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marta 8

  

international women's day is march 8th.  spring is in the air, women worldwide enjoy extra attention from the men in their lives, and the prices of roses in russia skyrocket.  but its a small price to pay for those you care about.  we, of the male species at the consulate, made our plans for the annual event.  the first year we did something pretty simple.  every women at the consulate was met when they arrived for work and was escorted to their office.  along the way they received a rose and had a picture taken with the consul general.  last year we threw a hawaiian party, importing in leis and wearing our best tropical shirts and shorts.  

this year we're going formal again.  on friday, we went with a film festival theme. escorts (with famous russian, english, and american actors 8x10 photos taped to their chest) walked our "celebrity" women down a red carpet where they were filmed, photographed and interviewed by the consul general on their way to the festival awards ceremony. a few introduction speeches were made, thanking the women for all the things they do to make the world a better place.  then came the awards.  we took the idea of a best film of the year award and announced the nominees from all the consulates and the embassy in russian.  each post's film contribution was actually a creative commercial.  i had to spend a few nights on youtube and adscritics.com to come up with enough "nominees".  the criteria:  no speaking since we had a mix of non-english listeners, honor women for what they bring to the world, and also be creative enough to feel like they could actually be a movie.

here a look at what we presented for the women of mission russia:

Yekaterinburg's "The Second Driver"

St. Petersburg's "Jealousy"

Moscow's "First time"

Vladivostok's "Brothers"

and the winner - Vladivostok!

our creative consul affairs officer also contributed a "live" video feed to offer his congratulations to the ladies for winning.  since he was in Magadan that day, a thousand miles away.  he still wanted to help out with the event.  actually it was pre-taped and played on dvd.  the humorous ending showed some obvious give-aways that he was recording this in vlad before he left.  the resulting laughter proved our annual event was once again successful.  

i handed out the "awards", each wrapped in aluminum foil containing a "marta 8th" coffee/tea mug with their photo on it.  i used foil, since i could mold it into some semblance of an award.

it was a lot of planning.  several people were out of the office on leave or training.  so i was a little worn out covering work and coordinating the event.  but we have a great local staff that helped get the food ready, find the awards, work out the video and audio issues, decorate and then put everything together.

it wasn't the oscars, bit it did honor the ladies with a 5-star tribute.

foreign service blogs

here's a great site that's compiled highlights from several foreign service blogs into one blog.

"It's Friday, and that means that the Second Weekly State Department Blog Roundup is up - and you're on it! Here is the link: http://bit.ly/csEuuC (If I quoted your text or used your photo(s) and you would rather I had not, please let me know. Please also be sure to check the link(s) that I put up to you, in order to verify that they work properly. If you would rather that I had not referenced you, and/or do not want me to reference you in the future, please also contact me.) Thanks! "

 

random thoughts

valentine's day came this weekend and we just finished celebrating my girlfriend's birthday. valentines day is one of the many new holidays they welcomed in after post-soviet time. when we went out to eat, I noticed the restaurant was filled with reserved tables unlike other times when you could sit anywhere.  so it seems many russians have adopted the holiday happily.

lucia and i went for our first long dog walk today after her illness a few weeks ago.  this time i drove her to a safe spot to avoid any other trouble.  but i still had to step in when she spotted mystery garbage on the ground.  during the walk we met a woman walking her dog.  she had a poodle that was happy to see lucia.  but after the initial greeting, lucia surprisingly walked away.  the wagging poodle was whimpering for some playtime with her but i couldn't coax lucia back.  i've never seen her turn down an opportunity to play with any dog as long as it was reciprocating interest.  i gave our apologies to the women and left.  strange..

last year my favorite milk brand stopped putting expiration dates on their plastic bottles. i haven't checked other brands but someone else told me they noticed it too.  i thought it was a mistake at first but after waiting this long i guess they don't bother with it anymore.  cream is another item that bugs me.  even freshly bought cream can go bad in just a couple days.  i'll get two or three little boxes of it and when i go to grab a fresh one i can feel it's newly bloated container waiting to surprise me with a spoiled mess. (update: i discovered cartons of milk still get the expiration dates printed on them.  it's only the plastic bottles that you play russian roulette with)

russian cake - i know it's just personal taste, but every time i have a piece it's like i'm tasting something that's missing just a little sugar.  whereas russian chocolate doesn't have that problem since it tastes as sweet or even sweeter than other chocolates i've had.  I hear russian store bought cakes are normally that way but homemade cakes are better.  

i switched home internet providers a few months ago and enjoy unlimited download usage once again. the previous provider gave us a download limit and if you went over that you paid an additional hideous cost. now it makes it easier to be able to use skype or download without worrying about the cost.  patches and software updates were regularly cutting into my ability to do anything else on the internet.

it's bidding season again for some folks in the foreign service.  and i'm excited to see a couple people are already interested in my position here.  i didn't think it would be hard to fill since this post has been a great tour for me.  the work can pile up with just two people doing it but most of the time it's a great way to serve a tour abroad.

i hit the second river market more and more now to pick up meat and fish.  the quality and price are much better than going to the newer grocery stores.  i picked up six steaks saturday that only set me back about $18US.  i tried one in a sandwich over the weekend and it was tender enough i didn't even need a knife.

i realized this weekend, i may have bought too many consumable items to have shipped here.  i'd have to cook something new every night just to use everything up by the time I leave in 2011.  it's the leftovers and the time that interferes the most.  as much as i enjoy cooking (and eating) some nights i'd rather be doing something else than spending an hour or two making something new.  i guess i can always sell it to other americans.

3 thoughts about social media - i.e. why blog, facebook, or twitter

first- my apologies to those of you that use twitter.  its not my intention to insult you or your need to keep other informed . . about what you're doing . . every . . . minute.  you may want to skip this post.  

second- i'm a blogger.  i do it mainly for my family and also for those interested in the foreign service life.  i write when i think something is interesting and stay away from posts that are no more than "wow, i woke up and had cold cereal today!" or "i'm watching t.v. and laughing at this craziness!".  ok, i have a facebook account. you caught me.  but i'm not a big fan of facebook either.  i rarely look at it, usually once a month or less.  

third- twitter. not a fan. it reminds me of the mid-nineties, when the internet forums and bulletin boards were the big news place for exchanging thoughts and ramblings.  only twitter brings that same flow of info at a faster, mind numbing rate.  if you look up the definition for the word twitter, it says "a short burst of inconsequential information."  I'll concede it's a viable form of communication if it could find a place in the world where it could be used to add something of value or content.  but after reviewing a slew of tweets on the twitter website, it seems like nothing more than comments that are either incorrect, out of date, or just nonsensical.  twitter even says, many people drop off using the site after a month or so. i expected adopters of this site would fall in the 11 to 17 yr range but they say that age group only accounts for 10% of their users.  so maybe i'm in the minority and the majority of users are people that want to keep tabs on what their friends are doing. but that's ok with me. i'm content with filtering what i do in my daily life down to only the moments i want to share.  it's the same with talking to someone face to face.  obviously they know what you're doing at that moment, but each of you talk about something that may be of interest to the other.  well, most of us do that.  some people talk regardless of who the audience is, and can say the same thing a day, hour or minute later.  but i'm getting off topic.  i'll close with a bit of satire from supernews!, who said, twitter is an addiction to "self-affirmation" and tweets are "shouts into the darkness hoping someone is listening". well said.  now i'm off to go do something you really don't care or need to know.

halloween

 

it's that time of year again.  treats for the kids, costume parties, the changing of the seasons.  i have a tradition of playing some of my favorite horror movies before halloween.  not the traditional classics, like the exorcist or the shining, nope.  they have to be zombie related. 

here's the playlist typically

• evil dead trilogy
• night of the living dead - original
• any living dead sequel
• shaun of the dead
• resident evil and any of its sequels

halloween is a recent addition to russia.  many enjoy it here and like the aspects of dressing up in costume.  there's a large party at the vlad motor inn, for parents and children.  each year, the total number of guests have increased dramatically.  on of my co-workers said she almost didn't make it this year since it's become so popular and the tickets were close to being sold out.    

i just realized, i don't have any russian horror movies.  something to check out.  in australia, i watched "wolf creek" and the saw movies (the first saw movie - created by aussies).  

parting advice in case you run into a zombie.  "beat em or burn em, they go up pretty easy." sheriff mcclelland - notld

fast food

from vladivostoktimes.com

"First American Fast-Food Restaurant SUBWAY Opens in Vladivostok

The first American fast-food restaurant SUBWAY is to open in Vladivostok in two days. Its production differs from unhealthy fast-food by fresh sandwiches and salads, which are cooked before a customer’s eyes. The department on public relations of the US Consulate General at the Far East reported it to RIA PrimaMedia.The solemn opening of the first fast-food restaurant of the American chain SUBWAY will be held on July 4 at 1 p.m. (5, Russkaya Str., near the bus terminal in the Vtoraya rechka district..

i haven't gone yet to check it out but plan to after i get back from vacation

mind the gap

so i've been thinking about this blog over the last couple months and often wonder if i'm just rambling on or if there's anything useful people get out of it.  originally, i started it as a way to let my family and friends keep tabs on me.  it morphed into a blog/photo gallery and then i notice it, like other foreign service blogs, gives interested parties a means to see what life is like overseas working for the department of state.

when i started, i found a few bulletin board type forums that helped answer many of my questions.  like what about a tv? will mine work?  what's a consumables post?  what about my car and how do i get insurance.  i spent 6 months, at least, trying to figure out every question I had.  i didn't even know people were blogging about stuff like this 5 years ago.  

every year about this time, i start getting emails from people either considering the foreign service as a career or those that are taking the leap in joining the rest of us working abroad.  my first posting was khartoum, sudan.  when people started asking me about what's available there and what they should bring, i realized i need to make a faq page.  it received more hits than any other page i had at the time.  after that tour, i ended up in sydney, australia.  the idea of a faq for sydney was considered for about 5 seconds before i decided there's already a gazillion sites where you can get info on oz.  but now that i'm in vladivostok, russia, it's time to put together another faq.  i wanted to wait a while since i needed to figure out what life is like here myself.  so hopefully in the next week or so, i'll have one put together.  

finally, i've taken a break from writing for so long since i started to wonder how much info i should expose about my life here.  even though i specifically say in my typepad profile that all comments are mine alone and do not reflect those views of the u.s. government, it's still difficult to speak freely about my opinions without worrying someone will take it as the comments of a diplomat of the u.s.a.  a foreign service officer asked me last year if his having a facebook page was a bad idea due to the not-so-nice folks that like to gather intelligence on diplomats overseas.  i didn't want to sound like a paranoid conspiracy theorist, but like it or not, that stuff does go on.  my answer was, you can have a facebook account, but try not to advertise everything about yourself.  my answer really makes having a facebook page useless if you want everyone to see it.  but there's ways to limit your every move by sharing it only with friends.  (note: i have a facebook page but very, very, very rarely write anything in it.  it's only there to keep track of my friends.)  for me, i'd rather have a blog.  it's simple, it's clean, it functions exactly the way i want it too.  i basically wanted a journal of my life in the foreign service so i could look back on it and remember all the details.  

i actually find facebook to be too invasive.  george k said it best "worlds are colliding!"  people post all kinds of stuff and i don't have the inclination or the time to filter who gets to see what.  once you start letting everyone be your friend the floodgates open and the page becomes a who's who of your past.  

you can see now why i don't write much about work.  which is probably for the best anyway since this blog is more about the cities I'm in than the work i do.  as far as work is concerned, i'm the IT guy that's here to fix anything communications related.  you can actually see who all the key officers are at posts around the world by doing a google search on "key officers foreign service".  which surprised the hell outta me when i discovered that a few years ago.  due to the nature of the job, the list becomes out dated quickly as people rotate from one post to another.  but it's still a bit odd to see my name posted out there for anyone to look up.

on that note, i'll continue to post for all the reasons i said earlier. even if i have to self censor what i post about.  i continue to hope it will be an aid to many looking at traveling and working abroad no matter what the blog's final permutation ends up being.

8th of march

even for a funeral, it's odd for happiness..

i discovered that it's bad to give an even number of flowers to someone unless it's for a sad occasion like a funeral.  the 8th of march is women's day, an international holiday that has an interesting history in russia and several of the former soviet bloc countries. here's a wiki link to photo and more details.

when i gave flowers to my girlfriend, she happily excepted them but kindly asked me why i choosed an even number. she then explained that traditionally an even number of flowers that are given to those suffering a loss, while an odd number is used to celebrate times of happiness.  being the foreigner that i am, she quickly forgave me for my slip up. 

the 8th of march is a big holiday in russia.  i compare it to mother's day and valentine's day combined in the states.  the florists were packed over the weekend as men swarmed the city buying bouquets for the ladies in their lives.  it was also a time for the vendors to mark up the flowers in price. since i was meeting other female friends, i couldn't show up empty handed  so i bought some extra flowers.  i even got to practice my russian through out the day, as i wished good health, success and happiness to all the women i ran into during the day. the phone companies were so busy with sms messages to everyone, that it took a half an hour for one to get through.

even at work, the men stepped up their game as we met and organized for an event to present to the ladies on the friday before the holiday.  this year we dressed in hawaiian shirts and shorts, met all the ladies at the door to adorn them with leis, and performed a song with musical accompaniment.  this was followed by a gift giving ceremony and as a grand finale; a funny indoor fireworks display involving bubble wrap. 

how do you...

google has turned become the all knowing entity for many.  i myself fall back on it many times to see what sage advice can be sought for anything from trivia, home improvement projects, to making a major purchase.  now google has incorporated a psychic ability that predicts what your trying to type by you entering just a few words.

tonight i started off with a standard "how do you.." question and paused when the top most common "how do you" questions came up.  it makes me wonder whats going on when i usually see the results.  in this case, google visiters inquirying minds have these questions that they need to know.

googles top ten "how do you" entries-

1. how do you know if your pregnant  (800,000+)
2. how do you know if a guy likes you  (1 million results)
3. how do you know if a girl likes you  (10million results)
4. how do you solve a problem like maria (346,000)
5. how do you get pink eye  (1.8million)
6. how do you tie a tie (25million)
7. how do you make a website (100+ million)
8. how do you get pregnant  (1.9million)
9. how do you know if you are pregnant (800,000+)
10. how do you sleep lyrics (1million)

my informal hypothesis.

• women want to know more about pregnancy than if a guy likes them.
• as a collarlary to that, guys need to know if a girl likes them 10 times more than a girl needs to know if a guy likes them.
• girls named maria are propabably sick of that song.
• pink eye- #1 mystery disease.
• parents slack off when it comes to proper tie techniques.
• websites programmers - just remember no black background with dark fonts, no one likes it. if you wear maroon pants and yellow shirts than you have no sense of color.
• how do you sleep - john lennon, i miss you

is there a брач in the домe? (doc in the house)

i guess i have a high threshold for pain or maybe i'm just use to it.  around thanksgiving last year i banged my foot into a wall (maybe crushed is a better term).  i felt the pain immediately and suspected something was worse than bruised toes. but being the lazy type, i didn't bother with going to a doctor and just wrapped it up and found a wool sock and sandal to wear.  but as the days went by and the pain subsided, one little piggie (the one that didn't have any roast beef) remained swollen.  i called the doc and arranged for a рентген (x-ray).  the prognosis- fractured toe.  (see highlighted square in photo above). the center bone was cracked and now has a rough surface where it forms a joint against the lower bone, closer to the foot.  result- the doc said it's too risky to do any surgery since that can cause more problems than its worth.  i was advised to tape up the toe next to its "brother" toe; my term, not his. this would keep it stable and help it heal without aggravating it.  that toe isn't very mobile to begin with, so i agreed and since then have not had any trouble.  but any dreams i had of being a pro NFL kicker are now shattered.  the good news is, it doesn't affect my drumming a bass beat with Rock Band 2.

which brings me to the creativity that always remains in electronics.  "set the way back machine for 1972, Sherman."..  pong hit the public and the birth of moving pixels around a monochrome screen captivated the masses. (years earlier i delighted myself by putting a magnet against tv screens and imposing my control over any broadcast)  after pong, came space invaders, donkey kong, pacman and the industry rolled like a freight train until personal computers started coming into people's home.  add the internet to this and the term "gaming" stopped being used just for role players and multi-sided dice and now was bringing people together over the net to play video games as a community of players competing with or against each other. over the years, i've been pleasantly surprised at how far technology has come.  now with the emergence of the wii, xbox and playstations, the graphics and story lines are as loaded as any blockbuster movie you see today. i'm a big fan of problem solving and zombies (yeah weird combo i know).  so games like half life 2 and portal are my most recent guilty pleasures when i should be studying.  recently however, i joined my neighbor for a crack at the video game "Rock Band".  i saw it in the states last year and thought it was interesting but didn't have the time or inclination to give it a try.  but after playing it, i found it brings the entertainment back into the family room that the days of atari and nintendo had decades ago.  i liked it well enough that i bought the company, ok I lied.. but i did buy the software and hardware (instruments) for my PS3.  the beauty of the game is not some storyline or fantastic graphics, although it does have both, but the simplicity of letting you jam with friends to great songs in rock history.  a real musician would scoff at the premise, but that's not the goal.  i compare it to a karaoke bar complete with guitars and drums.  sense of rhythm not included.  so if you want to bang out a hit like AC/DC's "Let there be Rock", Pearl Jam's "Alive" or even the Muffs cover of "Kids in America" (original by kim wilde), i highly recommend it.  the best part, the company has new music in the works that is available for downloading so you won't get bored playing "Today" by the Smashing Pumpkins for the 30th time.

learn it, live it, love it.