December and a Russian Round up

December has been a busy month with the choir I sing in.  We had two concerts in one week, one at the beautiful Norwegian Embassy where I even got to talk to the Norwegian Ambassador and not a Ferrero Rocher in sight! but mind you the Russian TV advert for Ferrero Rocher has the lovely Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in it.  He can feed me them anytime! The second concert was in St. Andrew's which is the Anglican church, very different acoustics so not quite the same intimate atmosphere as the embassy.

                                         The Moscow Mellow Divas at the Norwegian Embassy

The BWC's Bazaar was the following week at the British Embassy.  The British Embassy is a horrible glass monstrosity with no individual features to make it look aesthetically pleasing or even welcoming and there wasn't a sign of the British Ambassador.  I did pick up lots of goodies from the various artisans and an interesting book about the Moscow Metro.

I have had my first cold of the winter and boy was it a bad one! Tried taking Lemsips but they didn't even touch it so  D  recommended 'Terraflu'. The name alone should make colds run away screaming but it did help and I slowly recovered but had a week off work due to it.

This evening I went to L's School Christmas concert and it was really good, despite it being all in Russian. I recognised 'Snow White and the Seven Tap Dancing Dwarfs' and then a telling of the Nutcracker with some of Tchaikovsky's glorious score interspersed with some Russian pop numbers and it sounded fine.  Afterwards while waiting for 'I' to come out I noticed how well dressed some of the women were. 'I' was in Chanel and there were Prada, Gucci and Hermes bags galore and there's me with my Accessorize bag and Joules scarf.

I am not back in Moscow until the 1st February but I have loved my first three months here and have enjoyed having a social life again and meeting lots of different people but I'm looking froward to going home and it being quiet. City living is convenient but noisy and I shall enjoy having a ten minute walk into the centre of town instead of a twenty minute metro ride.

There probably won't be any blogging again until I am back so I  hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

The Bolshoi

In the foyer

Looking at the set of the new production of Sleeping Beauty

Vodka, Wolves, Russian Men and The Bolshoi

When I go to L's apartment I am now known by the security men so they let me in to the lift with their card so that I can get up to the apartment.  Normally L or the housekeeper O answers the door and I give a chirpy 'hi' but not this time, oh no, this time A opens the door and while I am saying my chirpy 'hi' I stop mid way through as A is not wearing a top. So there I am sputtering, trying to keep cool and carry on but I swear he must have thought I was an idiot.  I didn't know where to look. I doubt he was trying to emulate Putin and his bare chested publicity stunt but you never know.

I purchased my first bottle of Vodka this week.  Now going shopping for Vodka is not like in Sainsburys where there is one slim shelf of vodka and not much choice but also very expensive. Here in Moscow you have shelves of Vodka as far as the eye can see, and with prices ranging from 90RUB upwards it catered for every Russian.  I was spoilt for choice and didn't know what to choose but the kitsch inside me decided for me and I purchased a bottle which as you see in the picture explains it. All I needed now was this ridiculously good looking buff guy (topless of course and I wouldn't splutter, I tell you that much !) from True Blood to make it perfect.

It was mid priced when it comes to Vodka and tasted just fine. D's landlord who used to live in her apartment left no proper cups but plenty of shot glasses.   

On Friday one of my dreams while I am in Russia came true, Through the BWC (British Women's Club) a tour was put on and I got to look around the newly renovated Bolshoi Theatre.  It did not disappoint! The guide was a Russian lady and she was very scary, and we felt like a group of school girls who had been naughty.  We got to go into the auditorium and look at the stage and it is massive!! and the rake on the stage is quite steep.  It wasn't as good as the ROH tour as you didn't get to see any workshops or dancers around but we did get to see some vintage opera costumes on display from the 1970s. I will put some photos on my blog tomorrow as my internet is so slow at the moment but I do have a dongle so not too surprising. Hopefully going to see a ballet at The Bolshoi in February or March.  

I think this is due to the wild and windy weather we are having at the moment but snow is in the forecast for the next few days.  Bring it on!!!! I am prepared with my new down filled knee length coat with a detachable fur collar, and yes before you ask the fur is real but it keeps me nice and warm and isn't a fashion accessory.  

You do find yourself with a lot of fur envy and I had to stop myself this week buying the softest fur hat ever but it was 18,000 RUB which immediately put me off.  Fur is everywhere in Moscow and onetime I had to travel by metro at rush hour and I somehow managed to get squished between 3 ladies, all wearing fur coats. I tried to stop myself from stroking the coats and found out I was doing it without thinking. Luckily the metro train was quite bumpy so had an excuse if I was caught.   

Off to choir in the morning at the apartment block for retired KGB agents.  

Pushkin and Chasniks

  Last Thursday I went out to Booze Bub with friends and after we went on to another bar called Bourbon Street. It all started off well, our drinks were served quickly and we sat at the bar but it all went to hell in a hand-basket after that, but to cut a long story short, even I who has never worked in a bar before knows that you always serve someone their drink first before you present the bill, this did not happen. D got the bill and no drink and the staff played the 'we speak no Anglessski' card, so we left pretty quickly after that as the bouncer had come over, but don't get me wrong, I have mainly had nothing but good service in shops and restaurants and friendly staff who help you. I stayed over at D's apartment that night as we were after the last metro. D lives in the centre so it was only a short taxi ride.  Can you find an official taxi at two in the morning, hell no! so we got one of the chasnik 'gypsy' taxis which is a non metered taxi but D had been in one before and assured me we would be alright.  After a few taxi stopping and confusing us with being ladies of the night we got in one and he was really sweet and kissed our hands at the end. The Russian authorities have apparently banned these 'gypsy' taxis but with only 9000 licensed cabs in the whole city I think it will be a while yet before people stop using them.

Yesterday I went to the Cafe Pushkin where the Russians come to be seen with a friend, we went in the cafe next door though, which was a little less formal and did nice lunches. The decor was beautiful, French Rococo style, lots of gold gilt and pale blue walls and chandeliers but this paled into insignificance with the heavenly cakes and pastries displayed. Luckily this time I took some pictures:

 My dessert was shaped like a rose, with a chocolate and blackberry mousse inside and jasmine jelly on the top. Divine!!!

 More yummy goodness!

This is the dessert I am going to have next time. It is a combination of meringue, berry mousse and nuts. Truly scrumptious!

The only sour note of our experience dining here was that a glass of wine was horrendously expensive and it was a very small glass.

I managed to get a good amount of exercise this afternoon which thinking about it now was a good thing when I looked at the photos from yesterday! as the lift broke down in the apartment block, so a walk up twelve flights of stairs was required which soon warmed me up. I now add ten minutes onto my getting ready as takes time to put boots, hat, scarf and gloves on but also remembering which coat I left my gloves/metro card/phone in.  

Musings on the metro, spooks and weather

Travelling by Metro is the only way I can get round Moscow and you get to see some sights.  Normally its either drunk people sat next to you at 11am or commuters at rush hour. This week I felt I had to comment on it as this woman was a sight to behold and if I had had a phone with a camera on it I would have put the picture of her on the blog and words would be superfluous.  She was in her 30s I would say, and first of all I thought she was wearing a fur cropped jacket over her top but taking a closer look it turned out it was a coat, the top half and sleeves fur and the bottom half and arms were like a thick chain mail.  I thought she may have been a Xena Princess Warrior fan but the pointy toed, patent knee high boots dispelled this notion straight away.

As you know I am a member of a choir and the rehearsals are held round different choir members apartments so  for me it has been great to see different areas of Moscow and how the trailing spouses live. The most interesting so far has been S.  She and her family live in 'building 28'.  What makes building 28 special?  Well for a start the actual building does not have any numbers on the outside of the front door so you need to know the number of the apartment to ring.  Was this an oversight? No it wasn't. It dates back to the cold war and the KGB.  It  was built for returning KGB couples who had been spying overseas (their children were put into orphanages while they were overseas). All the apartments are 2 bed but it is probably in the safest building in Moscow!

On Friday it was Unity day and the day before they had shut down the whole of the Red Square and surrounding areas.  There were lots of tanks and even 'ello, ello' mini tanks.  Will post some pictures tomorrow when my internet connection is a bit faster so that I can download them.

Had a Lost In Translation  moment with L this week in my lesson.  We had just finished doing Relative Clauses when she asked if we could play a game.  I thought I had misheard her and that she was swearing at me.  It kind of came out like 'bashiiits' you could hardly hear the 'battle', then she started to explain and it twigged. 'Battleships' I said and she was looking at me as if that was what she had been saying all the time.  We did have a good laugh about it when I explained it to her.  I didn't want A to think I had been teaching her daughter swearwords.

The temperature is dropping in Moscow.  Today it was 0 deg C and in this evening -3 deg C and typically I would end up losing a glove.  Normally I have a habit of losing umbrellas but this time it is gloves, so going to have to stock up on them.  

Winter's Coming

You can tell winter is coming in Russia by the measure of what you are wearing.  I am now wearing a scarf, hat and gloves, which doesn't bother me but then I realise, its not the end of October yet! L says that you need lots of tights for the winter.  She had come back from Shopping yesterday with about twenty pairs of tights, I kid you not.  Also included was a  pair of Ugg boots that can only be described as Afghan style, mother and daughter both have the same.  I told L that it looked like a black version of Choco their Poodle.  Choco at the moment is looking very shaggy and in need of a poodle haircut.  I can't wait to see what she looks like.

Last Thursday I did a language exchange with a Russian lady I met.  We met at the metro and I have learnt that you always meet inside as the majority of the stations are too big and have lots of entrances and exits.  We went to an American style bar called Chesterfields and they already had a Halloween theme going on.  It was meant to be quiet there but there was actually a Latin band playing with lots of very good Russian Salsa/Merenge dancers.

Afterwards we went to another bar, I can't remember the name but that it was new.  We had to hand our coats in before being let up the stairs.  The place was trying to model itself on a British style club but think it got lost somewhere in the translation.  It was one of those places where you have to shout to speak to each other as the place is too small for the volume of the band.  This time it was a dance style band and played anything from Lady Ga Ga to Robyn.

My Muscovite friend is a promoter for events in bars and clubs so knows everyone and is great at networking.  We met some Italians and then we ran into this German guy and his friend, who was British and working for a telecommunication company, anyway, where was I, Oh yes this German guy.  I don't think I got his name correct as when he told me it sounded like he was saying 'Reggae'.  He was clearly after a Russian woman and at one point he had taken a stunning Russian girls' phone number but after she left to go to another part of the bar he couldn't remember what she looked like. The whole place had a School disco feel to it with the women dancing and the men standing on the edges, looking on.

With my lesson learnt about meeting in the metro I arranged to go out with two other governesses who I had met at the BWC coffee morning last Tuesday.  After talking about our respective families it turns out I am first division and they are high up in the Premier League.  Football terms seems the best way to describe the difference. Unfortunately I was running a bit late as the father 'A' was back and finally got a chance to talk to him, so this made me a bit late getting to the metro stop.  Friday night = drunk Russians and D got accosted  by a drunk Russian man thinking she was a lady of the night while waiting for me and P.  

Today I went with P for a bit of sightseeing. The weather was gorgeous,  very sunny and blue skies.  We had a look round the GUM department store and decided to go into this fur coat and hat shop.  Whatever you think about real fur, some of the coats were beautiful and we couldn't resist stroking them, but this irate Russian sales women starts shouting at us.  We surmised that she was saying 'Don't touch', but that made it worse,and they were so soft.  We left quickly as it was quite possible they were going to call the security guards to throw us out!

Here are some photos from today.

                                   Kazan Cathedral.  The sun on the icon is beautiful!

                                  St Basil's Cathedral.

                                               The Kremlin at Night.

Finally have managed to download the video I took.  

Last week has been a great week.  I went along on the Tuesday to the British Women's Club coffee morning and made some good contacts.  I also joined the ladies that choir one of the members runs.  The BWC is made  up of a lot of 'trailing spouses' whose husbands work in finance or oil or gas.  So on Wednesday I negotiated my way to the conductors apartment with having to change metro lines and it was the first time I have been shoved on to a metro train, so rude!  We are preparing for two Christmas concerts and the choir has been already practicing for a month but luckily we are doing the old perennials like 'Gaudete','Mary's Boy Child' etc.. and a few non Christmassy numbers including a lovely arrangement of some Glenn Miller songs.  

Saturday I went out for a drink at the pub I mentioned before. This is the place to network and I met a lady who organises events for the French community in Moscow so we are going to do a language exchange, so hopefully I should learn some useful Russian phrases and teach her some English.

Here are a few photos and a bit of video footage taken with my new camera as my Pentax gave up the ghost.  They were taken in the Alexander Gardens by the walls of the Kremlin where the WW2 monument/flame is and also outside at my apartment block.  Enjoy!!
                     
                Outside the Kremlin

My apartment Block.  All 20 floors of it!

In the Alexander Gardens.

   

This past week has been great.  I finally discovered where the metro stop was and it is only a five minute walk if you cut through the estates.  Although the estates look a bit dull and unkempt, they all have playgrounds in the middle of them and with not one bit of graffiti on them and outside courts.  

I have made some friends this week.  On Tuesday I decided to go and speak to the concierge in the apartment block but he doesn't speak any English so he rang for someone who could and it was a delightful lady called Irina who is a part time primary school teacher.  She should be retired but says she can't afford to.  She lives on the sixth floor with her husband who is a journalist and writes about the military.  I also met her daughter who was very helpful in setting up my Russian mobile phone in English.   

For the past weeks in the run up to Moscow I have been on an website called Expat.ru.  It has been a useful sight to get a rough idea of what life in Moscow is like for the ex pat.  One of the frequent posters asked if I could bring out some Smarties for him.  He happens to work in a pub called 'Booze Bub'.  So on Thursday I decided to go and find it.  This required a bit of skill using the metro as I had to change lines but I had drawn the directions to the place on a scrap of paper with the address on it and lo and behold I found it the first time!! I was then in the bar introduced to a few other expats, an American, Aussie and a fellow Brit  (walked into a bar) who said I was the first English girl he had spoken to in the 2 years of he had been living in Moscow. The Yank and Aussie are married to Russian ladies  and the Brit is engaged to one.  They work in the field of oil, support service and I didn't catch what my fellow Brit did.  

Teaching has been great this week but L is tired as she is back at school.  The amount of hours I have done this week is a grand total of 6hrs so far and with the possibility of up to eight hours tomorrow means that potentially I will have only worked a maximum of 14hrs this week!! Compared to the stupid number of hours I worked as a housemistress; this is like a dream.  

The weather is getting colder so hopefully I can bring my long coat out of retirement and get lots of use out of it.  

End of First Week in Moscow

 8 October

Well, a week has passed and I am still in Moscow.  My first teaching week with L has certainly been interesting.  L was on half term holiday last week so I came in a lot earlier to teach her.  The family has one of those small poodles; pretty cute if you like those kinds of dogs and it is called Choco.  Choco is Loco! I have never seen such a hyperactive dog but you can tell she loves L very much.    L is a great girl and not what I expected from a rich Russian family.  She tidies up the kitchen after her mother, helps puts away groceries and is generally a tidy child. 

Last Wednesday her mum had to go for a massage somewhere in Moscow but as she didn’t have a babysitter that day, Lisa and I were doing our best Mary Poppins imitation while looking after Georgy, diminutive: Gosha who is only 5/6 months old.  We were driven by Alexander, diminutive: Sasha.  Now I thought Sasha drove the way he did when he didn’t have the family in the car.  Boy was I wrong!  There was no difference. We were in a park for an hour which wasn’t too bad and luckily the weather wasn’t too bad.

This week it has been sunshine and showers.  On Saturday it got up to the heady heights of 21 Deg C but Sunday was a big change, rain, rain and more rain.  Moscow is covered in a cloud of rain/mist and there are great big puddles everywhere.

Unfortunately after a week I still do not know the address of where I am staying.  It is frustrating as the caretaker/receptionist of the apartment block speaks no English.  I am also struggling with the fact that I do not know how to get to my nearest Metro stop.  The family don’t know.  Whatever country/city I have been in I have always managed to get into the centre.  I do not like the feeling of being so isolated and don’t get me started on the internet situation or I seriously might explode!!!

My apartment is on the 12^th floor and my next door neighbour is having work done on her flat. I know that she has dogs and birds of some kind.  I hear them barking and tweeting.  I finally got to see the dogs and they are gorgeous husky style dogs and not fierce or mean at all.

Well, hopefully by the time of my next entry I will be on the internet and have a Russian phone and fingers crossed, knowing where the nearest metro line is and how to get to it.  

Catch Up Blog

1^st October 2011

Arrived at Heathrow and was pleasantly surprised that my bag only weighed 19kg, wish I had put a bit more in but to be honest I don’t think I could fit anything else in.  My hand luggage was so heavy that I needed some help to put it in the overhead locker! It is one of the joys of being vertically challenged.  The flight wasn’t busy so had the seat next to me free.  I was sat in the row behind the bulkhead between cattle and business class and the ladies in front had to put their handbags in the overhead locker.  The male cabin crew member put one bag up in the overhead locker but behind him was a young Russian lady with a fake Chanel bag and she got really huffy that he didn’t put hers up.   

Arrived at Domodevo and saw the Russian spectacle of men meeting wives/mothers/girlfriends giving bunches of flowers.  It was quite sweet.  The Vienna Boys Choir came through as well, dressed in their sailor suits. 

My flight landed early so I had a bit of a wait until the driver came.  His name is Alexander and he can't speak hardly any English!  We went to the car and lo and behold it was a S class Merc with blacked out windows. It was so cliché, but very comfortable.  Russian drivers OMG!!!!!!! Road rules, what road rules? I think Alexander likes to pretend he is with the mafia or something as anyone would think he was in Grand Theft Auto but with cheesy Russian pop music being played on the radio.   The traffic in Moscow is terrible!  It felt like we were driving around Moscow for ages.  It took Alexander 2 hours to get to the airport. 

Pulled up to where my flat is and again another Russian cliché.  It is in a circa 1960’s/1970’s or even earlier tower block and there is a code to get into the building and a door you have to unlock on your floor to get into where your flat is.  

I am on the 12^th Floor of 20 and the flat hasn’t been lived in for ages.  It is a nice size and if it had some money spent on it, it could look amazing.  I only spent a few minutes in it as I had to go shopping to get some food. 

Russian supermarkets, well what can I say; most things I could kind of understand as they were well known brands but naturally more expensive and being so tired I almost forgot to pick up my change at the checkout.  Food is expensive in Moscow so I am going to have to get to know Russian brands.  

Got back to my flat realised how dirty is it, so have started off by sweeping the laminate floors and this has made a difference already.  I am going to ask A’s wife if she has some cleaning equipment I can borrow as have to get the flash or equivalent on the floor and don’t get me started on the bathroom!!!   Will have to get someone to check out the washing machine as think it is leaking.

Think whoever got the furniture was a bit of a narcissist as there are loads of mirrors.  I can’t get away from them.  At Padworth they were on three sides of the bathroom but at least the flat is light and airy.  I have put my icon from Sienna up and also my three pictures from Catherine.  Will get a pin board asap to put other stuff up or even blu tack.  

Luckily I don’t start until 4.45pm tomorrow with L so get to have a bit of a lie in.   

Not Long Now

Well, I now have my visa and currency, so all that is left to do is packing.  There is going to be heavy rain  in Moscow on Saturday and a balmy 13 deg Celsius.

Moscow

Well in 5 days time I will be in Moscow, embarking on a career as a Governess.  The role of a Governess has changed since the days of the Brontes, for a start it pays a lot better and you normally get to live in an apartment near the family home. I will put more details later about the difference between then and now.

I am going out to mainly teach EFL to an 11 year old girl to prepare her for entrance into a top boarding school in the UK, probably in London.

A short first post but I will post again when I arrive and put some pictures up.