Well, the language is definitely starting to come back. I just exchanged some emails with the directory of the English Language Department at Tyumen Oil and Gas University. Looks like I'll be teaching 8 hours of English in exchange for Russian lessons.
Should be really neat. I can't believe how amazingly orchestrated this whole thing seems to be. This University is one of the two main universities here in town and is literally 3 blocks from my apartment! Amazing!
I've also got another really cool opportunity to go on a camping trip with several adults and some youth who are all from our Family. How awesome is that? Looks like I'll be headed for Novosibirsk mid august to hike for 12 days somewhere in the moutains and then off to Estonia for a renewed visa.
Off to camp in an hour! See you online in 10-20 days.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Cold Food
My phone rang. I answered the phone, “Da” and then the torrent of Russian started. PTL that I caught what was happening. It was the drivers of the truck bringing the new fridge. They were asking me to tell them how to get to my apartment. Well, seeing as it took me 4.5 HOURS to give in and go for help the first time I was trying to find it… I told them to two streets on the opposite sides of the apartment building (I’m sorta in the middle of a square – it’s literally the Russian word … squarelette). So hopefully they’ll arrive soon. I’ll keep you posted. I can’t wait to STORE food in my apartment.
I don’t know how people survived without a khaladil’nik (fridge).
More later on this saga. Turns out I have a fridge now, but one of the bolts was crossthreaded and when Jim and I tried to switch the door from left to right… it broke the bolt…. No cold food.
I don’t know how people survived without a khaladil’nik (fridge).
More later on this saga. Turns out I have a fridge now, but one of the bolts was crossthreaded and when Jim and I tried to switch the door from left to right… it broke the bolt…. No cold food.
Escaping the pink bathroom
For all of those who have been to my house in the US – the bathroom is pink and really it’s the only thing that I didn’t love about the house. How’s this for Dad’s irony… my apartment has a pink bathroom! It’s not quite as pink as at the house, but it’s still in the pink genre. Sally and Zhanna, the CEC interpreter, spent a good deal of time on Wednesday last week cleaning the kitchen and bathroom for me. Zhanna scrubbed on the toilet for hours it sounds like. We all just can’t believe the squalor that the owner used to live in. The kitchen has been cleaned numerous times already and today they’re delivering my new refrigerator. I know – can you believe that? The one that was here is broken and I can tell you it is one of the nastiest things that I’ve EVER seen… and smelt. It’s in the spare room right now waiting for the land lady to come and take it.
Here are some pictures:
Here's the bathroom - note the lovely toilet
Here are some pictures:
Here's the bathroom - note the lovely toilet
The tub - I've already scrubbed more than an hour
Probably the most disgusting room you've ever seen - clean here
another kitchen shot
the view from my balcony
Monday, June 26, 2006
Take a Deep Breath or Why do I know the Russian word for enema?
Turns out that this year in order to attend camp at Gurino (pronounced Gooreena) we have to prove that we don’t have TB. So Jim, Sally, Amy and I all had to get chest x-rays. We were told that we’d have to strip down from the waist up and wait in a room with others until it was our turn to be x-rayed. So of course, Amy was immediately nervous ‘cause it’s strange enough to be in a foreign country, let alone parade around naked over half your body. We started to make a joke of it, and asked Dad if He could do something about it.
Turns out, that we not only didn’t wait three or four hours, but that we were done with the whole procedure in about 40 minutes. Yes! All four of us! Here’s the basic procedure of Russian hospitals.
1) go into the hospital and buy little booties to keep the floor clean (it was raining)
2) climb stairs to fourth floor to wait in line to get slip for x-ray
3) go back to first floor with slip and wait in 2 different lines (one to get your hospital ID number and one to pay) We were with Zhanna, the CEC interpreter – so we were set because she knows the system. We had people waiting in both lines!
4) go back up to fourth floor and wait in line again for your x-ray. Turns out it was a fluoroscope.
5) go wait for the guy who looks at the x-ray and says everything’s ok
6) go get your car and drive about 1/2 mile to another building to get a stamp on your x-ray that proves it’s yours
7) you’re done!
I’m still in the honeymoon phase, so the extra time and extra lines are all okay. And I keep learning new words and phrases along the way.
So why do I know the word for enema? Because Jim was telling us about an American who had come here to visit and ended up a little too constipated and had to get an enema. Jim decided that he’d make sure he didn’t have to go to the hospital for that, so he learned how to say the word so he could purchase one at the pharmacy if he needed one… I don’t think it’s quite as funny written out – but four Americans talking about an enema openly in the hallway of a Russian hospital really is a funny sight.
Turns out, that we not only didn’t wait three or four hours, but that we were done with the whole procedure in about 40 minutes. Yes! All four of us! Here’s the basic procedure of Russian hospitals.
1) go into the hospital and buy little booties to keep the floor clean (it was raining)
2) climb stairs to fourth floor to wait in line to get slip for x-ray
3) go back to first floor with slip and wait in 2 different lines (one to get your hospital ID number and one to pay) We were with Zhanna, the CEC interpreter – so we were set because she knows the system. We had people waiting in both lines!
4) go back up to fourth floor and wait in line again for your x-ray. Turns out it was a fluoroscope.
5) go wait for the guy who looks at the x-ray and says everything’s ok
6) go get your car and drive about 1/2 mile to another building to get a stamp on your x-ray that proves it’s yours
7) you’re done!
I’m still in the honeymoon phase, so the extra time and extra lines are all okay. And I keep learning new words and phrases along the way.
So why do I know the word for enema? Because Jim was telling us about an American who had come here to visit and ended up a little too constipated and had to get an enema. Jim decided that he’d make sure he didn’t have to go to the hospital for that, so he learned how to say the word so he could purchase one at the pharmacy if he needed one… I don’t think it’s quite as funny written out – but four Americans talking about an enema openly in the hallway of a Russian hospital really is a funny sight.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Chunky Milk
Mmmm. Chunky milk isn’t as good as chunky peanut butter. Seems as though my refrigerator is more like a microwave than a freezer. Everything in the fridge that Sally had purchased to get me started is pretty much spoiled. It’s totally broken. (not to mention that it’s kinda gross – yes, Sally cleaned it for a couple hours first – but not really possible to remove rust inside it). So it’s leaking water from the freezer on my floor, and I can’t buy food that needs to stay cold.
Looks like cereal in the morning requires shopping for milk first! This has an upside… I have to keep practicing my Russian by shopping for food pretty much every meal!
So on Saturday Jim took Amy and I shopping again. This time – it was for a fridge. Another amazing example of father’s provision… a 3000 Ruble discount! On Tuesday I’ll have a new fridge, as long as the delivery guys can find my apartment…
Looks like cereal in the morning requires shopping for milk first! This has an upside… I have to keep practicing my Russian by shopping for food pretty much every meal!
So on Saturday Jim took Amy and I shopping again. This time – it was for a fridge. Another amazing example of father’s provision… a 3000 Ruble discount! On Tuesday I’ll have a new fridge, as long as the delivery guys can find my apartment…
Friday, June 23, 2006
Red spots
I woke up on Friday morning covered in red spots. On my hands, my face, my legs, my shoulders, my back. Yikes. Do I have bed bugs? After consulting with Victoria – whose father-in-law had bed bugs once, we determined that it was mosquitoes. Little, baby, tiny mosquitoes. Ugh! So on Friday night we installed some screen on my bedroom window and I bought a mosquito repeller for my room too. Let’s hope that it doesn’t cause cancer or something like that!
I’m pretending that they don’t itch. But they do.
I’m pretending that they don’t itch. But they do.
Loneliness: the first surge
I just woke up for the first time in my new Russian apartment. I slept 5 uninterrupted hours prior to jet lag waking me at around 2am. I managed to force in a couple more hours after that for a grand total of 8.
And then I got out of bed.
Loneliness hit me like a power surge. I can’t remember the last time I felt alone or this isolated. It’s really a strange sensation for me, I guess I’m around people a lot and if I’m not, I know that I’ve got plans of when I’ll see people next.
Well, I knew I’d be seeing people at 10am today – only 4.5 hours to wait… what’s the big deal? I’m not sure how to describe how different it was for me today. I was really filled with longing and sadness… so I let it sweep over me. I never do that. I always push tough emotions like sadness away and distract with something else – listening to music, watching a movie, hanging with others, diving into work. Stuff like that. I’m so glad that I went to 5 weeks of mission training (besides meeting Amy) I learned so much about healthy emotional transitions. If I don’t experience these feelings fully – they’ll overwhelm me in the long run.
So I sat down with My Favorite Book and read for a little while. I know who I can always rely on to be there for me and to empower me. It was really great. I read about the HS and how he comforts and encourages. He even teaches us how to Think! So cool.
Then I decided to leave the apartment and go exploring for a while. The refrigerator doesn’t work, so the milk that Sally bought for me was spoiled. I didn’t think about that fact that I was awake before anyone else – but I managed to discover the location of the closest post office, urgent care clinic (I think), the apothecary, and the police station.
I’m about to go back out and buy some milk for breakfast and then I have an appointment today about securing language schooling.
And then I got out of bed.
Loneliness hit me like a power surge. I can’t remember the last time I felt alone or this isolated. It’s really a strange sensation for me, I guess I’m around people a lot and if I’m not, I know that I’ve got plans of when I’ll see people next.
Well, I knew I’d be seeing people at 10am today – only 4.5 hours to wait… what’s the big deal? I’m not sure how to describe how different it was for me today. I was really filled with longing and sadness… so I let it sweep over me. I never do that. I always push tough emotions like sadness away and distract with something else – listening to music, watching a movie, hanging with others, diving into work. Stuff like that. I’m so glad that I went to 5 weeks of mission training (besides meeting Amy) I learned so much about healthy emotional transitions. If I don’t experience these feelings fully – they’ll overwhelm me in the long run.
So I sat down with My Favorite Book and read for a little while. I know who I can always rely on to be there for me and to empower me. It was really great. I read about the HS and how he comforts and encourages. He even teaches us how to Think! So cool.
Then I decided to leave the apartment and go exploring for a while. The refrigerator doesn’t work, so the milk that Sally bought for me was spoiled. I didn’t think about that fact that I was awake before anyone else – but I managed to discover the location of the closest post office, urgent care clinic (I think), the apothecary, and the police station.
I’m about to go back out and buy some milk for breakfast and then I have an appointment today about securing language schooling.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Lost in Translation
Jim and Sally took me to my apartment to drop my things off and then we all headed back to their place so that I’d know where the live and so that Amy could get some shut eye.
So I started back for my apartment. It’s only 15 minutes walking from their house. Turns out though, that I really didn’t know where I was going. I was determined to find it on my own though – so I just kept looking. After about two hours not finding it (I’m not lost mind you – just can’t find the apartment!), I finally broke down and bought a map from the local hotel (which turns out to be just 2 blocks from the apartment).
My address is 57 Sverdlova #49. So I found Sverdlova street on the map (about two blocks from the hotel and got moving. Turns out though that Sverdlova street used to be longer than it is now. I was heading in the WRONG direction. My apartment building (called a Dom or house here) is actually located on Xoxryakova Street. Can you believe it?! I ended up after 4.5 hours at Jim and Sally’s apartment to have them bring me back. I was a hot, sweaty, muddy, rained on mess of a lost puppy dog at that point.
The really amazing thing though was that I wasn’t mad about being lost or that I couldn’t do it. I was really more just a time to be thinking about how dependent I am now. It’s like being a child. I had to ask people for help, deal with the rejection of the ‘general’ unhelpful nature of the stranger culture here, and finally come to grips that I’m ‘not all that.’ It was really a humbling morning (not to mention that I’d only slept for about 5 hours of the last 36). But I’m glad for the experience – plus I know where to find the grocery store and the local fruit stand now!
So I started back for my apartment. It’s only 15 minutes walking from their house. Turns out though, that I really didn’t know where I was going. I was determined to find it on my own though – so I just kept looking. After about two hours not finding it (I’m not lost mind you – just can’t find the apartment!), I finally broke down and bought a map from the local hotel (which turns out to be just 2 blocks from the apartment).
My address is 57 Sverdlova #49. So I found Sverdlova street on the map (about two blocks from the hotel and got moving. Turns out though that Sverdlova street used to be longer than it is now. I was heading in the WRONG direction. My apartment building (called a Dom or house here) is actually located on Xoxryakova Street. Can you believe it?! I ended up after 4.5 hours at Jim and Sally’s apartment to have them bring me back. I was a hot, sweaty, muddy, rained on mess of a lost puppy dog at that point.
The really amazing thing though was that I wasn’t mad about being lost or that I couldn’t do it. I was really more just a time to be thinking about how dependent I am now. It’s like being a child. I had to ask people for help, deal with the rejection of the ‘general’ unhelpful nature of the stranger culture here, and finally come to grips that I’m ‘not all that.’ It was really a humbling morning (not to mention that I’d only slept for about 5 hours of the last 36). But I’m glad for the experience – plus I know where to find the grocery store and the local fruit stand now!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
The Travel Log
It took a grand total of 26 hours to get from Detroit to Tyumen. Only one leg of the journey is really interesting, so I’ll tell you all about it:
We arrived at Moscow and needed to pick up our own tickets to head off to Tyumen. Went off without a hitch and I even managed to pay the excess baggage charge without too much embarrassment.
Here’s where the story gets good. We’re coming in for a landing in Tyumen – only a little behind schedule at 1am local time. Amy and I are looking out the window to see if we can see the ground when – FLASH lightning strikes the airplane. No joke. The whole thing shook. I looked back at Amy and really couldn’t see a thing. My retinas were scorched!
So we ended up circling the airport for about an hour because of the storm until they finally close Roshino (that’s the Tyumen Airport). So we were rerouted to Ekaterinburg. I was clearly delirious with the need to sleep by the time we landed in Ekat, so I just crashed out for a bit… you know that fitful sitting up kind of sleep?
Well we made it and all of the luggage made it through as well! The only issue was that the folks picking us up from the airport weren’t there. So (I was so proud of myself). I went and bought a phone card so I could call Jim and Sally. But it didn’t work. Looks like the phones at the airport only take one kind of phone card… and they’re not sold at the airport! At least that’s what I gathered from the VERY unfriendly lady at the information desk. Campus Information Center staff – you make me so PROUD.
We arrived at Moscow and needed to pick up our own tickets to head off to Tyumen. Went off without a hitch and I even managed to pay the excess baggage charge without too much embarrassment.
Here’s where the story gets good. We’re coming in for a landing in Tyumen – only a little behind schedule at 1am local time. Amy and I are looking out the window to see if we can see the ground when – FLASH lightning strikes the airplane. No joke. The whole thing shook. I looked back at Amy and really couldn’t see a thing. My retinas were scorched!
So we ended up circling the airport for about an hour because of the storm until they finally close Roshino (that’s the Tyumen Airport). So we were rerouted to Ekaterinburg. I was clearly delirious with the need to sleep by the time we landed in Ekat, so I just crashed out for a bit… you know that fitful sitting up kind of sleep?
Well we made it and all of the luggage made it through as well! The only issue was that the folks picking us up from the airport weren’t there. So (I was so proud of myself). I went and bought a phone card so I could call Jim and Sally. But it didn’t work. Looks like the phones at the airport only take one kind of phone card… and they’re not sold at the airport! At least that’s what I gathered from the VERY unfriendly lady at the information desk. Campus Information Center staff – you make me so PROUD.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
the house is rented!
In another amazing feat of God's intervention in my life - renters have appeared for my house! The situation is really uncanny. They are college students who are related to a friend of mine from church (the niece, Sarah). Her husband, Brian, is from the town next to my hometown (Central Lake and mine Bellaire) AND they were married in my parents church!
Brian was talking to his mom about the house and he mentioned that I'm a missionary in Russia and she said that there was a guy that spoke at her church about the same thing... anyway - they figured out that I'm the same guy! How cool is that?
AND they're cool with me leaving my furniture. It just gets better and better.
God is good and the details are settling in...
Brian was talking to his mom about the house and he mentioned that I'm a missionary in Russia and she said that there was a guy that spoke at her church about the same thing... anyway - they figured out that I'm the same guy! How cool is that?
AND they're cool with me leaving my furniture. It just gets better and better.
God is good and the details are settling in...
Monday, June 12, 2006
Alex and Gregor find a home
Incredible news... less than 24 hours after the notice appeared in the Knox News portion of the church bulletin, my cats have found a new home! Some dear friends from Chelsea have decided to adopt both Alex and Gregor! I can't even express how excited I was to hear that not only will they have a home, but that they'll be staying together.
It's just another testimony to how God has things planned. I'm all in a panic about how my best laid plans aren't turning out and all the while He was preparing a place perfect for them!
A big house and new parents that LOVE cats! Yes!
Now, how to tell them... they're moving on Friday this week. I wonder how they'll respond when I tell them...
<-- photo soon -->
It's just another testimony to how God has things planned. I'm all in a panic about how my best laid plans aren't turning out and all the while He was preparing a place perfect for them!
A big house and new parents that LOVE cats! Yes!
Now, how to tell them... they're moving on Friday this week. I wonder how they'll respond when I tell them...
<-- photo soon -->
Thursday, June 08, 2006
the stress level begins to rise
just a quick update as the stress level mounts. i don't have a home for my cats... i don't have renters for my home... i leave the country in 12 days regardless. it's a great opportunity to trust God to provide, but that doesn't mean that the human in me doesn't start to SERIOUSLY stress out. i'm still sleeping okay, so that's a good thing.
today is my going away party at work. i'm excited to see everyone, but it is surreal that they'll be saying good-bye to me and me to them. i'm a little stressed about the HIGH level of emotion that will likely seize me!
Please pray with me about the cats and the house. And healthy transition out of the US and into Russia... and that I don't forget anything super important.
today is my going away party at work. i'm excited to see everyone, but it is surreal that they'll be saying good-bye to me and me to them. i'm a little stressed about the HIGH level of emotion that will likely seize me!
Please pray with me about the cats and the house. And healthy transition out of the US and into Russia... and that I don't forget anything super important.
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