I'm slowly going to get all the old information from my old website consolidated into my blogs so you'll see new things here and there. (I'm getting rid of the website.)
Enjoy.
Karen
Tuesday 5 October 2010
Saturday 29 December 2007
Going home
It was a hard decision to make. Things haven't quite worked out as we would have liked but we had still intended to stay. Then I got sick, again. I've never really settled healthwise here. I've had a lot of problems with not getting my timetable fixed quickly and not being able to get into a routine. I've also had a lot of problems with food. I've been very tired and had a lot of headaches, dizziness and nausea. I've had a stomach bug a couple of times but last week it was really horrible and I had to go to the doctor. After a lot of soul-searching we decided that my health was getting worse and was too important to ignore any more so we made the decision to leave.
We've done some amazing things here and several dreams have come true. Our trip to Hohlovka with Alex was wonderful. (Thank you Alex!) I am also fascinated by ice sculptures we've seen recently and think they are wonderful. The ballet was fabulous and we enjoyed the opera too. After 15 years I've finally started to study Russian again - granted I haven't improved much in 4 months but it's a start, something I hope to continue with wherever we end up. I have all 7 Harry Potter books to read and the five films I can watch in Russian, so that should help!!
I've also remembered just how much I love snow though I've still not been skiing or ice-skating. One of these days!
I've still got the Russia travel bug, though I'm not sure how much Rafa has. We didn't see much of Russia but were able to see a lot here in Perm - especially churches and statues plus wonderful buildings. There is still so much I want to do here and we will have to come back in the future - maybe it would be better for a holiday than for work! Or we could come back so I can learn Russian!! Rafa would still like to go to Moscow and I want to go to Tomsk and Vladivostok as well as St. Petersburg.
We've made some good friends, especially Alex, and I hope that our friendship will continue even though we are no longer here. The internet really does make this a smaller world.
And, of course, I've got some good photos - many winter ones I never would have taken elsewhere. So, I'm happy.
I hope we made a difference, if small, here. Coming to Russia has made a difference to us too - even if it's only to confirm that I have a love of Russian language and culture and need to continue with my studies. It's also made me realise that I'm not so young any longer and maybe need to settle down a bit better and get sorted. I suppose it could happen!
We've done some amazing things here and several dreams have come true. Our trip to Hohlovka with Alex was wonderful. (Thank you Alex!) I am also fascinated by ice sculptures we've seen recently and think they are wonderful. The ballet was fabulous and we enjoyed the opera too. After 15 years I've finally started to study Russian again - granted I haven't improved much in 4 months but it's a start, something I hope to continue with wherever we end up. I have all 7 Harry Potter books to read and the five films I can watch in Russian, so that should help!!
I've also remembered just how much I love snow though I've still not been skiing or ice-skating. One of these days!
I've still got the Russia travel bug, though I'm not sure how much Rafa has. We didn't see much of Russia but were able to see a lot here in Perm - especially churches and statues plus wonderful buildings. There is still so much I want to do here and we will have to come back in the future - maybe it would be better for a holiday than for work! Or we could come back so I can learn Russian!! Rafa would still like to go to Moscow and I want to go to Tomsk and Vladivostok as well as St. Petersburg.
We've made some good friends, especially Alex, and I hope that our friendship will continue even though we are no longer here. The internet really does make this a smaller world.
And, of course, I've got some good photos - many winter ones I never would have taken elsewhere. So, I'm happy.
I hope we made a difference, if small, here. Coming to Russia has made a difference to us too - even if it's only to confirm that I have a love of Russian language and culture and need to continue with my studies. It's also made me realise that I'm not so young any longer and maybe need to settle down a bit better and get sorted. I suppose it could happen!
ice sculptures fox detail
I really do love ice sculptures, and this fox is my favourite.
Bye bye Perm. We're sorry we have to go and have had a great time.
Bye bye Perm. We're sorry we have to go and have had a great time.
Monday 17 December 2007
The Nutcracker Clara wakes
Yes, it is really Christmas now – we went to see Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”. It was fabulous! We both loved it, though, I have to say the highlight of the evening wasn’t the fabulous dancing or the wonderful music; it was a little girl sitting next to us. She must have been about three years old and, near the end of the performance, she stood up and started to jump and pirouette. She was adorable!
This is something we are very much enjoying in Russia. At times life gets rather depressing here, at least for us anyway! As it's close to the shortest day of the year it gets light about 10 am and is dark just after 4. It's often quite dull during the day too. I'm sure this isn't helping. The weather hasn't been too cold and it's pretty when it snows, though. We aren't sleeping very well as it's still rather warm inside with the heating on. (You can't control it as it's the same temperature for the whole building.) I also think we are used to being more active and being out and about doing lots of things, but the options here are rather limited for us. On the other hand I've been rather tired. In fact, neither of us is feeling 100% either. We're not exactly ill but just under the weather. Maybe it is the weather! I'm a little bored too, especially with food as options are rather limited and I've been getting lazy when it comes to cooking. I need to get my act together!
This is something we are very much enjoying in Russia. At times life gets rather depressing here, at least for us anyway! As it's close to the shortest day of the year it gets light about 10 am and is dark just after 4. It's often quite dull during the day too. I'm sure this isn't helping. The weather hasn't been too cold and it's pretty when it snows, though. We aren't sleeping very well as it's still rather warm inside with the heating on. (You can't control it as it's the same temperature for the whole building.) I also think we are used to being more active and being out and about doing lots of things, but the options here are rather limited for us. On the other hand I've been rather tired. In fact, neither of us is feeling 100% either. We're not exactly ill but just under the weather. Maybe it is the weather! I'm a little bored too, especially with food as options are rather limited and I've been getting lazy when it comes to cooking. I need to get my act together!
Saturday 1 December 2007
icicle obsession 004
This is something I was expecting! I'd not really thought about icicles but I love them! They are fabulous growing creatures. This is my favourite photo so far. Keep an eye out for more.
Monday 12 November 2007
Bridge over the Kama River
It's a little bit cold! Yesterday, when I took this photo it was 6 degrees below zero - today it's more like 10!!
Monday 29 October 2007
Swan Lake
Why Russia? Well, the music, the ballet, the books, the arts in general!
What could be better than going to see Tchaikovski's Swan Lake in Russia at an opera house named after Tchaikovski? (Rhetorical question - I'm sure many people can think of great things to do but it was wonderful!!)
I was given the tickets for my birthday and, after a month, the wait was over. Rafa and I both enjoy classical music and studied at school. (He played the clarinet and piano; I played flute and piano. I actually did music A-level many years ago.) Even though we are not big ballet fans we both thoroughly enjoyed Swan Lake last night. The dancing was amazing and it was great to recognise the music too. I actually had ballet classes for a couple of years as a child and have seen the Nutcracker a couple of times. I've also seen a couple of other ballets. However, I'd never seen Swan Lake. This is, hopefully, the first of several visits to the ballet. It's cheap, close to our house and fabulous! What more could you ask for?
You're not actually supposed to take photos and I actually hadn't intended to any way as I'm a different person with a camera in my hand - I'm looking for photos rather than enjoying the music or dance. However, at the end when the dancers were bowing and taking their well-earned applause, lots of people were taking photos to I took this one. It's not a great photo but you get the idea. We had great seats - in row 8. It's actually quite a small theatre. The acoustics were great, as was the view, and the atmosphere wonderful. There were many families there and children as small as about 4 or 5. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I know we did.
BTW the ballet in Perm is famous here in Russia, second only to the Kirov from St. Petersburg. It turns out that during World War II the Kirov relocated to Perm away from the fighting.
What could be better than going to see Tchaikovski's Swan Lake in Russia at an opera house named after Tchaikovski? (Rhetorical question - I'm sure many people can think of great things to do but it was wonderful!!)
I was given the tickets for my birthday and, after a month, the wait was over. Rafa and I both enjoy classical music and studied at school. (He played the clarinet and piano; I played flute and piano. I actually did music A-level many years ago.) Even though we are not big ballet fans we both thoroughly enjoyed Swan Lake last night. The dancing was amazing and it was great to recognise the music too. I actually had ballet classes for a couple of years as a child and have seen the Nutcracker a couple of times. I've also seen a couple of other ballets. However, I'd never seen Swan Lake. This is, hopefully, the first of several visits to the ballet. It's cheap, close to our house and fabulous! What more could you ask for?
You're not actually supposed to take photos and I actually hadn't intended to any way as I'm a different person with a camera in my hand - I'm looking for photos rather than enjoying the music or dance. However, at the end when the dancers were bowing and taking their well-earned applause, lots of people were taking photos to I took this one. It's not a great photo but you get the idea. We had great seats - in row 8. It's actually quite a small theatre. The acoustics were great, as was the view, and the atmosphere wonderful. There were many families there and children as small as about 4 or 5. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I know we did.
BTW the ballet in Perm is famous here in Russia, second only to the Kirov from St. Petersburg. It turns out that during World War II the Kirov relocated to Perm away from the fighting.
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