's just a bit earlier now. This way I can bring stuff back with me that I already have, rather than buying it new here (for a lot more money!). Also, some of the things I was going to buy here either aren't available, or cost a lot more than I was expecting - so I'll be buying those and bringing them back with me too! I am going to take full advantage of my 100lbs of luggage :D

I guess my biggest problem is the time frame - I have two weeks off (Dec 31-Jan11), then I work for a week, then I leave for two weeks again. I won't need a vacation after only one week of work! I could fly home sooner, but I want to be in Russia for New Years, and the flights are hellishly expensive for that time frame. Also, I might as well stay as long as possible to make the most use out of my precious visa!

One Month in Moscow

As of today, I've been in Moscow for exactly one month. In some ways, it feels like so much longer, and in others it still feels like I've just arrived. I guess I'm unpacked, but since my suitcases are serving as my closet right now, I'm not sure if that entirely counts as unpacked or not! I've learned how to light the stove without burning my fingers - woohoo!!! I've also learned that not only does the oven work, but the temperature indicator works too! I don't have to guess what the temperature is when I want to bake something, how great is that? Small luxuries.

Teaching is going very well. I'm enjoying all of my classes, and I love the feeling that I get when my students are able to speak more and more in English. I have one student, a complete beginner who I work with daily, and he's making so much progress. Maybe I'm a complete loser, but it's the greatest feeling to listen to him actually speaking in English! To be able to give someone a language is pretty awesome, and it's a gratifying experience, to say the least.

It also appears that nowhere in the world is safe from kitsch. I'm sitting at my usual cafe (they're playing Christmas music again, ugh) and outside there's a woman dressed as Snegurochka handing out flyers for something. Snegurochka is Dyed Moroz (Russian Santa's) helper/granddaughter or something like that.

I'll leave you with a picture of a winter-y and cold Red Square, complete with ice rink and New Year's tree.

Things I've learned in a month

#1 - Eating dinner at 10:45pm is not good at all! Last night, I made myself a nice dinner of pasta with homemade sauce and stir-fried veggies, and had some bread with cheese to go with it. Great meal, and I was nice and full. You know how you always read about not eating big meals before bed, because it disrupts your sleep pattern? Well that's true, based upon how I slept last night. I managed to go to bed around 1:45am, but I woke up a few times, and when my alarm went off I felt like I hadn't slept at all. Previously, when I've been lazy and just had salad and bread with cheese for dinner, I've slept better.

#2 - Temperature is all relative. On Monday, -14C/7F felt absolutely freezing. Fast forward to Tuesday and Wednesday, and it's -20C/-4F! Today, it's -14C again, and it feels quite tolerable. I actually walked around a bit before needing to seek out some warmth!

#3 - I heard more Russian my last month in America than I do here. I get maybe one or two chances to speak in Russian each day, and that's just ordering food, or sometimes giving directions on the street. Mondays and Wednesdays are better, because I speak a bit more, but I find it harder each week, since I'm getting no practice or even exposure. I don't have a TV or internet on my computer in my apartment, so I only get to hear Russian at home if the people that live above us have their TV turned up loud enough. It really sucks, and I've got to find a way to change this!

#4 - I can't get away from Christmas music, even in Russia. I'm sitting in a cafe right now, and they're playing a Christmas song... Russians don't even celebrate Western Christmas!! *edited 5 minutes later* Oh great, now they're playing another... and it's a combination of a Christmas song with a rap chorus... what the hell???

#5 - The joys of having hot AND cold water at the same time. In my apartment, you have to choose :) The water is either boiling hot or ice cold, nowhere inbetween. If we leave the hot water on, the cold and hot taps both run boiling hot. Boiling, as in fill up the electric teapot, and the water is at a full boil in 40 seconds! That's painful. The solution is to turn off the hot water when we don't need it, which isn't perfect, because now the water is like ice, but anything is better than scalding hot! I give myself full credit for that solution, since two plumbers came out to look at the pipes, and they both said they couldn't do anything, and we would just have to live with the hot water only! Perhaps I could have a successful career as a Russian plumber?

3 Weeks

I've been here for 3 weeks now, and I'm finally feeling almost completely settled in. Life is interesting, to say the least. Something unexpected happens pretty much every day. We've had snow since Monday, and it won't be going away anytime soon. I still don't have internet in my apartment, so I'm spending ridiculous amounts of money at this one cafe, McD's just really isn't working for me anymore. At least the cafe is nice, and I can spend a while there.

I'm happy with my apartment, and it's nice to actually like the place I come home to every night! It's a giant step up from the first apartment I was in when I was here. It's rather sparsely furnished - I'm currently using my suitcases as drawers!  Eventually I'll drag my butt to IKEA to get some kind of wardrobe type thing... but it's a huge pain the butt for me to get to from where I'm living. Plus, the suitcases are free, and a wardrobe costs money :)

As of this week, I have a full teaching schedule. It doesn't allow me much free time, and I'm quite pleased with that. I could wish for a bit less travel time, but such is life. I've mastered standing on the metro without holding onto anything, so I just bring a magazine and read, like most people do. As long as I'm reading, the time passes fairly quickly. I can't say I'm completely adjusted to getting home anywhere from 10:00-10:30pm, but it starts to feel more normal every day.

Overall, I'm really enjoying life here. I spend my weekends wandering around the city, discovering new places everywhere I go. I've even managed to find a couple of the churches that I've been wanting to see since I was here in 2007! It's feeling very winter-y here - there are New Years trees popping up everywhere, and buildings are being decorated with lots of lights. There's also a nice layer of snow on the ground, and it snows a little bit every day now.

A handful of photos from my facebook: Moscow Nov-Dec 2009

снег!

It's snowing! And accumulating rather nicely, too. It's cold enough that it's accumulating on people's hats and backpacks as they're walking too, turning everyone into mini snowmen! My black hat was nearly white by the time I reached the metro!  This is so much better than the rain we were having last week - rain isn't very pretty! I would take a picture, but I don't have my camera with me. I'll try to get one tonight and post it here if I can get on the internet again. I'm at a cafe using their wifi - it's quite a step up from McDonald's, although the food is much more expensive :( But I was hungry, and I don't eat anything from McD's, so I decided to splurge. I won't be home until around 10:15 tonight, and I left at 9:00 this morning, so I certainly can't go without lunch! I just want internet in my apartment - life would be so much easier...

But anyway, yesterday my friends and I went to the Kremlin and spent a couple hours there. We ended up buying the wrong tickets, so we couldn't go into any of the churches, but it was still nice. I haven't had time to look at my pictures yet, but I think I got some good ones! We then spent another four hours wandering around the Kuznetsky Most area, as well as the area around the Tretyakov Gallery. I found more churches, including one I've been dying to see ever since I was here two years ago!

Well, that's it for now - time to run off to my next class. More later, or tomorow!

Life in Moscow so far

I've been here for 16 days, but it feels like I've been here for months already. I'm not really sure that that's a good thing, because I'm certainly not settled in yet - after all, I just moved to a new apartment last Friday!

I'm a bit frustrated....

The Joy of Shoes

I have winter boots that are not only comfortable, but warm and heel-less! And, not horrifically expensive. I can't go so far as to say they were cheap, but they were a good price for Moscow, so I'm happy. And have I mentioned they're comfortable? They also have nice grippy soles for the ice that the streets will be covered with soon enough.

Shoes and I don't have a good relationship - I have ridiculously narrow feet, and finding shoes that fit is such a challenge! I'm also really picky about what I like and don't like - and this time, shoes without heels was a must. My friend took me to one of the small shoe places by her house, and I tried on half their winter boots, literally! The ladies just kept handing me pair after pair of boots - and besides not liking a bunch of them - NONE fit. Last night, we went to another store, and I got lucky! I got the display model of the boots, as it was the last pair that they had! I even got a small discount because one is missing a string at the top, which doesn't matter because it's just there for decoration.

So, now I'm set for the impending winter. After being +9 C (48 F) on Wednesday, the temperature has been dropping slowly. It looks like it will be hovering around -3 to 0 C (26-32 F) for the next week or so, with a chance of snow on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to snow, rather than the miserable rain we've been having. At least then things will look pretty until it melts all over everything and turns into slykat, which is a mess of snow, pollution, and chemicals... lovely, huh?