First Month

I have completed my first month in Moscow! It doesn't seem like a month. It seems much shorter. I completed training, and now I am teaching during the weeks. I travel to companies all over Moscow to teach English to employees of the specific companies. I am getting to see many parts of the city. I am also learning my way around many places that I would otherwise never see.

(This picture is of a Russian Orthodox Church just down the street from my flat. It nice to hear the bells chime when you walk by.)

Let me describe some of my classes. Some companies have a group of students, and other companies have only one student. All of the students are cool. They want to learn English for their jobs and for traveling. I teach many different levels. Some classes are upper intermediate, and other classes are beginner intermediate. All my time during the days is spent either preparing for a lesson, traveling to the company, or teaching the lesson. Some companies are located fairly close to my flat while other companies are on the complete opposite side of the city. Usually it takes me an hour to get to a company for a lesson. Although there is one company that takes me one and a half hours. After a certain metro stop, I have to take a trolley bus to this client. That adds more time to the trip. Ohh...quick note...trolley bus drivers hate it when you do not have exact change. Hhaa...one day I didn't have twenty five rubles exactly. I think I gave him 30 rubles or something close to that. It was no big deal...five rubles change. Oh no...he didn't like that! So, I have learned my lesson. I also make sure I have twenty five rubles for the trolley bus.

I'm making good contacts by teaching at many different companies around Moscow. The companies vary from a oil/gas to railroad shipping to up-scale real estate development. It is interest to ask the students about business in general in Russia. In many ways it is the same as America, but in other ways it is different. It seems so far that they like to really know there customers or clients. Almost to the point of being friends before business partners. They get to know each other over many lunches and dinners before deciding to do business.


Now, we should talk about the weather in Moscow. Of course, it is very cold and windy. It has snowed about 3 - 4 inches over the past two days. It seems that whenever I walk outside, I am always walking against the wind. Your face and hands begin to burn after about 15 minutes. Then they get so cold that you don't even feel them anymore. The coldest it has been so far is negative 20 degrees Celsius. (That is about negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit.)

(This is a picture of a street that I walk down to get to the metro station Shabolovskaya. It is about 15 minute walk from the flat to the metro station.)

The next couple of pictures are from the flat that I am staying in. One picture is of my bedroom. Another pictures are of the kitchen and bathroom.






















The next two pictures are from the school. One is the main entrance into the central school location. The other is a picture of a classroom.



















Funny things witnessed over the past two weeks:

I saw a guy slip on some ice and fall while walking on the sidewalk along a busy street. It was so funny because I saw the big patch of ice he slipped on just as he stepped onto it. I said to myself..."oh man...that doesn't look good. He should slow down." Within 500 milliseconds after saying that to myself, this guy dropped like a bag of rocks. He fell so fast. He didn't even have time to catch himself or break the fall a little with his arms. He drove his shoulder right into the concrete. I know I shouldn't have laughed, but this guy thought he was too cool, so he wanted to walk fast. He slowly got up and walked to the side of the next building to gather his thoughts and put his pride back together. (I am bound to slip on some ice sooner or later too.)

Another funny thing that happened was that I was pushed in the back buy a tiny 4 foot 9 inch old lady on the escalator in the metro. Apparently, I was not walking up the escalator fast enough for this lady, so she pushed me in the back. I was shocked when I turned around to see this tiny old lady standing there. She looked innocent enough, but watch out! It is all fun and games until you get pushed in the back by a tiny 4 foot 9 inch old lady in the metro in Moscow.