SovietCity Blog..

Posted By admin on March 5, 2010

The following applies to most typical flats, not a new Russian or Evro(euro)-remonted flat.

1)  Carpet on the wall, floor, or both.

Having lived in a few flats with this feature I must admit to liking it.  Maybe it makes the flat warmer, acts as insulation or sound proofing, decoration ?

2) Half empty bottle of vodka in the fridge.

For medicinal purposes, whatever they are.

3) Russian religious Icons – Iconka.

Doesnt matter if the people never go to church, they will have some iconka just to make sure they are covered.

4) Numerous pairs of slippers

Tapachki, for guests, remember you MUST take your shoes off immediately upon entering a Russian flat, otherwise you will be very sorry  !

5)  The exact same kitchen table and chairs as found in every other Soviet era flat.

I’m not joking. I have often visited somebody, sat down in their kitchen and realised that their furniture is exactly the same as in my flat.  Its amazing just how much Soviet furniture is still in use.

6) Divan (couch/settee) that converts into a bed.

Almost every sofa in Russia seems to come with this handy additional feature. Yes, your couch can quickly be opened to reveal a full size mattress and bed. Handy for those drunken vodka parties ? Was this feature mandated by the Soviet furniture authorities ?

7) Gas cooker.

Often used with all four burners on full blast for extra background heating.  Can also be switched on (though not lit) by your drunken neighbor before he passes out unconscious on the floor.

8) Balcon (Balcony) stuffed full of never used junk.

ie skis, baby sleigh, random pieces of wood and plasterboard, tool kits, strange empty glass jars.

9) Cat litter tray in the toilet.

Now your average Soviet era flat already has a small narrow toilet, just big enough for the average Brit or American to stand up in.  The kitty litter tray ensures that you definitely dont have enough room to turn around.

10) Bathroom/Washroom.

Ahh the joys of Russia.  In England a bathroom is just a bathroom.  A place where you take a bath/shower, wash your face etc.  Not in Russia. The Bathroom is also the place where the clothes washing is done.  The bathroom is usually the size of two bathtubs placed next to each other exactly. You will notice either a modern slim line washing machine or a ancient plastic Soviet era waste of space washing machine, numerous bowls, pans, washing lines.  These will be cunningly placed to ensure maximum discomfort whilst you attempt to get into the bath.

Any further suggestions are most welcome !

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Posted By admin on February 23, 2010

I’m slowly acclimatising to my new life in Russia.

Temperatures of -10c to -40c, cold icy winds, relentless snow and dangerous streets completely covered with inches of hard baked ice and snow, which make walking tiring difficult and dangerous. Looking out from my sweltering apartment window the weather often appears deceptively warm. On a couple of occasions I have left my extra fleece coat and longjohns at home and ventured out with merely standard English Arctic explorer survival clothing ie Goretex and Fleece coats, only to soon regret this as the icy winds froze my flesh and I started to shiver.

I havent done very much since arriving here. In the past I taught English here for a couple of years, but the English teachers I worked with have all moved abroad so their English schools have closed down. I’m planning to run my own lessons again soon. If you live in Izhevsk and need an English teacher or want private English conversation lessons then please contact me using the contact form.

Another aspect of Russia that takes some getting used to is customer service. The attitude here in a lot of shops and offices is “the customer is always wrong” or “the customer can be simply ignored”.

After arrival I headed to the post office to register my visa. Not a simple task. The official line is that you get 3 business days after arrival to register. I arrived on a Friday so should have been OK to register up to the end of Wednesday. I went on a Monday morning.
Registration is very important as without it your host family can be fined and you might have problems getting another Russian visa in the future.

The miserable pig faced woman behind the counter tried to tell me that I was too late to register and that she couldnt help me anymore. She insisted that the arrival day counted as one of the 3 days and as they were open all weekend I was too late to register. She went back to reading her womens beauty magazine. I stood there with my Russian wife and thought of what to do next. We eventually managed to get a slightly more helpful post clerk to call the local OVIR office for advice. OVIR told them that it was fine to register my visa, so they grimly accepted defeat and did the necessary paperwork.

Yesterday was -36c. For an Englishman a temperature like this is ridiculous. I went for a walk and my glasses soon froze up with ice on the inside. The air at such a low temperature is wonderfully clear, the sky was bright and blue. Although the environment here is very harsh, I’m glad that I have had a chance to experience such weather.

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Tags: russian customer service, russian winter

Posted By admin on February 7, 2010

I flew to Russia last week.

I expect to spend the next year here, except for a few brief  runs to renew my visa.  I’m now sitting in my warm flat in the city of Izhevsk, in the republic of Udmurtia,  looking out onto the snow covered year below and contemplating life.

I’ve decided that I dont like flying anymore.  My Swiss air flight was reasonably nice, with pleasant service and  newish Airbus. In contrast my Izhavia flight, on an ancient Yak 42 jet from the 1980’s was terrifying.  Turbulence, the smell of aviation fuel and the eeriely slow turning jet engines meant every moment lasted a lifetime.

Russian jets have passenger seats that seem to flop down forward at the slightest touch, and the flimsy interior of the plans doesnt inspire confidence in the planes mechanical abilities.  If this plane was in England it would be scrapped or put into a museum.

Yak 42’s do however have a built in rear staircase which makes exiting the plane nice and easy.  I wasnt quite prepared for the cold.  Going from a pleasant +6c in England to -25c in Izhevsk was rather bracing.

I put my hat on and skated across the ice.  My UK bought boots provided absolutely no traction on the compacted snow and ice.  Time to buy some nice furry boots I think.

The past week has been a process of acclimatisation and exercise, adjusting to living and walking in a totally frozen environment and getting used to Russian customer service.

My Russian language skills have been severely tested, with a few complete communication breakdowns.

Russia is a beautiful, but very difficult country for sure.

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