Halloween party

Hello all, sorry it's been a while - been so busy enjoying my week off and planning a party.  Pictures at the end of the blog entry!!  Check 'em out.

Here's how I spent the week: Monday - routine day, grocery shopping, etc.  Most museums are closed on Monday anyway, so I planned to make maximum use of the other days off. 

Tuesday - the old Tretyakov gallery.  This is a museum where you can find "old" (pre-20th century) Russian art.  They have an exquisite collection and periodic temporary exhibits.  I have been here before but of course you can't see everything in one visit.  I stayed for about 3 hours and explored the second floor.  It was cold!  Russian winter is on the way.    www.tretyakovgallery.ru/en/ 

Wednesday - the new Tretyakov gallery.  This is the 20th and 21st century collection.  There was an exhibit by Nikolai Ghe www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Ge into which I walked without paying, looked around for an hour and loved, and then on the way out realized I should have bought a special ticket for that.  Oh well.  Then I looked at 6 rooms of art of the permanent collection, out of about 50.  After that I had to go home.  Have to come back soon when I have the chance.

I also went to the Lenin Library (their library of congress) and read Anna Karennina both these days.  What good days!

Thursday - IKEA.  Yes, Shakara and I went to Ikea.  That's it.  But it was an all-day adventure.  It took over 8 hours from the time I left my home to when I came back.  We met in the metro, went to the last stop on the green line, from there took a bus to a MegaMall.  Man, it was so mega!  We shopped and ate and had some fun before going to Ikea.  I needed some sort of cheap furniture for my room and a full-length mirror.  She needed a blanket, pillows, etc.  We both ended up getting what we need and it was a very successful trip - and a fun day!  She sticks out like a sore thumb here because she's black, and I was wearing a dot on my forehead for fun.  And we were speaking English.  So we were a little noticeable.  But that's ok.  Most of the time, if I'm not talking, I blend in.

Friday - the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushkin_Museum  Pasha met me after work as we tried for a second time to get into this Dali exhibit.  Last time we waited for an hour and they cut the line off just ahead of us.  This time as I was off work I was already standing in line, and he met me there as soon as he could, at like 5:30.  The ticket office closes at 6.  It was gunna be close.  But we got in!!!!!  It was a very inspiring - and very interesting exhibit.  Well worth the wait. 
After that, we went to the supermarket to buy things for the party on Saturday night.  We were there until they closed at 11.  And we ended up having to go back again the next day anyway!  But more about the party later.  For now, just look at the pics :)  Blessings and love to you all.  It seems i'll be in the states over Christmas, so see you then if I see you.
-Beth

aliens rocked the planet

Hi.  Let me tell you about the concert on Sunday (VocaPeople: http://voca-people.com/).  It blew me away. I was gobstopped.  I was flabbergasted.  I was enthralled non-stop.  The hour and a half went by like 5 minutes and left me wanting more.  It was hilarious.  They made the audience participate constantly and never let you stop laughing.  I'm so glad I went!
There was a bit of a plot - their spaceship crashed and they need energy to go back home.  They sang many medleys - history of "earth" music, popular movie soundtracks, etc., which were amazing, but they also performed in an acting, dancing, and beatboxing way.  They introduced themselves and their vocal talents - bass, baritone, tenor, alto, mezzo, soprano, and two more guys, beat boxer and scratcher.  Before the performance, they announced that all the sounds we were about to hear were made from natural human vocals only.  Pretty sweet, very quirky.

Only one more week of work before vacation - we have a week off for the fall holidays.  Actually, I have two more days of the "week of taste" to go, and then I'm off for ten!  Woopie!

Vomit and parents

What a day!  Friday!  I lived through this day!  And it wasn't actually that bad.  Only, I got thrown up on.  Yep.  A right of passage, you might say.  A kid puked on me, right on my white pants.  My white pants that I only wear when I want to look my best at work, part of my most professional and also beautiful outfit, white pants that made it through painting in the morning without a spot, that I was planning to wear to our photo exhibit in the evening, when we had to shmooz the parents.  In the morning, I got dressed, put pants on as any normal person should do, and went to work.  When I got to work, I took them off.  What was I to do?  That puke didn't smell pretty.  Thank the Lord I had black stretch pants on underneath, for warmth.  I worked all day in just those.  They are worn in the crotch and not really "outer" clothes; usually I just wear them as pajamas and underclothes.  But today I wore them at work.  I washed my pants and hung them to dry; by the time the photo exhibit rolled around, they were dry.  And the exhibit went fine.  So all's well that ends well.  Another time, I came home with blood all over my blouse.  It's just my line of work.  Blood, vomit ... can you imagine what's next?

Happy to have reached the weekend.  Did I tell you I went to Canadian Thanksgiving at my new Canadian friend's house?  A real feast: really fun and also yummy.  That was last weekend I think.  About ten people at her apartment and it was a blast.  People from all over, speaking different languages.  I like that a lot.  It's one of my favorite aspects of church.  I'm planning to host a halloween party with my roommates at the end of this month.  I hope it goes well!  Parties are so much fun.

live music on arbat and in space

Hi guys – so sorry it's been so long. Wow – life in Russia. What a shtuka! That means “what a thing,” but in a kinda slang-ish way. Ups and downs of the past couple weeks... well October 3-7 was a really busy week work-wise. I got observed on the 5^th and man, was I stressing about it for a couple days. If it were toddlers, I'd love being observed so I could show off my skills. I really have fun with that class. Today, for instance, we did the rhyme “five little pumpkins.” It was a big hit! I had the assistant turn off the light at just the right moment and they were all not scared but intrigued and fascinated and amused. But it was not toddlers or even the baby group, it was EFL (English as a Foreign language.) And she didn't even come at the beginning of the class, when I have routines and rituals, but at the end, after the break. I had three activities: two of them flopped. On top of that, we had a section meeting, got ready to think about halloween and Thanksgiving. This week's busy too: we have a photo exhibit coming up this Friday (which required a lot of planning and preparation) after that is the “week of taste,” a week featuring special lesson plans involving red and green foods, guests, special menus, decorations in the school, etc. After that, vacation! So I'm glad to have gotten all the deadlines figured out and made sure I won't forget anything. Plans were due earlier than usual, and I've been trying to get my hands on a buttload of little pumpkins for a while now – not so easy in Moscow without a car. But I finally got them – some were not actually pumpkins but a strange disc-shaped vegetable called patission, but who cares – and this week we painted them. They loved it!! I even had my older, EFL kids paint the big pumpkin because it was starting to go bad, lol.

I was walking on Arbat from work to the metro and I came across of group of two young people playing music, a guy with a guitar and a girl with a drum. I stood and listened for a while. I think they were playing Kino. I had just sold my old phone for 500 roubles, so I had some “extra” cash. I gave them the 500 and headed for the metro, but just behind me I heard the exclamation – of course they weren't used to getting that much. I was really delighted. Reminds me of the time mom and I made a cake and put it in my friend's refrigerator when she wasn't there.

I sat at home and played my music for Lena and Pasha (roommates) and sang along loudly and unabashedly. Then I went to do the dishes, and Pasha had managed to find the one song out of hundreds where I'm the one singing. It was the russian alphabet, made last year for my middle schoolers. Actually, no, it was made in grad school as a podcast assignment, but I used it with my middle schoolers. They could not hear that. I quickly slammed the computer shut.

Another concert coming up this weekend – the “VocaPeople.” They're all dressed in white like the blue man group, but not blue. And they have red mouths. They are aliens who travel the galaxy in a ship powered by music. They beatbox and cover popular songs a capella. Seems a little corny, but I like corny things. I'm going to wear a dress, yay! First time in Moscow. But it's going to be 38 degrees. Darnit! And we're going to have snow this week. :(

Here are some of the most recommended Russian musicians:

Чиж и Co

Nautilus Pompilius

Мельница

Кино

Смысловые галлюцинации

Чичерина

Би-2

Игорь Тальков

Gruppa "acquarium"

Hello dear friends.  
Last time I wrote about banking, so I didn't get to tell the good stuff.  Last Friday I went to the rock concert "akvarium."  I liked it.  Masha, my cool-as-a-moose friend, explained that they are the #2 group in Russia.  Of all time.  First, as some of you will know, of course, is Kino.  The deceased Viktor Tsoy is legend.  But among living Russian rock groups, Akvarium is in first place.  (Third place is DDT.)  My friends and I made some parallels to The Grateful Dead, Bowie and Dylan.  Lead singer Boris Grebenshchikov makes psychadelic, philosophical sounds and lyrics.  There was a lot of flute.  I went into it not knowing what to expect and ended up pretty satisfied.  Oh, yeah, got in for free :)  Masha's friend Zhenya works in PR and they're always getting tickets to cool events (mainstream and non) and inviting me.  Score!

wikipedia link (very interesting): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akvarium

In other news, the new girl arrived at work today.  I feel so sorry for her!  My start here was rocky to say the least, and that was at the beginning of the year when I had no where to live (see earlier blog pages.)  She is starting in the middle, being constantly observed, and also has no where to live yet.  No telephone (I'll give her my old one tomorrow), doesn't speak the language and seems like she can't really even manage to feed herself properly.  Yikes!  Prayers for Shakara, please.

I like my job.  I am having so much fun!  I like toddlers best.  They are so easily impressed.  But working the baby group and EFL (4-5 year olds) is not bad either.  Hooray!

Banking in Russia

Banking in Russia is, like everything else, unknown.  By that I mean, it's unknown whether or not it's possible.  In theory, it is.  Of course.  It's a developed country.  Nowadays, a lot of the time, it is.  But sometimes, it's not.  Sorry.  That's Russia.

Perhaps some of you who are already acquainted with Russian mentalities and what life's like here will feel me on this one.  My school opened a bank account for me.  The Russian accountants that work for my school said, "go to the bank.  Here's where it is.  Find out everything about your new account there."

So I went.  They said, "we don't see that you have an account here."  Ok.  Well anyways, can you tell me what percent you charge on international money transfers?  "We charge 1,200 roubles each time." (about $37.50).  Hmm.  Thank you.

So I asked Pasha, who works at a bank and recommended a certain Russian bank (which will remain nameless - it doesn't matter anyway - it could have been any of them.  They're all Russian.)  A mainstream one with branches all over the place.  He called for me and asked what percent they take - 0.7%.  That's better than other banks I'd heard, who charge 1%. 

I went there on my day off with the intent to open an account.  In America, the experience is such: you sit down at a desk with a guy who gives you a folder of papers and asks if you have any questions.  He explains everything about the account, makes sure you're happy, opens the account, thanks you for banking with them and gives you a little keychain as a souvenir.  Then you go home.  In Russia, I went to a branch with the silly delusion that the experience would be something similar.  If I had thought about it, I would have realized that that's not the case. But I didn't think about it.  I went to the branch of that bank nearest to my home - .... and opened the door .... IT WAS LIKE THE DMV!!  A huge crowd of people (on a Monday no less) were sitting around with little tickets in their hands.  Children were crying, people were coughing and doing crosswords.  A computerized board showed and a voice periodically asked client # such and such to go to window such and such.  I chuckled to myself.  Beth, you've long ago learned that nothing is simple and pleasant in Russia.  Everything is complicated and very often simply absurd.  I took a number and sat down.

I realized I had time to go to the store.  It was literally next door.  So I did.  I also bought a bus pass.  When I came back, some windows were behind my number and one was ahead.  Had I missed my chance?  I asked a girl who said take another number but don't lose that one in case it still comes up.

I sat and waited for a long while.  The first number was about to come up.  It was next!  I was so excited.  537 was my number.  They announced 536 then 538.  D'oh! Well there was a slim chance they called it while I was out.  Ok, I'll wait for the second number, 568.  I waited and waited.  Nice day off.  I waited for over an hour.  Finally we were on 567.  I was ready to go and open my account.  Of course the next number they called was 569.

At that point, I got up and said to the girl, really, come on now.  I've waited for over an hour and you skipped both my numbers.  What's the deal.  She said just budge.  Now, I'm not one for budging.  I hate it when people cut in line!!  How rude!  But this is Russia, none of the normal conditions apply.

So I budged.  Then next free window - I jumped on it.  A lady who was actually not that rude helped me open the account.  Cool!  Cuz it was a question whether this would happen at all. Seriously.  I double checked - by the way, what percent do you take for international transfers?  "0.7%."  Consistency.  Success.  A step forward.  I was inwardly celebrating, despite all the crap.

I needed to go home and have some lunch and get a wad of cash they paid me.  So I did, but then I came back.  This time, later in the day, there were even more people.  I took a number.  When my number FINALLY came up, I told the young man I wanted to deposit some money in my account and then make an international wire transfer.  He got a really scared look on his face and said "go see the administrator."

So I went to the last window.  Was it free?  Of course not.  I got in line again.  A lady arrived there just at the same time I did, so it was not clear who was next in line.  At first I was thinking when this person is done I'm gunna jump up and take my turn!  Then I thought, actually, we'll look at each other and she'll let me go ahead.  Then I decided it was better to let her go first.  It's a good thing I did, because when the window finally freed up she jumped up and went.  She was calm but very angry.  Apparently the bank had lost her money.   Not a confidence-giving sign.  They had her go fill out a form.  While she did, it was my turn.  I was able to deposit the cash I had brought with me, an advance on my first paycheck.  Nice.  I was also able to get an atm card - for some reason, the first lady hadn't given me one.  I was about to mention the tranfer when the angry lady was done filling out her form, a really old guy approached the window not knowing there was a line, and the girl behind me who had been asking me if I would be long looked at me with a desperate, pitiable look on her face.  Ok, I said to the administrator, that will be all for now.

So, I spent the whole day at the bank and didn't do what I'd gone there to do.  But there were some successes.  Russians themselves take things in stride and focus on the small successes.  It's not just us foreigners who suffer this highly inconvenient life.

But that's not all.  Oh, no, that's far from all.  Go get a drink.  The saga continues:

The next day during my lunch break I decided to go to the branch near my work and see if things were better there.  They were!  No tickets, no lines.  I asked a girl about an international transfer and said last time they sent me straight to the administrator.  She showed me in to a room and pointed out the person I needed to talk to.  There was only one party ahead of me.  I sat down and made myself comfortable.  Now this is more like it.

When the young man was free, he started to work with me.  I told him what I needed and he went and got some papers.  He showed me an example of a form someone had filled out for this transaction and said I needed a third number - not just the account number and the routing number.  I said hm.  Then I said, you know, I really think that all you need are those two numbers.  See the example?  It says, "routing."

He said ok, let's try it just like the example then.  He was very polite.  He kept saying a few words in German, which cracked me up.  So I had to fill out the form by hand.  Painsakingly, in little squares, some in latin letters and some in Cyrillic.  I tried and made a mistake.  Had to start all over again.  I made another mistake.  I had to start over a total of four times, but then I did it.  I decided to send just $10 first to see if it works, and if so, then I'd send enough to pay the bills.

Well, it was finally time to make a transfer!  I checked again: "Ruslan, what percent do you take for international wire transfers?"  "0.7%."  Great.  Consistency.  Logic.  He waited on some other people while I filled out my paperwork and then I waited til it was my turn again.  Finally, .... nothing happened.  And I had to go back to work.  He said to me, "Eh-liza-bet Jane," (immitating the first name, patronymic form of address they use for formal, the equivalent of "Miss Kane,") "today we have completed one very important thing.  We have filled out a paper.  And that's it."  I was like, ....   .....  Um, dear Ruslan, can you please tell me, is it possible to make an international money transfer?  "Well, there is no connection."  Oh, I see.  But, in principle, is it possible????  "OOOOHHHH, yes!!  Of course!  There's no doubt! :) "  Well, I had doubted.  But I'll come back tomorrow.

The next day I came back with the same paper I had completed; I just changed the date.  The transfer was completed! !!! :-D  It only took me God knows how many hours of waiting at banks, but I managed to send $10 home.  However, the comission was 50 roubles.  Out of 324.  Hmm, strange.  That's not 0.7%. 

Ruslan said it was such a small sum we sent, and it was a minimum.  Ok.  I have to go back to work now.  Now that we know it works, I'll come back tomorrow and send the real money.

I came back the next day.  I sent $400 home.  However, they took $8.  Why?  I asked and well, although he was very polite, he could not tell me.  He beat around the bush, showing me rule books and explaining me this and that, and telling me there were minimums and maximums.... but I just kept asking, why isn't it 0.7%?  This went on for a while.  He said, "the computer decides what percent to take."  I said "how does the computer know?"  He said, "you'll have to go ask our informatika department."  I said, (calmly), "please, just admit that it's absurd.  Just admit that you're a bank and you yourselves don't know what you charge or why.  Just admit that what's written in the rule book is simply not true." 

Finally he got on the phone.  He and I waited.  We waited a long time.  By now it was Friday and I wanted to go to a concert.  I had agreed to meet my friend at 7:10 at a certain metro station.  I could not wait here all night.

Just as I was getting ready to leave, he found out from the person on the phone that it's actually not 0.7%.  It's 2%.  He showed me a different rule in the rule book.  We smiled at each other.  He could now do his job better, was more knowledgable thanks to me.  And me, I had found out that this wasn't absurdity, it was a mistake.

That's what Russia does to you, for all it's worth: you go through so much hassle that when there's a tiny bright side, it makes you so damn happy you don't know what to do!  Talk about absurdity.  People had been wrong from the beginning and it was bad for me financilly, but I just felt so happy to have figured out what was going on.  You lower your standards and start to think like a Russian - it is what it is, there is bad, but there is also some good, so we can accept that.

The money, by the way, three days later, still has not appeared in my American account.  Now I have to decide whether it's worth it to close my account with them (that I gave so much blood, sweat and tears to open) and try a different back where (they say) the fee is 1%.  Akh!

*          *          *

In other news, work is going well.  We studied three of the five senses last week and this week we'll do sight and sound.  Getting the hang of things.  Look mom, look dad, look everyone!  Look what I managed to make them do!! ;)



Greetings, blog readers!  Thank you for your attention.  I can't believe it's Monday already and I haven't gotten around to adding anything for a while.  Here's the latest:

My second week at work was a blast, much better than the first.  I am adapting quickly to what I need to do, but also to the fact that things there change so fast I will need to constantly adapt.  They asked if I would take on a new class on Tuesday, talked to me about it on Wednesday, gave me the documents for reference on Thursday, and it already started on Friday!  Sink or swim.

The children are adapting too.  Much less crying and more participating.

The new job is called EFL - it's for 4- and 5-year-olds.  It's not "day care" like for the toddlers, where they learn languages and everything else a kid that age needs to know.  It's supposed to be just English as a foreign language.  I had one 4-year-old girl on Friday and things went rather well (I think).

This week's theme is touch, taste and smell!  Fun.

I've started to have fun with my job.  I actually went to bed last Friday smiling, thinking of all the possibilities and how fun they are to plan and carry out.  However, it's still new and not without stress.  Am I doing a good job?  What if I get a bad review by my authorities?

The schedule has finally solidified:

  M                   T                    W                    Th                        F

off               9:00-2:15         9:00-12:15         9:00-2:15               9:00-12:15
                    toddlers            toddlers           toddlers                 toddlers
                   3:30-4:30          1:30-4:30        3:30-4:30               1:30-4:30
                    toddlers            EFL                 toddlers                 EFL
                 5-6 baby group                         5-6 baby group

Plus planning and getting all the materials in my own time.  But all in all not a bad schedule.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are long days.

Pasha got me internet this weekend, so it's a lot more convenient for me to work, skype, and do what I need to do.  I also set up a Russian bank account, shopped for all the smelly and tasty things I need for class this week, went to church, watched a funny Russian movie at home, had my friend Lena over on Saturday night, and went to a fitness club.  Busy weekend!  This was the first weekend when I could start to relax; daily life requirements are being met more and more step by step and things are getting to a manageable routine.

The commute from home to work (door-to-door) is one hour: bus, then metro, then foot.  Yes, it sounds bad, but it doesn't feel too bad.  I like the car-less lifestyle.  We'll see how it goes this winter.

I had a moment when I was getting my city registration card and another when I was realizing that this is my first Russian apartment when I was kind of euphoric; I stepped back and saw the big picture, "this is really happening" kind of thing.

By the way I could not think of a catchy title for this blog. "From Russia with love" was too cliche.  I could not think of any plays on words or anything like that.  Open to suggestions!!

Life at home is good too.  Really, really happy with my living situation and ideal roommate.  The girl who was supposed to move in to the third room but was dragging her feet finally refused.  Pasha told me that we need to find someone, so we are asking around through friends and acquaintances.

I'll try to post some more pics soon!  God bless you all and love,
Beth