Friday 23 May 2008

Russia IS great

Privet:)

So, I am always complaining here about Russia. This is of course wrong. Because if it would be as pictured in this blog I wouldn't have stayed here for so long.

In fact living in Russia is great, and all the problems I mention (because it's so easy to write about) are the spice in the soup (means here solyanka) of life :)

I have right now a couple of great days behind me, and even the worse moments added their part to the great impression of this week.

Just to give a climps, two days ago I stranded in a dirty and dull city in the north of Russia. When I had over 20 degresses in Moscow there it was still snowing. Yesterday I arrived in spb after some plane delay just to meet with as warm and friendly as drunken clients. After 2 bootles of whiskey they gave the police a call and the specialforces (OMON) of russia gave us a boat trip over the river Neva and the canals with the most beautiful city I know.
Besides this I had great client meetings, colegues, talked with nice people with surprised me by their brilliant mind. Worked with my laptop in a coffee at Nevski Prospekt, meets austrians at a god forgotten place, setteled fights with arguments and so on.

And all the time there are of course Russians everywhere. And with all wired sides they still have this what people call the russian sould. And to experience this wide, hospital Russian soul make things here finally so cool.

:o)

Sunday 4 May 2008

VIP taxi


There are new taxis out there in Moscow. Since a couple of month quite a lot of orange Porsche Cayenne are driving around. Of course they call it VIP taxi
(here you can get everything in VIP, VIP parking spaces at the aerport, VIP beauty salons for your wife, VIP entrance in a VIP club...).


anyway, the concept seems to work. First of all there are a lot o this card and become more and more. Second I saw just recently an Maybach as orange VIP taxi....

About this blog

This blog is a close up on Russia and the CIS. I am not giving you the big picture.
I would anyway fail. I am too long here. So beauty & decay,
education & corruption, high culture & kafka-style administration are meanwhile normal for me.
So this blog is like a painting from from Roy Lichtenstein... when you are with your nose on it :) You will just see the dots, not gaining any understanding of the whole.

Most things will look strange in this blog. But you can be sure, I would not live here, if there would not be a lot of great things here. Unfortunately, the weired stories are more interesting to tell & read.
Don’t judge Russia on this blog, if you want to know the country, come over and take a look by your own.

Gilles