Some time at the Kremlin

I feel like I should be spacing out some of these blog posts, I mean, 3...4 in one week? I'm out of control! But I just keep seeing some really cool stuff and wanting to share it. In all likelihood it will be snowy and cold within the next month and I'll spend all my time wrapped in a blanket hiding from the cold and not doing anything blog-worthy. For now, though, I'm taking advantage of this city and trying to see the most that I can from it.

It was my day off from work, but I had to go into the city early this morning for a training session for my job. The day did not start off great. It was still dark when I woke up this morning and on my way to the train the heel broke off my boots. The day definitely improved, though.

After the training, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant which was really good. Then, after I bought some new shoes, we went over to the Kremlin. I had seen it from the outside, but hadn't been inside yet. It was amazing! The fortress is so full of history, cathedrals, as well as government buildings with a lot of security around.

Here are the walls outside the Kremlin.

This guard stands outside of the Kremlin. They won't move, even if you stand right next to them...take pictures with them...

Canons from the arsenal.

HUGE canon, apparently it was never actually used, at least not with canonballs.

 

The inside of the Kremlin has several beautiful Cathedrals. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take picture inside, but the walls were full of crazy historical icons, as well as the tombs of some Tsars, including Ivan the Terrible!

 

View of the Moskva River from the Kremlin

Cathedral of Christ the Savior outside of the walls of the Kremlin.

The Russian flag flies over the land.

Statue of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' (the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church)

This statue was outside of the Kremlin

Only 119 days until Sochi!

The Crisp days of Fall

Apparently I have a lot to post this week. This morning after my lesson I went outside and it was such a beautiful day (around 54 degrees F, 13 C, and almost even sunny) that I couldn't resist going for a walk and exploring Dolgoprudny some more. This being my first Fall out of New England, I've been missing some of the best Fall things: foliage, pumpkins and that great Fall smell. While I haven't seen any pumpkins (maybe they only exist in the New World?) and the foliage here is kind of lame (the trees are changing, and leaves are falling, but without much sun, the colors are pretty drab) BUT I didn't manage to stumble across that Fall smell. I'm sure I seemed crazy inhaling deeply as I walked, but I didn't care. The smell of crisp Fall air is maybe my favorite part of the season, I managed to find it here.

I also found...

The Batmobile?

Some cool graffiti

A really awesome park with lots of small man-made ponds

And many playgrounds for kids, this is my favorite. Who wouldn't want to play in these brick castles?

A cool statue of a horse-drawn carriage

Another cool statue of a man reading a map.

This oh-so-stylish dog.

Another view of the park.

 Just North of the park, I found this Lake that I had seen on Google Maps and had been meaning to explore for a while. I absolutely love being near the water, and I would rather be near a lake than most other places. This particular lake has almost an amphitheater on its banks. I imagine that this place is much busier in the summer. I'm not sure if this platform is for things like plays, or maybe swimming off of, or both. I guess I'll have to come back in the summer to find out!

Teaching, week 2

As I enter into my second week of teaching, I'm starting to feel like I'm starting to get the hang of some of these lessons. I'm remembering names, figuring out what things I need to plan and what I can go with. I'm having a lot of fun with my five year olds, playing games and hanging out with my teens, and learning from and getting to know my adult classes. I just started teaching an adult upper-intermediate business class. There's a very real possibility that they will know more about business and maybe even English than I will.

I asked a student how long he had been studying English, and he told me he started studying English when he was at military school, because they needed it in order to interrogate the enemy... a reminder of where we are. He then went on say that he thought all of that was mostly politics and probably mostly built up by politicians.

While it can be tough to go straight from 12 year olds to 5 year olds to advanced adults, I also like that I have a variety of levels and ages to teach. It's giving me all kinds of different teaching experiences, plus it's a lot of fun to get to try different things with different groups!

PS I haven't taken many pictures since last time, but here is a picture of the view from my apartment on a rare sunny evening. (sorry if it's a repeat)

Take me to the river...

Last night I went to a Language Link sponsored birthday party on a boat cruise up and down the Moscow River. It was really fun and great to see all my coworkers again after our first week apart.

Here I am on the boat!

Monument to Peter the Great, originally designed to commemorate Christopher Columbus, but when no American client could be found, the statue was re-designed with the figure of Peter the Great. This statue is especially controversial because a) Peter the Great was responsible for moving the Russian capital away from Moscow to St. Petersburg, discouraging most Muscovites from thinking he's "great" and b) it has been voted one of the 10 ugliest buildings/statues in the world

"You don't fly to space from restaurants" -Yuri Gagarin

Cathedral of Christ the Savior-This is the church where the Pussy Riot protests were held.

The Kremlin from the water.

St. Basil's Cathedral

First days of teaching

I've started my first days of real teaching! Here are some highlights:

Me: "1...2...3...?"

Boy: "Fine thanks"

Girl: "Do you speak Russian?"

Me: "no"

Girl: "oh, good!"

Me: "hello!"

Boy: (says nothing, just hides behind his mom who wouldn't leave)

Me: "true or false?"

Boy: "false!"

Me: "why?"

Boy: "because I am pessimist!"

On the plus side, I successfully made it through a lesson with teens where I had prepared the wrong book, and an individual lesson with a five year old, who somehow already knew most of what I had planned. Here is the result of an hour that could have been really awkward (okay it still kind of was...)