minats_zone

Hey there, Tomorrow my dear 1359 CAE Ss are sitting their written part of the exam. Let us keep our fingers crossed for them as I've been teaching them since 8th form and they spent with me almost 3 years. They passed FCE in 2011 and now - CAE. I wish them very best of luck on the Big Day!!!

Dear all, My dearest brother Dima who has been living in America for over 20 years is in Moscow now. He came for a week to see his wife Lena have some medical practice and see relatives and friends. It was really nice and warm being with them for almost 2 hours in the cafe just in the center of Moscow, near Belorusskaia metro. He looks good and I am really happy he has come to Russia and can see new Moscow and us - older but the same people with warm feelings to him and Lena. She is the best wife who he could ever have but he is not happy with her frequent visits to Moscow as it's part of her job. I think they will cope with this problem somehow and stay happy together. Another happy moment was yesterday, November 20 - the BI HSE turned 10 years old so we saw a concert and I saw some of my ex- student who became mature and successful. Good luck and hugs to all of you...

Hey there, Marina and I have just got back from Yaroslavl. We did Nun Anna's business there and everything went really well. We went by train which has become very comfortable and spacious. Hotel Ibis where we stayed was really good and modern. We also visited Kaleria Ivanovna who is very old and ill but she was happy to see me and especially Marina. So we did all things and got back to Moscow. It was very nice a trip, though a bit tiring... Hugs and kisses to all

Hey there, Today I can say that GTA Moscow accepted me after a long 2 day seminar from 8am till 9pm on Friday and Saturday November 2d and 3d.It was held in Balchug 7, next to the heart of Moscow. Good place and view over the Kremlin... Seminars were really hard in terms of time and speed of everything that was going on there but extremely interesting as I met not only official people from Google office California,SF but also from all over Russia and ex-Soviet countries -Estonia, Kazakhstan, Belorussia etc. Now I'm among almost 750+ GTs all over the world.It's really the Big Day in my life!!! Love and hugs to all of you...

Hey there, I want to share with you one of the best live concerts I've ever visited. It was on Oct. 24 at Concert Hall Mir near Tsvetnoy Bylevard metro station. It was an amazing show with the leading Russian and Ex-Soviet singers all of whom love Anna German. Stanislav and I are among them. We saw the film about Anna's tragic life (just as many people and families in our country in mid-20s,30s and 40s, my granddad was among them too). I wish I could see more things like that in my free time as they really help to survive in our hard times...Love and hugs to all of you...

Hey there, here I am in Suzdal with a team of other teachers from all over Russia for coordination session held in Suzdal. It's our 3d session on the way to completing the book English for Academics (EFA). I'm reponsible for a Speaking Module with other 2 teachers - from Samara - Svetlana Suchkova and Ekaterinburg - Irina Pervukchina. Rod Bolitho, who is a leader from the UK side, is in charge of the whole procedure of the book development. We spent 4 days here and though we saw very little here, I got the impression of Suzdal as a very beautiful and truly Russian small city... Really worth coming here again. The hotel "Nikolaevsky Posad' is of high standard and I wish many cities in Russia could have at least one like that. Have a look at some pics I made here... Love and hugs to all...

Hey there, I'd like to share with you my impressions I got at the New Musical Theatre in Moscow. It is located near Bagrationovskaya metro station and it used to be a Gorbunova Club before minister of culture Shvydkoi converted it into a modern theatre. It's really very well equipped, which makes it stand out among other theatres that show misicals on their stages. We saw a performance - 'Don't Judge the Time'. It's about RF and USA - sad love story of mid 30s and nowadays... In reality it was really sad but on the stage with young actors it was very romantic and spectacular. Love and hugs to all of you...

Hey there, here we are, in Moscow and at dacha, Everything is ok and the weather is quite warm - sunny and nor depressing. The 21 September was a Birthday of our Virgin Mary and after that I was examining BEC at Alibra. Now I'm at dacha and the last September week is coming. Love to all of you and want to share the beaty of the Donskoy monastery (Moscow) where I was on the big day and really enjoyed the beaty of the place... Love and hugs...

Hey there, We're at dacha enjoying good warm Indian autumn and bright colours of it. They say rains are coming so we have to take advantage of what it's lke now...Slava bought a brand new car Opel "Antara'. It's really grand and impressive...Have a look. Stepka started going to kindergarden and seems to like it. Kostya started working for a chain of restaurants "Yaposha" as a guard, so good news... Hope you're doing well. Love and hugs...

Hey there, The new academic year has just started. I have 4 new groups at HSE and School 1359 children for ESOL PET, FSE and CAE. Four days a week and Friday is off. It's good as I don't like long weeks and want my time flexible. Hope it'll be OK this year. The best news this week has become my unexpected chat with my ex-HSE students on Facebook. I taught them for two years and now they are in Netherland. Dima Korolev is from Podolsk, Moscow region, Julia Dornostup is from Orenburg, far away from Moscow. Now they are together with other HSE students.They are doing master's course on 'Computer Sciences'. I'm very proud of them!! Here is the script of our chat with Dima and their photo: "We have a scholarship contract, according to which we have to work in the Netherlands for three years after the graduation. Alternatively, we can enter some PhD program. As for me, the latter option seems to be a preferable one. Yes, it is a very nice experience. The uni...

Hey there, our vocation has come to an end and here we are, in Moscow. This vocation was really good and the only thing that spoiled the impression was our travel from Sheremetievo airport to dacha. It took twice as much as the flight from Sofia to Moscow! Busy, busy roads and endless traffic jams. Two days at dacha helped recover a little after all this. Slava is flying to Kazan' tomorrow so he'll plunge in his work but I'll do it after September 1. Buy for now and have a look at some pics we made in Sofia and Stara Zagora with our Bulgarian friends: Tencho, Incha, Marianna, Maggy, Vesco and children. Love and hugs...

Hey there, Here we are in Santa Marina near Sozopol, Bolgaria. We arrived on August 8 in Sofia and satyed for two days in the centre of the city - "Grand Hotel". Sofia is a very quiet city with population about 1,3 mln people only and it's very different from busy, busy and overcrowded Moscow. We took a guide to show us around Sofia and he even drove us to the all-nuns monastery on the Vitosha mountain. It was very cosy and nice there, you'll see from pics. On August 10 we were driven by Stanislaw's friends Tenho and his wife Incha to Santa Marina. It's a beautiful residential complex with apartment blocks which people buy or they are used for rent by tourists like us. Our days are usual: swimming, tennis and some walking. It's OK as we're fed up with our life in Moscow. Love and hugs to all...