Next stop: Munuch!

I'm leaving for Munich this afternoon. I will miss Berlin, this city is awesome! I will definitely have to come back. I could almost live here. Also, it has been snowing a lot the last four days. I've heard that the 30cm (1 foot) of snow that we got is the largest amount in several years. It sure makes everything so beautiful though.

Unfortunately I don' have a good way to upload my photos yet. Hopefully once I'm in Munich I can find an internet cafe that lets me do that. Well, it's off to spend a few more hours seeing beautiful Berlin. Ciao!

Berlin Rocks!!!

I love Berlin! This city is awesome! I spent the night in a very nice hostel near the eastern center. This morning I went on a four hour walking tour. It is amazing how this city and the nation around it have lived through horrible repressive governments, yet today, just 16 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, thrives and prospers. Everyone speaks English too! Truely a wonderful city. Sometime soon, I hope to post photos!

Beware of Rumors!

My friend who is also a student teacher here in Moscow went home to the states for Christmas. One of her friends there told her of a rumor she heard that she was dating a student teacher from Walla Walla College! This rumor about something in Russia somehow spread from Walla Walla to Arkansas!

I hate to disappoint all of you in rumorland, but this one isn't true at all. I am still single, and my colleague is still single. None of us are dating anyone, and certainly not each other. Sorry - and it's nothing against her either.

I can't speak for her, but I am quite certain that I won't be dating anyone in Russia. There are many good reasons for this, such as the time and attention required by a relationship, and the fact that I don't speak Russian well at all. I believe strongly that there is no rush to get married to someone, and it is, as a rule, a dumb idea to do so.

So that said, no we aren't dating, and anyone expecting me to come back with a wife (Russian or otherwise) will be very disappointed.

Moving on to a different topic, I visited a friend from the International church at his university today. I had the typical rude experience with security guards, but we were able to meet in a friend's dorm room and have a bit to eat. I had dinner today with a Haitian (my friend), and two Chinese, and a Peruvian. This dinner was actually a loaf of French bread hacked apart with a butterknife, and some cups of yogurt (sans spoons). Everyone was bewildered as to why an American would be crazy enough to live in Russia.

Merry Christmas!

Well, Christmas is now over in this part of the world. I didn't really do anything special for Christmas today. It's not a holiday in this country. I did plan to do some skiing, or skating, but it never materialized. I did hang out with some friends though, and got a few presents from various people. All in all, it was satisfying. I was away from my parents on Christmas for the third year in a row. My family for the second year in a row. I am starting to miss them...

Last year I was in Thailand on a mission trip over Christmas. The year before I was in Alaska with my sister's family. I was also in Thailand on 26 December, which was when the tsunami hit. Thankfully I was nowhere close to it, but still quite a tramatic event for the world. May the Lord be with the survivors and mourners gathered there today.

Vacation!!!

I am officially on Christmas vacation (holiday) now!!! We finished class registration today, and I am a free man! I don't have any plans for Christmas on Sunday, but I have no shortage of friends to spend time with. I might even do some "mountain" skiing!!! :) Ya lyublyu katasu na lizhe! (I love to ski)

I leave next Wednesday for Berlin. I am very excited that my EUrail passes have made it to Europe. It looks like they well be in Berlin when I get there... this has been my desperate prayer. And now, to bed I go.

Another One Left on a Jet Plane!

So Navina went home too! She left Moscow yesterday afternoon to fly home to see her family in Arkansas. I wish her a great Christmas vacation, and I look forward to those Resees peanut butter cups when she comes back! Oh, and pumpkin pie mix too :)

She is a Sophomore from Andrews Univ. and has been here since last summer... she plans to live here indefinitely (at least for now). It is always a trip to see her so bubbling over with happiness about life in Russia. She loves this place. It is really awesome, but I think she's too much in love to see anything wrong with this place. I'll stop talking about her now, since she just might read this.

Don't get me wrong, Russia is awesome, and there are great people here. I've enjoyed almost every minute of it myself. I don't think I'd opt for being here more than a year though. I'd hate to live in a small apartment with 10,000 other people per square kilometer. Also, the economy is bad here, and the police and government are notoriously corrupt. I think it's just a case of bad management, myself -- but in a government, the quality of management makes the difference between prosperity and abject poverty and instability. Not saying that my own country is governed by the most competent administration, either. If things get too much worse, maybe living abroad wouldn't be such a bad idea. If I did, though, I think I'd opt for Europe or Australia.

Speaking of Australia, in my classes last Thursday, and last night, we watched 2 parts of a BBC documentary about the continent. I also was chatting with a friend from home about how nice it would be to have a warm, sunny holiday to Australia. What an awesome place, with so much unusual wildlife, mountains, deserts, monoliths, and reefs. Lets not forget about the vegemite too :)

Well, its off to work now. I guess I'll have to bask in the half foot (15cm) of snow that fell last night, and imagine it's white sand. I also decided that I am going downhill skiing for Christmas this Sunday.

He's Leaving on a Jet Plane

Today we had a nice going away party, complete with delicious shamburgers and homemade buns. This party was for my apartment-mate, Martin, whom leaves tomorrow morning. Martin, it was a great two and a half months with you here. You will be missed! I wish you safe travels and a good life back in Washington. Most of all, I wish you happy holidays with your family. I wish I had that luxury.

Even though it's officially the end of the term at the English Language Center, my vacation hasn't started yet :( I have to teach on Monday and Wednesday afternoon at the division office (which I enjoy), and teach another class Tuesday and Thursday evening. I also have to substitute for another teacher's classes on Tuesday! It will be busy, but not half as busy as it usually is :)

I look forward to spending a little more time with my Russian friends too. This means lots of Russian practice!

Also, tonight, I and a friend stepped inside the magnificent Orthodox cathedral called "Church of Christ the Savior", and spent a few minutes watching the Sunday evening mass. This is the grandest cathedral in all of Moscow (Russia?), and its ceiling and Rotunda are absolutely spectacular!

Drunken hockey fans attempt to commandeer Moscow metro train

Yesterday, two drunken hockey fans entered an empty driver's cabin at the back end of a gray line metro train. They then shouted cheers for their team, then obscenities over the PA system. They also engadged the controls, causing the train to halt, since it was being driven from the other end at the time. Jailarity ensues...
http://russia.arthurk.com/

In other news, last night a fellow teacher and I went out to eat at the Starlight Diner, a wonderful American "1950's Style" diner. It was a lot of fun, and the food was delicious. I had Jalepeño poppers, and chili cheese fries. Unfortunately, we had to cancel desert and make a mad dash for the metro, before it closed at 1:00.

On This Day in 1983...

A child was born in Bellingham Washington. His proud parents and sister celebrated gleefully. Hopefully they still are :)

And now, your moment of Zen...

Holiday Plans

Happy Holidays!

I finish my second term of teaching on the 21 of December (A week after my birthday). Unfortunately, I won't be going home for Christmas. I will be here in Russia, hopefully not too bored or lonely, sicne my flatmate is leaving on the 19th.

On the 28th, however, I will be leaving Russia! I will be flying to Berlin for an 18 day holiday in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Holland. The plan is to travel by railroad, but the situation with my railpass rather unclear (see my previous post).

So, I've never been to Europe before (other than London and Moscow), and I don't what to expect or what I'll do there. Unfortunately, I have to do this on a shoestring budget. I hope baguettes, mustard, and fruit are palatable for so long. I'll definitely take lots of pictures!

Wish me luck!

Fed up with FedEx

Arggg... I just want a small piece of paper, that already cost me $400. And I am sure as heck not going to pay another $200. I am going to Europe for New Years, and I bought a railpass in November. Because of a beauracratic technicality, I had to buy it online from the US. I had a friend ship it here via FedEx. Well, he mistakenly wrote a customs value of $580 on the package. Two weeks later, I got a call from FedEx requiring me to pay a $200 duty on the bloody thing!

After weeks of getting the run around by FedEx's Russian division, I was finally given the answer that it is impossible to modify customs values. I guess I'll never see that package again. Oh, and to send it back to the states, $124!

I am hoping that my insurance on that pass can cover me, and get a new ticket issued. Otherwise, I will have to get it refunded for 85%, which leaves me out $60. :( I am already poor enough!

So pray that this all works out. I am looking forward to my vacation.

Happy Sabbath - С ном суббота

Another week is just about over! This was a long and tiring week. Today I taught the Friday night bible study lesson -- all 20 people! I wasn't so prepared, but it went well. I tought about patience, especially relating to the Lord's second coming. Not everyone agreed that this is such an important consideration for our lives. Usually, we have a few people debating differences of opinion. Interesting to listen to, but really tough to moderate, or respond to. Seeing all those "Friday night friends" again was good.

I really need to make it a point to get some R&R this weekend. It is supposed to be -17°C (1°F) tomrrow! Coooollld!!! I think I might buy a pair of cross-country skis next week, if my budget allows it; there is so much nice powder on the ground, and a big, huge park so nearby.

Tiresome Tuesday

Well, the end of another day is here. Classes seems to really drag tonight. And I am very tired... and Hungry. I think I will go to bed early. The weather is getting colder, and it snowed some more today. It's still only -5°C (23°F), and there is only a few centimeters of snow on the ground, but we all know the Russian winter is comming.

I am hoping to do some programming tomorrow morning for my old boss Lyle. I keep promising to do some, and I really do need to earn some extra money. Hopefully tomorrow I can work up some motivation, and get that done, and my workbooks graded by noon.

An Eventful Sunday

So, I finally got to see the famous Tretyakovsky Art Gallery, home of Russia's most famous pieces of art. It was really interesting. Unfortunately no photograhy is allowed inside. I did pick up some picture books and postcards of the city though. Maybe I can put some of those in my gallery.

In other news, I need to come clean about something. Dating when you are a student missionary is quite a touchy subject, and is strongly discouraged by the powers that be. However, I know of a former teacher in my job that married a Russian and stayed in Russia. I know of another former teacher, now in the US, who is engaged to a Russian friend of mine here.

As for my situation, for the last few months, I have had a friend from church that I would spend time with on the weekends (we never had time to see each other during the week!). We weren't dating officially most of that time, and we did always spend time together with a group of others. She actually is a dentist, and has her hopes set on going to Loma Linda someday. And she insists on doing that before getting married.

Anyway, you probably noticed how that was all written in the past tense. Its all over now. Our friendship has been off and on several times. We haven't been officially dating for several weeks, but yesterday it all came to a dramatic ending. I have to say that jealousy and emotional insecurity are a huge problem here. Is there a such thing as an emotionally stable female? Perhaps it's just a result of overbearing Adventist parents that want to shape thier daughters into perfect little girls.

Last night a friend of my roommate's called from the US to test calling to mobile phones abroad. My "girlfriend" jumped to the conclusion that this was some girl I was seeing! She never wants to talk to me again! I am not upset. This is actually good; no loss to me. In conclusion, I guess it is a better idea to stay away from love at all, especially as a lonely SM. Such is life; it is really hard being young.

Press Release: Three Months Down!

December is now upon us. The last month of the year is here. 2005 has grown old, and its retirement is near. Today, I have been in Moscow exacly three full months. I hope the fourth is as good!

So far, so good, I would say. I still love the fact that I am here. I am settled, and used to daily life. I still have not even come close to learning the Russian Language. That doesn't mean I don't have any friends though. Other than my colleagues at the school, I have many friends from the EA Division office, and from Church. I have a good collection of good memories to treasure. Unfortunately my dead camera batteries prevent me from posting these memories to my gallery :(
And my AA recharger's power supply gave up the ghost. Guess I'll have to buy another tomorrow.

Well, we have a three day weekend, thanks to the school being closed for the elections. These are local elections, and I really don't know much about them, but the Communist Party is doing a lot of advertizing!