Gorky Park

Two great discoveries were made today: Gorky Park and Stockmann's.  Gorky Park is an enormous park in the center of Moscow, just off the Moscow River.  As this has been an unseasonably warm and sunny autumn, we left the apartment in the afternoon in search of some outdoor entertainment.  A mob of Russians forced us through the tunnels of the underground and out of the station right next to a gaping hole dug by a bulldozer only moments before.  We unsuccessfully turned in circles looking for any sign of a park.  We used one of the 2,312 billboards for Lipton Tea endorsed by Pierce Brosnan as a guide.  The billboard led us smack into a sign for Gorky Park and an arrow.  We headed down the sidewalk and crossed an enormous bridge over the Moscow River.  We watched a few strange photo shoots take place then hurried on.

We took the first entrance to the park, a huge wrought-iron gate propped open for pedestrians to step through.  At first, the park didn't seem like much, but we soon realized we had entered the farthest entrance.  We walked down some shaded lanes edged with beautiful trees and flowerbeds.  Finally, we came to a large walkway with even more elaborate flowers.  This walkway led into the main portion of the park, which contained more activity than I ever expected. 

There were several small buildings, structures, and statues throughout the park and benches practically every 20 steps.  People were milling around every which way, and occasionally someone would zip by on roller blades, a bike, or a skateboard.  The paths wound through the park, providing easy shortcuts and plenty of areas to sit and relax.  Among the paths were large open greenspaces, concrete patios with wooden shacks set up for vendors, and numerous outdoor restaurants and cafes.  Each curve opened to an entirely new sight.  At one turn a new bride was escorted by her groom while the wedding party trailed behind sipping flutes of champagne.  The open green spaces held oversized bean bags for young couples to lounge on.  One patio held nearly 50 ping pong tables open to the public.  Girls challenged their dates, children wailed on their parents, and one pair of Asians had a crowd watching their every hit.  Next to one of the larger cafes was a line-up of sand volleyball courts.  We sat for a few minutes and discussed whether or not we could take on any of the teams.

We spent the afternoon strolling through the park and people watching.  I'm sorry to confess that my camera died about twenty minutes into our visit, so unfortunately my pictures are limited.  However, we will certainly be visiting Gorky Park again, and next time I'll be sure to charge my camera!

As for the second discovery, thanks to a little Google searching this morning, I found a blog belonging to a fellow expat living in Moscow.  Her blog focuses on eating and cooking in Moscow (my two favorite things), and one particular post I found most helpful - a list of reviews of grocery stores around Moscow.  One of the grocery stores she rated the highest happens to be right down the street.  Upon returning to our neighborhood of Voikovskaya, we headed for the grand Metropolis shopping mall.  We followed the signs for Stockmann's but only saw what appeared to be a department store.  We moseyed in anyhow.  Near the back of the store was a secondary entrance to a small specialty foods store!!

We walked into a little piece of heaven.  Up to this point, we've been going to the local mini-marts around the corner from our apartment buliding.  These stores are about the size of a gas station, with a very limited selection of everything.  They have sufficed for now, but meals consisting of little more prep work than heating up frozen veggies leave plenty to be desired.  Needless to say, I've been getting a little antsy.  With eyes wide, I began scouring the shelves of Stockmann's.  A small but brightly colored produce section.  Baskets and baskets of freshly baked breads.  An entire line of coolers with all sorts of fresh cheeses, from feta to gouda.  A deli full of ready-made salads and meats.  A collection of ingredients for baked goods.  An aisle each for my favorite international cuisines: Indian, Mexican, and Italian.  Thank goodness we only brought a small stash of rubles.

After making circles around the store, checking every nook and cranny (and Kyle nudging me it was time to go), we began gathering materials for veggie fajitas.  A few days ago, I found a large-scale grocery store in the same mall.  It has more or less the same products as the mini-marts closer but with more selection.  This store also has a large section for home goods.  Between that discovery and Stockmann's, I'm nearly chomping at the bit to start cooking and baking my favorite fall foods.

 

Our Move to Moscow

The decision to leave South Korea was not an easy one.

 

I formed some new friendships, fell in love with more than 20 little Korean kids, and grew up quite a bit.  I have no regrets, however, and realize more than ever it was the right decision.

So now I find myself at the closing of my second full week in Moscow.  Time has flown.  It seems like years ago I was packing my life into two suitcases and boarding a plane for some foreign land yet again. 

Instead of those adorable, ornery Asian faces, each day I teach a variety of Russian business people.  They all speak at at least an intermediate level of English.  My role is more of a tutor than a teacher; I help improve their pronunciation, tweak their grammar, and introduce new business-related vocabulary.  Each class I give is held at my students' places of work.  I travel around the city meeting them during their lunch break and before or after their working hours.  It ends up being a lot of time on the subway and walking, but I feel like I'm adapting quickly. I must admit I was a little intimidated at first.  To worsen that feeling, I started teaching my second day in Moscow with directions to a business that were blurry at best.  The kind man that he is, Kyle walked with me to the location which we found with little trouble.  He left me at the steps.  I walked in to an immediate security guard on my right.

"Hello, I'm here from inlingua. I'm here to give English lessons."

A blind stare in return.

"Uhm.... I'm here to teach English?"

He stands up and walks me 10 steps and around a large pillar to another desk.  Another security guard stands up.

I try again, "Hello, I'm here with inlingua to teach English."

They have a brief back-and-forth. Finally, one man says, "Eh... company? What company?" I answer his question, apparently correctly because he then scans us both through the locked door and into another bearing the company's logo.  I'm directed to another desk, this time a receptionist.  I tell her my story yet again.  She looks confused, so I drop my student's name.  Her look of confusion disappears, and she leads me into a conference room where I begin setting up.

A few minutes tick by, then finally a man enters the room.  A large, middle-aged man with those characterstically beady Russian eyes and a freshly shaved head.  He greets me with a goofy smile, and we introduce ourselves. We talk a bit more so I can gauge his level then continue with the lesson.  All goes well, and I leave the class confidently.

A few similar instances happened with my next first classes, where I can't figure out how to get into a building or past security, but all in all the first week was a success. I have a range of different students all studying for different reasons.  One woman simply wants to perfect her English, as she is already at a rather advanced level.  Another is a rich housewife whose husband travels internationally for business each month.  She has fallen into the role of his personal interpreter and needs improving.  Most of the others use English occasionally in their work, but mostly want to take advantage of the service offered by their respective companies to further their English. 

As I said, I expected my new students to be intimidating.  All but one are at least a decade older than me, with at least as much experience in the workforce.  Some even hold rather prestigious positions.  I was worried they'd be disappointed with such a young American coming in to help them learn.  It's been quite the opposite, though.  Even my most advanced student is just happy to have a native speaker to interact with for a few hours each week.  I've found it very humorous that most of my students, though older and wiser, regress back to the student role very quickly.  They want very much to impress me and do their best in class.  One student flat out says, "You're my teacher. I will do whatever you say."

I've grown to like our new apartment quite a bit.  It's in a very old building, whose elevator I'm never confident won't drop me straight to the basement, but the apartment itself is comfortable with a lot of character.  There are two bedrooms, a full bathroom, a full kitchen, and in case we didn't feel pleased enough with our move, an old piano! And I thought the smile only crossed Kyle's face as a result of bookstores and good cigars.

We didn't have internet for the first week, so for our first weekend out, we decided to just wing it.  We took the subway towards the center of the city, then set out exploring.  Not that I've seen very many, but I've never seen a more stunning city center.  The buildings were ancient and ominous, yet completely pristine.  I've been impressed by the great artwork around the city.  There are countless parks and courtyards with beautifully carved statues everywhere.  We walked around gawking for a while, then read a streetsign directing us to Red Square.  We walked into a huge mob of people with dozens of vendors manning their carts.  We could see the pillars of St. Basil's Cathedral in the distance among many other churches.  There was some sort of security system similar to those arranged for entering athletic facilities set up outside a large gate.  We saw another sign for Red Square pointing straight past security.  We dumped out our belongings and passed through.  There were even more people crammed into the square.  Some enormous outdoor arena was set up smack in the middle.  We could barely see over the crowd, except for the tips of some costumed men galloping by on horseback.  We later learned this festival was honoring Moscow's birthday.  Most of the main sites were blocked off, but we were able to circle St. Basil's and catch a glimpse of Lenin's tomb.  As I said before, it was completely breathtaking.  The wall surrounding the Kremlin stood towering to the left.  Even the building under construction was draped with decorative canvases to soften its appearance.  It felt like a movie set.  I regret to tell you that I only snapped a few photos.  Russia is a bit more aggressive and intense than Korea, so I'm not to keen on sticking out as a tourist just yet.



 

 

One Week in Phú Quốc

Vietnam was everything I thought Asia would be.  It was an incredible adventure experiencing the people, food, and customs.  We were able to relax, reflect, and rejuvenate after five months of heavy workloads.

We stayed on the Vietnamese island of Phú Quốc at a place called Cassia Cottage, which consisted of about 20 or so cottages right on the beach.  Everything converged at a stone path, which led to the Gulf of Thailand.

 

When we first arrived, we checked in and were given a tour of the grounds.  There were two infinity pools, gorgeous landscaping, hammocks and beach chairs dispersed everywhere, and a short strip of beach with strong tides and winds.  We visited during wet season, so our side of the gulf was in constant high tide, leaving the beach much shorter than during dry season.  On the other hand, the water on the east side of the island was as smooth as glass, and the air was completely still.

We arrived in the evening, so we decided to try the hotel's restaurant for dinner.  We ordered freshly squeezed mango juice, handmade spring rolls, and grilled tofu with veggies.

 

 

If you remember the pictures from my school lunches, I hope you realize that this food was an incredible relief from kimchi and rice!  Everything was fresh and made on site.  The fresh mint in the spring rolls coaxed me into drinking a few mojitos.  The rolls were so good that I ate them three more times that week!

 

We walked on the beach for a while, then settled into our room for the night.  I was so excited to taste the complimentary breakfast that I woke up around 7 AM the next morning.  It more than lived-up to my expectations.  Every day there were freshly squeezed juices and blended smoothies.  A cook stood by taking orders for eggs, omelets, french toast, pancakes, and bacon.  Each morning I would first load up a plate with freshly cut fruit, like mangoes, papayas, watermelon, pineapple, starfruit, and kiwi.  There was freshly brewed Vietnamese coffee and an assortment of fresh tea leaves.  One table held mini baguettes, fresh cheeses, homemade yogurt, and about a dozen tropical jams.  Finally, there was a stand with four or five hot dishes.  Sometimes there was curry, spaghetti, Vietnamese pho, stir fry, fried potatoes, grilled tomatoes with cheese, or fried rice.  The hotel grounds contain gardens for growing vanilla, peppercorns, and cinnamon, all of which are used in their cooking.  When you have all that to look forward to, it's not hard to wake up early!

 

Most days we lounged by the pool, but a few were spent exploring the island.  The first night we walked about a mile down the beach, then about another mile into town for the Night Market.  All along the strip, local vendors set up carts and tables displaying their goods.  There were lots of nick-knacks, souvenirs, and street food.  There were also many restaurants with workers calling out to you, shoving menus in your face, and trying to get your business.  Huge tanks held fresh fish waiting to be cooked.  Some restaurants had charcoal grills set up right next to the tank.  You could smell the meat cooking and hear the juices sizzling.  We chose the most crowded restaurant and settled into our plastic lawn chairs while drinking a round of Tigers, the local beer.  We all enjoyed some delicious plates of fried noodles with crab, stir fried rice and vegetables, and grilled eggplant.  After four plates and eight beers, the bill totaled $25.

 

 

 One day we made a trip to the local outdoor market to see how the locals shop.  A cab drove us as far as it could, then we had to get out and cross a treacherous bridge to make it the rest of the way.  The planks of wood making up the bridge were split, half-rotting, and barely connected.

 

   

 

Motorbikes sped across the bumpy trail without fear.  We waited for a break in the stream of bikes, then made our way across.  Brightly colored fishing boats lined the river, some bringing in the day's catch, others holding exhausted fisherman.

 



Throughout the walk down the market street, we barely said a word.  We were amazed and overwhelmed at the seemingly organized chaos.  Motorbikes and bicycles swerved around the foot traffic, which the pedestrians tried to dodge the enormous mud puddles. 

There were vendors everywhere you looked selling fresh fruits, vegetables, live chickens and ducks, eggs, and clothing.  Like at Bupyeong Market in Korea, women were pounding flanks of beef and taking cleavers to whole chickens.  We were the gaping, tourist snapping pictures left and right, but these people were just going about their typical routines.

In the middle of every night, I would wake up to intense winds, rain, lighting, and thunder.  During monsoon season, it rains almost every day.  Usually a few more showers would pour down through the morning and through lunch, but come afternoon, the skies would clear for a few hours.  There were tons of tropical trees and plants around the grounds, which made for cozy days reading on the porch.

One day we took an excursion to the other side of the island, and made a few pit stops along the way.  On the way to the beach, we stopped at the Coconut Tree Prison.  The prison was built during the Indochina War, when the French occupied Vietnam.  It was used for holding and torturing prisoners.  When the Americans got involved in Vietnam, they reconstructed the prison and instructed the Vietnamese to use it for torturing Vietcong prisoners.  The prison is now a historical museum that honors those killed in the wars and displays the methods of torture.  There are several stations with mannequins demonstrating the various means.  Outside, there are layers and layers of barbed wire along with even more torture devices.  It was pretty disturbing, but interesting nonetheless.  It was strange to see a depiction of the Vietnam War by Vietnamese people rather than Americans.  The information was very explicit about the American influence, especially stating that all the torturing methods were developed by Americans.

After the depressing museum, we visited Sao Beach, or Long Beach, the most popular and beautiful beach on the island.  There we laid in the sun, waded in the calm waters, watched the wild dogs run, ate tropical fruit, and walked through the pristine white sand.

The next stop of the day was into the central part of the island where we hiked a mile or so up to a waterfall.  We spent twenty minutes getting up the courage to brave the unknown terrain and swim in the waterfall.  We crossed slippery rocks and kept our eyes peeled for snakes.  The water was incredibly refreshing compared to the stifling humidity of the wet season's air.  It was wonderful to escape completely into nature where we could only hear the water crashing down and birds chirping, rather than buses whooshing by and heavy construction machinery. 

Our final adventure was to a pearl farm.  Phú Quốc is known for its peppercorns, fish sauce, and pearls.  There are several farms on the island that cultivate pearls, but we visited the one with the best reputation owned by a foul-mouthed Aussie named Mick.  After watching a woman pluck a filthy looking clam out of a tank then pry it open, she pulled out a disgusting looking blob of slime and muck.  She dug her knife around in the goop until finally she flicked out a shiny white pearl. 

During the rest of the trip I had my first full-body massage (only $20!) and cucumber facial ($15!).  I ate the hotel restaurant's homemade ice cream (remember the vanilla and cinnamon gardens) every night.  We read books, played chess in the gardens, walked on the beach, ate the most amazing food I've ever tasted, and never missed happy hour.  It was the perfect getaway, and the perfect opportunity to plan for the next six months.