RUSSIA X

Ten! That’s the number of times I’ve now visited Russia! Not only that, but this summer will mark the 25^th anniversary of my first visit to Russia (or the USSR at the time). Like all big number anniversaries you always have to do something special! So, I decided to blow out the lights and take several weeks to travel across Russia by train with my ultimate destination being Helsinki, Finland.

My arrival today in Vladivostok marks my first stop. Vladivostok is an incredible city and home to Russia’s Pacific fleet and is set to become a major player on the Asia-Pacific stage. It is known as the San Francisco of Russia due to its many hills, fog and thanks to the recent APEC summit in 2012 two brand new suspension bridges, the longest in Russia. Recently the city/region has started to pivot toward more economic association with the big three Asian economies, China, Korea and Japan resulting in the setup of the city as a free port meaning visa free travel for some nationalities and other types of implications on trade.

I arrived in Vladivostok with little drama enjoying a great flight where I was the only person in my class, business class. I was served by beautiful women and fed great food. What more could I ask for? Once I arrived on the ground I was greeted by the usual taxi touts but headed straight for the official taxi booth where I could order a taxi. I paid my money, given a voucher to present to the driver and found him with little trouble.  

It seemed everything was in great order until he did not get back in the car instead standing outside and after he popped his hood. I knew this couldn’t be good as he was staring into the engine and all the insides very intently. When I heard him yell out the Russian word блядь (meaning fuck) in a typical Russian voice I knew we’d be a while.  His friend came over and opened the door asking me to wait a bit. So I waited and waited and waited some more till finally a parking official arrived with some jumper cables. Luckily he was able to get the car going within seconds and we were off.

Russian drivers never cease to amaze me with their great bravado, weaving in and out of traffic tailgating other cars while going at about 100kmh or around 60 mph. At times all I could do was close my eyes and hope things would turn out ok. And then after seeing him pull some pretty tight moves in traffic combined with the drama at the airport parking lot I had believed I’d seen it all………that is until I noticed his gas tank needle buried at empty! I thought for sure we’d run out of gas and be stranded out in the middle of nowhere. But as luck had it he got me to my hotel in one piece and even with some fumes in his gas tank to spare I guess.

Check in was generally painless. The front desk clerk, Elizaveta, was absolutely gorgeous as all Russian women are! She gave me my key, told me all the info I needed to know as if she was just reading from a script. I arrived at my room and found that I had two twin beds and not a queen or double bed like I’d requested. Since I was going to be staying for about six nights I immediately returned demanding a better room. The girl agreed to change me to another room and swapped out keys. I got to the second room and it was awful too. There was only one small couch, cold hardwood floors and barely any other furniture, it was as if someone started to furnish the room but forgot to finish……. Again I returned to the front desk, but this time with my laptop to show her the room I stayed in last year that I wanted again. I can only imagine her thinking “what the hell now”!!

I felt like goldilocks who just couldn’t find the right bed to sleep until the third time. And sure enough to my delight third time was indeed the charm!! I’m sure the front desk girl was relieved also not to have to deal with me for the fourth time in an hour! Even with all the drama surrounding the room and the taxi it’s good to be back in Russia!! But what would Russia be without a little bit of drama??

Share The Skies

If anyone has ever watched Gilligan’s Island and listened to the show’s theme song the song goes that a small group of tourists were going out on a boat for just a three hour tour, a three hour tour. But then the weather started getting rough and the tiny ship was tossed and if not for the fearless crew the minnow would be lost! Well in a way that is how I felt about my day on Asiana Airlines!

The day started off innocent enough, I left the hotel in good time, survived the cluster fuck that is the metro without much troubles and arrived in the airport with a good amount of time to relax. As I walked away from the ticket counter I saw a Chinese guy that had a t-shirt on that said “super proud of myself, always look up”. In a way that’s how I felt about myself, I’d (with the exception of the “tea festival” scam) survived the world’s largest city and lived to tell the story, damn I was good or as the Aussies say FIGJAM (fuck I’m good just ask me)! Things were looking awesome!!

And things were awesome until I saw everyone from my gate get up and suddenly leave. That was the first sign of trouble. They were not getting up to board the plane but were all leaving the gate!! WTF I thought, why was everyone getting up to leave? I walked up to the gate and the sign no longer read Asiana Flight 364 to Seoul Incheon but United Airlines to Chicago! Worst yet, there was no announcement or sign that told us what gate to go to. So I scurried toward a flight board and saw that my flight had been moved from gate 59 at the tail end of the airport to gate 223 at the other tail end of the giant mega airport. After about 10 minutes of hiking through the airport I finally arrived at the sign that said “GATE 223”, but it pointed down. So down I went with all the others to another floor, but we still had another floor to go. As we were approaching the bottom of the escalator I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the sign above us that read “NO COLLISION”! An appropriate sign as my day was about ready to collide straight on into delays and drama!

I arrived at the gate and sat down in a smoky hall expecting the flight to be called any moment. They said there’d been a ten-minute delay in boarding. No big deal!! So after ten minutes we boarded the buses to go out to the plane on the tarmac to what they call a “standing gate”. Everything was routine until it came time to push back.

The captain came over the loud speaker announcing there had been a delay due to heavy traffic at the airport. Understandable I thought since Shanghai is the largest city in the world plus after all China is known for its legendary traffic jams on its roads, so why not in the air. So, I barely gave it a thought. The flight time was only 90 minutes so we’d still be there in plenty of time once the traffic cleared.

But then things started to really get bad, 10 minutes went by, then 20, then 30, we were not getting any update. Then at about the 30-minute mark he said we were delayed again. This started to feel suspicious as other planes were going right by us and pushing back as we were still standing there. At this point I really started to question why I took Asiana especially with their blemished safety record from three years ago when they crashed upon landing in San Francisco due to pilot error. Supposedly the pilots were not very well trained on the manual tricky like landing at SFO (San Francisco) and the co-pilots somehow knew there was a problem but in a manner that is typical in Asia did not question authority but stayed quiet, therefore crashing on the runway at SFO killing two people (although I guess they were run over by the SFO Airport fire engine, so not sure if that counts in the fatality column against Asiana).

Just when things were not looking good a ray of hope appeared when the captain came on and said he’d just gotten the clearance from the control tower to push back!!! Finally some good news………but wait a minute…….no……no way did he just say……….we’d be pushing back in 90 minutes?  Sadly it was true, we were going to have to wait another hour and a half for the plane to just push back.

I spoke with the stewardess who was of ZERO use. She just looked at me with a sad Asian anime like face, said some things in broken Engrish (Asians can’t pronounce “l”, so it comes out as an “r”) and then got up, looked out the window and looked sad again :’( and walked off.

At last we finally pushed back after 4+ hours waiting. Just as the plane was pushing back a nice young guy came up to me and told me that supposedly every day the military holds air exercises and closes off the air space over Shanghai leading to mass delays. Knowing that this will happen airlines all jockey for position to get their space in line, so they don’t have to face these steep delays. It felt as if Asiana likely just sat back and let all the airlines eat up those few slots settling for being happy to simply sit on the Shanghai Pudong Airport runway and watch all the other airlines roll right by them!

Once we landed in Seoul I expected things to go smoothly, after all Incheon Airport is ranked best in the world. Nope! Not today! I ran into an entire buzz saw of Japanese waiting to clear immigration and waited about 45 minutes to get through.

My long day ended at The Incheon Airport Best Western Premier where I’m staying in a room where if I were about 3 inches taller I would be hitting my head on the ceiling. It’s odd here in Asia; the height of ceilings seems to be lower. Maybe it’s because people are smaller here? Maybe all the architects flunked spatial reasoning? Who knows, I’m just glad to have a place to relax and rest after such a day full of drama! Tomorrow I leave South Korea and on my way to up to Vladivostok, Russia!

Teacheable Moments

The Shanghai Pearl Tower shrouded in clouds

My second day in Shanghai could be summarized in one small phrase, “a teachable moment”, a term that has gained traction as one of the most cliché sayings in America. My first lesson was that not all rain is created equally! In Seattle rain is like a drip hose where it’s a slow trickle over time, whereas here in Shanghai the rain is like a giant tropical waterfall pouring down from the heavens with a thunder and lightning show to go with it! 

I woke up looked down from my cozy room on the 21^st floor and saw a wave of colorful umbrellas moving through the streets. Obviously I knew it was raining and raining rather hard, but after all I’m from Seattle, where rain is what we’re all about. I wasn’t going to let a few raindrops get in my way.  But this cavalier, can do attitude was quickly washed away when I got out into the conditions! The rain was relentless, coming in all different directions and making my time out in the city miserable. So, after about 10 minutes of being soaked from head to toe, I threw in the towel and headed back to my room. Eventually after about an hour or two I could see the umbrellas starting to thin out. Not knowing how long this window would last I figured I better move quickly and continue my day before the rains made a return.

The Bund

The first thing I did was head down to The Bund, a walkway along the Huangpu River. It was fascinating to watch the giant tankers pass by small little boats that looked barely fit enough to float in a bathtub. From The Bund I walked a couple blocks uptown and bought a ticket on the “hop on, hop off” double decker bus. Since Pudong (the financial district) is on one side of the river and the rest of the city on the other side I’d have to get off after only a few minutes and take a ferry to the other side of the river.

Once across there was no sign of a “hop on, hop off” bus stop so I figured I’d just have to sightsee on my own two feet. I walked along the other side of The Bund (river area walk) for a bit and then turned uptown some to visit a Chinese garden. I walked around admiring the beautiful bamboo gardens and other magnificent plants until a young Chinese couple stopped and asked me if I would take their picture. They thanked me and wanted to know if they could take my picture and wanted to know where I was from. I said Seattle. Instantly they came alive! The husband was impressed and spoke about how their president visited Seattle a few months ago. I’d heard on TV and seen for myself that Seattle has become VERY, VERY popular with Chinese. They see our beautiful city as a mystical land full of enchanted green forests, blue skies and stellar schools.

Old Shanghai

The couple kept engaging me in conversation and showed me around the old part of the city. The contrast between Pudong (the financial district) and the old part was vast. The new part was nicely manicured, clean streets and laid out very nicely, whereas the old part was gritty, filthy, squalid and reminded me of India and some other Southern Asian nations I’d visited like Malaysia and Thailand. One thing that really stood out to me was the telephone and electric wires all wrapped up in extreme knots, one on top of the other as if someone just put them together so to assure a raging fire. As we toured the old part of town the man told me everything about Chinese history and gave me a very brief tutorial on Chinese numbers. I had heard about the number 8 being lucky, but it sounds as if it holds a much deeper meaning than that! For example, when Beijing held the Olympic games, the opening ceremonies were on 8-8-08 at 8:08 in the evening.

He then told me about the number 11 and how it is connected with love and commitment. When men send flowers to women they send 11 flowers to show they want to be with them forever. One of the most awkward moments of our tour was when he told me to look over at one of the many clothing stalls in the city. He said “see, ladies underwear…….very sexy being sold in old part Shanghai”. I really did not understand what that had to do with anything but whatever…………

Eventually we ended up at a rather small, old and tawdry looking two-story building in a back alley. They told me they wanted me to take part in a tea ceremony. Never one to want to miss a cultural experience I figured this would be interesting and agreed to do it. We sat down at a small table and a girl dressed in traditional Chinese clothes explained in Mandarin all about the different teas and their meanings and effects on the body. One was supposed to help with weight loss, another helped with memory, etc., etc.

It was interesting to try all the different teas, but there was something suspicious about this couple. They seemed too nice and too interested in me. The woman even complimented me about my skin saying that I must “drink a lot of milk” because my skin was so white. Eventually after about ten tea shots and an hours worth of discussing the different teas I said I had had enough and that I really needed to go back to my hotel. They agreed and then gave me a bill!!! WHOA I thought, a bill? I thought this was just sampling tea. I could see paying maybe $10 or about 60 some yuan but 400 yuan or $61…..WTF??? That was hideous, outrageous, etc.!! I was so tired and so emotionally and mentally drained that I grudgingly paid the price knowing I had no other choice. In hindsight I should’ve haggled them down but likely would not have done much good. Eventually we parted ways and it occurred to me I had been scammed.

Tea festival

I stewed about whether I’d been scammed or not and even discussed it with my mom who was certain this is what it was. I am always one to believe people have good intentions, so I wasn’t entirely sure on this one even though it was pretty obvious. Just before I wrote this latest article I googled the words “Shanghai tea ceremony scam” and came up with dozens of hits. One in particular summarized my experience exactly: If "friendly young Chinese students" ask you to take their photo, then take yours, and indulge in earnest chatting, expect this to lead to an invitation to something like a "tea festival". At the end you will be faced with a bill of hundreds to thousands of RMB. Although you will probably be able to "haggle" this down, it will still end up as a complete rip off. As you are in "their territory", there is little you can do at this stage other than pay up and get out.”

Shanghai skyline

Oh well! I can now say I’ve been scammed in the world’s two most largest nations population wise: India and China. Hopefully that $61 I wasted was tuition toward the teachable moment that taught me how to recognize a scam!! Next time I will be more akamai (Hawaiian for wise, witty)!!!!

Coming to China!

As I exited customs I suddenly was greeted by a tsunami of mass humanity standing in rows waiting for people to exit. Some of them were just there to pick up people, but many were taxi touts hunting for the perfect jet lag weary prey to feast on. They tried hard to bait me into taking their offer by yelling such things as “sir, where you stay”, “sir you stay at Ramada, come with me” or “sir, taxi” or “good afternoon sir come with me sir, I get you good taxi/hotel”! Luckily I was a bit more as we say in Hawai’i “akamai” meaning wise, witty, etc. to fall for this little game! Mainly because I’d been the victim of these schemes myself, especially in India where half your energy is spent fending off these scammers!!

Eventually the tide of mass humanity receded into a few little ripples here and there giving me time to plan my next move, finding the Maglev Train and getting to my hotel. The Maglev Train is an engineering marvel built in 2004 that whisks people from the Pudong Shanghai Airport to the Pudong district near the center in a whopping six minutes and reaches speeds of 400+ kmh or 248 mph. With traffic jams constantly swamping Shanghai, this is one’s best option when needing to get from the airport, unless you enjoy wasting money by sitting in a traffic jam. I bought my ticket, got on board and within seconds we were off and before I knew it I was in the city. At such breakneck speeds you’d think you’d feel something or may feel out of control. Nothing could have been further from the truth!! It feels as if you’re gliding on air……..which you basically are since the train is magnetically levitated a few feet from the tracks! I guess America has a loooooong ways to catch up when it comes to rapid transit!!

Once I got off the train my plan was to go to take the metro (right next door to the Maglev train station) to my hotel. Unfortunately the metro did not accept credit cards (except for Union Pay, a Chinese credit card company), so I’d have to find an ATM. After looking for a good five minutes I couldn’t find a single ATM machine. Therefore it meant giving up and taking a taxi. I eventually found a driver who would take me to an ATM down the road and then my hotel. He asked me where I was from guessing Germany. I said USA to which he blurted out “OBAMA”! I said “yes, Obama” and he smiled with thumbs up saying “Obama good”. Although we go around the world burning bridges and pissing people off most still are pretty friendly when I say I’m from the states.

Getting to the hotel was generally without problems except for in the end when the price he asked was higher than what he quoted me. I argued some but he kept saying “but sir we had to hurry, hurry” making noises like they were going fast. I couldn’t understand how that had anything to do with it and usually would make a fuss, but after 12+ hours flying plus time in both airports, I just paid the money and walked away.

My hotel was simply awesome for the price I paid! A view of the financial district buildings and of the newly built Shanghai Financial Center which hold the title of second tallest building in the world. I arrived dead tired throwing down my luggage and laying down on the couch. I figured I’d take a quick cat nap and get up and explore a bit. One hour went by and my alarm rang and rang. I just ignored it. Another hour went by and I ignored it. Finally I think my alarm got to the point where it was tired of trying to get my attention and gave up. I eventually awakened about five some hours later at about 11 pm. Unfortunately my long slumber pretty much eliminated any dinner options forcing me to instead settle for a bagel and peanut butter I picked up in one of the airline lounges when I left Vancouver.

After my gourmet dinner of bagel and pb I sat down to surf the internet. Luckily I planned ahead and bought a VPN (virtual private network) feature that would enable my computer to jump the “Great Digital Wall of China” and connect to a computer outside China allowing me to visit such sights as Facebook, blogger and google. When I turned off this feature due to slow speeds I opened another browser and up popped an ad in Chinese featuring skimpily clad Chinese women. When I went to close it, it popped me into a Chinese game sight. Maybe it was the Chinese networks way of taking revenge on my computer for jumping the “Great Digital Wall of China”.

I eventually was able to get a little bit of sleep overnight after sleeping away the entire evening. To my disappointment though I have awakened this morning to heavy rain and very low clouds. Oh well, I’ll just have to make do with the cards I’ve been dealt.

Plane spotting

When I was a child my family used to visit Maui every summer. Most kids spend their time by the pool, bobbing up and down and building sand castles on the beach. Although I got plenty of that, most of my time was spent watching airplanes taking off and landing from the top floor of our apartment house on Maui (my grandfather owned an apartment there where we’d stay for four weeks during summer.) Throughout the day I would go up to the top floor of the apartment house and watch as planes from outer islands would land and take off again. I knew exactly which planes were which because I always had with me a schedule for each of the three different airlines that flew in, Aloha Island Air, Hawaiian and a scenic airline called Panorama Air that only went out several times at most per day. To say the least I was never bored!

So, ok….how does this have to do with my present China and Russia trip I am blogging about? Because my flight to Shanghai was departing so early the next morning I had to get a place near the airport to stay for the night. I could’ve chosen the usual array of properties off site like The Radisson, The Holiday Inn, Best Western, etc…. This usually involves the torturous process of having to call the hotel to tell them to send the bus, stand around for at least ten minutes inhaling gas fumes on the curbing from idling cars as you patiently wait for your hotel shuttle bus to arrive and then once he arrives you have to run another block or so to catch up because you’re somehow standing in the wrong place, meanwhile dragging your heavy luggage behind you. I was up to doing this, but figured I wanted what the Russians call “a soft landing” meaning none of the usual crap I’ve become used to staying at hotels off site. So, I figured I’d stay at The Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel, which was not only in the airport but had rooms overlooking the runway! When I was given the option of upgrading to a high room with a panoramic view of the runway, I couldn’t resist!

So, that brings me to the present moment laying here on my nice bed watching an Air Canada flight taxi in from God only knows where and a small bombardier airplane from Delta taxi out! I certainly have come a long ways since those days I used to stand up on the fifth floor of Hale Ono Loa apartment building watching for signs of the 2:50 pm flight from Honolulu to come in and land at Kapalua Airport on Maui!

Stay tuned for my next blog post from the super megalopolis and famous Chinese city of Shanghai! Good night from Vancouver :) !!

DRAMA!

When I was younger I used to anxiously count down the minutes, the seconds, the hours till I departed on a big adventure. As I get older I’ve become a bit more subdued. Luckily the moment I hit that airport curbing my subdued nature soon melts away turning into excitement as if I am an athlete ready step up big game!

I went into the day thinking this would be an easy day. After all I was just flying about an hour from Seattle to Vancouver, Canada. But instead of being an easy no drama type of day it turned into one with unexpected twists and turns that reminds me that you must be ready for anything to happen!!

The drama began early when I showed the Air Canada agent my documents to have my boarding pass stamped for approval in order to board the aircraft. He asked me the reason for my visiting Vancouver and I stated I was laying over for the night on my way to Shanghai. Instead of handing my passport right back to me he flipped through my colorful passport with its many stamps and asked where my Chinese visa was. I stated it was possible to apply for a 144 hour visa once I arrived in Shanghai. After some back and forth about the rules he finally gave up and just gave me my passport back saying I’d have to talk to Air Canada once I arrived in Vancouver. It reminded me of how much more information I know usually than these people who are paid to know this stuff for a living. Oh well….whatever! I was worried that somehow I would not be able to board the flight the next day due to this visa confusion. Luckily once I reached Canada I eventually spoke with an agent who confirmed that I could apply once I reached Shanghai.

This should’ve been my only drama, but unfortunately the travel gods had other plans! Once I touched down I approached the NEXUS (a trusted travel program for travelers in both Canada and the US) kiosk where I inserted my NEXUS card. The voice prompt told me to look into the mirror camera for an iris scan. This should not have been a problem since I had already had my irises scanned when I applied to be a member of this program. After several failed attempts, I finally got my eyes to line up correctly and it seemed I was on my way. WRONG!

Within seconds the screen flashed red and said I was “not a member” of the program. This despite I’d just used my NEXUS card three weeks ago to go walking up in Canada with my pooch, Sashi. I was a bit freaked but knew it was probably a glitch, so I went to the customs officer who told me to fill out a custom’s form. No problem I thought, scribble in my info, hand him my form, answer a question or two from the officer and I’d be on my way to the beautiful hotel inside the airport that I had booked overnight. The officer looked at my form asked me a few questions and scribbled all types of crap code in red sharpie ink. I thought this a bit odd, but quickly blew it off as my overzealous paranoia taking over.

As I walked toward the custom’s officers who took your forms I could see the exit and was relieved the drama was just about over. I handed my form to the officer and just as I was ready to walk out the door, the officer told me I needed to take a right turn into an examination room!!!

I was shocked! I was unable to understand just what the hell I did to prompt such a draconian measure. Once I got inside there were several people waiting in line, mainly Asians. After a spat with an Asian woman over whether I took her place in line or not, I eventually stepped up to the officer to have my bag examined. After barely getting my bag totally packed correctly, I shuttered at the sight of the officer putting on his latex gloves and readying to undo my perfect pack!

He rummaged through my bag looking over everything thoroughly and pressing me with all sorts of personal questions as if I had somehow snuck across the border illegally. I answered all his questions calmly, knowing anything else would likely lead to even more serious consequences. He finished with my bag and took my passport and NEXUS card with him to some back room to look it over. As I waited there for ten minutes all types of crazy thoughts starting racing through my mind. I was simply perplexed to what I did wrong. After all this is Canada, not North Korea! He eventually returned and by his body language it did not look good.

He called me over and walked over with dread expecting at least another round of unnecessary drama. He told me somehow there must’ve been a glitch and that I am still a member of NEXUS and that I was good to go. He then pointed toward the exit and off I went shook up but still standing! It taught me a lesson and that is to be ready for anything, especially when traveling.

Tomorrow I fly nearly 12 hours to Shanghai where I stay several nights. After that I fly to Seoul where I layover at Incheon Airport for the night and continue up to The Far Eastern Russian city of Vladivostok.

Trans-Siberia Part II

Usually sequels are never as good as the original, however this sequel has all the makings of a smash hit that could well eclipse the last one. At least that is what I am aiming for. Just to bring those of you who are new to my writings up to date, last year I spent six and a half weeks traveling across Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway from Vladivostok to Helsinki, Finland in what turned out to be an epic and amazing trip. Along the way I stopped off and did some amazing things, met some incredible people and only added to my unending need to explore more and more of Russia.

This year my travels take me a bit of a different path. Whereas last year I took the Trans-Siberian railway along Russia’s southern border with China and Mongolia, this year I’ve opted to take the lesser traveled northern branch known by the acronym BAM (Baikal Amur Mainline). The BAM line has been a work in progress since the end of the Soviet days only recently being completed in its entirety. It will eventually lead me to the large Siberian city of Kransnoyarsk, which could be considered the half way point of Russia. From there I’ll follow the original Trans-Siberian line all the way to Moscow.

But before I start my journey again across Russia, I have a few bonus places I will be visiting. Because I am using United Airlines mileage plus points to fly to Asia I chose to fly Air Canada to Shanghai, China from Vancouver, BC. When I arrive in Shanghai I will take advantage of the 144 hour visa rule that only recently went into effect. I am pretty excited to visit this legendary world city! I’ve heard and seen so much about it that it’s hard to believe that in only a few short days I will be walking along The Bund (a river walkway in Shanghai known for its presence of colonial era architecture) and standing in the shadow of The Pearl Tower (a tower resembling something you might expect to see out of a science fiction film).

Once I finish in Shanghai I will fly to Seoul for an overnight stay before I head to Vladivostok. Last year I was lucky enough to see a lot of Seoul and to even get to go to The DMZ and step over the line into North Korea for a few short moments. Due to time constraints I will not be heading back up to The DMZ. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’ve had an incessant desire to visit North Korea. Unfortunately due to the shenanigans of Kim Jung Un and the recent taking of an American tourist as a prisoner my dreams of a North Korea vacation will have to wait a bit L ! Oh well……always next year………..maybe……….ummmmmm……uh probably not. But I hold out hope that someday I can venture into The Hermit Kingdom. 

In Vladivostok I’ll have the chance to visit two of my friends’ classrooms. I always enjoy seeing how education works in other nations and this should be no exception. It should be a lot of fun to meet new people and see others I haven’t seen for nearly a year.

Russia is constantly changing so it’ll be interesting to see how and if it has changed. After what I’ve seen my past 9 times to Russia the only thing I can expect is the unexpected.

Part V: Final Day in Vladivostok

The next morning while eating breakfast at a local cafeteria I had a bit of a startling revelation!! Staring me right in the face taking up an entire wall was a larger than life map of the ex-USSR. I realized that I would soon be crossing this giant landmass called Russia. Of course I knew Russia was large, but when I saw the giant map it really put things into perspective and pointed out to me that I had a loooong journey in front of me to reach Moscow.

However, crossing Russia was a thought for another day! In the meantime I had to hurry up so I could meet up with Inna for our morning excursion to Russkiy Island, home of the brand new state of the art Far East Federal University campus! Russkiy Island in a matter of only several years has transformed itself from a nearly deserted island with a population of only about 5,000 people to a hub of business, education and leisure. All of this due to the fact Russia chose this remote spot as the venue to host the 2012 APEC Summit.

Connecting Russkiy Island with the mainland though was no simple task! To accomplish this goal the government sunk billions of dollars into building two very large and long cable suspension bridges, one of which is the largest in the world. What used to take around an hour to reach the island now only takes about 30 minutes in good traffic.

Crossing over the bridge was breathtaking!!! Since stopping on the bridge was prohibited, Inna made sure to go slow so I could get a good glimpse at this incredible feat of Russian engineering!! Once there, we explored the university campus. I’ve seen many different university campuses in my life and even attended a large university, but this place trumped them all!  Covering an area of 8,000 square meters the university campus with its modern glass buildings that sparkle in the sun, a beautiful large embankment on Ajax Bay overlooking the bridge, a five star hotel, start of the art facilities on par or surpassing anything seen in the west, FEFU is an absolute miracle! I could never have even come close to visiting here if it had not been for my incredible friend and wonderful guide, Inna! To top it all off I even got a VIP tour around the new state of the art athletic facility thanks to Inna’s brother, Sasha who worked there. The university will likely continue to grow as an important player on the world stage!!   

After a quick lunch, we headed back to the mainland and visited the Eagle's Nest Mount perched atop Vladivostok. The views from there were breathtaking, you could see both bodies of water that border Vladivostok, Amur Bay to the west and Golden Horn bay to the east. Just below the Eagle’s Nest Mount is a small souvenir shop with all types of wonderful Russian gifts to buy. No matter what type of gift you are after, this is your place for souvenirs and trinkets in Vladivostok! And, there is no way you can miss it since just a few steps away stands a HUGE blow up matryoshka doll! Even if you don’t feel like buying anything at the gift shop be sure to get a photo of yourself overlooking Vladivostok with this lovely lady!!! The Eagle’s Mount can easily be reached by car or if you’d prefer, you can take the Funicular up to the top and walk a short distance up to the outlook. 

Other highlights of Vladivostok that I recommend is shopping on Okeanskiy Prospect and Svetlana Blvd, the Monument to famous modern Russian singer Vladimir Vysotsky, the Submarine Museum on Tseravich Embankment, the City Embankment and if you have the time and transportation get out and explore the beautiful nature of The Far East!! An especially popular destination for residents of Vladivostok is the beach destination, Shamora.

As my evening drew to a close in Vladivostok I felt a touch of sadness that I was leaving the next morning to Ulan-Ude on The Trans-Siberian railway. My time had been packed full of such excitement and good times, I couldn’t imagine how anywhere else could beat this??? But, as I was soon to find out, this was just the beginning of an absolutely epic trip! Stay tuned for my next article about my stop on The Trans-Siberian Railway the capital of The Republic of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude!

Part IV: sightseeing with an English Language All-Star

After finishing my lesson with the students I returned to Inna’s office to meet my guide for the afternoon, one of her “all-star students”, Victoria. Victoria would take me around Vladivostok to show me all the highlights, help me exchange some left over Korean money I still had and assist me in buying a SIM card for my mobile phone.

Victoria had been studying English for only three years, however one would never know this as she spoke crystal clear with hardly any mistakes and great confidence! I complimented her on this amazing accomplishment but she was very humble always saying that she knew “so very little” English!

Walking around with Victoria and practicing English reminded of the “good ole” days back in the wild and crazy 90s, I say that as as Russia was undergoing a severe crisis then. Back then every summer I’d visit a host family in the suburb of Zelenograd, a suburb of Moscow. My host mother was an English as Foreign Language teacher at the university and similar to my experience in Vladivostok would have her students take me into Moscow for a tour. However, this time was a bit different since then I was the one who was 16 or 17 and they were the ones who were a lot older! Oh well………..how time flies!!!! But, I still have the spirit of a 16 year old :) !!!!

One of my main goals that day was to exchange my left over Korean Wons into Rubles. Seemed like a simple task since the biggest hotel in town, The Hyundai Hotel was Korean. What could go wrong? It’s Korean so obviously they have Korean clients who need to exchange money and it’s a giant five star hotel, therefore it should’ve been a slam-dunk! Except as I quickly learned, never ever take anything for granted when in a foreign country, especially Russia and especially out in The Far East of Russia! We arrived at the hotel and asked where I could exchange money.  They looked at me as if I was crazy and said they didn’t exchange money!! So much for that one! Asked if they knew where I could they blankly stared at me and indicated they could’ve cared less….. Eventually after wandering around for nearly an hour trying to find a bank, I finally found a place that accepted Korean Won!!! Moral of the story……never assume (or as we say in America, you’ll make an ass out of you and me) and always exchange foreign money before you leave a nation!

Once we got the money exchange out of the way and a new SIM card for my phone, we were off to explore Vladivostok’s version of The Golden Gate Bridge, which has a similar name, The Golden Horn Bay Bridge. Built for the 2012 APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Conference) Summit this mammoth sized suspension bridge, is an INCREDIBLE marvel and tribute to Russian engineering. Just a few kilometers down the road sits another suspension bridge “The Russkiy Island Suspension Bridge” which is even bigger and even more stunning. But for today, I’d just have to settle for the smaller of the two, “The Golden Horn Bay Bridge”. Victoria and I walked about a kilometer out on the bridge and were treated to a stunning view of “Russia’s San Francisco”!

Besides the bridge, the fog, and the bay, Vladivostok had one other feature in common with San Francisco……….the hills!!! And walking up and down them all day gave you a workout that made your Stairmaster workout look petty! To put the hills in perspective one day of walking around Vladivostok was the equivalent of walking to the top floor of a modestly high skyscraper!! Much like the cultures of The Andes Mountains who’ve adapted to the extremely high altitudes by having larger lung volumes, I wonder if the people of Vladivostok’s knees and legs have adapted to the tall grueling hills?? Certainly they must be a lot stronger than say someone in St. Petersburg where it’s flat and swampy! Who knows, all I know is that by the end of the day I felt as if I’d completed the Stairmaster workout from hell!

Some of the other cool sights we saw were The Vladivostok Funicular, a cable car on a railway that goes up steep hills! You couldn’t beat the price, a five-minute ride to the top for only a few rubles, which is not even the equivalent to one dollar or Euro!! After viewing Vladivostok from high above, we descended down to the recently revitalized waterfront and enjoyed the cool but beautiful sunny day breathing in the smell of the Pacific Ocean! On our way down we passed through the "Triumphal Arch” built in the 1890s to commemorate the Tsarist family and the visit of Crown Prince Nicholas to Vladivostok. However, the original arch was destroyed during Soviet times and not restored to its former glory until 2003. Victoria told me that when we went underneath the arch to hold my breath and make a wish! And, she emphasized to me that this really worked telling me a story of how her mother passed beneath this arch some years ago while on a visit to Vladivostok from a local town and made the wish to live in Vladivostok with her and her sister. And sure enough, what do you know they now all live happily today in this beautiful city!!

Eventually it was time to return to my hotel! On our way back Victoria showed me some other sights along the way in the center, including The White House (Vladivostok’s administrative building that is painted the color………white), the city’s two main streets Svetlana Street and Okeanskiy Prospect (Ocean Prospect) and the city square.

I’m unsure who had more fun, Victoria speaking English for the very first time to a native speaker without a teacher being around or me being able to see the wonderful sights of Vladivostok? We’ll call it a draw! Huge thanks goes out to Inna and her all-star student, Victoria for making my time in Vladivostok special and epic! I’ll be back with even more impressions about Vladivostok later! Thank you for reading!!!!! 

The All-Star, Victoria, who recently graduated from school!

Part III: Back to School

Day 2 in Vladivostok was ever bit as awesome as day 1, mainly due to my friend Inna and her meticulous planning! She made sure that my every minute in Vladivostok was perfectly synchronized and fit in with any future plans, assuring that no stone was left unturned!!!

After some late morning sightseeing, we returned to the city since she had to be back for her afternoon English language class. She explained to me that she was the director of a college within FEFU (Far Eastern Federal University). When she explained to me about college, I instantly thought this meant she worked with students at the university level. I was a bit surprised when we arrived and all the students were teenagers. I knew kids go to university early in Russia, usually about 17, but these kids definitely looked younger than 17. After a few moments I asked her the age and grade of the students. She told me they were all high school level. In Russia, “college” refers to a high level of secondary education, whereas in the US we use the term liberally to mean any type of higher education!

Since my specialty is English as a Foreign Language Inna felt this would be a great opportunity for me to discuss with her students the US s vs. the Russian system. I had written up a few notes the night before and was a bit nervous to get in front of an entire class of 10^th graders, aka sophomores! After all it’d been nearly 3 years since I’d been in an actual classroom since my teaching has mainly been over Skype.

When we walked into the classroom students instantly stood up as if a judge or some honorable person had just entered the room! Having taught in American schools where kids can be rather indifferent to whether the teacher is in, out or entering the room, I was pleasantly surprised! Inna later told me this was the norm and that she made sure her kids ALWAYS showed respect by standing.  

After everyone sat down she introduced me and explained I would discuss with them America and how our education system compares to Russia’s. This instantly peaked the students’ interest. I introduced myself explaining I was from the city of Seattle in the state of Washington. I asked if anyone had heard of my city, but for the most part students were clueless. So to try to break the ice I threw out a few hometown company names to see if that may spark some reaction. The first company name I mentioned was Boeing, which was met by mostly crickets! I should’ve mentioned Microsoft but instead mentioned probably the most well known coffee brand in the world……………Starbucks. So, I casually said, “Who here knows of Starbucks”? The class instantly lit up in excitement!!! They were definitely very familiar with the brand name. Starbucks’ executives would’ve smiled knowing that no matter where you are in the world, everyone seems to know Starbucks!!

I then commented about how very impressed I was that they stood when their teacher entered the room and how in the US this doesn’t happen! A sweet girl raised her hand and quietly asked, “How then in American schools do students show the teacher they’re ready to learn?” I laughed and said generally they don’t care; they’re usually too busy chatting with their friends or playing on their mobile phones.

For most of the lesson I discussed the American education system and some of our high school traditions, such as, prom, homecoming, Tolo Dance, etc… But, the one part of the lesson that I can safely say the students enjoyed the most was when I explained how Americans perceive Russian babushkas (meaning grandma in Russian). Usually a “babushka” to an American is a word that means a type of old unattractive Russian woman who is hunched over with a colorful Russian scarf. They also never can pronounce the word right, emphasizing the “u” in babushka, whereas there is no real accent in the word.

After our discussion about American vs. Russian schools, students had a chance to ask questions or comment about anything I said. Despite my offer nobody took me up on it………..except one boy, the only boy in the entire class, which was a bit of a reflection of Russian society where women vastly outnumber men. He raised his hand and asked me, “What do people in the United States think about the beers”. I thought to myself “what the hell is this kid talking about, why is he talking about beers, he’s no older than 15!!??????”  Since I don’t drink beer or any alcohol for the most part, I had no idea how to approach this question. I knew that Russians liked alcohol, but why was a school kid asking me about beer???? Of course I’d heard such discussions back home in public schools, but I still was stumped trying to think of an answer!! Just as I was about to try and avoid an answer, students jumped in and said he meant, “BEARS”. His question was related to whether Americans think bears roam the streets of Russia! I said that generally Americans have really zero idea about Russia and the day-to-day happenings in this vast nation!

After class the students were still buzzing about my “babUshka” explanation, repeating it endlessly to their friends in the hall and giggling about it. It was such a unique experience to be able to step in for an hour and interact with Russian school kids!!! It’s an experience I will never forget and cherish for the rest of my life. I really have Inna to thank for trusting me to take her class for one lesson!!!  Thanks for reading and I’ll be back with more impressions about Vladivostok in my next entry!!

My class for the day and me!