minats_zone

Hey there Here we are, in Vinpearl, the 5 star complex of hotels on the island off the mainland. The nearest city is Nha Trang, which is the most famous resort in Vietnam. We reach the mainland by a ferry boat (goes every 15 mins from the pier) or by an electric cable car (going above the bay on a metal string).Everything is really first class here: the service, the water- 22-23, really amazing. I think it's much better than all previous places in Vietnam we've been to for New Year, So have a look at some shots we've made so far. Stanislav admitted that the place is superb, too. I'll keep you informed about our stay here...Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you living beyond Russia. We have only one major Catholic Church in Moscow where this Christmas Day was celebrated. Usually Armenians and some foreigners celebrate it in Moscow, but I love it and 'celebrate' it, too. It's so bright and festive that I adore this day. Speaking about my routine - the semester is over and it was really hard as I did most of the things online corresponding with about 80 ss sending their tests, essays, quizzes etc. Just imagine. Thanks God two diligent girls helped me out to sort the stuff out and put the results on line, so in the end we had a neat table (spreadsheet) with all the marks and comments. It was much more efficient to calculate the final mark, as a result. But a lot of headache... Well, now it's over and tomorrow we're flying to our dearest and warmest Vietnam. I'm looking forward to it so much. Meanwhile we've been at a number of performances in various theaters this winter. Even today we ar...

Hey there, My old classmate Yuri Mechitov is now visiting Moscow and staying with us. He's an extremely talanted photographer who has been making photos of some famous and gifted people. One of them was Sergei Paradjanov, a famous film maker (now dead), who is recognized in Europe and the US as well. The presentation of his new hardback book about Paradjanov was at the Literature Museum at Arbat just in the center of Moscow. There were many people who knew Paradjanow and love his art. There was even Eldar Ryazanov, a brilliant film maker. So we spent a very good time looking at some exhibits and listening to people speaking about Paradjanov. However, we had to leave very early because of Stanislaw's early morning work next day. Have a look at some photos I made there and at dacha with Yuri.

Hey there, I've been silent for a while as there was nothing much to say about those grey and dull days in Moscow. But now, after my coming back from Saratov, where I examined, a heavy snowfall started on Monday and coloured everything white. The temperatures dropped till 6-7 below freezing and therefore we can see that the winter has finally arrived. As usual, it caused horrible traffic jams when the snow started and I got home at 11 pm after my classes on Monday, having spent in the jams 3,5 hours. Terrible...And on the next day I had other classes at 9am with all checking to be done before...Now it's more or less settled and we're expecting my old classmate from Tbilisi (Yuri Mechitiv) to stay with us for 4-5 days as he published a book about a famous Georgian film producer Sergei Paradzhanov and tomorrow is going to be an opening event at the Literature University. I hope we'll make some photos there, which I post later. Now have a look at the funny shot of a New Ye...

Hey, there, I've just got back from HSE'S 17th birthday which was held at the Central Hall of Academic Sciences at Leninsky alley. There were very many people there... The whole grand hall was full of professors, teachers and students. There were some snacks and wine so we had the opportunity to look at other people in a festive atmosphere. I listened to the speeches made there by the HSE Director and Seniors who said that the university is growing rapidly. I can feel it myself as we have many more students this year than in the previous. I was there with my fellow teacher Irina and we spent a while there watching performances and having sth to eat. Generally it's really nice event they arranged for people of HSE as these days in Moscow are unbelievably very grey and dull (no snow, only rain and overcast skies). Stanislaw is flying to Vietnam tomorrow on a business trip and will be back on Saturday. We decided to go to Vietnam for a New Year holiday as we really miss its wa...

Hey there, We've just arrived from Oxana's wedding party which took place just in the heart of Moscow, at the National Hotel, next to the Red Squire. It was a long awaited event, which ended her attempts to get married throughout 2008/9. Now, I hope so, it's a success as her husband is a financial director of one of major Moscow's pharmaceutical plants. She is a senior position there, too and she used to be Dad's student. He's a kind of patronizing her as she originally came from Kazakhstan (Alma Ata). She is his favourite and she is really hard working and ambitious, not to mention a beauty. The wedding itself was a kind of show with some hosts who didn't give us a chance to get acquainted with some other people there, just to listen to them and take part in varuious fun activities. I took some photos there, so have a look and try to imagine what it was like. These photos were taken with my iphone so the quality is not very good...

There's nothing special in my life these days. Only global warming,little Stephan and going to the theatre can make it brighter and bring some welcome changes. So have a look at these things in our life and the funny creature called Stephan and these bright colours of the late autumn in our area. Really unusual... Love all of you and really enjoy some of photos on the facebook. Take care...

Hey there, Writing to say 'Hello' to all of my nearest and dearest from sunny Moscow. This autumn has been so unusually sunny and bright here in Moscow! Look at some photos. I also wanted to share with you some of the photos of my grandson Stephan (4 months old already), Stas (18)and their Mom Marina, my daughter. They live with us at dacha (you can see their old dacha house in the picture)using electric heater and go every weekend to Tuchkovo where Stephan lives with his another Granny (sure, not me, Kostya's Mom). Marina got back to her teaching at school, Kostya is still out of work because of his problems with the car accident. So the young boy can see his parents only once a week =(. We're looking forward to sth to change for better in their lives. No money, no hause... Let's keep our fingers crossed for them...

It was a really nice event for all of us who devoted their lives and time to Cambridge University in some way. Today we were invited to take part in a celebration party that took place in the Oval Hall of the Russian Library of Foreign Literatures (ul Nikoloyamskaya 6). I really enjoyed the event and especially meeting some people I haven't seen for a long time. Good event and occasion. Have a look at some photos, though some of them are not perfect. Sorry...

Hey there, this week I've been busy attending seminars on "Learning Technologies" for EL teachers. It was held at BC Moscow form Monday to Friday and it was quite tiring, but very interesting, indeed. Two leading British trainers gave us a lot of info about some useful educational tools called Web 2 technologies. Some I know and even use, but there was somewhat new to me as well.For example, I learned that in the US some Stanfors teachers use social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace for teaching! In order to know more about Facebook, I even signed up and got surprised to see a few familiar faces (my former University mates) on it. It's in English so these people must live in english speaking countries now. And they were the brightest students on the course... I didn't try to get in contact with them as I know that it's very addictive and time-consuming. May be later?...I don't know if I really want this so much. Well, the autumn is on its way bu...