WOW MOSCOW! My initial disorientation is dissipating somewhat but the scale of the city appears to be similar to Beijing but with the windy twisty courtyards and smaller streets of London.
Travelling into the city by night from Domodedovo airport reminded of Bangkok; big 8 lane highways with the lights of advertising boards illuminating the roads (I also saw my first car crash!). When I arrived at the accommodation I was completely disorientated but thankfully I met my next door neighbour who explained which Metro station we were near and how to get into central: Thank you Minna!
The next day was a day of exploration; seeing The Red Square and The Cathedral, as well as getting lost up some random street which I’m still not sure which street it was. For those who know me I’ve been pretending to learn Russian since I got home from Cambodia and although I hadn’t learned many words I was able to learn most of the Cyrillic alphabet. This has to be the smartest thing I have done in a long time and if anyone is coming to Moscow I cannot recommend learning Cyrillic enough; it is invaluable!
The Metro system is relatively easy to use, as long as you know Cyrillic, and the trains are clean, quick and regular with the last train being at 01:00am. I have yet to properly explore the majestic palace like stations but I did manage to get lost in a station on Monday night where I experienced at least some of the grandeur of the central stations. Something that has surprised me is the genuine respect shown to older people riding the metro. People of all ages get up from seats and allow the aged to sit down even if it’s just for one stop. I can’t remember if this happened in China but I know that it rarely happens in London.
As for the school itself, well Monday was all about orientation, including being picked up from my room to be taken into school, thank you Anya. For me personally this was a bit of a waste of time because I had already found my way to the school on the Saturday but it was nice to get to know a local. The school I’m working for is a massive organisation comprising over 30 satellite schools spread throughout Moscow. There are four or five central schools and one central office which house most of the resources. The school where I am teaching at the minute is four metro stops north of my house but I will teaching in more schools as time progresses.
The area where I live is quite a quiet one. There appear to be no, or at least very few bars (although I haven’t had a good explore yet) but it is very near a park and an artificial water, pond , reservoir thing which will undoubtedly be very pretty in the winter. The weather itself is definitely cooler than home but not drastically so…yet! Apparently the weather has just taken a change to the colder and some people I’ve talked to think that by the end of this month it will be much colder.
A pond near the flat
I am very excited for a “good” winter!
Surprisingly I haven’t drunk any vodka yet but will endeavour to rectify that situation this weekend.
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