Russia, Whats not to love?

Welcome

I assume you already know why you are here.  In case you don't, or came to the wrong place.  This my blog about my experiences traveling to Russia to teach English.  It is also a bit about my attempt to move my life forward out of a rut I have been in for years.

I am one of those people with high ability, but relatively low motivation, although when I get motivated, things get done.  It was time to get something done.  That is all the "about me" you are going to get, for the moment.  More details will be added if they become relevant.  Well, here goes.

(Oh wait, one more thing.  This is my blog.  It will reflect my thoughts.  That means you will probably find it offensive at some point or other.  Too bad.  You were warned.  Try to keep your offended comments respectful ;)

November 22, 2012
I have now been here a week.  I am starting to get used to things.  I have visited my two potential employers (there are more if they fall through) and begun the process of arranging work.  (To those going WTF?:  for various reasons, I came here on a tourist visa. I will arrange a work visa while I am here so I can not just jump right in, but it gives me a chance to get acclimated and try to learn some Russian.

I arrived on Thursday the 15th.  I was met at the airport by Sasha (a Russian nickname for either Alexander or Alexandra - and I know one of each, both of whom are called Sasha, so that will probably become confusing for you at some point).  I am staying with Sasha and his wife Ksenia until I arrange a place to stay.  They live in the country side about an hour's drive outside the city.  Both of them work in the city, so it is easy for me to get there on any weekday, but I have to travel on their schedule.

Anyway, Sasha's birthday was Friday, so the 3 of us stayed up until midnight and drank some champagne to celebrate.  Then, on Friday night they had a party with many of their friends and we drank more champagne, rum (that I brought to contribute), cognac, and, of course, vodka.  Then on Saturday, there was another, smaller gathering.  So I basically partied and drank for my first 3 days here.

After that began day to day life of traveling to the city, meeting friends and making work contacts.  I have been here to Saint Petersburg 3 times before so I am comfortable getting around using the metro system, but I don't really like to take buses alone, yet.  The numbers are the same as English, but I don't really read Russian quickly enough to feel really certain about any particular bus.  Fortunately, the metro goes most places I need to be at the moment.  I have also been taking Aikido classes again, since Sasha is an Aikido instructor.  For those who don't know, my father is also an Aikido instructor, so I studied some as a child.  It is actually quite interesting, as I am studying a different branch of Aikido than I leaned before.

In other words, basically nothing has happened, yet, but I am getting settled in and am putting wheels in motion for the future.

Oh, I am sure you want to hear about the weather.  It has been pretty warm since I've been here.  The daytime temperatures have been as high as 8 (all temperatures will be given in celsius.  deal with it) and I have not needed my hat a lot of the time (but happy for it at night).  I have not needed my giant gonzo snow jacket and I even had to buy some lighter shoes because the boots I bought (which are awesome) were too warm. I am assured, that I will need everything warm that I brought in not too long, but for the moment it's mostly like a really cold night in San Francisco. It was raining on the day I arrived, but since then it has mostly just been grey.  And, of course it doesn't really get light until about 10:30AM and gets dark again around 5PM (and the days are still getting shorter).  So far this had not bothered me.  Again, I have been assured that I will be light starved before the winter is over.

So here is the first thing I want to share about Russia, well about Russians, really.  On the street they seem incredibly rude.  And they are.  They can't even seem to figure out that storming the metro door the moment it opens will only result in chaos as the people inside need to exit first so instead the two crowds kind of weave through each other.  They bump into you and don't say anything.  They don't acknowledge you when you are waiting at their counter (assertiveness is very important here!) and often actively ignore you.  BUT if you go to their home, they are incredibly welcoming and make sure every need that they can fulfill, they do.  I am really getting to like that part and I hope I can learn to be as good a host as any Russian.