minats_zone

Hi there. I'm staying in Moscow for this weekend as I just got back from Saratow where I examined YLE, KET, PET (23-25 April). It was not especially exciting but the weather there was much better than in Moscow - sunny, worm and pleasant. Really, it's so cold here in Moscow - 4-5 above zero and strong, harsh wind. Well, I really got tired and tomorrow is going to be the exam of my HSE Ss so I'd better have an early sleep today. Saratow was as usual nice and welcoming with all those nice girls there. Had an unforgettable time at their Radischev's Museum of Fine Art, which is, probably, one of the best among provincial Russian towns. Well, Dad's in Vietnam already, I'm going to fly there on Saturday (May 1). Love you all...

Hey there, Yesterday I examined YLE in Zhukovka (Barvikha or Rublevka), the poshest area of Moscow. It is situated to the south west of Moscow on Rublevskaya Highway. There live the Russian tycoons. Their kids can be very special, too. Some of them are quite normal but some of them are probably not easy to deal with. One boy answered, when I asked him 'What did you do last weekend?' - I was in Las Vegas and stayed in a very big hotel. Great, let's keep our fingers crossed for them as they are supposed to be the future elite of Russia. Another surprise was to see their concert Hall where performances are given for one day only by top singers and actors from all over the world. They are invited specifically for this place. Tickets are very expensive and the place is beyond the easy reach. Well, air flights stopped all over Europe because of volcano eruption and Slava's flight to Vietnam on April 23 is questionable. I'm flying there on May 1 as I'm busy till the e

Hi everybody, Another horrible thing occured at Katyin', at Smolensk airport where a huge aircraft collapsed with 96 top rank passangers including president of Poland and their bishop. They were flying to Katyin to commemorate those Polish people who were killed by Soviet secret services in 1939. I learned about that at the conference of ELT at HSE. The day was really bright and warm. Everything was fine when we got this news.It was really horrible and I'm very sorry for all those people and their relatives. Now they are coming to Moscow for a painful mission of recognizing the remains.Tomorrow is going to be a Day of Mourning in Russia....:((

The brightest day of all has come!!! It was very early this year, April 4, and patches of snow still can be seen in our dacha. However, the day itself was really sunny and warm. We had very special breakfast - Easter Cake and Eggs. After that we did some cleaning up in Marina and Kostya's house where we got rid of some old and useless stuff. It is considered to be a sin to do anything like physical labour on this day and I regret that we couldn't do it on another day. But Kostya had his lorry available and we took advantage of it to drive tha garbage away. Really sorry for that... Love you all and Looking forward to Olya's coming on May 15.