Rules Are Made to Break
What? You think people follow the rules here? The Moscow Times, Tuesday, April 21, 1998 A Culture of Disobedience By Jean MacKenzie Nothing is certain in life, they say, except death and taxes. Well in Russia, even that truism is not necessarily so. Death, of course, is still a constant…
Read MoreAll Black is Russian Fashion
Russians have an odd fashion sense Russian Fashion By Nick Three days ago one of my Russian staff came to breakfast with her hair down. It was really long, all most down to her butt, and very wavy. This struck me as unusual because I could not remember her having…
Read MoreEaster Memories = Easter Dinner
Easter is a time for eating, not praying! Cleaning out those memories Catholic Easter was last Sunday. (It was also the week of the Islamic Haijj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.) As I was writing a thank you email to the gracious hostess of Easter dinner, I noticed that all…
Read MoreSpring is Here Finally
After eight months of winter, Spring is fantastic! Blue skies and new leaves! Time to clean the streets! The first snow fall was the first day of September. The snow never left after the first day of November. It was -17 C in December and -25 C in January. February…
Read MorePolitics, Russian Style
Russia knows only one type of politics: hardball Boris on a good day A man with a Plan What they are fighting for And reality skis away again Today I went home at lunch to watch Boris Nikolivitch Yeltsin’s midday address to the nation, announcing his dismissal of his entire…
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