A Note About My Blogs

Hello to all my readers! Thank you for reading. Please post comments. I am interested to hear what you think, who you are and where you are from. Also, I should note that this blog mainly covers the time I was in Russia from August 2005 to June of 2006. Entries made before and after that are in my Blog Americana at http://blog.ArthurK.com. Please check it out!

Where I've been on this rock

Here is a map of where I've been. Quite interesting - I think I have the northern hemisphere pretty much licked. My secret... visit the largest countries first. I have the biggest four done. (ok, China was just the Hong Kong airport...) All that, and I've never crossed the equator. Anyone want to send me to Brazil?

create your own visited countries map

Scorching Summer

Almost the entire continental United States is above 30°C (86°F)! Talk about a hot day. The small Western Washington town of Forks will reach 18°C (65°F). This is the lowest temperature in all the lower 49 states!

Fortunately I work and live in air conditioned buildings. During the bitterly cold Moscow winter I was dreaming of the scorching hot summer here in Walla Walla. Ahhhh... Enjoying the warmth I am indeed, but safely from inside my room.

A Lot More New Photos!

Greetings friends!
I have been promising to add many more photos for a while now. I added some a few days ago, but today I have just added almost 400. That is still a drop in the bucket compared to the 3.5 gigabytes of photos that I have from being in Russia/Europe, but still, its more than enough to see the most interesting experiences and sights that I saw in Russia. Enjoy, and feel free to post comments here.

To my photo gallery: http://photos.ArthurK.com

New Photos!

There are new pictures at http://photos.ArthurK.com. These Pictures are from my last Friday Night discussion group in May, before I left Russia.

раз, два, три... прыгай!

(One, Two, Three, Jump!)

Today was an awesome day! I went to Fishhook State Park today with my friend Jimmy. Jimmy is a friend from SIFE at Walla Walla College. He also was a student teacher in Almate in Kazakstan a few years ago. He is also the one who got me interested in going to Russia to teach. Today we were meeting Luke Hamilton who is a fried of Jimmy's. Luke was a student at a different university, but was also teacher in Moscow, just like I was. Maybe some of my readers in Russia know Luke. He says "привет" by the way. It was really neat to meet him (and his family) today. The three of us former student volunteers had so much fun talking about our experiences in Moscow and Almate. We even got to practice a little Russian - "хочешь арбуз?" We didn't just stand around eating арбуз (watermelon) though. Oh no... we threw in a little insane danger into our sabbath afternoon activities. We decided to jump from a 5-meter high cliff into the Snake River several times. It was a hot day (35°C/95°F), and the water was nice and cool. Should I mention this was my first time ever cliff jumping?

Finals Week

Well, I've been taking life easy this week, staying with my sister's family, and then tonight with my aunt & uncle. It's been really wonderful seeing them all. I also arrived a week earlier than they expected, pleasantly surprising them. Tomorrow morning, I will embark on the five hour journey east, across Washington State to the city of Walla Walla. I have a lot of family in Tacoma, but all of my friends are in Walla Walla. This is a very special week for them too. Not only is their friend Arthur arrving, but their long year at Walla Walla College will be drawing to an end. After two or three days of tough, rigorous exams, they will be done with the school year on Wednesday, and graduation will be on Sunday. My class will be graduating, of course without me, since I spent this year in Russia. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing all of you (my WWC friends) tomorrow or the next day. Good luck with finals. It will be nice to be there, yet have no finals to worry about :) That will come next year!

BACK HOME FROM RUSSIA!!!

Hey everyone! I'm back from Russia. I am currently in Tacoma, Washington staying with my family. I am going to Walla Walla sometime next week. My flight was quite long, but not bad. I stayed for 20 hours in London, which gave me some time to wander around the city, and visit the wonderful British Museum. I even got to see the Rosetta Stone.

Anyway, I am happy to be home. I'd like to thank all of my friends, family, and colleagues for all the support while I've been in Russia. It's been an incredible experience, and I've been very blessed indeed, in so many ways.

"Hey, it's good to be back home again" --John Denver, Home Again

Last Days of Being in Russia

So, yes, I've been quite busy preparing to come home from Russia. It will be a big change to come home to the United States. I've enjoyed the opportunity of teaching so many great students for the last nine months. I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends and family, but certainly it will be a big transition in my life. I guess it's strange to think that everything and everyone that I have known for the last nine months will suddenly be gone. As heartbreaking as that is, I know that many wonderful new opportunities await me. I do look forward to being home. Wish me the best of Luck!

Vladimir Lenin

I am going home in just over a week, and until now, I have yet to see one of Russia's central icons. Today, Ivan (my roommate) and I decided to see Vladimir Ilyich Lenin -- the man who started the Soviet Union. He died in 1924, but he was well preserved, and his body has been on display for over 80 years. Soviet citizens have long held this sight as an almost sacred pilgrimage. Today, the lines are not so long, but Lenin is still a unique piece of history that can be freely seen.

Observed at Moskva, RU

Heavy Rain Showers, reads the banner right above this post. Today was Sunday, and it was very sunny this morning, but the weather slowly changed during my very tiring five-hour marathon of teaching this afternoon. I sent the evening on a very wet walk with a friend at the Botanical Garden, a large forested park north of the All-Russia Expo Center (ВДНХ). The forest was lovely, but the weather was anything but cooperative. Still, it was fun though. :)
My issues class is over, at last! I will be home in 12 days also!!! It's hard to imagine that I am actually leaving Russia so soon! It feels like I haven't been here long, but yet, it feels like I've lived here forever. I'm leavin' on a Jet Plane. I don't know when I'll be back again.

Teaching the Teacher

Being a teacher, especially of adults, is an amazing experience. I have, in one of my classes, a rocket scientist, and a lady who works for a humanitarian NGO. In another class, I teach three
employees of the Russia branch of United Pictures, a large Hollywood cinema company. Occasionally, a celeberty visits to promote a new release. In the near future, a well know celeberty will be visiting us. Back to my point, teaching is a wonderful occupation, because it provides wonderful opportunities to meet interesting people from many diverse backgrounds. I have had many stimulating conversations about subjects such as politics, racism, economics, Soviet History, and ecology, to name a few.

Tourists often hear the advice which urges them to get to know the local people. Sit in a cafe, and chat, ask them about life, try to learn some of the language, know about the culture, etc. Teaching in a foreign land for a year is going even farther. I have lived in Russia, as Russian for almost 9 months now, and it has taught me many amazing things. Being a teacher gives one a chance to be something even more important: a friend. I am grateful for the many friends that I have made here, and I hope that I can continue to stay in touch with them after I return home.