Bread, we have, Vodka, we have, Time, We Don't have...

Don’t ask me how I found the Metro Station the next day. But I found it. Domodedovskaya Metro Station is the second last station on the Zamoskveretskaya Line. Or the Green Line. Every Metro Station has a theme of some description. In the case of Domodedovskaya, it is the Airport of Domodedovo. A newer airport in southern Moscow. The walls of the station are decorated with plaques of Aircraft. But there are about 6 different entrances and exits to this station. Ending up aboveground at different parts of the street. Very confusing. A is most aspects of the Metro until you get used to them. But finding it relied on instincts. Instincts that told me that the middle aged woman in the red leather jacket would be heading to that station. So I followed. Around apartment buildings, across roads, past Kiosk’s and finally to a sign marked with a red M. Metro. Bingo. She walked right passed the entrance to the metro. Ah well. At least I found it!!!

Down the stairs, passed the Kiosks in the underground part. (You will find them in all but a few Metro Stations. Usually they sell snacks, jewelry and pirate DVD’s.) And then to the doors of the station itself. I walk through and see the automatic gates. I pull out the metro pass I was given last night. I realized I till didn’t now how the damn thing worked. I tried inserting it into the slot on the post. No didn’t fit. I remembered vaguely that this kind of card was electronic. I also noticed on the top of the post, there was a yellow circle. I touched the card’s face to the orange circle, the light turned green, and I walked through. “I am so good! I am so good!” Waited for the train. But not for long. There is train every couple of minutes at any given Metro station. Jump in, doors close. I was completely un prepared for the next bit.

The train took off. But not the tame way. The driver must have put his foot straight down. The train lurched forwards. I’m sure my lack of balance at that point in time didn’t go unnoticed. The train accelerated, faster, and faster. Past the speed that the Met in Melbourne operates. Past the speed of a Japanese Bullet Train. When the train reached light speed, it felt like it was going to shake itself to pieces. But then it started to slow down. And then, the opposite of what happened the first time happened. The driver jammed on the brakes. Balance was reduced again. People noticed again. Right. Now there will be no more surprises. I know these guys drive like lunatics. I should have made the connection immediately anyway. Idiot.

To get to Borovitskaya Metro Station which is the closest station to BKC head office, one needs to change trains at Ohkotny Ryad Metro Station. Usually this is a lot easier if you actually disembark the train at Ohkotny Ryad. But seeing as on this particular occasion, I missed the Station, I had to do a lot of walking. I had set aside the time for getting lot anyway. So may as well walk. So I got off the train and started to walk around. Aimlessly. I give up and pulled out the map Svetlana had given to me last night. On paper it made perfect sense. Turn left here, go straight ahead here, turn left again here, the Kremlin is there, and BKC is here. Unfortunately Starovagankovsky Perelouk was not marked on this map. Well in actual fact, the street was, just not its name. So I had just about used up all the time I had to get there without being late, I then realized where I was, and where I had to get to. I started to Run.

Turns out, I made it on time. Also turns out that someone was sent to pick me up. To my apartment on Voronezhskaya. What about what the lady said last night?? Hmm weird. Met some of the other BKC teachers, signed the updated contract. Met Mark who is going to be my ADOS at Lingua.RU And also met Sergei who is the Director of Lingua.RU. Sergei, Mark and I traveled from BKC to Lingu.RU which is a short Metro ride to Kitai Gorod Station. Lingua.RU faces a beautiful park in which a few days later, Svetlana and I would find ourselves in.

Lingua.RU is on the fourth floor of the building of this address. I was instantly impressed by the school. Our tour of the school was quick to establish in my mind that this school was a very professional outfit. The rooms were a teacher’s dream. Round tables, comfortable chairs, whiteboard, tape player. Everything that could be required, (except later I found that working whiteboard markers would be more difficult to procure than a cure for ugliness.)

At the time that I am writing this, I have been here already for nearly two weeks. Tomorrow (Wednesday) it will be two weeks exactly. Honestly, it feels like longer. It really does. So many rides on the Metro already. So many trips into Lingua.RU. Quite a few lessons. Yet, at the same time, I’m still struggling for the time to do things like get blog entries posted (although this is a combination of failures including time management and insufficient access to services required. Hopefully today I’ll get another internet card. (It seems the only thing that isn’t prepaid here is living itself, wait a few years though..)

I’m starting to live with the mentality now that this is my home. And for all intents and purposes, it is my home. Whether or not I understand the place as well as what I did Melbourne, is irrelevant. It took me 20 years to understand Melbourne and how it worked. A natural progression. Moscow is very different. Different mentalities exist. Different people carrying on different conversations. Most of which are completely foreign to my ears. My car is several thousand miles away. Driving is now a distant second. My passion for cars is now limited to what other people get to drive. Something that I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about, only because the time afforded to me to think of such things is limited. It reminds me of something I heard in Enemy at the Gates. “Bread we have, Vodka we have. Time, we don’t have.” That’s what it feels like now…

Matt.