On Spring

The winter may have been long, but I thouroughly enjoyed it.  Spring however, was a little on the short side.  It is now the end of May and I can already feel in my bones the itchiness of the sun and the heat of the mosquitoes.  A nawing regret that the snow doesn't fall anymore and the unbearable face rubbing that comes from hayfever.

The start of the snow melt and bluebird skies

Yes the spring came, the spring went, and in its path it has left a Moscow that is starting to come alive.  The old, sour faced women on the metro have been replaced by short dresses and the smiles of beautiful girls.  There are beer gardens crowding the pavements, and there are people drinking into the wee small hours of the night (not that that didn't happen before, they can just do it outside with even more gusto).  The small pangings that i had had for the tropical climes of Cambodia have been replaced by a deep longing for "real rain."  So far ive only experienced itt at a BBQ picnic, which turned out to be a complete an utter wash out.

Beer gardens and shaslik at Victory Park

Relaxing in the shade at Patriarch's Pond

The snow melt in some places was a thing to behold.  Whole areas of land that had been glaciated simply became marshland and then grassy fields in a matter of days.

Marshland at Kuntsevo

Taking the snow away

Spring was interesting month alright.  It brought my parents to Moscow: thankfully they had great weather and a great time.  They met the girl and the girl met them, which went very well (of course), and my mother experienced her (first?) stadium gig.

Parents and Ukrainian vodka

Roger Waters was great gig.  The Wall being built behind the performers in the first half of the show, they then performing on the outside in the second half, and finally knocking it down! What a great experience, and one that I dont think can be repeated.

The Wall

Spring also brought a holiday to Kaliningrad (worthy of at least one blog of its own, probably 2), a place that is Russia, but is not in Russia, and a great, but more importantly, relaxing time was time was had!

Kaliningrad Gothic Cathedral

Spring is also the season of not teaching teenagers/kids, so I should have more time to blog (sorry Anna!), whether i will is a different matter (really, very sorry Anna!).

On hot weather and no hot water

I have no hot water.  This saddens me.  I won't have any hot water until the 10th of June.  This really saddens me.  It is starting to get hot on a regular basis.  This (to borrow a G.W.Bism) miserablises me.  I have hayfever. This also miserablises me.  I am, however, happy, content and not at all complaining about this point in my life.  I am indeed, a martyr.  More to follow....

On my first winter in 2 years

After an unusually warm autumn, winter finally struck Moscow last week.  Whilst the UK and other parts of Northern Europe were engulfed in snow showers and plummeting temperatures of minus 6 I was enjoying a 15minute walk to some schools in temperatures ranging from minus 15 to minus twenty.  You know it’s cold when you are judging the temperature on how quickly your earphones and trousers freeze.  Yes, the gloves have come out, the hat is being worn and I am abandoning my Northern routes by wearing a coat; it is cold.  I never though that I would think that minus 10 was warm, but last week that was every new teachers thought.

For the last 6months of the 8months I was in Cambodia I waited and I prayed for the Russian winter I was expecting and now that it is here it is living up to expectations.  With one let down.

There is not enough snow.

Whilst Wolsingham, Newcastle and all other places in the UK have been getting record snow fall, snow depth in Moscow has barely reached 3inches.  It may stay for an incredible amount of time; the snow from last Saturday night has barely receded but there is still not enough of the stuff for my personal liking.

Anyway, here’s hoping and praying for some more snow and a long cold, but sunny, winter!

The pond by my house in October

And again taken on 4th December

Kids playing on the ice with the power station

chimney stack as a majestic backdrop

This weekend is only going to be about horses, isn't it?

At the beginning of November we had a long weekend with the Thursday and the Friday holiday days.  Needing a break from the rigours of teaching and to rest my weary body Ana proposed 2 nights sleeping on a train and one night sleeping on a friends couch; it seemed idyllic.  

The train left Moscow at 02:00 on Friday morning and arrived in at Saint Petersburg at 14:00 the same day.  The train itself was quite pleasant; clean, comfortable but incredibly, heartbreakingly slow.  The carriages were a mix of Thai and Chinese trains with 6 beds to every open compartment, but only two beds up in each case.  There was, as is standard on sleeper trains, hot water at the end of the carriage for noodles and a little tea and beer person if you needed to quench your thirst.  The same person also came round near the end of the journey to retrieve the bed linen.

The only qualm I had with the train, apart from the pace, was the heat.  It was stifling and very uncomfortable, but overall the experience was nice enough.

Arriving at Saint Petersburg we found the Metro station and bought the coins used instead of tickets.  These coins are similar to those found in slot machines the world over and are fairly easy to mistake for money and to lose.  The only other difference was that in some stations there were two sets of doors that acted as an anti-flooding device from the rivers above.  The metro trains, I can only presume, are the same ones from Moscow that just continue going when they leave the last Northern station in Moscow.  There was no discernable difference at all, same colours, same noise, same rollercoaster like feel when you stand up in them.

It was then a whistle-stop four hours of sight seeing until we met Ana’s friend.  In this time I was shown the main street in the city, the cathedral which is very similar to St Basil’s in Moscow but is a different colour (see below), some beautiful architecture, a Roman style church, the outside of the Hermitage museum, and another very big church.  Please forgive my ignorance but it was all very quick and I was very tired.

First word reads as "Shag"! oh the hilarity!

Pretty Buildings

Cathedral from the rear.

Hermitage at sunset.

And now a story for Nik; he knows why, there is no need for that anecdote here.  On a road bridge over one of St Perterburg’s rivers there are four horses positioned at every corner and on one of these horses you can find Napoleons face…but not where you would expect!  This is because his face is positioned, and rather hidden as it turns out, on of the horses genitalia. Yes Napoleon’s face is sat rather proudly upon a horses ball sack.  

One of the said horses

Said French General's face

The story goes that Napoleon stole the architect’s girlfriend.  The architect was somewhat perturbed by this and maybe after having one too many vodkas, decided to take his revenge by giving the wee emperor eternal mockery by Russian citizens, and now you lot.  

I can confirm that it was an odd experience checking out the undercarriage of several horses before stumbling upon the correct beast.

After this encounter we ventured off to meet Ana’s friend for a night of vodka fuelled drunkenness and then some more vodka.

Rear Window???

The next day may have started with a slight tingling in the head and minute fogginess around the eyes, but this may have been due to the snow that was falling outside giving the city a wintry beauty.

Saturday itself was spent drinking coffee and keeping out of the weather.  At some point after night fall we left the comfort of the flat to find a drinking and eating establishment and to mentally prepare for the journey home.  There was a small break when I was the shown the city by rooftop; there is nothing as bohemian as drinking gin from a bottle whilst sitting on a strangers rooftop just watching the twinkling of the lights below.

Vova and I not watching the world going by

And before I knew it we were back on the train, heading back to the city that I will never quite leave. And the week began again…

Busts of the Beatles...

...and a yellow submarine.

About to lose my second game of chess.

Moscow week one, posted in week 9

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.