Little Things

There are small events that occur here in Saratov that incrementally improve one's mood. Last week as I was walking to work, not yet on the Moskovskaya thoroughfare, I heard a man behind me exclaiming quite loudly, " мнжчина! мужчина!" Pronounciation roughly-- Moosheena. This means "man". Russians don't have anything that approximates sir, so when you speak to someone on the street, you address them as "man". I have a hard time getting used to this. At home I use sir and ma'am fequently. I can speak and understand rough Spanish---Russian to me, the longer I am here, sounds Spanish to some extent; the rolling "r"s, "a" on the end of things implying feminine grammar declensions at times. To me this sounds Spanish and feminine and when I hear it and it causes my brain to seize up often.
Anyway this fellow wants to know where he can catch a bus that goes up Moskovskaya. I respond with "московская улитца там"  and point him in the right direction. He thanks me.

Wednesday on my way home from the Institute at about 4pm, there is a guy walking in front of me with his son, they are slower than me and I don't like to pass on the ice---especially when things are wet. Ice is bad, water on top of ice is no good at all. I sort of slacken my pace to settle in about 10-15 feet behind them. He reaches over to put his arm around his boy and unknowingly drops some bills---a few hundred Roubles maybe(perhaps $10) in a little wad. I come upon the money, pick it up and say "мужцина!", he turns around immediately, I hand him the money, he smiles, thanks me. I pass them and continue on.  I'm in a good mood all the way home.

Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin has a 14 year old female black lab name Koni


http://saxontheweb.blogspot.ru/2009/04/putin-dog-steals-treats.html




Look at him! The man loves somebody!
I'm just sayin.......I like the guy just a bit more now that I know that. She looks a little like my Thurman.

More Edith Piaf, Frank.

 

band Conductor and Opera guy doing Sinatra

Future NVCC-Loudoun Student, Stepan Orlov, along with my Institute Colleagues Maxim and Kamiel(and beautiful wives), took me to an event at another college on Saturday evening. It was a performance representing the songbooks of Frank Sinatra and Edith Piaf. Band was very good. There was a monster baritone sax soloist. The woman singing Piaf was superb. Sinatra you can’t really duplicate, and this guy, while he had the pipes, didn’t really approximate old Frank….”I deed eet my vay…”

My only observation was that both the conductor and the male soloist had mullet heads that would scare Miguel Corrigan circa 1991. I had a dead animal crawling down the back of my neck back then that was absolutely mortifying. I was “all biz” up front with a poor white trash breaking bad party in the back. These guys both have dead squirrels on steroids crawling down their necks. I loved it. No disrespect intended. Russia. Glad I’m here----really.

An Interesting Walk to Work

Monday morning, after staying up late, reading what my Russian friends are saying on Facebook, watching Russian TV News, perusing the Washington Post, Politico, and FoxNews, I roll out of my apartment about 9am to walk to the institute.
 I'm not a worrier, at least from a global socio-political perspective---anyone who is like me who followed the events following the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s---knows that the potential of Europe to do something unimaginably inhumane every 50-60 years or so is within the realm of possibility---but I don't "get" that feeling with these events here. The news cycle on Ukraine had me slightly worried---not for personal safety, but that some sort of missive from my government---or the Russian government---might have me on a plane before I am finished here.


So I immediately notice lots of police! No cars at all on Moscovskaya. White police tape all along the thoroughfare for blocks and blocks. Hardly anyone on the street. I'm thinking....hmmm.
There are two cops, big, well dressed dudes on both sides of the street, every 20 yards. I make eye contact with probably 50 of them on my "commute". If I haven't already said this here, I basically stand out like a flashing strobelight. Only blind people do not know that I am a foreigner, if not American. These police officers do not seem to care that I am walking by, do not seem threatening in the least, nor worried about anything in particular. By the time I get to the Institute, I'm pretty relaxed, thinking this can't be related to anything geopolitical.


When I get up to the International Office, I use the opportunity to ask in terrible Russian about what might be going on....


The Para-Olympic Torch is in Saratov! It will come down Moscovskaya around noon. They've basically paralyzed downtown traffic for this. People are crabby like they would be in DC when a caravan of political bigwigs tie up traffic. Many are late for work or don't come in at all.


There you have it. We are not that different are we?

New Teaching Assignment

My next teaching assignment here in Saratov is somewhat different in nature than my experience last month with the International Business Administration Program.
I am now teaching a one month seminar on entrepreneurship and business planning in what is called a "Presidential Program". My students are all Russian and are all mid-level management types from industry, government, and government associated entities in the Saratov area. Most are in their late 20s and early to mid 30s. They are a sharp, inquisitive bunch, very motivated. Most have been encouraged by their respective employers to participate in the program and many also have their tuition covered by their employer. Professional development Russian style. They have somewhat more limited English language skills and also participate in English for Business classes taught by Professor Ufaeva in the English department at the Institute. For that reason, it has been determined that Masha from the International Office should spend her Saturday mornings interpreting for me and the class.We meet every other Saturday for 2.5 hours at 9am. My first class was this previous Saturday.
I spent the previous week first outlining and then expanding on a lecture outline so that Masha knows what to expect. So the plan is basically to go through the steps one should take in generating entrepreneurial ideas, developing success strategies in research and marketing, briefly touch on some financial exercises, and cover some human resource related tactics.
The students I meet and talk to in the first class come from banking, engineering, energy, logistics, transportation, business incubation, and rural social work. Language is a bit of an issue, but we communicate pretty well. I ask a lot of questions about barriers to entrepreneurial success, ease of acquiring capital etc., I have some particularly enlightening conversations with Dmitry and Alexander, both bankers and a really sharp fellow, Sergei, who is in Natural Gas engineering. I am especially forthright regarding the prospect of developing consulting firms in Russia that can assist foreign entities in navigating the Russian business landscape. The more I look at the world, the more I am convinced that folks who have the ability to speak English and another language(like Russian) are going to be highly desirable employees for global companies. These people are on their way and I go out of my way to encourage them to continue. This is such a "deep" place culturally, like India, and the conceptual skills one has being native, coupled with English is, going to give people like them immense competitive advantage.
We talk a lot about the difficulties of upward mobility in Russia, that the barrier of not having any "contacts" is stifling. It is very much "who you know" here and I find many very motivated people who are starving for opportunity. This network of "connections" here is intertwined with financial well being on such a complex level---it fascinates me. This population is extremely resilient. They are highly educated. They have a global perspective. They are excellent problem solvers. It can only a matter of a few months or years before the world of commerce and investment transforms this society in a positive way----putting aside of course the typical geo-political posturing taking place on both sides of the world.
I go through my standard pep talk on the importance of creativity, on how essential curiosity is, how observational and brainstorming skills are priceless. I implore them to do self audits, to write down ideas, to find their passion. I discuss the infinitely creative outlets that marketing can provide and how enjoyable it is to "dig deep" culturally. I think we have a good class. As happens almost every time I teach, I walk away with the feeling that I am so lucky to do something that I love.
I walk home, my day not yet over. I have been invited by Stepan Orlov, the potential NOVA student for the fall, along with two colleagues in Public Admin, Maxim and Kamiel, to attend a concert that evening that will cover the Sinatra and Edith Piaf songbooks. Description of this excursion to follow soon.

The official SOCHI 100 Rouble Note and 25 Rouble coin. Really nice gift from the Agricultural Bank.