Russian Wives This blog is an opinion about Russian women and Russian life both in the USA and Russia. My wife Lena (who is Russian) and I write about the same subjects independently. Given our different cultures, politics and upbringing, it is interesting to compare our ideas and opinions about everything. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 150 0 17 2134

Articles from Russian Wives

New Year?s Again? 2008-01-11 21:37:53 Yes it's true. In Russia, the New Year comes once again. On Monday January 14, 2008 the Old New Year will be upon us. What is the old New Year? Back before Soviet times, Russia used the old Julian calendar and it was off by a couple weeks. So, January 7th is Christmas and January 14th is New Years Day. In my opinion, this is just another excuse to have a party. So, no complaining here. We will head out to a friend's house for New Year's eve on Sunday evening. Speaking of parties, seems most Russians are up for any excuse to celebrate. Not that they are all drunks or anything even close, but celebrations seem to be more often than I grew up ever attending. For instance, we are invited to 3 different parties this weekend ? a birthday party, a dinner party and the New Year's party. Pretty soon Maslenitsa (pancake week) will be here. In Russia, it is a seven day long party. It is also a very longstanding tradition. Here in the USA, we will probably get together with some friends an ...

Happy New Year! 2007-12-31 18:44:00 Wanted to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I'm off to a Russian New Year's Eve Party. If you have nothing else to do, go to Memocast.com and watch Irony of Fate. This the traditional New Year's movie shown every year on New Year's Eve. Happy New Year! ...

Merry Christmas! 2007-12-25 09:56:04 Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I wish you the best and remember to stay warm and safe. Kelly ...

Christmas and New Years in Russia 2007-12-23 22:21:07 Christmas is a little different, but not a lot. Here in the USA and most of the world, Christmas is connected with the birth of Christ. Now, I am not much into religion these days, but this is just a fact. Nowadays, Russia believes in this same tradition, but the actual holiday for Christmas falls on January 7th. It falls on this day due to the old Julian calendar that was used in Russia prior to the Soviet Union. Christmas is again associated with the birth of Christ, but it is merely a religious holiday now. New Year's Russian Style New Years on the other hand is celebrated similarly to our Christmas. It is a celebration with a decorated tree (a Yolka) and gifts are exchanged. As well, they have parties to bring in the New Year. So it is a New Years/Christmas party wrapped up all in one - and from what I have seen, Russians really know how to party! New Years Eve, Russia A Little History Santa Claus is originally known as St. Nicholas. The Soviets did away with religion during ...

Vladimir Putin - Times Person of the Year 2007-12-21 22:40:00 Just a note to recognize Russian President Vladimir Putin - Time Magazines Person of the Year. Congratulations Vladimir Putin! Time Magazine's 2007 Person of the Year - Vladimir Putin ...

Marketing ? Russian Style 2007-12-07 20:12:16 Every time I go to Russia, I am amazed at the differences in marketing strategies - to be more specific, the difference between Russia and the United States. Some of the pictures in this article show my point. Russian Marketing Strategy - Is there any? Digital billboards are pretty hi-tech and Russia has been using them since the 1990's. Here in the USA, they are just beginning to popup here and there. I remember the first one I saw here in the USA was in the San Francisco Bay area along the hi-way between San Jose and San Francisco back in 2000. Advertising in Russia Typical Russian Kiosk Something interesting to me is the advertising on buildings being both built and refurbished. They cover the entire side of the building with a giant advertisement. Giant Banner Advertising in Russia There are signs everywhere, even where there should not be a sign. They definitely don't mess around when it comes to their marketing. Advertising Gone Bad Russian Advertising Everywhere M ... Marketing

Russian Airport Security 2007-11-17 08:15:30 In my own opinion, Russians take their airport security much more serious than they do here in the United States. The trip from the USA to Moscow was long, but smooth. What I thought was good airport security seems a little lacking compared to the Russians though. The return trip home was not as smooth, but nothing too surprising. At the Moscow International airport ? Sheremetyevo ? they have 5 different layers of security we had to go through before getting onto the plane to leave Russia: - Metal detectors/x-ray machines coming into the airport. - Another metal detector/x-ray machine going to the Delta counter to check-in. - Questioning by a Delta representative, then our bags searched. This was done to everyone. - Passport control. - And yet another metal detector/x-ray machine to get into our gate. As well, they searched our carry-on bags here also. The plane left the terminal about 15 minutes late and sat on the runway waiting to take off for another 30 minutes. So we were ...

Driving in Moscow (the Taxi Rides) 2007-11-07 21:55:34 I have a new found respect for Moscow taxi drivers. Drivers in general in Russia are a bit on the wild side. But the taxi rides I took were precise surgeries getting from point A to point B. I've learned that those lines in the road separating the lanes aren't really that. They are just a guideline or merely a suggestion? When you see a hole in traffic that your car can fit through (and sometimes not) you go for it. They drive with such precision going around other cars and weaving in and out of traffic that it can only be that of a trained professional. There does not seem to be any speed limit as we passed several police vehicles at a high rate of speed. In fact I didn't see one accident or smashed car while I was there. Russian Taxi in Moscow When catching a taxi from the airport, you have to be firm in your negotiating. They will take all they think they can get out of you. Lena was pretty good at this. We had the guy following us through the airport and finally he decided to ...

Our Russian Apartment in Moscow 2007-11-04 15:41:34 The apartment can be found here: All Russia Hotels located on Novy Arbat, 22 Moscow. This rating is based upon 5 stars, 5 being the best and 1 being the worst. Location was in fact worth 5 stars. - We were right in the city center and within walking distance to the famous old Stary Arbat street and the US Embassy was pretty close too - It was a 15-20 minute walk to Red Square - Lots of stores and of course kiosks close by The view from our apt window. You can see Red Square. Customer Service got a -1 star. We had such a difficult time getting into the apartment. It took 3 different people and about 3 hours of waiting that I couldn't give anything except a negative 1 star for customer service. If they would have been prompt at returning our money for that day as they promised, I might have given them 2 stars. The fact is that it has been over a week now and still no refund to our credit card? Quality was good. Actually a pretty nice apartment, but too many issues - 3 stars. ...

Moscow has been entertaining - although my legs hurt 2007-11-01 06:24:07 Russia is very good for getting yourself into good shape. The public transportation system is one of the best in the world. But, you will find yourself walking a lot more than you do living in the USA. If you are going to rely on using the metro, you need to do a little extra walking due to the locations of metro stations. But you will enjoy stepping on the scale when you return home. The metro is a very inexpensive way to get around ? 14 to 15 rubles per trip, doesn't matter how many stops as long as you don't leave the station when changing lines. To ride the trolley, it's 25 rubles per trip. Another plus about riding the metro are the stations - they are all different and most are very beautifully architected. Moscow Metro Station We've spent a lot of time taking care of things that we came for ? Lena's parents interviews and medical exams for their visa's and a couple other personal things Lena needed to do in Russia. So, I have had a chance to walk the city and take pict ...

I made it to Moscow! 2007-10-28 13:21:09 Well, we made it to Moscow. The trip was fairly smooth, but not completely without a hitch. Well, I should correct myself. The trip itself was smooth, but getting into the apartment we rented was quite the fiasco. You should take note of this for the future should you try to go to Russia. We got to Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow without any trouble. Then we got a taxi to the apartment, $70usd (and the taxi ride from hell)! Holy cow, this definitely is be the priciest city in the world! We gave the apt rental manager a call to let them know we are here early - they yell at my wife and tell her the city is big and there is no way to get there early. At this point, we remember we are in Russia, no courtesy at all. Ok, no problem - we'll wait. So we wait about 1.5 hours till it was time for the person to come to give us the keys. She shows up, we head up to the 10th floor, she has the wrong keys. We head downstairs to sit and wait. Another hour goes by and another person shows up to let u ...

Time is Flying 2007-10-16 21:02:02 Looks like we're ready to head off to Moscow. Plane reservations and hotel/apt are booked and set in stone. My visa came back from the Russian Consulate without any problems. Our Apartment on the Arbat We ended up renting an apartment right in the City Center, Novy Arbat Street. This way, we now have the choice of whether we want to eat out or in. As well, they are providing free wireless internet, free unlimited international calling to the USA, and free satellite TV. It's about a seven minute walk to the metro and a seven minute walk to the American Embassy. The Moskva river, the Russian White House and the famous pedestrian "Arbat" street is just outside the door of the building. Now we are ironing out the schedule. Lena's parents will meet us and stay in the apartment with us while they are there. Should be a fun and interesting trip! ...

Russian Radio Stations 2007-10-13 11:24:54 If you're curious about what kind of music Russians listen to, go to Listen Live. They have a lot of streaming radio stations with music from Soviet times to the current popular stuff. Give it a listen. ...

HotelReservations.com 2007-10-05 23:08:51 As some of you may know, we are in the process of planning our trip to Moscow. Just recently, I have come across a web site, Hotel Reservations, that begs to challenge the more popular travel web sites. While we have already planned most of our Moscow trip as well as our hotel reservations, I did bookmark this web site for future use. They offer a Discount Club Membership as well as free changes and free cancellations should something unexpected come up or change after you make your initial plans. Something else Hotel Reservations offers is web site support for multiple countries currencies. You can even get up to a $100 rebate on your order! No-one else that I noticed offers any kind of rebate. Another feature important to me is Hotel Reservations ease of use. I was able to navigate and search the hotel rates as easy as ever. They get an A+ for this. I did some comparison shopping with the other major online travel web sites and Hotel Reservations is quite competitive in both th ...

Never Let Your Passport out of Your Sight? 2007-09-30 14:51:26 Something that always makes me nervous when I go to Russia is giving a total stranger my USA Passport. Yes, I did say giving your passport to a complete stranger in a foreign land. I know, I know, you've been taught your whole life to never let your passport out of your sight when you are in another country. But apparently, you have never been to Russia. USA Passport - Never let your passport out of your sight! When you get to your hotel of the place you are going to stay, you have to be registered. Fortunately if you are on a tourist visa, they can take care of it in the hotel. But if you are on a business visa (as I have used in the past), they take your passport from you to register it with another agency. In some cities, it is much quicker and easier to obtain a business invitation rather than a tourist invitation. So, that's what I did. So remember, if you go to Russia on a business visa, be prepared to give your passport to a stranger ? temporarily anyway. Another thing to ...