tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84528642011-09-04T20:30:56.649+09:00once home, this blog has lost its purpose, right? I'm going to stop writing, aren't I?calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1119273252955756792005-06-20T22:03:00.000+09:002005-06-20T22:14:12.963+09:00

So I finally made it back. I just haven't had much to say recently. The flight was good, and, for the record, Lufthansa has a truly mind-bending alcohol policy. I counted 6 times that I was offered free booze on one of the flights. That's a lot, considering it is a 6 hour flight at 40,000 feet. The weather at home has been very weird -- cool, not too humid. Today is different though, and

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1118641739479876012005-06-13T14:44:00.000+09:002005-06-13T14:48:59.486+09:00

Luftansa flight 3183 is scheduled for departure at 2:30 pm, Moscow time from Sheremetevo 2. It will take me to Frankfurt/Main International Airport in Germany where I will have a brief layover before Lufthansa 404 takes me home. This is my last post from Russian soil. For the time being.Thanks for reading. I'll add some stuff when I get home, the details of reverse culture-shock, etc, etc.Dad

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1118411511906067692005-06-10T22:18:00.000+09:002005-06-10T22:51:51.946+09:00

Ok, this one is going to be a little bizarre for those of you who haven't spent a very long time away from the land of baseball and apple pie. And it may be preachy. If I pontificate, forgive that, too. (It may even, in my excitement for other places, make it sound like I don't like Russia, which is not entirely true. We have a complex relationship, but we understand each other. Maybe we

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1117716918178340242005-06-02T21:42:00.000+09:002005-06-02T21:55:18.183+09:00

There are few thıngs I have done thıs year that rıval the fun and excıtement of travelıng ın a beautıful land where you donit know the language. In the last 8 months that has ıncluded Mongolıa, Spaın, and England (you heard me rıght, damnıt, England) but few thıngs have prepared me for the frıendlıness and courtesy and hıgh regard for hospıtalıty and customer servıce that I have met ın my fırst

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1117220229083972452005-05-28T03:37:00.000+09:002005-05-28T03:57:09.090+09:00

I am quickly running out of time, so I thought I would make this a high-intensity blog entry. For the record, I am not running out of time in this internet cafe, I am running out of time in Russia. This is weird, and bizarre, but all of those feelings and adjectives and descriptive words and repetition can be, and, in fact, deserves, its own entry. Let the bullets fly...I got my hair cut a

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1115659023633692732005-05-10T01:54:00.000+09:002005-05-18T18:14:12.636+09:00

Today, May 9, 2005, marks the 60th aniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany and the liberation of Europe. Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and other countries take issue with the second part of that sentence, but all in all, most people can agree that this is a pretty good day. No more Hitler, Third Reich gone -- these are good things.I have to say, however, that the way Russian leaders have chosen to

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1114432279719105332005-04-25T21:25:00.000+09:002005-04-25T21:31:19.720+09:00

Right now I am supposed to be registering for classes for my final fall semester at Middlebury College.Right now I cannot find the server. Or, more accurately, Internet Explorer in the Okhotny Ryad shopping center Cannot Find Server.Midd kids, are you with me on this? Is it just me?At least I know my senior seminar in Russian won't fill up... ha.

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1113968724935425062005-04-20T12:30:00.000+09:002005-04-20T12:47:44.476+09:00

I tried, I really tried. For all those who feel I somehow let them down - I tried extra hard for all of you. Sometimes your best just isn't good enough.Raised in America, I was taught the power of positive thinking and can-do attitude. But in the hard world that is the former Soviet Union, there are unstopable forces and immovable objects. And sometimes, yes, it's true, awful but true, sometimes

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1112200202062695852005-03-31T01:15:00.000+09:002005-03-31T01:30:02.063+09:00

That's right kids, there are now four of us in Russia. Holy international travel, Batman! That's right, Robin. The Westerners invade, bringing two digital cameras, a copy of Wayne's World (my request) and a special greeting for Jane Clarke via the Russian Federation.Recent weather has included sub-zero temperatures (C not F) and snow. YAY! Spring break '05! Woo-hoo!My family arrived in

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1111589984493651792005-03-23T22:43:00.000+08:002005-03-25T04:03:35.816+08:00

I have realized why globalization is good. All of you tree-hugging, green peacers and left-wing supporters of oppressed indigenous peoples can go jump in a lake of mamsy-pamsy whatever cause is cool this week whining. It is easy for them, they are all studying in western Europe or southern Europe.Globalization is good because it has brought McDonalds to Russia. Now CALVIN, you may say, you're a

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1111240052054531092005-03-19T21:29:00.000+08:002005-03-20T21:15:40.780+08:00

We had been walking outside, in lightly falling snow for about an hour. Or it felt about that long.His boot hit the bottle about 30 yards after we had passed the police car. I shouted "NO!" We all laughed and tried to ignore the cops for the next hundred feet or so.Maybe I should back up a bit...It was Monday night, and the Doug&Marty's bar team had dwindled early, leaving me, Ashley and Andrew

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1110738482137402522005-03-14T02:24:00.000+08:002005-03-14T02:28:02.140+08:00

Friday night, on my way home I got on the metro and sat down in the middle of the car, (there are three or so entrances on every car) across from a very well dressed man, with the russian version of a top hat -- sorta. Not exactly, but that's close to what it was. My first clue that he was drunk beyond necessity was that he was periodically spitting or drooling on the floor. Having just kicked

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1109242903187484732005-02-24T18:15:00.000+08:002005-02-24T19:01:43.190+08:00

Alright, since I have already been in Moscow for about three weeks, I feel that it is only fair to actually write something about the place where I be.Moscow is a big, sprawling city, sometimes compared to London in that one is never sure where the exact center of the city is because there are very few skyscrapers. That is where the similarities start and stop, as I am concerned, and, quite

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1109170324780596312005-02-23T22:26:00.000+08:002005-02-23T22:52:04.783+08:00

So apparently I am being slapped with my first libel lawsuit. Well not exactly (and the corrections already begin), I am being slapped with a libel complaint. But let's just get down to details...in a recent e-mail I read:I couldn't help but feel that the so-called 'female party tornado' was perhaps abit unfairly portrayed on your blog...So wrote one member of the female party tornado. For her

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1109167957932791862005-02-23T21:27:00.000+08:002005-02-23T22:13:23.546+08:00

Geneva:And so I left Oxford, England on the morning of January 30 in what I can only describe as a poor mood. I had found out only hours earlier that I would need to find a spot to stay for the night, and only the next day (Monday) would I be able to meet up with Lelia and Grace at the apartment in Verbier. The trip from Geneva airport to Verbier would take approximately 3 hours, and required

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1108637616823443422005-02-17T18:24:00.000+08:002005-02-17T18:53:36.826+08:00

My bus rolled into Oxford on Wednesday, January 26, around 6:00 p.m.Oxford, quite simply, is an amazing place. I have the luxury of saying that because I was fully on the mend as I arrived, and Robin was more than happy to show me a more relaxed and sedate time, especially in light of the fact that the female party-tornado from London was coming up to visit in a few days. So I climbed off the

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1108471425552859372005-02-15T19:59:00.000+08:002005-02-15T20:43:45.556+08:00

I arrived at London Stanton Airport sometime on the evening of the 20th. I took a bus to Victoria Bus Station, in the heart of the city, with the hope that I would somehow meet up with Jess (H), Jess (VW) and Elise, or any combination of those three. Really, it was a pretty lousy plan. Right across the street from Victoria Bus Station is the other Victoria station, which is a huge tube stop/

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1106747230276423772005-01-26T20:53:00.000+08:002005-01-26T21:47:10.276+08:00

I arrived on Mallorca, one of the Baleric Islands, in the Mediterranean, after a flight from Germany with some amazing views over the Alps. The weather was sunny, warm (55 degrees - nearly tropic by my east-Siberian standards), and there was a steady breeze. I had forgotten how much I like weather. Irkutsk didn't have weather, just temperature. And the temperature was always cold. But things

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1106517797355193412005-01-24T05:44:00.000+08:002005-01-24T06:03:17.356+08:00

Berlin was quite an interesting 20 hours. Really, it wasn't on my plans originally, but a few Germans I hung out with in Riga told me I had to go into the city at least for a few hours. It was pretty easy to get to from the airport, and I'm glad I went to check the place out. An embarassing downside stems from the fact that I didn't (and still don't) speak more than two or three words of

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1105773091772515092005-01-15T15:00:00.000+08:002005-01-15T15:11:45.906+08:00

Hey guys. So I'm in the Riga airport, awaiting my flight to Berlin. There is a free internet terminal situated in a little corner of this sparkling new steel-glass-wood palace of transportation. Unfortunately, it has blocked my webmail. Riga is a very cool city. I spent about 3 hours after arriving simply walking around trying to find my hostel (no map, no directions, no problem). Eventually I

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1105466664197216142005-01-12T01:59:00.000+08:002005-01-12T02:04:24.196+08:00

I have arrived, safe and sound after four days on the trans-Siberian railroad. It was a good experience, memorable, not quite what I had expected, but glad I did it all the same. My quest for tomorrow is to find the Eurolines office in Moscow and buy myself a bus ticket to Riga. Wish me luck. I am crashing in another former Midd student's apartment. Hunter Smith '04 won a Fullbright and is

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1105083147486712952005-01-07T14:57:00.000+08:002005-01-15T15:12:38.116+08:00

I am OUT OF IRKUTSK as of 08:20 GMT, Saturday, January 8, 2005. I hop the trans-sib to Moscow, then a night bus to Riga, Latvia for two nights. Then a fly to Berlin, sleep in the airport, avoid getting mugged, and fly the next day to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, where I will be trying to de-Siberia myself with sun, sand and 55 degree weather. Which will feel like a blast furnace. After Mallorca, I

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1103875223309624252004-12-24T15:38:00.001+08:002004-12-24T16:06:20.740+08:00

Christmas in Irkutsk, in the religious sense of the word, is not for another fourteen days. It will be on January 7, and not really that a big a deal. It is still observed on the Old Calendar date, which is thirteen days later than the calendar now used. Historical glitch. The commercial sense -- the presents, the tinsle, the tree -- will be observed on New Year's. That's just the way it is here.

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1102968679393262872004-12-14T03:42:00.000+08:002004-12-14T04:11:19.393+08:00

So I am a slacker. Sometimes. Usually until the last minute. Which is rapidly approaching. I have a 20 page Russian paper due in ... gosh, sooner than I thought. Six hours. And then I have an exam right after, which I haven't studied for yet. Oh well. This internet cafe has a generally weird feel to begin with, and it's smoky, but I had to come here cause it's the only one open 24 hours a

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1102654198582117272004-12-10T13:17:00.000+08:002004-12-10T12:49:58.583+08:00

One of the few pieces of advice that I had gotten from almost everyone who I had told about the impending Mongolia trip, American or Russian, whether they had been to Mongolia or not, was that I should seriously consider spending a night in a ger. A ger is the traditional dwelling of Nomadic Mongolians. Apparently a good deal of the Mongolian population still qualifies as ‘nomadic’ and they

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1102494142991805442004-12-08T15:47:00.000+08:002004-12-08T16:22:22.993+08:00

I went to Russia without a winter coat. Before you call me crazy, or the DCFS on my parents, part of the plan was always to buy a winter coat when I got here. And I got used to just being cold wearing a relatively thin, glorified windbreaker. I guess it's the same thing as a frog in water that will eventually be boiled alive is the temp is increased gradually. It's the same thing, only in

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1101883092331487102004-12-01T14:02:00.000+08:002004-12-01T14:38:12.330+08:00

Eduard Evgenievich is the father of my host mother, Tatiana Eduardovna, and Grampa to my host sisters, so host-grampa to me. I think that is right... carry the two... yes, he is my host-grampa. He was a young man at the time of WWII (The Patriotic Fatherland War, I think they call it here... Scott, help me on that one), in which he served as a pilot, and has far surpassed the life expectancy of

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1101445087419699012004-11-26T13:32:00.000+08:002004-11-26T12:58:07.420+08:00

This is not an ordinary night on the town for me. I don't have those. After riding the marshrutka across the Angara River and to the "center," I get off the first stop and walk down ulitsa Stepana Razina. Stepan Razin defended the motherland at some point or other, I think back around the time of the power struggle between the three Dmitris, and the vek buntov. I think that loosely translates

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1100954189480566332004-11-20T20:11:00.000+08:002004-11-20T20:36:29.480+08:00

OUR SCHEDULED DEPARTURE was 8:10 p.m., Irkutsk time, on Friday. I left the house around 7:00 pm so I'd have enough time. HA. There was a nasty accident between the train station and my apartment, and the trip, which would have normally taken about 10 minutes, took the better part of an hour. Maybe more, I can't remember. The whole time I was sitting on the bus, bags in hand, people kept

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1100164688815646602004-11-11T16:56:00.000+08:002004-11-11T17:32:44.323+08:00

Okay, here go a few quick thoughts: (bold for those who are rushed) 1. My mom, the only person to reply to my political rant of despair, is really freaking smart. It's worth scrolling down to the bottom of "Left in the Dark" and clicking on comment, to see what she said. 2. My first package from the United States arrived today. It was shipped on Sept. 28. So I still have hope for my birthday

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1099906573324533182004-11-08T17:00:00.000+08:002004-11-08T17:36:13.323+08:00

My favorite image of James Carville comes from the end of the documentary "The War Room." The film follows the activities of Carville and Stephanopoulos, Clinton's campaign manager and press secretary, respectively. The moment I am talking about is where the two are sitting in campaign headquarters in Arkansas, and you can tell they are both a bit punchy. Carville looks up and begins to

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1099791048861188822004-11-07T09:24:00.000+08:002004-11-07T09:44:12.066+08:00

(I wrote this a while ago, forgot about it, never posted it.) I have to admit, while I have been hearing an awful lot of it, I really do like the phrase catastrophic success. I mean, in my humble opinion, it is just what those arrogant neo-con Wolfwitz/Rumsfeld Reagan-canonizing hawk bastards need to shut them up about their disastrous little unilateral playtime in what they seem to think is

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1099391014315260112004-11-02T18:17:00.000+08:002004-11-02T18:23:34.316+08:00

I damn near missed the train out of Irkutsk, but all ended well (so far, I guess) and I'm in Mongolia's really really cool capitol city - Ulaan Baatar. The food is cheap and tasty, the hostel is comfortable and cheaper, and it is good to be an American in this city. People ask me where I'm from and smile and say, wow! when I tell them. Which is always nice. Ok, I have to run to dinner at the

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1098778896206892792004-10-26T17:21:00.000+09:002004-10-26T17:43:49.033+09:00

Yes, friends, this is 80's one (or maybe two or three) hit wonder sensation Joan Jett, rocking out at a Dean for America rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire around 2 AM on Tuesday, January 20, 2004. A few lucky friends and I were on hand, and you can ask any of them. It was sweet. And surreal. Sweet-surreal. Gr-ood. I just got this roll of film developed a few weeks ago, thought you might

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1098689738900928402004-10-25T16:26:00.000+09:002004-10-25T16:35:38.900+09:00

Hey ya. I just slapped a whole bunch more photos on my ofoto thingy. They are of the trip to Arshan and Tunkinskaya Dolina. Click on the link below, and follow right along. Have fun. http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=171968067105&page=1&sort_order=0 I'll be leaving for Mongolia on Friday. I wish I could promise you another week free of my incessant jabbering, but I have already

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1098425323703058812004-10-22T14:20:00.000+09:002004-10-22T15:10:33.706+09:00

I feel every inch a Vermont student studying abroad. Why? Because I brought my host family a can of real Vermont maple syrup. It even had a very Vermont picture of a bunch of maple trees with the buckets for collecting sap hanging from them. I did not, however, give my host family this gift right away. When I first got to the apartment, back in early September, I had been up for at least 24

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1097819267321304912004-10-15T14:38:00.000+09:002004-10-15T14:47:47.323+09:00

I had intended to keep this blog from deteriorating to cheap, partisan banter. That lasted for all of four posts. This is, if nothing else, a very provocative article that made my blood boil, and, for some strange reason, this whole room has taken on a slightly red tint... Check it out, if you want. It is about dangers to media freedom. Such are the thoughts that keep me up at night. I

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1097562935906137402004-10-12T15:02:00.000+09:002004-10-12T15:35:35.906+09:00

Wow. It was quite a weak in the Buryat Republic (a semi-autonomous region to the southwest of the Irkutsk Oblast'). We left Saturday and returned the following Saturday, and I'm not entirely convinced that I have quite recovered. Once again I have a bit of a cold, and I am starting to think that is just what happens when I travel in Russia. No rest for the wicked, however, as I leave for

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1096603561505235172004-10-01T13:48:00.000+09:002004-10-01T13:06:01.506+09:00

Yesterday, on the number 24 bus, I was sitting next to a young gentleman nursing a plastic, one-liter bottle of beer. It smelled like basic frat-house fare. I missed home. He asked me what time it was, and I realized he was waaaaasted. I shrugged, indicating that I had no watch. He accepted this answer and it's entirety, and the conversation would have ended at that. But I wanted to be helpful (

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1096100321365620482004-09-25T17:18:00.000+09:002004-10-01T13:07:52.020+09:00

A sketch of the banya. See post below and accompanying photos. http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=158331576105&page=1&sort_order=0 (follow along with the above link for the illustrated version) CAMPING OF SORTS: So last weekend (a week and a half ago) I had my first experience on Lake Baikal. On Saturday, we left the city by large passenger boat, down the Angara River and into the

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8452864.post-1096005402378518882004-09-24T14:53:00.000+09:002004-09-24T15:10:49.156+09:00

my blog. who knew? Scott, you'll have to forgive the shameful manner in which I stole your template. To repent, my first posting is dedicated to you. Now ends the first post, and the weight of my infraction falls from my shoulders.

calvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03487818503611294784noreply@blogger.com0