minats_zone

Hey there, I could not post any earlier as I got back from England only some days ago (10-18Feb) and was piled up with work. Now that I'm at dacha I can post some pics and make some comments. Overall, it was both positive and negative experience. Norwich is a small city 185km north-east of London, typically British and very cosy. However, cold weather without snow and with harsh wind made staying at NILE school classes (seminars were held there)pretty uncomfortable. Three star hotel (TraveLodge) was not very good either. Some of my fellow-teachers, who are writing a book with me (under the guidance of BC Moscow,) were unfriendly at times , which made me walk around the cities all alone. On Thursday we went to Cambridge (CUP) where we had a small reception and they showed us old publishing equipment and warehouse. It was very nice and pleasant in Cambridge as it's a splendid city, more sunny than Norwich. On Friday we moved to London, Paddington. It's full of small 3-star ho...

Hey there, Tomorrow I'm flying to London. It's our last coordination session, which our organizers decided to hold in NILE (Norwich Institute of Linguistic Education). Two previous sessions were held in Russia - Kupavna and Suzdal. Now it's a kind of gift from British Council (BC) Moscow, who support the EFA project. It was not easy to arrange my absence from classes at HSE and School 1359, but I tried my best to achieve this. So I found out that the city dates back to 16th century and hope to see many interesting things there. I also hope to see how studies are organized at this university. I'll keep you informed about my stay. Getting back on Feb 17. Hugs and love to all of you...

Hey there. It's been bittely cold in Moscow since we got back from China. Several good and few bad things happened though. Good and bad news mixed up: 1)all my candidates from school 1359 (8CAE, 5FCE, 2PET) passed the exams they did in December!2) Katya gave birth to a boy Klim on Jan 6, who is my grandson's(Stas) son!!! 3) Marina, Stepka and Kostya visited us and Marina is going to Italy for spring holiday as a reward for good job!!!4) My car Mitsubishi Colt skidded on black ice and I crashed on pavement so it stopped and was transported to repair shop for mending.I'm ok but the car is not, serious repair is needed. That's all. Have a look at some funny pics I made at dacha in January

Hey there, it's been long since I last posted to my blog, but China is China. No Google, no Facebook or Twitter, only Bauedoo (it's similar to Yandex) and everything is in Chinese and under control or blocked. Not very funny... Anyway, our stay there (at Sanya "Narada Villa" and then "Narada Sanya") was very good. The weather was not very sunny but warm enough for swimming and playing tennis. We enjoyed beautiful sea (Chinese Sea) and the monkey island surrounded by fishing farms where people live and grow sea creatures. We got there by cable car, just as in Vinpearl (Vietnam), but Chinese one is smaller and more overcrowded. After 8 days we moved to Beijing, from +25C to -10C. It was cloudy, foggy and full of people everywhere. The hotel was good, but it's really hard to communicate with people there as they don't speak English at all. I even used riksha for trevelling from a shopping mall back to my hotel as it was impossible to stop ...

Hey there, I've been so busy lately that had no time to post to my blog or even have a look at it. Many things happened this December. CAE Ss and FCE Ss did their exams on Dec 1 and Dec 8. Now I've started a new FCE group on Wednesdays. There are a lot of students in the class at the beginning, as usual. Another good news is that Doomsday (Dec 21), which was heavily advertised on TV, did not happen. Thanks God!!! But some of my Ss (at school 1359) really believed in it and their parents went to church every day to put candels! Severe frost set in here in Moscow and it is really bitterly cold; sometimes -25C or around it. Not pleasant I must admit. Stas and I are looking forward to flying to China (Khainan island). It will take a long time as we stop in Peking then go to the island. Anyway it's gonna be warmer there and it's a dream now... Love and hugs to all..

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...