Stary Arbat (Старый Арбат)

Stary Arbat is one of the most famous streets in Moscow. It's pedestrian only and is heavy on the tourism side as it has many vendors on the street and there are souvenir stores as well as some restaurants and an American staple.

Just a view down the street.

I didn't want to keep you waiting too long, but yes, Starbucks is on Stary Arbat! There's a few of them around and it's not too expensive really. You can get a venti coffee for 105 roubles (current FX rate is around 33 RR = 1 USD) or a venti frappucino for 210 roubles.

This is a photo made taken with my right hand, sorry, it was a Sunday and I didn't feel like shaving. Behind me is Alexander Pushkin and his wife - not them, but a statue. There's a statue of Pushkin, a street, and a square named after him in almost every Russian city I think. He lived on Stary Arbat at some point in his shortened life. He is a famous poet / author - I haven't read any of his work yet, but it is available in English if you are interested.

I zoomed in a bit on this statue to show you his sideburns - he almost looks like Wolverine from X-Men with these. I've seen some portraits of him as well - always the sideburns. At least he didn't wear one of those wigs which were so popular in the old days.

Victory Park

I took a trip to Victory Park this weekend as it was sunny and relatively warm (high 40's / low 50's) - the first nice days I've seen in Russia outside of my vacation I took here last June. It was refreshing to have a day out for a nice stroll. There were lots of people rollerblading and I may have to invest in a pair as it could be something fun to do on the weekends here if this weather becomes common on the weekends.

Victory Park is a memorial to winning World War II (I hope so - there was lots of stuff for it). There's an outdoor museum with lots of military equipment which was fascinating for me to go through. It's also got great walking / jogging / rollerblading paths and should have some nice tree cover and places to sit and have an outdoor beer as it warms up a bit more here.

I've included a lot of pictures below - since I went by myself I was the primary camera man, hence the close-ups of me!

The metro sign on the wall - Park Pobedy - means Victory Park

Some art at the metro stop celebrating the end of WWII in 1945 I suppose.

Walking into the grounds of Victory Park. This is some memorial - it's tall, my guess is the Russian's liked the Washington Monument and thought that they could use something similar in Moscow. There's some fountains along this walkway on the right but they weren't yet working.

Close up of the tall memorial from above - there's amazing detail the whole way up that.

I don't remember, just an old tank. You can see my hair is getting quite gray - I started cutting it myself, usually with no clip on the clippers. With my horrible Russian language skills I thought it best to cut my own hair. Now I'm trying to grow it back and it's not as brown as I once remembered.

Some anti-aircraft cannons, they look intimidating.

I thought the eyes on this were pretty funny.

A MIG 29. FYI - the MIG 28 which is the enemy fighter in Top Gun is FICTIONAL! - yeah, I couldn't believe it myself even after reading wikipedia.

These must be the soldiers that sealed the deal on WWII, not sure, but it was getting some camera attention so I thought I'd snap a few pictures as well.

Sure kids, go play on the tank! Parenting at it's finest right here.

The Russian Expense Report

There are many things I find interesting about this place which I've included in the "Interesting observations" post but I thought that I should dedicate a special rant to the expense report.

I'll first begin with how my expense reports worked in the United States.

At the US Firm I had an American Express card. I used this card for all Firm expenses - if I had to book a flight, pay for a hotel, eat meals while out of town, take a client to lunch, bring in bagels or donuts for the team, etc. These purchases would then appear in my "buffer" which was located in my on-line expense reporting tools. I would allocate these costs to the correct projects and I would file away my receipts in case they were ever required. The only time I had to provide a receipt to our expense report department was for hotel bills (to make sure that we did not charge "movies" to clients) and also for out of pocket expenses exceeding $25. The Firm then paid Amex and everything was OK.

The Russian expense report (and "business trip" process) is completely another animal.

I do not have a credit card. We have a "cash advance" card which acts as a debit card. Before every trip we must determine how much money we think we will need and request approval from a manager or partner for approval. The money will then be loaded onto the card within a few days.

The flights are paid for by the Firm through our travel department - this is quite convenient, but the only convenient part about the flight. We are issued a "business trip" form which has some writing, stamps, and signatures from the Firm on it. We have to present this to the client and they put some stamps and signatures on the form as well. In addition to providing this with my expense report I must include my boarding passes, e-ticket receipt or paper ticket with the expense report when submitting. There is also a form which I must complete on my own acknowledging that I was to go on the business trip.

We do receive a per diem and this is adjusted depending on what city within Russia you are visiting. I'm quite thankful for the per diem because it would be a disaster to keep all of the receipts which are required in order to be reimbursed for an expense.

Hotels are also either paid for by the Firm or client for the most part, but if not this can be tricky to predict how much cash you will need. For some reason we are not required to turn in a receipt for the hotel if it's paid by someone else (my guess is that someone the hotel provides it directly to the Firm or the client as nothing happens without paper in Russia).

If we have a "social event" such as a team or client dinner an additional form must be prepared and have partner approval for the expense in order for the expense to be reimbursed.

In addition to all of these items, you actually have to fill out an expense report within our time and expense reporting system as well. This form is actually quite similar to the expense reporting system I used in the US and it works rather well.

I always keep copies of everything because a day or two after submitting an expense report (which is approved by partner, director, or manager depending on value) I will inevitably receive an email from the finance department that something is missing. Often I did forget to include something because there are so many things to pass along, but they are very diligent in their job in the expense department.

Tinkoff's

Tinkoff is one of my regular weekend destinations. It's a bar which brews its own beer - there's a selection of beers which are always on tap and they also have seasonal beverages - these tend to be my preference as I like to mix it up a little bit. Expats from work meet at Tinkoff on a regular basis, often on Friday evenings but not my typical 5pm happy hour from home - this is Russia - we have to work until at least 6 on Friday as that's what is written in our contract.

There are tall tables off to the right of the bar, about 3 meters long - I inevitably always find myself at one of these with all of the other expats - it almost feels like Cheers, except no one that works there knows my name.

There is a special for 999 roubles to have all of the beer you can drink. I often say to myself, "that would require me to drink six 0.5 liter beers (just .7 liters shy of a gallon) to make it worth my while." There are few times where this wouldn't have been worth my while - I really don't understand why I never just do it - maybe I feel like I would have to drink even more, but no one else ever seems interested in taking up this challenge.

http://www.tinkoff.ru/

(sorry - I usually don't take my camera out with me and was not even able to Google many pictures)

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is the primary city in the southern part of Sakhalin island which is north of Japan (I found it impressive to fly east for over 9 hours and remain in the same country). I spent most of the month of January working here thanks to America's favorite liquid - oil. The area once belonged to Japan but the Russians were able to take control of the full island after one of the major wars - Wikipedia can provide a bit more detail if you are truly interested. Sakhalin island now has two major oil projects: Sakhalin 1 whose majority ownership is Exxon and Sakhalin 2 in which Shell was once the majority owner - luckily the government of Russia decided that after Shell had done most of the capital investment that Russia would like the state-owned Gazprom to own 51% of the project.

Sakhalin island is quite a nice place and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is located almost in a valley between the mountains. It was very beautiful with snow everywhere on the mountains. There were also "suburbs" where the expats from the oil companies live which reminded me of America. It did not take long though to realize that it was not America - that's not such a big problem though as I do enjoy my time here in Russia.

I had the opportunity to go skiing some on the weekends with some of the team members because there was a good amount of snow and there were days where we got over 6 (about 15 centimeters for you metric buffs) inches of the white stuff. The first place we tried was not so difficult - a straight slope similar to the Wagner trail at Seven Springs. The problem is that there's a tow-rope (actually a "T-bar") which pulls you the whole way up the slope - it gets quite tiring near the top. There's a great view as well (see pictures below).

The second time we went skiing on the easy slope I decided I would snowboard since the hill was not that much of a challenge on skis. I had never snowboarded though and I definitely have an appreciation for how difficult it is now. Taking the tow-rope up the hill was a disaster - the first two times I tried I made it about 50 yards (45 meters) and fell over. I had a teammate on skis take one side of the bar as I held onto her the next two times to get all the way to the top - it was just so much pain pulling on my leg while going up. I would go a bit down the hill, try to turn into the mountain (facing it) and fall. After falling it would take a few tries to get back up and off down the hill to fall again. I made a vow to myself to never snowboard again.

We also went to a larger mountain one weekend with a gondola type lift which was very cool. The slope was really challenging though and I felt out of control often but never fell - thanks to the skis probably.

The company we were auditing had a nice employee cafeteria with decent food for lunch everyday. Dinner was often a different story. Out of town in Russia we receive a per diem - most team members prefer to buy food at the grocery store in order to pocket the extra money. I did this about half of the time since everyone else was and a few times had dinner at the hotel. (I'll post a separate blog on expense reports in Russia.)

The hotel (Strawberry Hills) also had a nice gym which was great since I did no exercise for the full three weeks I was back home in the States over Christmas. It was interesting though at the hotel gym since I always paid a different price. The first few times I went it was 200 roubles, and then one night I had to pay 350 roubles, and then 400 roubles, one time it was 437.50 roubles, sometimes 450 roubles - it was all dependent upon what time of the day I went, not so much on time as I always try to stick to about an hour. I figure these price variations must be due to my lack of understanding the Russian language.

(NO! - I did not see Sarah Palin.)

Stray dogs

There are stray dogs here every where in Moscow. I feel pretty bad for them sometimes as its beginning to get quite cold. Some are fairly clean and I just want to go up to them give them a big hug and pet them to let them know someone cares - much like the first time I went to Guinea. I did think about it though for about 10 seconds and realized that they might bite me and I could end up with rabies in Russia - not something that I think would be a very good idea.

These dogs are crazy though - the move in packs sometimes, and sometimes are alone. Some are always in the same place, same time everyday. Some like to hang out at metro stations, and some apparently even take the metro - not sure where they would be going but they are more alert than the drunk guys. I do wonder how they get through that metro gate though?- maybe they know to jump over at the correct height while passing through?

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting and thought a few people might find it funny, particularly the fact that they take the metro.

Interesting observations

I'm going to keep a list of interesting observations, in no particular order. Just remember what number was there the last time you looked and you can begin reading from that point again. I've stolen this idea from Nasty's blog as it seemed like a pretty good idea. If you want to check his out its at: http://2yearsinkiwiland.blogspot.com/

I mean no harm by any of these remarks. If I offend anyone in anyway I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm just being my honest self. I actually really love this place and all of the people here.

1. The bank line: Russians are not typically good at waiting in line. At the bank there are always people standing around and presumably they ask each other who's next in line when someone new comes in. Usually this moves me back another person.

2. Lines in other places: There's a lot of place holding. At a cafe someone may hold the spot in line for friends, or at the supermarket friends will stand in multiple lines and then all congregate at the person who got to the register first.

3. The supermarket checkout: This is always chaos. You have to bag everything yourself, which typically shouldn't be a problem but it is. For some reason no one starts bagging their stuff until after they pay. I try to bag while my stuff is being scanned and I strategically shop and place my groceries on the belt so that they are pre-grouped for bagging but I can never get to bag until the person before me is done doing so because they take up so much damn space doing whatever they are doing. After that person is done bagging I can begin, but then I have to pay, and they will never just take 1,000 roubles. They always ask if I have a frequent shopping card or want smaller bills and coins. After getting the payment I have to bag as quick as I can before the next person's items start ending up in my pile.

4. Supermarket: When buying fruits/vegetables you have to get the items weighed in the produce section where they put the price on it. This is a great idea because it speeds up the final checkout line. The effect on 3 above is limited though.

5. Walking straight: People generally do not walk straight here. I feel like when I'm walking, especially behind someone carrying bags in each arm, that I'm a NASCAR driver and they are weaving to keep me from passing. The problem is they don't realize they are doing it - completely unbelievable.

6. British English: I realise that at one point we Americans were of the British flavour and we can thank their naval programme for moving people to America - but come on. I wish they would all do me a favour and start utilising the "Z" and drop the "U." (This does bother me, but I felt obligated to point out the short-comings of other cultures as well rather than purely pointing out flaws in Russia.)

7. Metro: The metro is awesome. I don't know how I will ever assimilate back into a society without a metro.

8. Russian Girls: They are hot. In Pittsburgh I would say that less than 10% of females are attractive (sorry to offend the other 90%). In Moscow it's closer to 20%. Within PwC Moscow it may be more than 30%.

9. Russian girls: They are still girls so the saying still applies, "Women - can't live with them, can't shoot them!"

10. Golf is expensive here: There's only one course I know of in the Moscow area, the Moscow Country Club and I understand it's approximately $300-400 per round to play. I won't be golfing while living here.

11. SIM cards: When will the States get with the program? They have them in Western Europe, Russia and even Guinea and China.

12. Business trips: When I go on a "business trip" (as opposed to "out of town") for work I have to take a paper which the client must sign and stamp a few times to prove that I actually went on a "business trip" for work. In addition I have to turn in all boarding passes and airline paper tickets.

13. Expense reports: Similar to 12, there's a lot of paperwork to fill out for an expense report - three forms actually and every receipt must be turned in with it.

14. Gypsy cabs: I can hold my hand out on just about any street and a car will pull up to me. I just have to offer a price and name a metro station that is close to where I want to go and then negotiate a price if my original offer wasn't good enough. I often just hold out 200 roubles to make things easy.

15. Travel time: It takes 30 minutes to get anywhere in this city. Minimum.

16. Flying: People clap when the plane lands. Bizarre.

17. Language: I'm not going to be a hypocrite - I need to learn Russian just as much as any immigrant to the USA needs to learn English.

18. Beer: Beer is often cheaper than water. The beer is good.

19. Drainage: With all of the brilliant engineers educated in Russia it blows my mind that not one person considered installing some type of drainage system within the city to reduce the amount of puddles when it rains. It rains a lot here. I can only imagine these puddles when it actually gets cold in Moscow and they begin to freeze.