Do Tell McFaulty

By on 04/04/2012

Last night I gave up fighting insomnia and reached for a good book to ride it out.  To hand was a very good one indeed: Nancy Mitford’s “Don’t Tell Alfred.” This highly entertaining sequel to her earlier works “The Pursuit of Love,” and “Love in a Cold Climate” is set in the years after World [...]

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Friendship in the Expat Lane

By on 20/03/2012

The Fake Buddhist sparked off another cultural clash between HRH (my “Handsome Russian Husband”) and myself.  This time on the nature of friendship. “Oh God,” I groaned to HRH, “the Fake Buddhist wants to have a Girls Night Out.” “If you don’t like her,” said HRH, “don’t go.” “It’s more complicated than that,” I said. [...]

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Moscow Time Medvedev Time Change

Time Sensitive

By on 02/03/2012

The plane from Budapest landed at Sheremeytevo with a thud.  Heedless of pleas in three languages to wait until the plane reached the gate, everyone, including the flight attendants, pulled out phones and switched them on. “What time is it?” I asked HRH, my “Handsome Russian Husband.” “It’s 6,” said HRH, who never changes his [...]

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The Ring Cycle: Большой Белый Круг на Садовом.

By on 28/02/2012

Last Sunday, I headed out to the Garden Ring to check out the “Big White Circle” or Большой Белый Круг на Садовом. I have to admit, I put down my romantic notions about Russia’s future — reluctantly, to be sure, but firmly, about 15 years ago.  I don’t think the Great Russian Soul is anything different [...]

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Epiphany/Крещение Господне: Last One In Is A Rotten Egg!

By on 18/01/2012

“This is my well beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” -God The Father If you’ve ever thought about having a polar bear experience, this may be your lucky day! January 19th for Orthdodox Christians is Epiphany or Theophany, which commemorates the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.  Note [...]

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Mikhail Prokhorov's campaign web site

Jerseylicious — The Nets Guy Runs for President

By on 17/01/2012

I don’t usually delve into Russian presidential politics that deeply.  As I’ve written before, there isn’t much to get your teeth into in a 35-minute electoral cycle, featuring candidates who all make Mitt Romney look scintillating.   I’m not holding out a lot of hope that this year is going to be much different.  Protest-shmotest seems [...]

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‘Tis The Season To Be Jolly

By on 17/12/2011

Times may be tough, but I’m pleased to see that Russians are not skimping on an essential fixture of the corporate calendar: the New Year’s party. This annual Saturnalia bears little resemblance to its Western version of a modest gallon of apple cider and a half-hearted Secret Santa exchange, as I found out during the [...]

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The Kitchen Debate

By on 29/11/2011

HRH (my “Handsome Russian Husband”) and I go through a quaint ritual each Sunday night in Moscow: I cook something nice, and we settle down to watch Vesti Nedelyia, Channel ——-2’s weekly news round up program.   To my way of thinking, there isn’t a lot of news in it, unless you count a national costume [...]

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Russian Interior Design: A Cautionary Tale

By on 15/11/2011

There is an old Russian saying:  “Ремонт хуже пожара,” or “Renovation is worse than a fire,” which I thought was just an old Russian saying until two days ago. That’s when they finished the renovation of our apartment building’s lobby. HRH, (my “Horrible Russian Husband”) and I live in a modern building in a somewhat [...]

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Brown Bag with forbidden sign over it

Russian Men Don’t Brown Bag

By on 27/10/2011

HRH, my “handsome Russian husband” puts in on average, a 17-hour workday down at The Difficult Start Up. He’s up at an ungodly hour in the pitch black dark (which admittedly, at this time of the year in Russia is not saying much) and comes home long after what I consider cocktail time and what many [...]

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Welcome to Russia Lite!

By on 24/10/2011

Jennifer Eremeeva is an American writer, photographer, Russian historian, blogger, and humor and cooking columnist based in Moscow Russia. In 2009, Jennifer created   the award-winning blog “Dividing My Time: Finding The Funnier Side of Life in Russia,” which highlights humorous and quirky aspects of her life as an expatriate in Russia, her cross-cultural marriage [...]

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Спасибо, Steve!

By on 21/10/2011

I’ve written before about the importance of getting thank you notes off promptly. “Don’t let the sun go down, thrice” I nag Velvet. It seems, however, that I’ve been remiss about writing the thank you note I owe Steve Jobs, who died yesterday.  I picked up the news about it on the latest of my Apple gadgets, my [...]

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