Sunday, December 17, 2006
Grar
On a seperate note, the media really needs to stop saying that this politician or another made a "surprise" visit to Iraq. Nobody makes scheduled visits to Iraq because it's full of angry people with bombs. We get that. It's not like the politician was surprised. It's not as though Blair wakes up one morning on RFA One and goes "Oh shit, where are we?!"
Monday, October 02, 2006
Reading Lermontov
"And, besides, what are the joys and sorrows of mankind to me - me, a travelling officer, and one, moreover, with an order for post-horses on Government business?"
- A Hero of Our Time
- A Hero of Our Time
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Moscow is win
Location update for anyone concerned. Have relocated to Moscow to work an internship with Prioritel, a telecommunications company. Good people.
On Friday, I had an interview with McKinsey and Co., a big A1 worldwide business consulting firm about the prospect of earning gainful employment with them after I graduate Midd. Turns out they have a very rigorous and vaguely secretive screening process. The entire company is slightly opaque, for that matter. Nonetheless, excellent opportunity and an exciting prospect for the future.
This weekend was spent visiting Yaroslavl, to catch up with friends and such.
Other news in the life to be posted shortly.
On Friday, I had an interview with McKinsey and Co., a big A1 worldwide business consulting firm about the prospect of earning gainful employment with them after I graduate Midd. Turns out they have a very rigorous and vaguely secretive screening process. The entire company is slightly opaque, for that matter. Nonetheless, excellent opportunity and an exciting prospect for the future.
This weekend was spent visiting Yaroslavl, to catch up with friends and such.
Other news in the life to be posted shortly.
Friday, June 30, 2006
I'm kidding, really
"The way I understand it, the Russians are sort of a combination of evil and incompetence... sort of like the Post Office with tanks."
- Emo Philips
- Emo Philips
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Tbilisi, Day 3
My property is no longer irregular, having, to my great relief, arrived on Sunday from Frankfurt.
Spent Sunday walking around the city and seeing a few local highlights with Sharad, an Indian software engineer on vacation. It's really damn hot here, getting around 90 in the afternoons.
Posting now from the GFSIS computer lab on Chitadze Street, a stone's throw from the Italian embassy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a half-dozen other bureaus of this and that and the other thing. Tomorrow is to be a visit from the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs. It looks to be an interesting four weeks.
Georgians, with their olive skin and aquiline noses, have surprised me as being very identifiable as an ethnic group. I'll be honest and say that, to me, everyone kind of looks the same, as though all are distant cousins. The folks with Russian or European blood tend to stand out. Walking down the street, standing on the subway, I've never felt so keenly aware of my being a foreigner. At least in Yaroslavl or Moscow I could sometimes pass for a Russian until I opened my mouth. I can't be certain of how obviously other I look here, but I'd be willing to wager that nobody is going to mistake me for a gruzin anytime, well, ever.
Also, all the road signs and metro placards are in the Georgian alphabet, which makes navigation a little more difficult than I would like. On the upside, pretty much everyone speaks Russian and people have been very helpful with directions. The subway over here is like a budget version of the Moscow metro, with two lines, twenty one stations and the exact same cars.
I spent much of yesterday reading up on recent events and an economic report. I'll confess to being surprised. Despite "very promising" economic indicators, the fact is that Georgia is...developing. Developing as in 41% infant mortality rate, developing. Georgia was one of the Soviet satellites hit hardest by the fall of the Evil Empire, and GDP per capita is still half of what it was in 1990. This isn't obvious from walking a few days around the streets of Tbilisi. I wonder if somebody who hasn't spent the past year in Yaroslavl might take more notice of the beggars, broken windows, and security guards- all situated next to the swanky boutiques, new construction, and public fountains. Of course, this is the capital, and therefore undoubtedly much better situated. Perhaps more surprising, though, is the reported success of Georgia's "Rose Revolution." 30,000 civil servants were laid off, corruption significantly reduced, the police force overhauled, business licensing and the tax code simplified. A long way to go before joining the EU, but nonetheless impressive movement in that direction.
Spent Sunday walking around the city and seeing a few local highlights with Sharad, an Indian software engineer on vacation. It's really damn hot here, getting around 90 in the afternoons.
Posting now from the GFSIS computer lab on Chitadze Street, a stone's throw from the Italian embassy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a half-dozen other bureaus of this and that and the other thing. Tomorrow is to be a visit from the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs. It looks to be an interesting four weeks.
Georgians, with their olive skin and aquiline noses, have surprised me as being very identifiable as an ethnic group. I'll be honest and say that, to me, everyone kind of looks the same, as though all are distant cousins. The folks with Russian or European blood tend to stand out. Walking down the street, standing on the subway, I've never felt so keenly aware of my being a foreigner. At least in Yaroslavl or Moscow I could sometimes pass for a Russian until I opened my mouth. I can't be certain of how obviously other I look here, but I'd be willing to wager that nobody is going to mistake me for a gruzin anytime, well, ever.
Also, all the road signs and metro placards are in the Georgian alphabet, which makes navigation a little more difficult than I would like. On the upside, pretty much everyone speaks Russian and people have been very helpful with directions. The subway over here is like a budget version of the Moscow metro, with two lines, twenty one stations and the exact same cars.
I spent much of yesterday reading up on recent events and an economic report. I'll confess to being surprised. Despite "very promising" economic indicators, the fact is that Georgia is...developing. Developing as in 41% infant mortality rate, developing. Georgia was one of the Soviet satellites hit hardest by the fall of the Evil Empire, and GDP per capita is still half of what it was in 1990. This isn't obvious from walking a few days around the streets of Tbilisi. I wonder if somebody who hasn't spent the past year in Yaroslavl might take more notice of the beggars, broken windows, and security guards- all situated next to the swanky boutiques, new construction, and public fountains. Of course, this is the capital, and therefore undoubtedly much better situated. Perhaps more surprising, though, is the reported success of Georgia's "Rose Revolution." 30,000 civil servants were laid off, corruption significantly reduced, the police force overhauled, business licensing and the tax code simplified. A long way to go before joining the EU, but nonetheless impressive movement in that direction.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Back to the Blogg
And so, more than 3 months later, I've come back to Caesar.
Writing you from Prospero's Books, just off of Rustaveli Avenue in the scenic city of Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, I find myself several thousand miles from home without my luggage. Somewhere along the line, possibly from LAX or Cincinnati or Amsterdam, it got lost or misdirected. Or, as the official documentation reports it, I have suffered a "Propery Irregularity." In any case, hopefully the irregularity will correct itself and my property will soon become regular again.
Not much else to report for the moment. Homestay seems to be fine, with retired fire inspector Vazha and his wife Marina as my hosts. The city itself is nice. With little over a million folks, it's a great deal less intimidating than comparable Russian cities. Monday I start work with the Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Studies (GFSIS).
In other news, Middlebury still hasn't posted my grades from last semester. I'm not too worried, as I've a fairly good idea of what my grades were anyway. Nonetheless, the lack of official confirmation is unsettling.
For further summer plans, I'll be transferring to Moscow on the 22nd of July, to start an internship with Prioritel. For the weekend of August 25th, I go to Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), nerd extravaganza in Bellevue, Washington with the inimitable sirs Grayson and Betts. Followed soon after by general carousing in Kalispell, Montana with others near and dear. (Well, far- at the moment, as the case may be.)
This is DJ RedScare, signing off for now. There's an Indian tourist who I just met that I'm gonna go have coffee with.
Writing you from Prospero's Books, just off of Rustaveli Avenue in the scenic city of Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, I find myself several thousand miles from home without my luggage. Somewhere along the line, possibly from LAX or Cincinnati or Amsterdam, it got lost or misdirected. Or, as the official documentation reports it, I have suffered a "Propery Irregularity." In any case, hopefully the irregularity will correct itself and my property will soon become regular again.
Not much else to report for the moment. Homestay seems to be fine, with retired fire inspector Vazha and his wife Marina as my hosts. The city itself is nice. With little over a million folks, it's a great deal less intimidating than comparable Russian cities. Monday I start work with the Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Studies (GFSIS).
In other news, Middlebury still hasn't posted my grades from last semester. I'm not too worried, as I've a fairly good idea of what my grades were anyway. Nonetheless, the lack of official confirmation is unsettling.
For further summer plans, I'll be transferring to Moscow on the 22nd of July, to start an internship with Prioritel. For the weekend of August 25th, I go to Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), nerd extravaganza in Bellevue, Washington with the inimitable sirs Grayson and Betts. Followed soon after by general carousing in Kalispell, Montana with others near and dear. (Well, far- at the moment, as the case may be.)
This is DJ RedScare, signing off for now. There's an Indian tourist who I just met that I'm gonna go have coffee with.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
"Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh."
Got my class schedule finally settled:
Russian Grammar (Middlebury)
20th Century Literature (Middlebury)
Risks in Economics (mainstream)
Globalization (mainstream)- evening section
Russian War Memoirs (mainstream)
Between 11-15+ class hours/week, depending on the week (Literature and Globalization have additional classes on alternate Mondays and Thursdays, respectively.) More if the professors actually get around to scheduling discussion sections.
Also bought train tickets to go to Volgograd with two other students for our Spring Break at the end of the month. I'm rather excited about this. Made a hotel reservation as well, but I need to confirm it by sending a fax to the hotel. Bothersome. Train tickets there and back came out to about $70. 19 hour trip from Moscow to Volgograd. (And that's the fast train.)
Russian Grammar (Middlebury)
20th Century Literature (Middlebury)
Risks in Economics (mainstream)
Globalization (mainstream)- evening section
Russian War Memoirs (mainstream)
Between 11-15+ class hours/week, depending on the week (Literature and Globalization have additional classes on alternate Mondays and Thursdays, respectively.) More if the professors actually get around to scheduling discussion sections.
Also bought train tickets to go to Volgograd with two other students for our Spring Break at the end of the month. I'm rather excited about this. Made a hotel reservation as well, but I need to confirm it by sending a fax to the hotel. Bothersome. Train tickets there and back came out to about $70. 19 hour trip from Moscow to Volgograd. (And that's the fast train.)
