Theres no place like....

Hello all. I have come to the realization that I haven’t said anything of my flat. Poor effort on my part, I know. :) So, let me describe it to you. And for those with limited imaginations, I will post up some pictures. :)

Ok. My flat is located within an apartment building, which in turn, is located within a group of other apartment buildings. The Building 8K4 on Voronezhskaya Ulitsa (Street) is the 1970’s Soviet Style building. Of all the buildings in block 8, it is probably the best maintained.

My flat itself is a two bedroom job with floor boards in every room except for the bathroom and the toilet, which have tiled floors. In Soviet style apartments, usually one bedroom is roughly twice the size of the other. My flat mate arrived the day before I did, and taxed the large room. The large room with, the couches, and the balcony. The smaller room was mine. So my room. Single bed with an ugly quilt. (I’m off to Ikea this weekend) A desk (hahha. The big room has an uncomfortably low table to use as a desk), Two brilliant shelving units, one with a lockable section. A nice rug on the floor which covers the floor boards, more books than I have time to read (all in Russian), about 200 hundred editions of various interior design magazines. And drawers full of various items belonging to the woman who previously lived in this flat.

As you walk in to the flat, you enter a room that connects you to every other room in the house. In this room there are cupboards hiding jackets and classical music on CD, and drawers with old shoes and boots. Also found a chest full of glassware the other day. Our first dinner party is in the works :) Take off to the left of this room, you find our fridge. Next to the fridge are the doors into the Bathroom and the Toilet, (Yes, they are actually separate rooms) And the door into the kitchen. The Kitchen has three chairs around a basic table. The stove is electric and has the oven section directly beneath it (same unit) There’s a kettle, be it, an old and unsafe to use kettle. There’s a sink with some ridiculous plastic mesh thing on the bottom (Still haven’t worked it out) Cupboards are full of crockery but the utensil drawer has 2 knives, 5 forks, and 1 tablespoon and 4 teaspoons. (Ikea again, this weekend)

The toilet is interesting to say the least. The size of the room itself is only just a bit smaller than the average Aussie room of the same purpose. But the toilet unit itself is slightly different. Slightly more disturbing. I’m not sure of the thought processes that were going on when this toilet was designed. But lets just say that anything that falls, doesn’t fall very far. And when the unit is flushed, the slate is wiped clean. It’s very uncomfortable being that close to one’s refuse. Even if that refuse is one’s own.

The bathroom has the traditional Russian style shower. The bathtub and the snakey hose shower head that can be hand held, or held by a bracket to act like a western shower. To avoid getting water everywhere, I usually take the handheld approach. The bathroom also contains our washing machine. From what I understand, we lucked out where this particular feature was concerned. Apparently the other teachers have had to hire washing machines. Perhaps we should start hiring out ours?? :)

Hmm, that really sums up the apartment. I’ll post a few pictures when the opportunity arises. On the whole, I like it. It has nearly everything I could want, it’s fairly well maintained, and it is fairly comfortable. I wouldn’t mind a couch and a balcony though. :)

Matt.

Red Square Tour 2005

Today I went to Red Square for the second time, only this time, I brought my camera along. I promise to write more at a later stage. But I thought that I picture would speak 1000 words. And several photos would count for several thousand words. Enjoy. Looking forward to speaking to you all soon.

Matt.

Cars, Cars Glorious Cars!!!

The one thing that has amazed me with Moscow is that while so many people catch the Metro, an extraordinary amount still enjoy getting stuck in horrendous traffic. It’s no problem if you are a black BMW with a blue strobe light on your roof. Somehow, it’s like Moses parting the red sea when these guys come through. The traffic is bumper to bumper, yet the motorists find a way to let the VIP’s pass through. Impossible it seems, yet, they pull it off. Makes me wonder what kind of penalty exists for people who won’t, or perhaps can’t move out of the way when these Government dudes honk their ridiculous sounding buzzer. (I promise you, it does sound ridiculous)

There is only two main rules for cars on the road in Moscow. It either has to be Russian, or German. In fact about 95% of cars I have seen in Moscow have fallen into this category. The other 5% is usually a combination of Japanese and American vehicles. I would say almost 4% of that 5% would be comprised of late model Hummer H2’s. There seems to be quite a few of them around. And they are HUGE!!.

By far the most common car on the road in Russia is the Lada 2107. Although there are several different year models on the road, they are all almost identical. The only difference is usually in the headlights and tail lights, and how rusted they are. The body shape is that of a small sedan (Think Datto 1600) or sometimes a wagon. But they are everywhere!!! Everyone either owns one, or has owned one, or knows at least three people that own one. Guaranteed, you will see no less than 30 in one day, even if you are only outside for 10 minutes a day. They are an inescapable part of daily Russian life. And if you don’t accept their existence, you will have nightmares about them. They come in 1.5l and 1.6l guises and are available in several different colours and trim packages, all guaranteed to fade within a year of purchase.

To its advantage, the Lada 2107 will keep running and running and running, long after the Duracell bunny has collapsed of exhaustion.

Most common of the German cars would have to be the BMW. There are many late model BMW’s, mostly 5 & 7 series cruising around Moscow. Most of these are black and can be found cruising up and down Tverskaya St. The ones with blue strobes usually force and honk their way through traffic. The others just sit patiently, wasting fuel.

Which brings us to the next question. If all you are doing in traffic in Moscow, is sitting still waiting for 600,000 other cars to move before you have to, does it matter whether you are in a Lada 2107 or a BMW 7 Series? It probably does. But either way, any fuel that is burnt without actually moving you anywhere is a waste. And I would guarantee that more time is spent, thinking about moving, that actual movement. I think the Metro costs close to 20c a day. For the whole day. To any station. Sure, it doesn’t have the same leather seats as a 7 series. But my god, it moves quicker than a 7 series. Nothing stops the Metro. Not even God himself.

Oh yes cars. On my first night here, just before I got hassled by the militsia, I heard a wonderful sound. It was bliss, music to my ears. The high, unstable idle of an RB26 powered vehicle. I look over and there it is. It’s twin tail lights staring back at me. An R32 GTR was stuck between a Lada and Mercedes. Hell yeah. The imports have landed. It was such a wonderful thing to see.
One car that I really like here is the G-Class Mercedes 4WD’s. To many people, they are ugly and boxy. I just so happens, I like ugly and boxy, CARS. I owned a XF. Boxy has a place in my heart. :) But yes, G-Class. Looks nice, goes nice, is nice. I want one. I wouldn’t mind sitting in traffic, if I was sitting in a G-Class. :)

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.