amazingly discouraging

Someone I know just posted this on facebook.  I was amazed.  It is also discouraging...but redemptive.  Not sure how to describe it.  You just have to watch it.  Please do.  Only 16 minutes.


THIS IS VANCOUVER from St. Peter's Fireside on Vimeo.


There is always hope.

Must-Do's, An Update

Here's a list of the things that I would like to accomplish this, my third, year in Moscow:
(in no particular order)

1.  Horseback riding outside of Moscow
2.  Hockey game
3.  Spartak soccer game (a Moscow team who is notorious for fighting and being hooligan-y. :)
4.  Shashlik outside of Moscow
5.  Buy a nice Russian doll for myself
6.  Go to the ZOO! (even though I've heard it's really depressing)
7.  Tour the TV tower here in Moscow and go to the top!
8.  Spend as much time as I can with my Russian friends!
9.  A Cafe crawl (much like a pub crawl minus the drunkenness)
10. Go to a concert. (Skillet will be here in November.  Totally going.)
11. Go ice skating.  (still haven't done that!)
12. Musical: The Sound of Music.  I will be in Russian but we are definitely going.  Might wait until winter has set in.
13.  Cirque Du Soleil (In Moscow soon, need to buy tickets.) 

There will be more additions, I'm sure.  Hopefully this year will be happy and productive.  Here's to another school year and to...To-Do Lists!

I finally crossed one off the list.  I wanted to repost to remind myself of all the things I want to do and also to share with you the things that I have done.

So I finally made it to the zoo.  My first impression is that it is huge.  It's strangely nestled into the city's tall building and apartments.  When you first walk in, it looks so small!  And then you start walking and see that it just keeps going.  The second half of it being across the street.  You have to walk on a bridge over the street to get to the other half.  I was going to put pictures here but I have been crazy busy.  I will put them up on the next update.


Hopefully I will add even more to this list and continue crossing them off!

-Kristin

No New News :)

I don't really have any new news to write about.  (I always chuckle whenever I read, write, or hear "new news."  Probably only my mom and sister know why. :D)  So I will write about things that I am looking forward to.
This weekend I am going to the souvenier market here in Moscow.  I will be buying some Christmas presents and, of course, some new cheap movies.  They are around $4 or less and they acutally work.  It may be wrong to buy pirated movies...but everyone does it. :)  Then we will go to a friend's house for her annual fall party.  We call her neighborhood "Little America."  Once you enter the gate, it's like you've just teleported to America.  There are yards, trampolines, grills, driveways...And it will be the weekend when this community celebrates Halloween so there will be children running around in costumes.  I can't wait.
On Sunday, we are going to a Hillsong church here in Moscow.  I've always wanted to go to one.  It will be all in Russian but I am still very much looking forward to it.  I'm sure I will know a lot of the songs, but now I will be able to hear them in Russian.  After church, we will attempt to go to the zoo again.  Now we know what time it closes.  AND THEN after the zoo, I need to go home and plan my trip to Italy!!  Did I tell you I'm going to Italy?!  Amber and I are leaving on October 28th and will return on November 6th.  We are flying into Rome and will stay a few days there.  Then we are thinking of going to Capri and southern Italy.  We were looking at pictures last night and it looks gorgeous.  I think the temperature should be in the 70s! :)  Also, I have a friend from college, Lyndsey, who will be staying in Naples while we are there.  So I get to see her too!  HERE you can read her blog about all her travels.  Once I return from Italy, you will hear all about it.  I can't even imagine how many pictures I'm going to take.

I also am looking forward to Thanksgiving.  I think we have a line on some turkeys this year.  We also come equipped with 4 cans of pumpkin pie mix and evaporated milk.  We also have some stuffing mixes.  It's going to be a real American thanksgiving this year.

And then...HOME for Christmas.  I should be in America on the 17th of December.  I have an appointment on the 19th for a root canal.  That's the reason I need to fly back to America.  But I also am very much looking forward to three weeks at home with my family.  :D 

No other major news.  Autumn is here and she is almost leaving us already.  Winter is coming.   I need to buy a new coat...

Shut the front door....

So I realize that I haven't blogged in a while.  Life got a little busy.  Mondays and Wednesdays I am taking Russian classes.  I really like them so far.  They are challenging but it is also encouraging to see how much Russian I already know. 
Recently was also our Teacher's Day celebration.  We sang Adele's "Rolling in the Deep."  Sadly, no one recorded it, because I forgot to give Sarah my camera.  But hopefully we will sing it again soon and will record it.  Everyone liked it and I personally think we were the best act.  :)
Well, my inspiration for writing this blog is a conversation that I just had.  One of my students speaks almost fluent English.  Her nanny is American and I have been talking to her this week.  Today we talked for a little while.  She was telling me about the family that she works for.  Get this:  She has an apartment in the city which is paid for.  Soon, she will move into their $50 million home with them and have her own place there.  She goes everywhere with them.  Soon they will fly to Maldives for three weeks.  This summer she spent 3 months in Italy.  She, then, told me that if I found a job like her, I could be making $75,000-$100,000 per year!!  Can you believe that??  Can you believe that people have that kind of money to pay someone to play with their child?? 
That's insane.  And yet....I'm interested.  :)  I mostly likely will never do something like that.  I think the risk is too great.  Yes, you could be making a lot of money which would be nice to pay off all my loans and save a lot for the future.  But what if you end up working with a crazy family?  Like they are horribly mean.  It makes me think of "The Nanny Diaries."  Great movie.  I sometimes feel like her. 
Anyways, just thought that I would share.  :)

The First Day of School

September 1st is the day of knowledge in Russia.  It is the first day of school EVERY year even if it falls on a Sunday.  The students come to school with flowers and balloons.  They gather on the steps of the school and sing the national anthem and the school song.  Then they release their balloons and start crowding into the school.  Our school is on a small street in the forest outside of Moscow.  Today the street was filled with Land Rovers, Lexuses, Mercedes, and Audis.
The kindergarten did not partake in these festivities.  The kindergarten is, for some reason, not really seen as part of the school.  One day, the whole school has a day off...except the kindergarten.  What???
Instead of the ceremony on the steps, we had a play for the children.  And yes, I was in the play.  I was a puppet named Jamie.  The play had dancing houses and lots of choreography.  I wish I had a video to show you.  The play wasn't a total disaster considering we only practiced twice.  The children liked it.
After that, the children played for a little while and then went home.  Thankfully, I have one student who speaks English.  He is only 3 and speaks English, Russian, and French.  It's really unbelievable.  He was speaking to me in English and then would switch to Russian when he was talking to someone else.  I was so jealous.  :)  I'm really going to enjoy talking to him.  It's nice to have a child that actually understands me.  Today when we were playing he picked up a phone and said, "Let's call the dessert man.  Do you want a dessert?"  It was SO cute.  And what little kid would say that?
At the end of the day, I was tired but excited about the new school year.  And plus, I got these beautiful flowers.  Oh the benefits of being a teacher in Russia....

Practicing for our play in 20 minutes. 

The students just starting to arrive.  Not too many balloons just yet. 

Traffic...... 

Someone else's flowers...

MY flowers!  :)

Russian Flea Market Finds

Today we made a journey outside of Moscow to a flea market.  It was huge and cheap.  I couldn't tell you the name of it, or even the train stop.  But I enjoyed it.

 A while back I bought a old Russian camera.  I absolutely love it.  It takes the most amazing pictures.  I would like to take care of it but I just lug it around in my purse.  I was hoping to find a case for it and I did.  It fits perfectly and it was only $3!!  Great find, right?

I also bought this vintage bag that I'm going to use as a purse.  I really like it.  It was around $7.

Then I found this beautiful scarf.  I paid less than $2.  :)

It was a great day with friends.  Came home with some fun stuff.  Tomorrow is the honey festival.  I stumbled upon it with a friend the other day.  We were walking through the park and I didn't know that the festival had moved.  I bought a huge jar of Acacia honey.  It's delicious.  They had all kinds.  Here are a few pictures that I took.  Hope to get more tomorrow.  And maybe some more honey too. :)

"Whoever drinks honey, will not get sick."  It sounds better and rhymes in Russian. :)

Well, I have lots more pictures that I will hopefully put on here or on facebook sometime.  I'm really enjoying being back and I'm looking forward to many more adventures this year.  I actually added more to my "To-Do List."  Here you can see My To-Do List for Year 3 in Moscow.  That's all for now.  Bedtime for me.

Metro meandering

So I had a little free time in the metro today, waiting for some friends.  I've been wanting to make a video like this for a long time.  I really like.  Every time I watch it, I see a new pair of shoes that I didn't notice the first time.  I love the character of each person, seen as they walk past.  At first it looks like a video of just feet...but if you look closer you can see the people.

This city amazes me every day.  I'm living in a city of 15 million (or more) people.  I am just one.