Whit Web Whereabouts

18 minutes

2011-11-14T10:18:00.004-06:00

2186 to 220th Av to 2168 to 2198 and back. Short but sweet.

Warming up

2007-12-07T15:40:00.000-06:00

We're meeting Nicola, Chris, Randi, and Ed on the big island of Hawaii on Saturday night. We'll be staying at Puako at Turtle Reef on the Kona coast. Since this will be a leisurely trip, we'll post regularly if there is a good wifi connection. Otherwise, will be back to the 45th parallel on the 16th!

Greece: Athens, Islands, Pelopennese

2007-09-25T15:22:00.000-05:00

At the end of August we departed for three weeks in Greece. I have bunches of photos and even had my laptop with me. However, while in Greece, the blog instructions were in GREEK which made it practically impossible for me to do the blog. I will try to do a retrospective update over the next few weeks. The posts will be dated to reflect our days in the Pelopennese and in Athens. The posts start on August 26. Thanks for being patient!

Time to return already!

2007-09-24T17:36:00.000-05:00

Ksusha, Jane, and Polina with all their luggage at the beginning of the first part of their journey home.

Ksusha, Polina, and Jane being checked in at the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport at 5:50 AM

Nearly four months ago, Polina and Jane arrived in Minneapolis. Ksusha joined them on July 31. They have had many adventures. We have enjoyed their visit enormously!

To Athens

2007-08-26T22:53:00.000-05:00

Bob, Rich, Colleen, and Peggy in Amsterdam for a short layover between Minneapolis and Athens.

Ellen in Athens. Ellen and Jan greeted us when we arrived at the hotel. We gathered on the roof of the hotel to plan our evening's foray.

This is the view of the acropolis from our roof-top vantage point.

In America from Siberia

2007-06-04T01:57:00.000-05:00

Jane is checking in with home using Skype before getting some much needed sleep.

Polina is catching a few winks before using Skype to check in at home.

Polina and Jane arrived in Minneapolis just after midnight on Monday, June 4. After 5 flights from Novosibirsk to Minneapolis, they were very tired but very happy to have landed at last!

Posts from Russia, Korea, China, Japan, and Hawaii

2006-11-14T23:54:00.000-06:00

Chronological list of posts:
Calendar in a nutshell as of Aug 28
Minneapolis to Amsterdam for Sep 4
St Petersburg--first day for Sep 5
St Petersburg--second day for Sep 6
St Petersburg--third day for Sep 7
St Petersburg to Moscow for Sep 8
The Kremlin in Moscow for Sep 9
Sunday in Moscow for Sep 10
Last day in Moscow for Sep 11
Trans Siberian Train for Sep 12
Novosibirsk for Sep 14
Novosibirsk State University for Sep 14
Getting settled for Sep 15
Testing technologies for Sep 16
All's well! for Sep 18
First day of class for Sep 21
In Novosibirsk to meet Olga for Sep 22
Laundry and a walk for Sep 23
How we got to Central Asia for Sep 24
Equinox sunrises and sunsets for Sep 25
House of Scientists for Sep 26
Gymnasium #9 for Sep 27
Our Piragova Street apartment for Sep 28
Central Siberian Botanical Garden for Sep 29
Meeting friends of friends for Sep 29
An interesting bird for Oct 1
New route through the woods for Oct 2
Ob Sea and English books for Oct 3
First snow for Oct 4
Teacher's Day at Gymnasium #9 for Oct 5
Russian art in Minneapolis for Oct 6
Jitneys and banya hats for Oct 7
A Russian banya for Oct 8
Gymnasium #9 Eighth graders for Oct 9
Post office for Oct 10
Hat weather for Oct 11
Gymnasium #9 Tenth graders for Oct 12
Tennis and bliny for Oct 13
Bob's observations for Oct 14
Chinese food for Oct 15
Dreary weather for Oct 16
8th graders and the zoo, too for Oct 17
Bob's new shirt for Oct 18
The Cyrillic Alphabet for Oct 19
The ballet, Giselle for Oct 20
Seasonal changes for Oct 21
To the dentists office for Oct 26
Packing for Oct 28
Travel day: 4 hour trip in 13 for Oct 29
Gyeongbokgung for Nov 3
Hong Kong delights for Nov 6
Tuesday in Asia for Nov 7 in Asia
Tuesday in Hawaii for Nov 7 in Hawaii
An island drive for Nov 8
Dinner with friends in Honolulu for Nov 9
Seen on Waimanalo beach for Nov 10
More friends in Honolulu for Nov 11
Aloha, Waimanalo! for Nov 12
The 72nd Day for Nov 13

The 72nd day

2006-11-13T13:58:00.000-06:00

Downtown St Paul, Minnesota.

Flowing diagonally, in the lower right corner, is the mighty Mississippi River.

On the left side, near the middle, is the Minnesota State Capitol building.

We are not too far from home now. This is a view of downtown Minneapolis.

We're home in Minneapolis. What a great trip we've had! We are so grateful to have been able to do it. We have met new friends; travelled with good friends; connected with old friends. We have seen wonderful new places; revisited favorite places. We have enjoyed sharing our journey with you. Your questions have helped shape our little blog and we have appreciated all your encouraging notes.

May all your journeys be as happy and as sweet and as enriching as this one has been for us!

Aloha, Waimanalo!

2006-11-12T07:17:00.000-06:00

A walk on the beach, of course.

Followed by breakfast in Kailua. How could we pass up a place with a name like this? The macadamia nut sauce on French toast with Portuguese sausage on the side was a memorable meal. Checked in with Susan this afternoon. She says Boots is just fine in St. Paul.

Packing is packing.

Sunset was approaching as we took our last walk on the beach.

Aloha, Waimanalo!

Our flight home departs from HNL at 11:50 PM tonight, Sunday. After a brief stop in Portland, Oregon, on Monday morning, we'll continue home with a scheduled arrival at MSP at 2 in the afternoon.

More friends in Honolulu

2006-11-11T02:50:00.000-06:00

There was more action on the beach on Saturday afternoon.

Volleyball.

Swimming and sun bathing.

Body surfing.

Fishing.

When we were in Seoul, we remembered that Susie's friend, Jill Yablonski, had been stationed in Korea after she had learned Korean at the Army's language school. Susie sent us Jill's email and we found out that she is teaching high school English in Honolulu.

This afternoon we met Jill and her friend Kevin at Fort DeRussy in Waikiki.

They presented us with these beautiful leis. Bob's will endure as it is made of shells. Jill says mine will make it back to Minneapolis. Won't it be fun to wear it in Duluth next Tuesday?

Bob was delighted to find out that after the Army, Jill has signed up with the Navy to complete her reserve commitment. Kevin is also in the Navy. Sailors, old and new, like to tell sea stories!

Jill and Kevin had tickets to see a live Garrison Keillor Prairie Home Companion show this evening. We bid them adieu as the sun was setting at Waikiki. What fun to see an old Minnesota friend right here in Honolulu! We'll look forward to seeing Jill again when she's home for the holidays in December.

As we returned to Waimanalo this evening, we listened to part of this evening's broadcast of the Prairie Home Companion show. We'll pick up the rest of it on the Sunday rebroadcast.

Tonight, we start repacking the suitcases, as this trip is drawing to a close.

Seen on the Waimanalo beach

2006-11-10T02:06:00.000-06:00

The day is not complete without a walk on the beach. This stake marks the entrance of the access path from Hilu Street in Waimanalo.

On this Friday morning we shared the beach with these horses and their riders.

The call to be a sand engineer is compelling. We encountered this fellow working earnestly on an obelisk even though the ocean was quickly encroaching upon his work.

This is Rabbit Island with a halo of puffy clouds.

Bob is thinking about putting on his sandals for the walk back to our place.

Later, we had a late lunch at a restaurant close to the beach in Kailua.

Dinner with friends in Honolulu

2006-11-09T16:49:00.000-06:00

View from the lanai at the Bird of Paradise Guest House

The way to the beach

Why Waimanalo? The beach.

The locals (our friends, the folks at AAA Hawaii, and others) have been consistent in their questioning looks and queries: Why Waimanalo? Well, Chris' friend suggested it and we found a place using the internet, and so we are here. It is quiet; it is reasonably priced; the parking is good; it's in a quiet neighborhood; it is NOT touristy. But the real reason is this: look at the beach. Count the people. Check out the view.

This evening we had dinner with two of Peggy's classmates from Mills. Lily and her husband, Jerry, were at our 40th reunion at Mills last fall; we hadn't seen Lyn since we were last here in 1988. We met at Lyn's home which is located on a hill to the east of the University of Hawaii. Driving there reminded us of the drive up to Twin Peaks in San Francisco. Sitting on Lyn's deck, catching up with friends from our youth, while looking at a spectacular view of Honolulu was bliss.

Lyn, Lily, Jerry, and Peggy

Lyn, Peggy, and Lily

An island drive

2006-11-08T16:08:00.000-06:00

This was an easy day for us. Jet lag has us in its grips and sleep seems to envelope us the moment we sit still. This is why we wanted our last days of this journey in an easy and warm place to help us come back to "the real world." Although, quite frankly, both of us have loved the world we have been inhabiting. We are trying to figure out how to maintain the freedom that a calm life provides.

We drove through the central part of Oahu to the north coast and then followed the Kamehameha highway back to Waimanalo. These are views from the Hawaii Golf Course which is in the middle of pineapple fields in the central part of the island.

As we came down the eastern side of the island, many roadside stands appeared where local fruit and products were for sale.

It is a sign of our weariness that there aren't more photos of this beautiful part of the island.

Tuesday in Hawaii

2006-11-07T14:39:00.000-06:00

The flight to Honolulu left Narita right on time, just before 8 in the evening on November 7. After our airplane dinner, we stretched out our chairs and actually got a couple of hours of sleep. When we were near Honolulu, the cabin attendants woke us up, encouraged us to fill out the various customs and immigration forms, and to get our personal belongings tidied up. Thus started our second November 7. This one on the other side of the Date Line.

Until we reached Honolulu, the flight was pretty much uneventful. As we were about to land, the pilot told us that one of the engines had stopped and that the landing would be delayed as they sorted out how to compensate for this. No one seemed too concerned, least of all Bob and the flight attendant. Bob observed that the plane still had 3 working engines. It turned out to be a very gentle landing. Nonetheless, terra firma looked pretty good.

We found our rental car and managed to get to Waimanola and found the Bird of Paradise Guest House where we will be staying. (Scroll down to the last frame of the panorama views in this last link.) We took long naps after this arduous, extra long day of traveling.

Later, we drove into Honolulu. The views along this east shore of Oahu are beautiful.

We love listening to the surf on the beach which is just a block away from our quarters.

Tuesday in Asia

2006-11-07T03:18:00.000-06:00

After an 8:30 AM departure from Hong Kong, we landed 3 3/4 hours later in the Narita Airport near Tokyo at 1:15 PM this afternoon, Tuesday. (Tokyo's time zone is one hour east of Hong Kong's.)

Our flight to Honolulu leaves this evening at 8:10 PM. This 6 1/2 hour flight is scheduled to arrive in Honolulu at 7:40 AM on this same Tuesday, Nov 7. It will be a long day as we will arrive in Hawaii an hour before we left China this morning. The wonders of the International Date Line. What a world!

As you can see we have wifi in the NWA lounge.

We have looked at our email and made a post to the blog.

Peggy has done some sudoku puzzles.

Bob's read the Wall Street Journal and started to read the next book club selection.

It's very quiet in this place. Later this evening, we'll have dinner on the plane over the Pacific Ocean.

Hong Kong delights

2006-11-06T02:21:00.000-06:00

A Hong Kong sight!

at left: Bob, Peggy, Chris, and Nicola

Nicola and Chris at the Peninsula Hotel, a Hong Kong landmark.

For our 2nd and last day in Hong Kong, we took the Star Ferry to Kowloon to have lunch at Gaddi’s in the Peninsula Hotel. Bob regaled us with stories about dining here when he was a young officer in the Navy in the ‘60s.

After lunch we returned to the Rio Pearl shop. At the shop, Nicola found earrings to match pearls that Chris had been given in Shanghai.

Sara, Nicola, and Chris on the Star Ferry

On the way to the Star Ferry, we ran into Chris and Nicola's friend, Sara, from Austin, TX, who is also on this recruiting trip with Chris. Next week this ferry pier will be decommissioned so this was the last time this particular ride would be available for all of us.

Bob enjoying his Star Ferry ride.

This map shows the Central District park that stretches to the Peak Tram station.

Later in the evening when Chris finished interviewing students, we walked to the Peak Tram station. We took the funicular to Victoria Peak to see Hong Kong at night. Splendid. A little digital camera is no match for the spectacular view on a full-moon lighted night. We finished the evening with dim sum at one of the restaurants at the peak. It was a beautiful night for the walk back to the hotel. Bob and I packed because we have an early departure time in the morning.

Gyeongbokgung

2006-11-03T07:39:00.000-06:00

This was the primary palace of the Joseon Dynasty. It was built in 1395 by its founder, King Taejo. Most of the 200 buildings that made up Gyeongbokgung were destroyed in 1910 when the Japanese annexed Korea. In the 1990s, the Korean government began restoring and rebuilding the palace and its grounds. This afternoon we wandered among the many buildings and gardens.

The main gate into the palace compound.

Detail of the gate with a view of Geunjeongjeon.

Geunjeongjeon is the main palace building. State ceremonies were held here and foreign dignitaries were received. It was built in 1395; destroyed during the Japanese Invasion of 1592; and rebuilt in 1867.

This is a detail of the upper walls and ceiling of this grand building.

More to follow...

Travel day: 4 hour trip in 13

2006-10-30T00:59:00.000-06:00

In Novosibirsk, boarding the Aeroflot flight to Moscow at 6:20 PM on Sunday.

Airport sign at the very recently remodeled Tolmachevo airport in Novosibirsk

There's no direct flight from Novosibirsk to Seoul so our itinerary took us west to Moscow where we connected with a Korean Air Lines flight going east to Seoul.

We flew to Moscow in about 4 hours, arriving at Sheremetyevo Terminal #1 at 7:30 PM. (Moscow is three time zones from Novosibirsk.) The KAL flight left Moscow's International Sheremetyevo Terminal #2 at 10:40 PM. About 4 hours later, as we were finishing dinner on the plane, the inflight map showed us approaching Novosibirsk. Now let's see: We had left Novosibirsk at 2:30 on Sunday afternoon and after an hour van ride to the airport, and a 1/2 hour van ride between the Moscow terminals and 8 hours on two planes we were just about to fly over Novosibirsk. Oh, it's all part of the adventure!

The point of this long story is that we have arrived safely and uneventfully in Seoul, Korea. Our plane touched down at Seoul-Incheon International a few minutes early at 12:54 PM today, Monday. We checked into the hotel at 3 (this is the view from our room;) connected to the internet; got a video call from Chad in Akademgorodok (via our Skype connection) at 3:25; Bob's taking a nap and I'm on my way. Our friends from San Francisco, Nicola and Chris, arrive later this evening to officially kick-off the Pacific coast part of our journey.

Check the World Clock to figure out the time difference. It looks to us that when it is 4:30 PM on Monday in Seoul, it is 1:30 AM on Monday in Minnesota. Whew!

Packing

2006-10-28T23:47:00.000-05:00

It's our last day in Akademgorodok. We leave Sunday afternoon with Seoul, North Korea, as the next destination.
We're not sure how much time we have left on our NSU broadband connection for the internet.
We've exceeded our Skype limit for the month so can't add more to our account until Nov 1.
Looks like it's time to move along. We'll be back in Minneapolis in the afternoon on Nov 13. Between now and then, we're not sure what our connections will be. When we get to Honolulu on Nov 8 we'll have cell phone service again.
So, all of this is to say that our communications may be a bit sketchy for the next 10 days. If we get connected, we'll post the news! We've had a great stay in Siberia. We'll be talking about this trip for a long time. As with all successful journeys we have learned so much. We have met some wonderful people and have some good new friends.

This is our friend Daniel Gehrman who is helping to pack Peggy!

Seasonal Changes

2006-10-28T01:14:00.000-05:00

This weekly feature will report on the season’s color. On a day-to-day basis, we often lose track of just how the color is changing. This will help us remember the progress of the seasons during our stay in Akademgorodok.

First week, Sep 17, 2006 at 12:18 PM

Second week, Sep 23, 2006 at 12:16 PM

Third week, Sep 30, 2006 at 12:52 PM

Fourth week, Oct 7, 2006 at 1:40 PM

Fifth week, Oct 14, 2006 at 1:24 PM

Sixth week, Oct 21, 2006 at 3:37 PM

Seventh week, Oct 28, 2006 at 3:38 PM

To the dentist's office

2006-10-26T12:18:00.000-05:00

Last Friday morning after breakfast, I noticed that a piece of one of my molars was gone. It's a tooth with a large filling and it was a small corner that seemed to be missing. I emailed Jim Cheever in Minneapolis who has been taking care of my teeth for 31 years. Jim was out of town but Judy relayed the message to him and returned his advice to me. On Tuesday evening, when we were out with Chad, Zhenya, and Daniel, I mentioned my tooth. Immediately, Chad was on the phone to his dentist. At 8 in the evening he made an appointment for this afternoon. So, my tooth is fixed, at least temporarily.

Akademgorodok dentist

This is what I reported to Jim:
"I'm sorry I can't tell you the name of my Siberian dentist. Chad Gehrman, our new friend (from Wayzata) who has lived here for 13 years accompanied me and did the translating. He explained the problem. She examined the tooth, said she'd do a temporary filling that would get me home if I was careful with it. It was very much like being at your Brookside office! Same stuff in my mouth; picking, sanding; putting some stuff in the tooth, putting the black-light gun to it; more stuff in the tooth, more light gun. Then some sanding(grinding?) Her only English words: "open" and "close." After this, a little more smoothing and then done. No Novocain--she said I wouldn't need it and I didn't. At the end of her work, she said I should have those other fillings replaced too! I said they were about 45-50 years old. She raised her eye brows at that. She and her assistant agreed to have their pictures taken though they thought I was a little strange. Probably am.

Her assistant

"When she was finished, Chad and I went out to the front desk. The bill was 150 rubles. We looked at each other and agreed the price should be checked. Yes, that was correct: $5.77!"

The opera, Eugene Onegin

2006-10-24T21:13:00.000-05:00

Opera and Ballet Theater

Eugene Onegin sign

Ilya and Bob

Olga and other teachers

Helpful students from Gymnasium #12 with Peggy

Curtain call for singers
Back to the Opera and Ballet Theater

The ballet, Giselle

2006-10-20T02:01:00.000-05:00

Professor Almira Yusupova is the curriculum coordinator for Bob's visit here. When we first met with Almira at the beginning of our visit, she asked us if there was anything in particular that we wanted to do or see while we were here. We told her that we’d like to see a performance at the Opera and Ballet Theater. Last week she told us she had tickets for the ballet, Giselle, and invited us to join her family for the performance.

This afternoon we met Sophia, Almira’s daughter, and traveled with her to the theater. Since we had arrived in plenty of time, we were able to enjoy a photo exhibition of the renovation of this enormous hall. With its renovation completed, it reopened in December 2005. We still had time to have a snack in the café. The theater has cafes which serve finger foods, desserts and beverages.

We met Almira, and Sophia’s dad, Rais, before the performance began. This theater is the largest in Russia, larger than Moscow’s Bolshoi (which means “big” by the way.) Rais observed that much of the interior wood had been salvaged and refinished, some of the work being done in St Petersburg. These chairs were redone in St. Petersburg.

The ballet was beautiful.
As we were departing the theater, Rais ran into a school mate from years ago. She asked him what he thought about the performance. After he gave her a good report, she told him that her daughter had danced the part of Giselle!

When we emerged from the building, Rais told us about some prominent buildings in the Ploschad Lenina where the theater is located: the former trade building which was built at the turn of the century and now houses the Regional Studies Museum; the mayor’s office; the geographic center of Russia (really of the former Soviet Union) is about a block away. From her childhood days, Almira remembered the square without the massive statues of Lenin and his comrades. She said they are impossible to remove because of their enormous size.

After the concert, Rais drove all of us back to Akademgorodok. He pointed out sights along the way, while Sophia translated for us. A very nice evening with this charming family.

The Cyrillic Alphabet

2006-10-19T21:04:00.000-05:00

We love it when your email and comments ask us questions. This reminds us of things we want to tell you. Kathie C asked, "Can you speak Russian now?"

Da! That means "yes" and the true answer is "no" which looks like "he" in Cyrillic and sounds like "knee-ette" in English. Peggy can manage about 30 words of vocabulary. Bob is much better. It would take a lot of study to get the hang of this language. We are pleased that we can do transliterations of the alphabet: 31 letters including hard and soft marks that change the sounds. Not to mention the change of intonation depending on which of the 10 vowels follow which consonants. Eeekkk!

These are some signs in Novosibirsk and Akademgorodok.
First: Novosibirsk logo
Second: House address
Third: Memorial path sign
Fourth: Zoo entrance

This web-site, signs in Russian, shows 100 signs in Russian with hints as to translations. They are fun to see.

Bob's new shirt

2006-10-18T20:57:00.000-05:00

Tonight we returned to the Chinese restaurant. After dinner, Olga, Sasha, and Paulina presented Bob with a Novosibirsk State University t-shirt. You can see how pleased he is. You will see a lot of it when we get home!

Election day in Siberia

2006-10-18T12:14:00.000-05:00

Our absentee ballots arrived this morning via FedEx. We cast our secret ballots and they are going back FedEx in the morning. Though our ballots are secret, it is no secret that we voted for Peter Hutchinson, Mark Ritchie, and Amy Klobuchar! We are in the International Studies Office at NSU in this photo.

Bob is handing our completed ballots to Ian Reznitchenko so that he can deliver them to the FedEx driver in the morning. Ian has been our university contact for our stay here. He has answered a myriad of questions and smoothed the way for our stay. We could not have done this visit without all of his guidance and assistance. You can tell from his photo what a pleasant fellow he is!

Later in the afternoon we ran into Ian and his son Grigory at the Trade Center in Akademgorodok.

8th graders and the zoo, too

2006-10-17T12:45:00.000-05:00

Today we met with Olga’s 8th graders—an enthusiastic group. We had a lively conversation and were pleased to see some familiar faces among them. At the end of the class they surprised us by asking for our autographs.

The next class was the “optional” English group. We would call this an elective class. We had met with them before and they suggested that we come back for an excursion to the zoo. We walked to the zoo with Anya, Anya, Nick, Helen, and Olga. Nikita and Andrew joined us a little later.

The zoo was a great place to exchange vocabulary words. We saw several different kinds of bears. This huge Russian bear was impressive when he stretched up the side of this cage.

An interesting animal turned out to be a yellow-throated marten. The Novosibirsk zoo is one of only four zoos where this species breeds.

This is a better photo from the internet.

There are white tigers who have been at the zoo only a few years.

A unique animal is the liger whose father was an African lion and whose mother was a Bengal tiger.

We really enjoyed our time at the zoo with these students. They found our feeble attempts at Russian humorous but were patient in helping us with pronunciations. They are great teachers.

Bob, Anya, Helen, Nick, Olga, Nikita, and Andy.

When we left the zoo, the students went their different ways and we returned to school with Olga. She pulled out the hot water pot and choco pies and tea for a warmer-up. What a pleasant way to end our visit.

Dreary weather

2006-10-16T21:48:00.000-05:00

If you look closely, you can see Bob entering the woods. He's on his way to his Monday class. This was taken with my dinky digital telephoto from the balcony of our apartment on this dark afternoon. Though we saw the sun very briefly this afternoon, it has not been seen since the last full moon. The locals say that this is really a little cooler and grayer than is usual for October.

Chinese food

2006-10-15T02:25:00.000-05:00

It was a quiet Sunday here. Last night, Paulina told us about a Chinese restaurant on Morskoy Avenue. Finding it was today's adventure. Actually, we walked right to it, about 30 minutes from our apartment. One of the waiter's spoke English AND they had a translated menu to boot. Bob found a shrimp/egg drop soup. We shared sweet and sour pork and ginger beef dishes. In the corner was a large aquarium with a single, big fish. This reminded us of the Rainbow Restaurant in Minneapolis.

Bob's observations

2006-10-14T01:00:00.000-05:00

We have had several inquiries about Bob's assignment here. The system of legal education in Europe and Russia is different from the US. Students interested in becoming advakats, or practicing lawyers, take four years of undergraduate work in the faculty of economics and law. If they wish to practice or become judges (a civil service designation not necessarily requiring appointment from the body of former practitioners) they must continue in a specialized school. In the arrangement of my stay here, I became slotted with the undergraduates. The largest number of my students are in the economics department, with a scattering of law/economics students. Novosibirsk State University started a dedicated law school about two years ago, but the department I am assigned to does not seem to be able to talk with them. Among my recommendations for the continuation of the program here will be that my successors teach both in the law school and the undergraduate department. My preparation was for graduate level work and I have had to make some changes, not many, for an undergraduate presentation.

All of that being said, my students are an interested and interesting group. We have discussed the origins of Anglo-American common law (read English constitutional history here), the development of the jury system (O.J. Simpson plays a big part in this), introductions to torts, contracts law and international law, all with the final goal of the importance of the rule of law.

The students and few faculty members I have met have been most welcoming. The students particularly have gone out of their way to make Peggy and me feel welcome. Although I am not too sure what they will take away from my classes, Peg and I will take away a very good feeling of the welcoming and generous nature of our students and new friends.

Tennis and bliny

2006-10-13T11:05:00.000-05:00

Paulina, Jane, and Olga have tennis lessons twice a week. They invited us to come to the gym to meet their coach and watch if we’d like. Paulina and Jane are just beginning to play tennis. Their drills and conditioning regimen reminded me of Deanne’s early days of coaching my beginners team. Their coach is a handsome, personable, and talented player.

Jane and Vladimir Reva

Vladimir and Paulina

Olga has been playing for a number of years. Her lesson ended by playing a set. Watching this doubles match really made me want to get back to my tennis.

This evening we invited Paulina, Sasha, Olga, Jane, and Tim to come for tea at our apartment. They arrived with bliny makings: bliny, diced ham, grated cheese. They whipped these together, heated them in the microwave, and, “Presto!” we had a delicious dinner. We had some “zakusky” items (blue cheese, dark rye bread, fruit) and made a big pot of hot water for tea.

We watched some of our Siberian photos on the laptop and we showed them photos of our family, our apartment, and our “dacha” at Pipe Lake.

Gymnasium #9 Tenth graders

2006-10-12T10:24:00.000-05:00

I went to Novosibirsk to visit Olga’s 10th grade English class. I was studying the phrase book intently and nearly missed the jitney stop at the station. The jitney pulled over and I was the only one to exit. There was a lot of chatter at me but I didn’t understand and proceeded to get out. Don’t know if I was supposed to wait for a different exit spot or what. Oh well.

Alina, Arpinia, Olga, and Yana

At the school, two students, Yana and Arpinia, met me at the front door. Olga told me that this class had met Chuck Ritchie last year when he was here. I told them that I couldn’t be as good a teacher as Chuck but that I’d try to be a good visitor.

When Olga’s classes were finished, we went to the library so that she could show me a student’s translation work which was on a floppy disk. She introduced me to Galina who Olga described as the “Queen of the Book Kingdom” and a good friend.

When we were finished with the computer, Galina presented me with a book about Novosibirsk. It is in Russian, of course, but perhaps some day, I may be able to read it. I haven’t been any other place where visitors are showered with such generosity.

Olga invited me to stay for tea which I did. She brought out an electric pot to heat the water, produced cups, place mat, a choice of tea, and some cookies. This was my introduction to Choco-Pies. Remember the Nabisco cookies made with a cookie base topped with marshmallow and dipped in chocolate? I can't remember its name but it was my favorite childhood cookie: I was in heaven.

Hat weather

2006-10-11T22:58:00.000-05:00

The wind howled and roared last night. The trees are decidedly more bare.

We met Sophia, Maria, Olga, and Annie at the trade center café. Olga and Annie brought photos of the Altay region. It attracts many visitors for its natural beauty, mountains, and outdoor sport opportunities. Annie had pictures of her mom with the grapes that grow in her garden. We discussed a typical New Year’s eve dinner complete with recipes. It seems fireworks are as popular here as in Minnesota and Wisconsin. So, holidays often feature fire works displays. With all this discussion of food, Bob ordered bliny for everyone. These came with sour cream, fruit sauce, and sweetened condensed milk that had been boiled to a creamy consistency. The bliny here are very much like the crepes that Bob makes for special occasions. Here, bliny are for every day and for every occasion.

After coffee, we all looked for a hat for Bob but he didn’t see what he wanted. There is seldom an uncovered head here. The variety of hats is amazing. I had told Olga G that I was looking for a "Russian" hat. She produced one of her daughter's for me. It's pictured here. It has a flap that folds down to cover my ears. It is very warm.
Peggy, Sophia, Annie, Olga, and Maria in the Trade Center

Tonight, Bob participated in a meeting in Minnesota. He used a Skype connection on our laptop to a telephone there. The meeting started at 9 in the morning in Burnsville; it started at 9 PM here in Siberia. Technology is awesome!

Post office

2006-10-10T01:10:00.000-05:00

We met Paulina, Sasha, and Tim for coffee at the restaurant above the grocery store. We looked at the Novosibirsk postcards that the gymnasium students had given us. We also showed them the "free" postcards we had picked up at the coffee shop. These are advertisements but are quite interesting. Though we had figured out what most were about, they explained the details and set us straight on a couple of our "interpretations." They agreed to help us find some maps and Akademgorodok post cards. Bob opted for another cup of coffee while the rest of us went on our errand.

We found a National Geographic map in Russian and a map/calendar of Akademgorodok. Having purchased local postcards, we picked up Bob and went to the post office.

Peggy, Paulina, Tim, and Sasha at the post office.

Paulina, Sasha, Bob, and Tim at the post office.

It's a gray day but the umbrellas brighten the landscape.

Bob, Sasha, Tim, and Paulina in a drizzly rain.

Gymnasium #9 Eighth graders

2006-10-09T01:11:00.000-05:00

We tried a new way to Gymnasium #9 this morning. Olga helped us figure this out when she was setting up our route to her home last weekend. We get off the jitney several stops earlier at the Rechnoy Vokzal metro station. The metro is very comfortable and makes the trip 20 minutes shorter.

Today we visited an 8th grade English class. Their teacher said we should call her “Mrs. Deenah,” a shorter version of her real name. Her pupils made presentations about Siberia, Novosibirsk, Akademgorodok, the cultural sites of the area, Russian literature, and other subjects. They asked us questions about our lives in the United States: our work, our hobbies and interests, our family. It was a fast paced and energetic session.

The school is very near the most northern Metro station.
We had lunch at a Traveler’s Coffee shop—the third one we have visited here. There is not a lot of English spoken here but Bob’s language skills manage to convey what we need and get us where we need to go.

We were pleasantly surprised to find the elevator to our 6th floor apartment was working when we got home. It had been out of service over the weekend. We have been glad that we’ve been walking a lot so that we have been capable of the 94 steps up to, and down from, our apartment.

Some university students had asked Bob if he could add another class session because they had schedule conflicts. This evening he held his first Monday section. It is a smaller group and he likes the informality of it. There is more discussion which he particularly enjoys.

A Russian banya

2006-10-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

We took the jitney to the Rechnoy Vokzal Metro station where we met Sergey Ivanovich at noon. It was a quiet ride as he doesn’t speak English and our Russian is practically non-existent. Outside the city, the traffic was really backed up so he made a U-turn and took an alternate route. We went through some pretty woods and eventually came to his and Olga’s home in Razdolnoe.

They moved into this house just 3 weeks ago. Their neighbors, Svetlana and Sergey Sergeyovich, have a banya and invited us to come and use it with them. Olga explained that you should not do a banya on an empty stomach so she set out a “few” things so that we’d be prepared: fresh sliced tomatoes atop thin slices of batter-coated, sauteed eggplant; sliced tongue; julienned carrot-raisins-bean salad; chopped egg-pineapple-cheese salad; tomato-pepper-garlic salsa; grapes, pears and apples; rye and white breads; raspberry juice; wine and vodka. As we were finishing this not-so-small meal, Svetlana and Sergei’s daughter Kate arrived to say that the banya was not quite ready but would be soon. Svetlana came a little later to say all was prepared.

Olga gathered towels and wraps and slippers for the banya and off we went. The banya house consisted of six separate spaces: an entry area where outside shoes were left and slippers were donned; the summer kitchen with water heaters and pumps and other equipment to run the banya; a cellar under the kitchen where potatoes and other vegetables from their garden are stored; a lounge outside the banya room with chairs, a table, a wet bar, refrigerator, cabinets for dishes and glasses, etc; a shower area adjoining the banya; and, the banya room with a wood-fired stove.

Svetlana explained that we’d go into the hot room three times. Each time we emerged we could cool off with a shower and then relax in the lounge area.
During this time we should refresh ourselves with “zakusky” which are hor d’œuvres. These included garlic sausages, ham, cheese, tomatoes and peppers grown in their garden and greenhouse, mushrooms that Sevtlana had gathered from the forest, bread, and apples. There was Russian champagne, beer (including non-alchoholic,) vodka, and tea.

As we separated into two rooms to change our clothes, Svetlana presented us with banya hats. These are felt and are worn in the hot room to protect your head from the intense heat and steam.

The banya is a lovely room. The stove with rocks atop it, is on the right near the door. There are three levels of seats. A lower one serves as a step to the highest one which runs the length of the back wall. A mid-level bench is on the wall facing the stove. These are birch benches and emit their own heat.

The first two times in the hot room we all went in together. When we needed to cool down we sat in the lounge area, sipped tea, and ate a little. After the 2nd time in, we used the shower to cool down before going to the lounge.

The third time in the hot room, Svetlana, Olga, and I went first. Svetlana brought out the oak switches. She had been soaking these so they were soft and aromatic. She doused them with more water and plunged them up and down in a wooden tub. After that, she shook off the excess water onto the rocks on the banya stove. Steam increased the humidity and heat of the room. Because I was the novice, Svetlana rubbed my body with the oak leaves to stimulate my circulation. This being accomplished, a little more banya time was followed by a cool shower and then back in the banya. Experienced banya users do their own switching. As we emerged for our rest and tea, the fellows took their turn. What an experience! Bob is figuring out where a banya can be built at our lake place in Wisconsin.

When we had had a little more to eat and had some more tea, we changed into our street clothes. On the way back to the house we stopped at Svetlana’s and Sergey’s greenhouse. There was a huge pile of cabbage. There were pepper, cucumber, and tomato plants still bearing fruit even though the outdoor gardens were covered with snow. Svetlana gave us canned and fresh vegetables from their garden.

Back in the house, we met S&S’s four-year old son, Max. Svetlana then served a ravioli/pelmeni type stuffed pasta from Uzbekistan called “manty.” Of course, there was much other food too including a chocolate layer cake. By the time we had consumed all this wonderful fare, it was well into the evening.

Sergey Ivanovich drove us all the way to Akademgorodok—close to an hour-long trip. It was more than he needed to do but we were grateful not to have to wait for a jitney to get us home—especially since we were returning with much more than we had gone with: banya hats, vodka glasses, canned and fresh vegetables, Uzbeki bread, hats from Olga for me, and a large jar of tomato, pepper, and garlic salsa that Olga had made.

What a memorable day with our new Siberian friends!

Jitneys and banya hats

2006-10-07T03:35:00.000-05:00

This is Bob in his new parka. Such jackets for kids are called "alaskas."
Our destination on this wet and snowy morning was Akademgorodok “Shah,” or the lower part. Not sure exactly why it is lower: physically, economically, or just what.

The jitneys are called “gazelles” because the company that makes them is called Ga (or is in a town named Ga) and after the African animal known for its speed. [Do look at Paulina and Sasha's comments to get the correct info here.] They are usually 13-passenger vans. It took a couple of trys before one came by with enough seats for all six of us. This one was too full for us. Paulina, Olga, Sasha, Jane, and Bob are deciding that we'll wait for another #7.

Olga and Jane in the jitney.

Sasha and Peggy across from them.

Paulina and Bob in the front of the bus.

Olga, Sasha, Paulina, Jane, and Bob at Bellalissimo, a restaurant in three parts: coffee, pizza, and Japanese. [Paulina and Sasha explain my Italian in the comments--have a look!] Our conversation this morning focused on food: what we call it; how we cook it; how it grows in gardens. Olga and Jane said their families grew shallots but they were unavailable in the market. They want us to try Cedar seeds—from the pine cone. We told them about pine nuts but they didn’t know what they were. We asked them about banyas because we have been invited by Olga G for one tomorrow. They said we needed banya hats and would go shopping with us!

Saturday is a regular school day at the university. So after our coffee time, the students went off to class. Paulina is holding a copy of the newspaper with an article announcing the opening of a Starbucks in Moscow next fall.

At the end of classes, we returned to the university to meet Paulina, Sasha, and Olga to go shopping for the banya hats. We went to a bed/bath store in the Trade Center and looked at several different styles of hats. Paulina thought we should get one that said Siberia on the front. We finally decided on a Napoleon-looking triangle affair that has flowers on the front for me. Bob demurred on the hat purchase for him.

We all had a small snack before we did some grocery shopping on the way home. Sasha helped Bob get some ham because he couldn’t find the stuff he’s been buying. I found a bag of pine nuts to show them and they turned out to be the cedar seeds that they had been describing this morning. They showed us the cirok curds they had told us about earlier in the week. They look something like a cross between cottage cheese and very dry cream cheese.

Russian art in Minneapolis

2006-10-06T03:29:00.000-05:00

These trees and shrubs are still bent after the snow we had two days ago.

It was a very quiet day here. We went to the Trade Center for dinner at the East-West Restaurant above the grocery store. A math student from the university helped us with some menu translations and then joined us for dinner. This summer she had spent a month in Boston with her brother who lives there and was happy to have some English practice. After dinner she accompanied us while we shopped for hats and scarves. Perfectly delightful evening.

The Museum of Russian Art is in south Minneapolis. We had talked about visiting it before this trip but it remains on our "to do" list. It will be at the top of our list for a visit when we return. Looks pretty interesting.

Teachers' Day at Gymnasium #9

2006-10-05T00:45:00.000-05:00

Morning after the first snow on a trail in the woods in Akademgorodok.

The woods after yesterday’s first snow are just beautiful. These can’t capture the beauty of a new snow in the woods.

This morning I went to Novosibirsk to visit Olga’s 11th grade English class. Bob's class is later today and so he couldn't come along. This was our first separation of over two hours since we left Minneapolis at the beginning of September!

Today was “self-control” day at Gymnasium #9. The students were in charge and many of them taught subjects to the younger grades. It was also International Teachers’ Day so teachers were being honored with flowers, gifts.

Olga’s students were in an “optional” class of English at the end of the school day. I told them about Minnesota and showed my small collection of postcards to illustrate my talk. They told me where they were born and told me places where they’d like to visit: Australia, Stone Henge, Germany, Africa, Spain, Antarctica, and another planet.

I asked them to tell me about the things and places we should see in Novosibirsk before we leave. They were reticent at first and then they plunged right in. We used the Novosibirsk map and they marked up the sites that we should visit, creating quite a “to do” list: the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Circus, the Zoo, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Chapel of St. Nicolas near Ploshad Lenina, several museums. They presented me with a collection of postcards depicting significant institutions in Novosibirsk. They were well prepared!

The conversation moved to pets. They were astounded at Boots’ age. They named and described their own cats and dogs. The pets’ names evolved into a Russian lesson for me. They had some great fun when they heard my attempts at pronouncing Russian. Michael suggested that perhaps I could laugh just as hard at their English pronunciation. In fact, that is not the case. They express themselves well and clearly in English. There was some discussion among themselves in search of English words to describe one thing or another but they always came up with what they needed to explain something to me. Oh! That I could only recite the Russian alphabet correctly!

One of the postcards depicted a weeklong pancake holiday that occurs in January. The description of these days evoked an image for me of a combination of holidays: Thanksgiving for being grateful for family and friends; Yom Kippur for forgiving each other for misbehavior during the past year; Mardi Gras for the feasting and celebrating that occurs. The students drilled me on my pronunciation of bliny—accent on the second syllable!

At the end of class they presented me with chocolates to honor me on International Teachers’ Day. An honor I hardly deserve but we all dove into the candy box. We each had to say the name of the candy in our foreign language before we could eat one! You should hear me say pistachio in Russian.

For our next time together, we are going to the zoo! Well, weather-permitting, of course.

First snow

2006-10-04T05:47:00.000-05:00

The fountain on September 19, 2006

We met Sophia, Annie, and Olga at one of the university buildings and walked to the Trade Center to have coffee at the East-West café there. As we arrived, we could see that the fountain was being tucked in for the winter. It reminded us of the fountain in Loring Park in Minneapolis when it is buttoned up for the Minnesota winter. There was a light drizzle, hardly enough to warrant an umbrella.

Olga, Annie, Bob, and Sophia at the East-West Cafe

Marie joined us a little later. We had a wide-ranging discussion on topics that included our families, educational philosophy, Russian holidays, literature, cell phone service, the beauty of the Altai Mountains. Marie and her family lived in Arcata, California for a year when she was in 5th grade. What an experience for a 10 year old. While we were chattering away in a cozy spot, it started to snow.

Olga, Marie, Sophia, Peggy, and Annie
While the drizzle had turned to snow outside, we couldn’t help but notice that Annie was wearing a sleeveless top. This is the sign of a “strong Siberian woman!”

Olga, Annie, Bob, Marie, and Sophia

Olga, Annie, and Sophia going into the snow. Bob's in the background...

Annie, Olga, and Sophia...it's starting to look like snow.

It snowed all afternoon and into the early evening. It’s very pretty.

This evening I came across an interesting website with views of Akademgorodok's earlier days. You might find them interesting too. Remember that Sputnik I was launched on this day, Oct 4, 1957, just around the founding of Akademgorodok.

Ob Sea and English books

2006-10-03T10:19:00.000-05:00

This morning Paulina, Sasha, Olga, and Tim took us to the Ob Sea. Tim has just returned from a Pittsburgh, PA suburb where he was on a work/travel program for a few months.

We walked west on Morskoy Street until we came to the divided M52 highway. Bob describes crossing a Russian street as a “blood sport.” Certainly crossing a divided highway gets one’s adrenaline flowing.

We crossed train tracks via a pedestrian over pass and then descended many stairs to reach the beach.

We were the only ones there! The fall foliage and evergreens are reminiscent of the north shore of Lake Superior and Madeline Island.

We returned to Traveler's Coffee for refreshments. On the way, Paulina stopped at a convenience store so that she could introduce us to “surok”—a kind of cheese/milk product. It’s not cream cheese; it’s not the cottage cheese that the dictionary defines. It’s good—especially filled with strawberry preserves and covered in chocolate. At Traveler’s, Tim served the tea as he had done it in Pennsylvania. They must have loved him.

Zhenia arrived at Traveler’s while we were there. She said Chad was bringing some books for us to read. He arrived with two dense tomes of Siberian and Russian history. It’s exactly what Bob had requested!

New route through the woods

2006-10-02T12:04:00.000-05:00

Bob got his hair cut today at the salon that Chad pointed out last week. He is happier with shorter hair.

We tried to go to Traveler’s Coffee through the woods instead of the regular byways. We didn’t quite go where we thought we would but found ourselves on more pretty trails through more woods. As we emerged on Tereshkovoy Street we ran into Almira on her way to teach a class. Bob and she conducted a little business and he will add a Monday section to his teaching schedule.

Chad and Zhenia were at Traveler’s. Chad said he could loan us some books in English as our reading supply is about exhausted.

After dinner, we continued down Tereshkovoy Street in search of the church that is marked on the map. What a lovely setting it is in. We’ll have to find out more about it.

An interesting bird

2006-10-01T05:21:00.000-05:00

The second day we were in Akademgorodok, we saw this bird on one of our walks. Via email, Bonnie identified it for us: “The bird is a magpie. I looked it up in a Japanese guide I have just to make sure. We actually have them here in MN, up in the bog area north of Duluth and west to Alaska and out on the Aleutians. They are pretty spectacular when you see them fly.”

We often see this bird. It's big and colorful and has a big voice, too. Turns out it is related to jays and crows so its noisy habits are not so unusual. We saw a magpie at the botanical garden last Friday. Sasha explained that in Russia, this bird’s name is soroka. She said that Russians say, "Soroka beloboka" because its white sides show clearly when it flies. I will try to get a better picture before we leave.

We're catching up with previous posts: Added Sep 23, Sep 30 and updated the Sep 29 post. You can find them in the "Previous Posts" list on the right by clicking on "Laundry and a walk" for the 23rd; "Seasonal Changes" for the 30th; "Central Siberian Botanical Garden" and "Meeting friends of friends" for the 29th posts.
Also, we added another entry for Sep 14 and one for Sep 15 and another for Sep 16. These last three will be filed in the Sep 2006 archives as "Novosibirsk State University" and "Getting Settled" and "Testing technologies." Sorry there's no link to them in the archives but they are filed in reverse chronological order. You can scroll down to find them.

Meeting friends of friends

2006-09-29T12:04:00.000-05:00

This afternoon we walked to Traveler’s Coffee to meet Chad Gehrman. We were a bit late and tried to call Chad but seemed to have the wrong number. We were discussing this when we passed a man and his little boy on the side walk. Just as we passed, he said, “Are you Peggy?” As we stopped to introduce each other, Zhenia and their dog, Nanu, joined us.

Chad, a Minnesotan, has been in Russia since 1992. He and his dad were in Indian Guides with Jake and Chuck Ritchie a few years back. Chuck connected us with Chad. Zhenia is from Novosibirsk. Their son Daniel is two and half and bilingual, of course. Zhenia said that Daniel is teaching his grandmother and his playmates English!

We walked on Morskoy Street for a while.
Chad bought Nanu an ice cream cone—quite an operation.

Chad steered us through a neighborhood we hadn’t seen. Akademgorodok has 100,000 people. Bob and I were wondering where they all lived. Chad explained the density of the place. Apartment buildings, like ours on Piragova, house many, many families in the same space that just a few American families would occupy.

We are probably 10 minutes away from Chad and Zhenia’s, through the woods. We can find their house because they have two canoes on the deck. Canoes are virtually unknown here.

There is nothing like being with a delightful 2 1/2 year old! Our time with this energetic family was so enjoyable. We grinned all the way home.

Central Siberian Botanical Garden

2006-09-29T01:00:00.000-05:00

Olga, Paulina, Sasha, Peggy, and Jane

We walked to the Central Siberian Botanical Gardens with Paulina, Olga, Sasha, and Jane this morning. Bob and I had tried to find the gardens last week but gave up after walking for over an hour with no luck.

When we arrived at the main building we found out that there were no tours available. Jane used her extraordinary persuasive skills and managed to get us into some greenhouses. Once inside we enjoyed a lively conversation with the botanist as we exchanged names and stories of the plants we had in common and especially about the ones that were unfamiliar to us. A number of years ago, Bob tried his hand at bonsai cultivation. He was impressed with the bonsai specimens here.

Olga, Jane, Paulina, and Bob with a mammoth's tooth.

Bob, Peggy, Jane, Olga, Paulina, and Sasha

In the outside gardens, we saw this cedum in neat semi-circles. It reminded me of the spiral that Susan is creating with it in St Paul. Looking at the hosta gave me an idea of what ours will be looking like at home after a first frost. Of course we are at the end of the growing season here. Now, we have to imagine how beautiful these gardens are when in full bloom at the peak of the season.

This is Paulina's favorite tree--you can see why!

Olga and Sasha: Classmates from the Mathematics and Physics magnet, and now group mates at the university

Bob, Jane, and Peggy

Bob and Paulina

Our guides and interpreters made this a particularly pleasant morning.

Our Piragova Street apartment

2006-09-28T08:58:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our home in Akademgorodok! Our apartment has been freshly painted and is clean. Everything works. Together with a housekeeper who comes from time to time, we can easily keep it tidy. We have a telephone where we receive calls but we still haven’t figured out how to make calls to off campus numbers. Ian has loaned us a cell phone and this is totally adequate for our needs.

As you enter our front door, the kitchen is immediately in view down a short hall. The first door on the right is the shower/sink room; the second is the WC.

Directly to the left is a hall-like space where the ironing board is located. We use the coat rack to hang clothes and store other items. We’ve put our papers, books, maps, and other things we’ve collected there.

Another room is in view off to the left. It is about 13’ x 13’ and serves as our living room, study, and bedroom.

There is a big and heavy sofa/bed. Fortunately, its construction does not include the standard American frame that can be so uncomfortable. It is a large and heavy piece of furniture so we have opted not to unfold and refold it each day.

There is a wardrobe in which to hang things. We’ve added several more hangers. Another cabinet with open shelves is next to it. Most of our clothing fits into these two pieces. There is an ample desk where Bob prepares his lessons.

A corner table is our computer center. Conveniently, the Ethernet outlet is below this stand and there are electric outlets in the wall above it. Two office type chairs work with these tables.

The south wall is windows and one door which opens onto a small balcony. Former tenants have left a clothes line out there which is very useful.
There is also a twin bed in this room. It has a soft mattress and serves as a day bed although mostly it just collects stuff. Sometimes this room looks like teenagers inhabit it—stuff is everywhere. Everything looks neat here because we were expecting a visitor when these pictures were taken.

The kitchen is equipped with the essential items. Bob cooks breakfast each morning which is such a nice way to start our day. There is also a clothes washer in the kitchen which is an extraordinary convenience. There is a great supply of hot water.

The bath has a hand-held shower. It has a good nozzle which provides ample spray. The toilet is in a separate closet next to the shower/sink room.

We are located just a 15-minute walk through the woods from the main NSU building and another five minutes from the main street with its department store, cafes, and grocery. We are pleased with whole situation.

Check the September archives for the September 11 post "Last Day in Moscow" which we completed today. May be caught up within a week or so!

Gymnasium #9

2006-09-27T03:22:00.000-05:00

We took the jitney into Novosibirsk this morning. We followed Olga’s instructions and found our way to meet her without any problem. The beginning of our metro ride was at the Ploshchad Lenina station. There are two metro lines and our stop was the last one on the red line so our task was not too difficult. Her school, Gymnasium #9, is a short walk from the Zaelcovskaya Metro station (my own transliteration; we have no English maps!) Olga had asked us to talk with two of her classes of 9th graders who are studying English.

We told them a little about ourselves and our kids and talked about the twin cities, the Mississippi, and Minnesota. We particularly pointed out how many similarities we see between our two cities.

We talked about their families; many of them have no siblings. They talked about the sports they enjoy—swimming, skating, skiing, wrestling, soccer, dancing and some of the other activities they enjoy—painting, music, email, TV, video games. Sometimes school closes because of the weather. Last year it was particularly cold so they missed about 10 days of school. They assured us that they did not study the whole time the school was closed.

The students dressed much more nicely than students in MN. The boys wore coats and some wore ties. They did not wear sneakers. Bob was wearing jeans that they are not allowed to wear! We enjoyed our time with them very much.

This is the 2nd group of students and us.

This class was assembling as we were leaving. That's Olga in the middle.Thank you, Olga, for taking the pictures of us with your classes!

Olga asked two of her students to walk us to the front door. We snapped this photo of them in front of the school sign. The school security officer jumped in the photo too. Does he remind you of Blake's Bob?

On our way home, we stopped at the Traveler’s Coffee shop near Ploshchad Lenina for lunch. After our first trip into Novosibirsk, we learned that the most reliable way to get a jitney seat is to get on the bus at the beginning of the line. We hopped back on the Metro to go to the main train station (via the green line) where the jitneys start their routes.

From a distance, the main train station's profile resembles a locomotive engine.

This morning, we noticed the fare was 30 rubles instead of 25. We wondered if the increase was because we were in the front seats (the prime location for jitneys) or, if it was because we were traveling during rush hour. A sign posted in the bus this afternoon explained that on Sep 25 the fare increased! This is a good reminder to keep one’s mind open to ALL the possibilities, not just the obvious. Traveling reinforces this lesson constantly!

House of Scientists

2006-09-26T04:48:00.000-05:00

We made plans with three students to go to the Central Siberian Botanical Garden this morning. At 8:30, it was 46ºF with a wind chill of 40ºF and 16 mph winds. We wimped out. We called Paulina and changed the plan to meet at 10:30 and go to a photo exhibit at the House of Scientists. She thought the weather was fine but went along with the change. As it turned out, the weather has been better than fine! It must be in the 60s; it's been a beautiful day. Next time we'll trust the local weather forecaster!

The photo exhibit of the Altay Mountains had been replaced by a Korean exhibit at the House of Scientists.

Paulina, Jane, and Olga steered us to the exhibition hall at the House of Scientists. We enjoyed looking at the art work--silk thread, instead of paint, on pieces of silk. Luckily, Olga had her camera since Peggy left hers at the apartment.

Paulina, Olga, and Jane

This is the House of Scientists. The museum is here along with a restaurant and a pleasant lobby filled with greenery and a pond.

Olga, Jane, Bob, and Peggy in the exhibit hall.

Paulina, Jane, Peggy, and Bob in the greenery in the HoS lobby.

Jane and Bob walking in front of the movie theatre on ulitsa Ilicha, Akademgorodok's main street.

Peggy and Paulina, chatting away, on our way back from the exhibit.

This evening Bob and I returned to the restaurant for dinner. Very enjoyable.

We added Sep 10, "Sunday in Moscow," to this collection. At this rate, we'll be caught up in about 10 days!

Equinox sunrises and sunsets

2006-09-25T07:52:00.000-05:00

Today it was rainy and chilly. The wind chill was 27ºF around noon. Peggy got out her down coat--Bob's still using his fleece (he's no pansy!) This forest photo is from our walk back from dinner around 6:30.

It's actually around 45ºF at 7:45 this evening and the sky is clear.
Today the sunrise was at 8:18 and the sunset is to be at 8:20.
Tomorrow the sunrise will be 8:20 and the sunset will be 8:18.
This seems to be the day of the actual equinox here.
We think that the Novosibirsk weather here in September and October is the equivalent of Minnesota's October and November. We'll see.

How we got to Central Asia

2006-09-24T08:05:00.000-05:00

A number of people have asked us, “What the hell are you doing in the middle of Siberia with winter about to set in?” About eighteen months ago, Tom Fraser, a partner at Fredrikson & Byron, received an email from the Center for International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria. CILS was organizing a new program which would put volunteer “senior” lawyers in Eastern European law schools. The school would provide the students and housing and the volunteer would take care of everything else. Tom, immediately identifying Bob as a senior lawyer, forwarded the email to him.

Bob made further inquiry into the program. He was sent an application asking for writing samples, list of publications and teaching experience. In the fall of 2005, Bob went to Chicago for an interview with Dennis Campbell, the director of CILS. To Bob’s great surprise, Kent Harbison from Fredrikson was also there for an interview. It turned out that Tom had also identified a third partner, Leo Stern, as a senior lawyer and Leo likewise applied.

Kent, Leo, and Bob in Salzburg, January 2006
An orientation program was given for all lawyer participants (about 49 from the US and Canada) in Salzburg the second week of January 2006. The week-long session gave some basic background in the European legal education system and provided answers to basic questions about the differences among the various legal systems in the countries to which the lawyers were about to be sent.

Immediately following the Salzburg session, Kent Harbison and his wife, Jude, left for their Eastern European assignment, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. Kent and Jude stuck out a difficult assignment for over three months.

Leo was assigned to the hardship post of Budapest, Hungary. He was there about four weeks in the spring and had a splendid experience.

We are assigned elsewhere in Eastern Europe, Novosibirsk, Siberia for a six-week teaching experience. One week into it and the enthusiasm of the students is inspiring Bob. We anticipate that it will be all that we expected and that we will have many, many stories to entertain you with at dinners well into the future.

Laundry and a walk

2006-09-23T00:27:00.000-05:00

We did sheets and towels today. The place looks pretty funny with everything draped on windows and chairs and hanging on the rope line on the balcony. It was a beautiful day—sunny and warm, so while the laundry was drying we set out to see the Central Siberian Botanical Gardens.

After walking for an hour in the direction we thought the garden was, we decided we’d better get more detailed instruction on actually finding the place! It did get us to a new part of town and on forest paths that are new to us.

We had an early dinner at the hotel on ulitsa Ilicha and a quiet night in the apartment.

We are listening to music from our iTunes collection on my laptop.

In Novosibirsk to meet Olga

2006-09-22T01:30:00.000-05:00

The Opera and Ballet Theatre is the largest in Russia. It is the home of the Novosibirsk Ballet Company and School.

Each day our comfort zone expands. Today we traveled into Novosibirsk in a 13-passenger jitney. This 45-minute trip was 25 rubles ($1 USD.) We got off at what looked like Ploshchad Lenina. It was and when you see it you will wonder why we were even in doubt! The Opera & Ballet Theatre is the backdrop for a huge statue of Lenin. This Novosibirsk guide has maps and other information about the city. Today, the weather is warm and sunny, perfect for exploring territory new to us.

We had lunch at an Italian restaurant on Krasny Prospekt before we went back to Lenin’s plaza to meet the mother of an exchange student who was at Blake five years ago.

Olga teaches English to 9th and 11th graders. We are going to her classes next Wednesday to speak English with the students. She explained which Metro station we should find and will meet us there next week to take us to her school. We had a brief visit and look forward to seeing her again.

Upon our departure she directed us to O’Hara’s. We found our way there and Bob bought a warm parka in anticipation of the weather that may be ahead.

Back in Akademgorodok, we bought some groceries and stopped for ice cream and lattes. Bob's students recognize us as we stroll around and are so friendly and sweet. Today a waitress from Traveler's Coffee shop stopped to say hello to us in the grocery. The students are so outgoing and friendly.

First day of class

2006-09-21T11:52:00.000-05:00

This is the way to the university building from our apartment. It's a lovely 15-minute walk through the woods. Bob went to the university in the mid afternoon to meet informally with a group of students before the class begins. This way the students can practice their English conversation. They are planning to do this each week.

The main building of the Novosibirsk State University in Akademgorodok, Siberia.

Bob came from his class surrounded by students, all chatting happily. His first official class meeting was from 5:45 to 7:15. The class has about 50 students. Bob says:
The students are a very interested and interesting group. I had had an opportunity to meet with a few of them prior to the class and found that they come from many places in Siberia. They are representative of the many cultural differences in the society: White Russians, Mongolians, students from the Stans, those with Turkic backgrounds. All assembled here by the vicissitudes of history. And all interested in some connection with America.

We discussed the historic bases of the Anglo-American common law tradition. I am hoping to use the (mostly) non-forceful changes in our tradition to illustrate the importance of the rule of law. The students were very interested and took a lot of notes, being particularly interested in my descriptions of trial by ordeal and the wager of law. I will have to keep finding equally gruesome examples to keep their attention. Perhaps the death penalty.

All's well!

2006-09-18T13:02:00.000-05:00

Peggy on Morskoy Avenue.
Bob in front of our apartment building at 22 Pirogova Street in Akademgorodok on Friday, Sep 15.

We arrived in Novosibirsk in the wee hours of Thursday, September 14. Since then we have been getting settled in our apartment in Akademgorodok. (Thanks, Susie, for the Akademgorodok link!) Though we have been able to receive email when we are on campus, we have not been online in our apartment. With a 12 hour time difference between central Siberia and MN, coordinating our communication has been tricky. This morning Bob met with the university computing guru. He has assured us that now that we have paid the fee (capitalism is thriving here!) and secured the appropriate pass words and codes, we will be online this evening. That's Monday day time for you across the Atlantic and Pacific. If this works, I will start updating the blog. I have been keeping notes so that I might be able to do updates should we get the necessary broadband internet connection. Phew! I'll pick up in St Petersburg and continue through to Moscow, the train ride east from there, and our first days here in Siberia.

We are in good hands here: Ian and Almira are wonderfully supportive and helpful in our living and academic needs, respectively. The weather has been good. Fall is beginning and the birch forest is taking on fall tints. We are going for a long walk this afternoon to explore some new spots on the campus.

Testing technologies

2006-09-16T04:15:00.000-05:00

We tried out the washing machine in our kitchen. It works well.

We don’t have a working internet connection in the apartment yet. There’s a “default” WiFi spot but it requires a password. As to internet or laundry in the apartment: laundry is the preferred convenience.

Language is consuming. We know so very little and we’ve been trying to translate words. Sometimes a transliteration will yield a recognizable word. Otherwise, it’s to the dictionary. We think this sign at the entrance to the woods admonishes people not to litter.

It was a beautiful day: warm and clear. This is a better view of our end of the apartment building. We are the sixth balcony from the bottom on the far right. Ours is the part that is not enclosed. The window to the left of the balcony in the photo is our kitchen.

We turned on the TV this evening. Watched Dianne Keaton and Jack Nicholson in Something’s Got to Give, dubbed in Russian! This movie is great fun—in Russian or English!

Getting settled

2006-09-15T08:10:00.000-05:00

#22 Pirogova Street has 120 apartments. Ours is #22--we are the 6th balcony from the bottom, at the far end.

Bob is standing at the entrance to the building for apartments 1 - 40.

We are learning our way through the paths in the woods. It’s lovely even in the rain. Fall colors are beginning. Leaves are falling. There are so many birch trees, a national symbol of Russia. Though it rained most of the day, it’s not cold so it’s not bothersome.

We walked around the main street of Akademgorodok to get some sense of where we are. We will try to expand our wanderings each day. This flower garden is on Ulitsa Ilicha, near the department store and a grocery store on one of Akademgorodok's main streets.

Housekeeping chores today: Grocery store for laundry soap, some food supplies; bought an umbrella (Peggy’s was in a small collection of items that inadvertently did not make it into the carry-on bag;) found an English-Russian dictionary; bought covers for our IDs which we flash each time we enter the main university building.

Ian arranged for an internet connection in our apartment. Currently, we can only get on line by being at the main university building. We are a sight checking email in the lobby. Ian directed us to a computer lab where we won’t be quite so conspicuous. Bob is collecting and sending his email near the computer lab where we can pick up a WiFi signal.

Almira took us to coffee later in the afternoon. She and Bob talked about some of the class logistics. She said the students are eager to hear foreigners speak another language. We are eager to talk with them too.

Novosibirsk State University

2006-09-14T05:33:00.000-05:00

This is the official web site for the Novosibirsk State University. It has an incredible amount of information and you can view it in English!

Bob's assignment is in the Department of Economics (DE)

This is from the website:

DE was founded in 1967.

Sections : economics, sociology, economics and law, economics and management, management (postgraduate education).
Chairs : modelling and managing industrial production, application of mathematical methods in economics and planning, theoretical economics, economic management, general sociology, science of law, general economics education, management.
Dean : doctor of economics, Professor Gagik M. Mkrtchan.
Tel : +7 (383) 339 72 42
e-mail : dekeko@lab.nsu.ru

Novosibirsk

2006-09-14T04:39:00.000-05:00

We arrived at the train station at 2:30 AM in Novosibirsk, Siberia. According to the train schedule it was 23:30 on September 13--Moscow time! Fortunately, our guide and shepherd, Ian, understood and arrived at the appropriate hour on September 14 (if wee hours of any morning are "appropriate.")

Trans Siberian Train

2006-09-12T09:50:00.000-05:00

This post is under construction

Trans Siberian Train #38 Schedule

Moscow Yarloslav Station on evening of departure

The dining car

Moscow to Tomsk Train #38 (It's the #37 from Tomsk to Moscow.)

Bob with our wagon's provodnitsa, Lubba
On our trip through Eastern Europe and Western Siberia on the mainline of the Trans- Siberian Railway, the train would make periodic scheduled stops of some ten to twenty minutes at major towns. Apparently, this was for safety checks and sometimes to change engines as well as disembarking and embarking passengers. The passengers would hang around the doors waiting for them to open with the provodnitsa, in her dress uniform for the occasion, standing guard and signaling when it was safe for us to disembark. There would be a rush to surround the local vendors who had gathered on the platform with a great variety of sausages, dried fish, ice cream, bread, soda, bottled water and, most providently, beer. To some of my fellow Minnesota beer purists, I would like to say that it is not difficult to develop a taste for warm beer. A toot on the whistle or a shout from the provodnitsa would bring the throngs with their plunder back to the train for the next segment of the trip.

2nd day on the train

Last day in Moscow

2006-09-11T11:05:00.000-05:00

Our task for this morning was to register at the US Embassy. We headed for the metro station near Red Square. We figured out that it required two transfers, got the tickets and found the first train. With the aid of a helpful attendant and a friendly young man, we managed to find our way.

Once out of the metro, it was another task to find the right street and then maneuver the underground passages to get to the correct side. Meanwhile the clock was running. The Embassy is closed from noon to two. We went through two security checks before we finally got to the office. A young fellow provided the forms and said they were closing early because they are all going to a 9/11 remembrance at the Embassy compound. They did not invite us along and we couldn’t figure out how to get there.

Outside a group of somber young people were putting red and white carnations on the boulevard in front of the compound. They had an easel with a list of items; news stations were interviewing and filming the group’s spokesman. As we moved down the street, I took this photo. The security guards quickly told us that photos were not allowed. No one seemed to be stopping the camera crews.

The return trip on the Metro was much simpler. We wondered why it had seemed more complicated at the beginning of our excursion. This is the way one Metro passage was decorated. Each stop was different and very interesting.

We had a snack at the Gum Department store on Red Square. It is a huge collection of shops and restaurants.

After we checked out of the hotel, we went across the street to the NetLand Internet Café. We had been using their WiFi at our hotel. Turns out there was a charge to use their computers but no charge for use of the WiFi, located in the bar. Bob dialed up his office on Skype. Here he is talking to Jane.

Our train to Novosibirsk departed from Yaroslavsky station at 10:40 PM. We were there very early which gave us a chance to watch the crowd accumulate for the outgoing trains. A porter got us to the correct wagon and lugged our bags to our compartment. This is how it looked when we arrived.

This is where we will be for the next 48 hours!

Sunday in Moscow

2006-09-10T03:45:00.000-05:00

After breakfast at the hotel, we strolled to Red Square. This morning it was cordoned off so walking was restricted to its edges. We watched a bell ringer in a church on the square using his muscle to beckon parishioners and tourists to worship. [Blog construction note: This photo is part of a video clip. When it can be snipped from the video as a still, it will appear here. Don't hold your breath...it's not a great photo anyway but it illustrates the bell ringer's perch.]

On the way back to the hotel we walked through a festival market just off Red Square. It appeared to be a celebration of Armenian culture.

The aromas of the street food were wonderful.

We were particularly taken by two women cooking bread in a tandoori-type oven.
One rolled out and shaped the dough. The baker spread it on a molded board that she used to slap it onto the interior of the oven. In a short time she removed it. Customers snatched this fresh bread as quickly as she could bake it!

Yesterday, this stage was the scene for very lively Armenian dancers.

Near our hotel this department store had a huge children’s section, complete with a carrousel. We think this is Detsky Mir (Children's World) store. We had stopped in here to pick up bath towels that we may need on the train to Novosibirsk.

Ellen and Jan left this afternoon for their return to Minneapolis via London. We will miss them!

The Kremlin in Moscow

2006-09-09T07:15:00.000-05:00

A guide is required to tour the Kremlin. The concierge recommended a guide; a nice lady but no Mila. We went through displays of armor, ambassadorial gifts given to the various czars and clothing which had been worn for coronations. The guide inquired whether we wished to see the collection of jewels and gold which had been amassed over the years; we declined.

We proceeded to the Kremlin yard (not Red Square which is actually outside the Kremlin) and noticed that portions had been closed off by soldiers. Shortly, the sounds of a military band were heard together with the clatter of horses’ hooves on cobblestones.

Each Saturday at noon there is a military parade and it was about to begin.

The band led the entourage followed by a marching unit of about fifty soldiers, followed in turn by about fifteen horsemen.

A color guard presented the national ensign and what must have been unit flags.

The senior officer detached himself from the horse unit and stationed himself immediately in front of us—between us and the band. It was his job to bark commands and keep the whole thing moving.

The marching unit performed first: Precision marching and rifle drill done very well.

They were followed by the horse unit going through its paces, likewise done with great precision. The whole show lasted about half an hour.

The color guard exited first, then the marching unit, followed by the horses and finally by the band. After observing the band marching through the horse droppings, Bob remarked to Jan that, from his experience in the Edina High School Band and the Grenadier Band, it was infinitely better to march behind horses than to march behind elephants.

[Editor's note: Disregard the date stamp on these photos. The camera was still on central daylight time!]

St Petersburg to Moscow

2006-09-08T10:52:00.000-05:00

We left St Petersburg before daybreak on the 6:30 AM express train to Moscow. The four-hour train ride took us through the countryside and forests. Juggling coffee on a bouncing train was quite a challenge. Bob managed to spill his on trousers; Peggy’s plates went tumbling in the aisle; you can see by the focus of this picture how Ellen is trying to keep her coffee in the cup. The train attendants were used to this and mopped up and re-supplied us with nary a nod.

In Moscow, we walked along Tverskaya Ulitsa to the Pushkin Café for lunch. As we were studying the map, two Americans stopped to offer aid. We were just a few steps from the restaurant!

At the restaurant, Ellen noticed an unusual dessert being served at the next table. We finished our own lunch with this splashy crème brulee. The crème was encased in a birdcage-like confection that dissolved when the waiter poured flaming brandy over it. After that, Bob and Peggy went back to the hotel for a nap.

Ellen and Jan continued their walk after lunch. They encountered this chamber orchestra in an underground pedestrian crosswalk.

Historical State Museum at Red Square

St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square

Lenin's tomb

A wedding party at the church in Red Square

Ellen and Jan eventually returned for naps too. Later, we walked to Red Square to see it lighted. The moon was near full. It was quite a sight. On our way back to the hotel we stopped for a small supper at a rooftop restaurant. Just as our food was served, a big rain came up which moved us inside rather quickly. It was not terribly cold so this was hardly an aggravation and we were still able to walk back to our hotel.

Across the street from our hotel is the NetLand Internet Café. It looks like quite a hopping place, with flashing lights and people of all ages, though mostly younger than we, coming and going all the time. Its WiFi address came up on Peggy’s computer and that’s what we are using for our internet connection. Amazing.

St Petersburg--third day

2006-09-07T06:20:00.000-05:00

Bob, Peggy, Ellen and Jan at Catherine's Summer Place...just like Pipe Lake!

We started our last day here at Catherine the Great’s Summer Palace at Pushkin. This enormous place suffered incredible devastation during World War II. One of its most famous rooms was covered with pieces of amber. Though it has been restored, there are people who are still searching for the original pieces which they believe were secreted away. We are amazed at the extent to which these buildings have been restored.

Ellen, Bob, and Jan in the Podvorye's gardens.

Mila steered us to lunch at the Podvorye Restaurant in nearby Pavlovsk.
The restaurant is a wooden building, typical of that style of Russian architecture. The food was typical Russian food: mushrooms, pelemeni (ravioli-like dumplings), stuffed cabbage and grape leaves, sour cream; cucumbers in sour cream; minced meat (like meatloaf.) We recognized most of the plants in the beautiful gardens outside the restaurant. The “autumn joy” cedum was beginning to bloom. It’s called rabbit’s cabbage here.

Back in St Petersburg, Ellen and Peggy walked along Nevsky Prospect where we mostly browsed. Nevsky Prospect is named for Alexander Nevsky, a 13th century hero. Mila suggested we stop at a grocery store to see its art deco interior: elaborate crystal and bronze wall sconces; tiled food cases; teas, cheeses, cold meats, candies, cookies, vegetables, and the ever present vodka and beer.

Young sailor at the Navy ship Aurora.

Mila took Bob and Jan to see the Aurora and the admiralty museum. Unfortunately this young sailor had to tell them that the ship had just closed for the afternoon. They ambled around the Admiralty Museum instead which suited the old salts that they are.

We all returned to the hotel at about the same time to enjoy our last visit with Mila. She will soon be departing for six months in England where she will be teaching Russian history, politics, and culture. She did a fabulous job of introducing us to Russia. It was not just luck that put us together. Her daughter is a good friend of a good friend of Jan and Ellen’s in Moscow.

We finished our last night here with a Caviar Sampler that was featured in the Astoria’s Davidov Restaurant. Three kinds of caviar with three kinds of vodka. While we struggled with what this sampler consisted in terms of quality and quantity, the manager noticed our consternation and came to our aid. He explained how they would serve the caviar so we could share it. We tried it on toast, pancakes, crepes; with minced onion, egg whites and egg yolks, and sour cream. The head of the wait staff and our waitress also were very involved which led to much merriment. The delightful waitress was pleased to practice her English and was polite with our feeble attempts at Russian. Of course, we finished by sharing desserts: It was a grand evening for our last night in grand St. Petersburg.

St Petersburg--second day

2006-09-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

We boarded this hydrofoil in front of the Hermitage. We traveled in the Bay of Finland to Peterhof, the summer palace of Peter, the Great. It was windy and gray but not cold. This route took us by some docks and other shoreline industries.

Peggy, Mila, Ellen, and Jan--the main part of the summer palace, with some of its many fountains, is visible in the background. Through a series of storage ponds and gravity, the fountains all work without pumps. Quite impressive.

There are all variety of fountains. This one recalls the sun with discs mounted at its top. The water causes this part to rotate creating a lovely swirling effect on the spouting water. Other fountains are for amusement allowing practical jokes. One is in the form of a giant mushroom with water sprinkling down from the edges. There are 176 fountains on the grounds!

The gardens are beautiful and plentiful. This greenhouse, the Orangery, is where plants are cultivated and stored during the winter. Catherine was interested in exotic plants (e.g., cabbage was an exotic at the time) and new plants were sought for her enjoyment.

After lunch at a cafe at Peterhof, we returned to St Petersburg to Moika Palace, the residence of Prince Felix Yusupov. A room in the basement is staged with wax figures to dramatize the murder of Rasputin there.

Ellen and Jan returned to the theater in the Hermitage for this evening's performance of Swan Lake by the Mariinsky Ballet. Bob and I took long naps since the jet lag finally caught up with us. After the ballet and the naps, we met for dinner at the Hermitage Restaurant. It was a perfect night for us to walk back to our hotel which is opposite St Isaac's Cathedral.

It was a full day. Ellen was wearing a pedometer and reported that she--and we!--had logged over 13,000 steps today. With the good Russian food we are enjoying, we need to keep up this level of exercise!

St Petersburg--first day

2006-09-05T23:36:00.000-05:00

Bob, Peggy, Ellen and Jan on a bridge over the River Neva.

We started our St. Petersburg tour with an orientation in the center of the city. It quickly becomes apparent why St. Petersburg is sometimes called the "Venice of the North." It is a beautiful city and we are fortunate to have a wonderful guide and teacher. We saw the River Neva and its two tributaries and some of the 500 bridges that cross them! We spent the afternoon at the Hermitage. Its enormity is hard to describe. We walked and walked and walked and barely scratched the surface of the exhibited collection. One can only imagine how much is stored out of sight. We were impressed by how accessible the works of art are--practically nose to nose with da Vinci and Matisse, Goya, El Greco, Rodin and so many more.

Ludmila, Bob, Ellen and Jan

Our guide, Ludmila, is extraordinary. The range and depth of her knowledge of history, art, language, culture, politics and so much more, enriches our experience here. She walked our legs off today and promises more of the same for Wednesday! We are so lucky.

Minneapolis to Amsterdam

2006-09-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

Our trip has been smooth and uneventful so far. We arrived in Amsterdam this morning, Monday, ahead of schedule due to strong tail winds. Our flight to St Petersburg departs at 12:35 this afternoon, about four hours from now. [It's 8:23 am here and 1:23 am in Mpls.] Our schedule predicts that we will arrive in St Petersburg around 5:30 this afternoon. Nothing much more to report. We are all reading books about Russia. Bob's busy learning essential phrases and instructing us on local customs. We need this!

I found this World Clock website which is helpful in determining who is in which time zone. Use the menu to select the time zone you want to see. I find it quite handy.

Calendar in a nutshell

2006-08-28T22:31:00.000-05:00

September 3, 2006 Travel from Minneapolis to St. Petersburg via Dulles and Amsterdam

September 4, 2006 Arrive in St. Petersburg
September 8, 2006 Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow
September 11, 2006 Leave Moscow for Novosibirsk
September 13, 2006 Arrive in Novosibirsk

Stay in Novosibirsk, Siberia for 6 1/2 weeks

October 29, 2006 Travel from Novosibirsk to Seoul via Moscow
October 30, 2006 Arrive in Seoul
November 4, 2006 Travel from Seoul to Hong Kong
November 8, 2006 Travel to Honolulu
November 13, 2006 Return to Minneapolis

Mallorca views

2006-01-18T03:07:00.000-06:00

This was near the summit of Coll de Sóller de Mallorca on Jan 18, 2006.

Switch backs on Mallorca.