On my blog I used to write about all the interesting things I came across after I
in December 2009. And believe me, there were lots of them :)
, which was nice :), but interesting, not so much. I therefore already then decided to
in November 2013 I decided this would remain the main focus. (Although every once in a while you may find the odd blog post about
(in 2020), and moved to Amsterdam (in 2022). Due to all this life had become pretty hectic and busy. I've therefore decided to
Added on Sunday, 2017-11-26 21:05 CET in category Moscow
My father-in-law has for a few years now been working on making dairy farms work more efficiently, and invited us over to come check out the farm. Before going to the farm itself, we were welcomed by the farmer at his house, where we had a very Russian lunch with borscht, salo, and of course fresh milk :) (See also Russian milk.)
Another very unusual thing I tried during lunch was a ...
Added on Wednesday, 2014-08-27 22:25 CEST in category Moscow
As you've undoubtedly noticed (or where have you been hiding?), Russia and "the West" aren't on the best of terms right now. It's sanctions left, sanctions right, sanctions everywhere.
The Russian food sanctions seem bizarre: a lot of produce was imported from Europe, and now it's simply not there anymore (well, almost). These aren't so much sanctions against the West (in Finland people are ...
Added on Monday, 2014-07-14 23:09 CEST in categories Moscow, Traveling
A few years ago I started working at Yandex, when we still lived in Moscow. We then moved to Prague, but I was lucky enough to be able to keep my job and work from home. Some time later we moved to Rotterdam, and I got hired by the Dutch Yandex office.
For those familiar with the Moscow office, the Dutch one is very similar, but much, much smaller. We do regularly see planes catch fire, ...
Added on Thursday, 2013-07-25 17:41 CEST in categories Moscow, Programming
When I started working at Yandex I become responsible for the development of a whole new project within Yandex.News, about which I couldn't tell too much. We developed, developed, developed some more, and yesterday launched My News! (Unfortunately it's only available in Russian and Turkish.)
My News is Yandex' first step to personalization of Yandex.News: it shows you news from the news ...
Added on Saturday, 2013-04-27 05:34 CEST in categories Moscow, Prague
After a long road of bureaucracy in Moscow, it was finally time to go home, to Prague.
When a few years ago we moved to Moscow, we did so by car, which we had fully loaded up. Over the years we amassed more and more stuff, and we sold our car, so that by the time we moved to Prague in September, we couldn't possibly take with all our belongings in one go.
Thus, whenever we'd visit Moscow ...
Added on Thursday, 2013-04-25 09:30 CEST in category Moscow
Internal passport
I've had my Russian passport for about a month now, but like I wrote there, this wouldn't be Russia if that was that. Unlike most passports, my Russian passport is not a valid travel document (well, mostly anyway), but merely my primary identity document. Besides my name, date of birth etc., it also mentions my place of registration, my marital status, my military status, ...
Added on Monday, 2013-04-15 19:14 CEST in category Moscow
Military service
Every Russian male age 18-27 is in principle obliged to serve a 12 month draft in the army. There are some much sought-after ways around it, the army is not a popular place, but that can be quite a hassle, up to the point of hiding from the authorities and not being able to leave the country.
Lucky for me, around the time when I was granted Russian citizenship, I turned 29 ...
Added on Thursday, 2013-03-28 20:59 CET in category Moscow
Place of registration and place of actual residence
Like in most countries, government services are offered by place of registration. I live in Moscow, so I get my passport in Moscow, not in, say, Novosibirsk. Although…, in Russia the system is just a little bit different :)
Place of registration and place of actual residence can, and quite often do, differ. This is seen as completely ...
Added on Thursday, 2013-03-14 15:16 CET in category Moscow
Nope, not just yet…
When I managed to apply for citizenship last August, I did so at "big UFMS" - the migration services office for my administrative division of over 1.7 million people. Every foreigner there who wants to apply for a residence permit or for citizenship, has to go to this one small office. That does explain the lines, doesn't it?
They told me that under the short track the ...
Added on Monday, 2013-01-07 00:00 CET in categories Moscow, Netherlands, Prague
I already wrote about Russian New Year's last year, but thought it'd be nice to give a bit more perspective. We recently moved to Prague, and this year celebrated the holidays in Moscow, Prague and the Netherlands.
Moscow
First off, Moscow. Besides the New Year's celebration itself, most companies throw a New Year's party somewhere end of December. They may book an entire nightclub, or, ...
Added on Saturday, 2012-12-22 15:38 CET in category Moscow
How come I never wrote about Moscow winter before, I don't know. If there's one season people talk (but mainly complain) about the most, it must be winter, during which it gets cold. Very cold. And with that cold come a lot of "interesting side effects".
Moscow winter lasts quite long, from October through April more or less. Temperatures vary, but it pretty much freezes the entire time, ...
Added on Saturday, 2012-08-11 11:43 CEST in category Moscow
For a while now I've been preparing the documents for my naturalization application. One of the requirements is having been married to a Russian citizen for over three years. It was only two weeks ago that we celebrated our three year anniversary at a lovely hotel/castle in Germany (go us! :), and when we came back I once again went to immigration services to try and apply.
Try, indeed. ...
Added on Tuesday, 2012-06-26 20:55 CEST in category Moscow
As in most countries, students in Russia learn English in school. But with exposure being minimal, and teachers' English often being shabby as well because of that, students' already-not-so-great English often deteriorates quickly over time.
Most people seem to be perfectly fine with that, since only about 5% of the population indicates they can speak English. But a small group is not, and ...
Added on Sunday, 2012-05-20 22:19 CEST in category Moscow
Currently I live in Moscow with a permanent residence permit (PRP). Although it's a great improvement over the temporary residence permit (TRP) I had before (no more exit visa or work permit needed), there are still a few drawbacks compared to citizenship:
I'm not allowed to vote;
It's still quite hard to get a mortgage or loan;
I have to check in every year and "re-register" ...
Added on Sunday, 2012-04-22 17:55 CEST in category Moscow
I'm one of the very few people in Moscow who enjoy winter. I like the snow, the ice, the cold. I even cycle in winter. (Most Russians at first don't even believe me when I tell them that.) But after about four months of snow, even I've sort of had it with it. It's interesting to see how Russians really long for spring to finally come, making it the most looked forward to season of the year.
...
Added on Sunday, 2012-04-08 21:37 CEST in category Moscow
In general, I like my life here in Moscow. But as any place, Moscow has its share of problems, with which I also have to deal. I don't want to talk about corruption, poverty or human rights, which to be honest don't touch me all that much, but instead I want to talk about apathy. To put it bluntly, I have never seen a population more apathetic than the Muscovites. Have I got your attention? ...
Added on Tuesday, 2012-03-20 17:13 CET in category Moscow
Continuing my post on random oddness and coolness:
Transport
Moscow has one of the best and beautiful subways in the world, but especially during rush hour the commuters, packed like sardines in a can, don't really care much about that. This is one of the reasons most people who can afford a car, go by car instead. And thus get stuck in traffic jams. It's not uncommon for those living in the ...
Added on Wednesday, 2012-02-29 20:47 CET in category Moscow
Just after I recently acquired my permanent residence permit, I found out my Dutch driver's license would lose its validity in Russia 60 days after, and that I would be needing to get a Russian one instead.
Now I'd of course heard plenty of horror stories about passing the driver's exam in Russia, which without bribing is pretty much impossible, or so I'm told. It's also no secret a lot of ...
Added on Saturday, 2012-02-25 11:16 CET in category Moscow
One of Russia's public holidays is Defender of the Motherland Day. Although the idea is to honor those (that were) in the Russian Armed Forces, in practice it's celebrated as Men's Day, the counterpart to International Women's Day.
The idea to me feels somewhat like a unidirectional Valentine's Day, with the exception that it's also celebrated at work. At Yandex e.g., the women got us tasty ...
Added on Saturday, 2012-02-25 10:28 CET in category Moscow
Back in October I was contacted by TV channel Russia 2, who were making an item about people who commute using alternative means of transport, i.e. not by subway or by car. They found me via Yandex, to where I commute by bike :) First there was a small interview, a la:
How are you liking Moscow?
So why exactly do you cycle?
Wow, you cycle in winter too?!
And so on. For ...
Added on Monday, 2012-02-20 21:12 CET in category Moscow
Last weekend the World Allround Speed Skating Championships were being held right here in Moscow, at Krylatskoye ice palace:
The Dutch Club in Moscow managed to get free tickets, which, with speed skating being immensely popular in the Netherlands, made for a nice turnout among the Dutch Muscovites:
(Despite all the orange, I managed to get spotted on TV in the ...
Added on Monday, 2012-01-16 19:31 CET in category Moscow
Half an hour it took me. Just half an hour. I'm spotting a trend here :)
This morning I went to pick up my long-awaited permanent residence permit (PRP). I'd been there in December, about 5 months after having handed in the application, and was told it wouldn't be done any sooner than 6 months after I had handed in the application. By law it's not supposed to take any longer than that ...
Added on Thursday, 2012-01-12 19:44 CET in category Moscow
So there I was, cycling in Moscow, minding my own business, when a group of pedestrians was blocking my way, as usual. So I ring my bell and ask
"May I?"
"No, you may not, sidewalks are for pedestrians, go on the main road."
"Seriously? I'd rather not die…"(I'm referring here to the fact that people in Moscow drive like maniacs, and everybody knows it. Not that anyone cares, ...
Added on Saturday, 2011-12-31 21:00 CET in category Moscow
For lack of Sinterklaas and a proper commercial/family oriented, Coca-Cola-backed Christmas (it's mainly a religious event), New Year's is Russia's main, going-all-out holiday of the year. (Btw., Christmas takes place January 7th, because for some reason the church still uses the Julian calendar.)
It is widely and intensely celebrated, leading till up to 10 days off in January, giving ...
Added on Sunday, 2011-11-06 11:38 CET in category Moscow
In Russia, people speak Russian. No big surprise there :) But learning and eventually actively partaking in society speaking Russian yourself is quite a long and interesting endeavor.
Speaking Russian
In order to properly function in Russia, it's really important to be able to speak Russian. Whereas I try to get by with English whenever I feel I can, with only 5% of the population indicating ...
Added on Monday, 2011-10-03 18:04 CEST in category Moscow
Ever since I moved to Russia over a year and a half ago, I've come across countless little oddities (some of them pretty cool, others not so much), which weren't noteworthy enough for an entire blog post, but were still a shame to ignore. In this blog post I'll talk about a few.
Money
The Russian currency is the Russian ruble. Since I've lived here, you get about 40 rubles for a euro and ...
Added on Sunday, 2011-09-18 14:35 CEST in category Moscow
Already in Soviet times, and probably before that, the peninsula of Crimea, in the very south of Ukraine, has been a very popular vacation destination. Crimea lies next to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and has a climate comparable to the French Riviera, making for a perfect sun-sea-beach-vacation:
Now we're especially in luck, as my parents-in-law actually run a hotel in ...
Added on Monday, 2011-09-05 22:04 CEST in category Moscow
Moscow, never being boring, offers plenty of opportunity to keep yourself busy the entire weekend through. Last weekend was such a weekend, involving a football match in a Dutch pub, going to a dacha and "enjoying" the Alfabank 4D show.
On Friday evening, the Dutch national football team played a match against San Marino. OK, perhaps "played" is not the best description. They pretty much ...
Added on Monday, 2011-08-22 17:36 CEST in category Moscow
I got my new work permit! :) For some silly reason, while a temporary residence permit is issued for three years, work permits are still issued for one year only. After remembering the horrible lines when getting it the first time last year (standing in line at 5:00 in the morning, a cramped office with too many people pushing, unhelpful staff, the usual), I dreaded having to go prolong it ...
Added on Sunday, 2011-07-31 10:05 CEST in category Moscow
A few weeks ago I started having an unexplicable lasting slight fever, so in order to get diagnosed properly, I was hospitalized.
I was brought to the hospital by ambulance, with sirens and this typical Russian governmental car horn that means as much as "you'd better get out of the way". (No wonder people don't let ambulances go, if they in turn turn their sirens on, just to not to have to ...
Added on Thursday, 2011-07-21 15:55 CEST in category Moscow
One day it took me. Just one day. My mom-in-law "reserved" a spot in the line for me in the very early morning, and a few hours later I actually managed to hand in all the documents for my application for my permanent residence permit! (This may be more surprising if you've read my previous posts on residence permits.)
Thanks to a thorough preparation I had all the documents I needed, and I ...
Added on Sunday, 2011-07-17 22:36 CEST in category Moscow
It's been well over a year, but of course it had to happen again: today we had another traffic accident…
As is common in Russia, if a lane is a bit wide, or has an emergency lane next to it, then that extra space is pretty much always used, especially when traffic is a bit denser. It is also often used by people who don't want to wait for everyone else and who cut off whomever they can. ...
Added on Thursday, 2011-07-07 21:28 CEST in category Moscow
So my bike got stolen… I used to park it in the hallway, to which only our neighbors and their guests have access; one of them then cut the cable and took off…
Since I use my bike to get to work I needed a replacement, and a proper one at that. I've always found derailleur gears clumsy and uncomfortable, so I insisted on getting a bike with a hub gear. This proved to be quite the adventure, ...
Added on Thursday, 2011-06-16 18:50 CEST in category Moscow
It must be said, I do get pleasantly surprised every once in a while here in Moscow. Today I went to the immigration services for my yearly re-registration. There was no line, the lady helping me out was friendly, I had all the required documents, didn't need the entire list of documents I decided to prepare "just in case", actually got back all the original documents and was done in just half ...
Added on Friday, 2011-05-20 21:16 CEST in category Moscow
Unlike in most western countries, most buildings in Moscow receive hot water from outside from a series of plants. This is a relic of the Soviet times, which also means regular maintenance on the pipes.
Now in order to do this, the hot water needs be switched off, meaning area by area in Moscow will see no hot water for about three weeks somewhere in summer. We've just had these three weeks ...
Added on Thursday, 2011-05-19 18:35 CEST in category Moscow
First off, I know this is a long post. But I'm the one actually doing all this, so bear with me ;)
Almost a year ago I received my temporary residence permit. A year after that you can apply for a permanent residence permit, the process of attaining of which I've just started. Now, a temporary residence permit is valid for three years, so there's no direct need, but a permanent one has a ...
Added on Sunday, 2011-02-27 22:19 CET in category Moscow
Moscow may be a lot, but if anything, it's never boring. There's always something going on, like during our evening out tonight.
We first went to a small underground art club, where the story of The Little Prince was not only told, but also shown by drawing images in sand. (The sand box was filmed and projected onto the wall, so that's what you see on the pictures.) A few examples:
...
Added on Saturday, 2011-01-22 21:37 CET in category Moscow
Every year on January 1st, thousands and thousands of Dutchmen take a dive into the North Sea. This year, the event was held in Moscow as well, and as in the Netherlands, was sponsored by Unox, who supplied the infamous orange hats as well as smoked sausage and pea soup.
Below are some pictures of the event.
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Added on Wednesday, 2011-01-12 17:15 CET in categories Moscow, Programming
Yesterday was my first day at Yandex, where I will be working on Yandex News.
My first impressions are very positive, I'm part of a very nice team, with lots of Vim users ;) The office is very reminiscent of all those Google offices you see articles about, with hammocks, a massage room, bean bags, sporting room, high-up balconies with a view over Moscow, etc. See also pictures of the office ...
Added on Friday, 2010-12-31 15:47 CET in category Moscow
Last week on my flight from Moscow to Germany, Lufthansa managed to lose the luggage of everybody on board. The apparent cause was "snow". Looking around at the airport seeing the hundreds of suitcases, it is really quite amazing how such a relatively small amount of precipitation (there was 15 cm of snow on average) can cause such chaos.
But things got worse than just a lost suitcase. ...
Added on Thursday, 2010-12-23 10:42 CET in categories Moscow, Programming
Yesterday was my last working day at Parallels. Even though I like the people there and all the extras, the very work itself was unfortunately not what I had been looking for. I'd hereby like to thank my former colleagues for the good time I've had, and I appreciate both your patience with my sometimes somewhat lacking Russian, and your efforts in talking English :)
While I was looking ...
Added on Monday, 2010-12-06 19:19 CET in category Moscow
Usually it's me adapting to all the strange and peculiar things in Moscow, but for once I thought it'd be nice to have it the other way around, by bringing a Dutch tradition/holiday to Moscow: Sinterklaas! For those not in the know, Sinterklaas is the both the name of the person and the most popular Dutch holiday, celebrated on the evening of December 5th. "Legend has it" that Sinterklaas ...
Added on Sunday, 2010-11-14 09:18 CET in category Moscow
Russia has an at first sight somewhat peculiar, but at second sight rather nice system of holidays and vacations.
Like any country it has its share of public holidays, with particularly New Year's standing out. January 1st through 10th a lot of people drink till they drop, and a lot of stores are simply closed.
Whenever a public holiday falls in the weekend, it is moved to the next ...
Added on Wednesday, 2010-10-06 21:13 CEST in category Moscow
When I got hired by the Moscow office of Parallels, one of the perks was the so-called Доброволбное Медицинское Страхование ("DMS", or "voluntary medical insurance").
Everyone registered in Russia, even if only temporarily on a visa, has the right for free healthcare, called Обязательное Медицинское Страхование ("OMS", or "obligatory medical insurance"), but usually the lines are long and ...
Added on Saturday, 2010-09-11 22:59 CEST in category Moscow
Ever since I got to Moscow I've been on a quest to find decent milk, because that just happens to be what the Dutch drink a lot. I must've tried 20 different brands, if not more, and all of them have this typical aftertaste from ultra heat treatment (UHT)… Dutch milk on the other hand is usually processed using flash pasteurization (HTST), which maintains flavor a lot better. (Like my cousin ...
Added on Tuesday, 2010-08-31 19:40 CEST in category Moscow
I got my work permit! It's finally over! :) I'm finished with all this bureaucratic mess and long lines till next summer :D (That's when I'll go take care of my permanent residence permit.)
Also, tomorrow I'll be signing my contract with Parallels at their Moscow office :) Things are looking bright :)
Added on Thursday, 2010-08-19 18:12 CEST in category Moscow
Vodka and caviar, those are probably the most well-known Russian drink and food. But there are so many more, both originally from CIS or purely Russian, but in any case practically unknown in the West.
Drinks
Contrary to popular belief, not all Russians drink vodka, far from that. Vodka is mainly used for cocktails, and you'd want to stay away from those who only drink it pure.
More ...
Added on Wednesday, 2010-08-04 18:22 CEST in category Moscow
Here in Moscow it's been over 30°C for about a month now, and lately temperatures have climbed to about 40°C… Although there is some thunder every once in a while, there's hardly any rain. There is one thing in abundance though: smog.
There are a lot of people going to the forest for the weekend to prepare "shashlyk" (meat on a skewer), on an open fire of course. And sometimes that goes ...
Added on Wednesday, 2010-07-14 19:21 CEST in categories Moscow, Programming
The interview I had at Parallels went well enough for them to offer me a job :) I'll be working on Parallels Business Automation - Standard (PBA-S), a billing and hosting automation solution for hosting providers. Very enterprisy :)
But while I received my residence permit, I now also need to take care of my work permit… So I'll have to wait a bit to get hired by the Moscow office.
Added on Wednesday, 2010-07-14 19:18 CEST in category Moscow
Following up on my previous posts about the bureaucratic mess in Russia, I thought it'd be interesting to share two phrases about Russia, which everyone here knows:
Надо благодарно принимать (you need to gratefully accept it);
Умом Россию не понять (you can't understand Russia with your mind).
The first one originally comes from a song titled "Nature does not know bad weather", but ...
Added on Wednesday, 2010-07-07 20:09 CEST in category Moscow
Yesterday I received my temporary residence permit!
You might think picking up a residence permit is as easy as going by, picking it up, saying "thanks!" and going home. Not in Russia of course…
First time I came around to pick it up I was told they don't hand out residence permits on Fridays.
Second time turned out I showed up "late", because while the entire building closes at 20:00 ...
Added on Monday, 2010-06-07 17:35 CEST in categories Moscow, Programming
Last Friday I got an email from Parallels (known from a.o. Plesk), asking if I was interested in their Perl programmer vacancy, and if so, if I would complete a small test to see if I'm suitable. I've been looking for such a job for a while, so I completed the test, got a response within a few hours, and was invited to an interview today!
I had interviews with three people. The first person ...
Added on Wednesday, 2010-06-02 16:46 CEST in category Moscow
Every year around end of May/early June Moscow experiences "summer snow": the pollen of thousands and thousands of poplar trees floating around in the air. Quite a beautiful sight:
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Added on Wednesday, 2010-05-26 15:47 CEST in categories Moscow, Programming
The promised additional feedback from Google was: "You don't know Java and C++. Technically, you're on the right level, but we need someone with more experience in those languages. When you do, we'd be happy to interview you again."
Good to hear that it's just knowledge and experience that's missing, that I can work on. There's a C++ compiler for the PSP e.g., so C++ is covered. Now what to ...
Added on Sunday, 2010-05-16 20:00 CEST in category Moscow
After five months of driving in Moscow I thought I'd share some more insight into Moscow traffic.
First off, the "me first!" attitude still holds, meaning crosswalks are mainly there for decoration, ambulances are not let past and speed limits can easily be stretched by about 40%. And that's the situation created by the average driver. There're also Jeeps and the like, with the obligatory ...
Added on Thursday, 2010-05-06 20:00 CEST in category Moscow
May 9th in Russia is victory day over Nazi Germany. For this year, 65 years after 1945, Russia decided to once again make a grande parade to show the world it should still be considered a world power. And I had the privilege to attend the final rehearsal!
Below you can find a few pictures of the parade.
Added on Tuesday, 2010-04-27 20:00 CEST in categories Moscow, Programming
Today I got an email from my recruiter at Google that I would not be hired :( Even though "the interview team was impressed with your background and accomplishments", "we do not have a position that is a strong match with your qualifications at this time". I will still be receiving a call with addditional feedback, but for now it looks like I'll have to go find something else.
Added on Friday, 2010-04-02 20:00 CEST in category Moscow
One of the very typical Dutch things I've been missing in Moscow is cycling. Russia just isn't a cycling country. Cyclists are seen as idiots with a deathwish when they go on the streets (it's not uncommon to drive 70-80km/h within city limits), and as scary horrors when they go on the sidewalks. Bicycle lanes don't exist, of course.
But I don't let any of that scare me :) Today I drove to ...
Added on Monday, 2010-03-29 20:00 CEST in categories Moscow, Programming
Apparently my first interview went well, because today I had my on-site interviews at Google Moscow! I was interviewed by five different employees, including one from Zürich. Their video conferencing setup is quite nice :)
The office is as you would expect, with the obligatory Wii, Google pillows, gadgets everywhere and free food and drinks. They don't have their own restaurant though.
...
Added on Tuesday, 2010-03-23 20:00 CET in category Moscow
Today I handed in the documents for my temporary residence permit!
After we started this entire process, we found out it wasn't quite as doable as we thought…
Since I have an EU passport, my passport contains text in 22 languages ("European Union", "Kingdom of the Netherlands" and "Passport"). The woman at the Federal Migration Service (FMS) dryly told us that that page would then have ...
Added on Sunday, 2010-03-21 20:00 CET in category Moscow
During my full health check, doctors found out my knees are worse off than I thought they were, and they recommended I started swimming. Now I don't like swimming much, cause it's slow. And I don't like slow. I can outwalk the fastest swimmer ever.
So that was pretty much my attitude, till I found out they got flippers at the swimming pool next door :) And flippers make you fast :) Also, I ...
Added on Tuesday, 2010-03-16 20:00 CET in categories Moscow, Programming
Today I had my first Google interview! (Thanks to Wilmer, who made the process go a bit faster.)
This morning I got a call from Google Zürich, and got pretty much what I expected. There were some questions about complexity, algorithms, tree structures (red black trees e.g.), and I got to write some code.
For that we used Google Docs, so with a delay of a few seconds the interviewer could ...
Added on Tuesday, 2010-02-23 20:00 CET in category Moscow
This winter has seen some of the most snow in recent history, some days 20cm of snow fell, and for me always complaining about too little snow in the Netherlands, the timing was perfect :)
The following pictures were taken in Kolomenskoe park.
Added on Monday, 2010-02-22 20:00 CET in categories Moscow, Programming
After quitting my job as a web application developer in the Netherlands, I found it time to reflect on my career path, and figure out what I want from my next job. Web application development can be great fun (like creating my new site), but I want more than that now.
I took a look at the projects I'd been working on in my spare time, and at those parts of my previous job I really liked, ...
Added on Tuesday, 2010-01-26 20:00 CET in category Moscow
In Russia healthcare is free for all persons registered in Russia. Since every person staying in Russia for longer than three days is required to be registered, I get free healthcare too :)
The Russian government encourages people to have a yearly full health check. This includes about any check you would want to have performed, like echo scans of internal organs, X-ray scans of joints, ...
Added on Saturday, 2010-01-16 20:00 CET in category Moscow
And the inevitable has happened: today I was involved in a, albeit minor, traffic accident.
After finally getting through the 1km long line to the parking lot (not kidding, seriously 1km) some guy on the left lane decided he had to turn right first (the typical "me first!" mentality from my post about Moscow). And then things just didn't fit, and he scraped along the bumper.
So the guy ...
Added on Monday, 2010-01-11 20:00 CET in category Moscow
Today my wife and I started the process of obtaining my temporary residence permit. Hello bureaucracy :)
I need:
Passport;
Copy of immigration card and registration paper;
A health certificate;
Marriage certificate;
Statement of conduct;
Request form, two copies;
400 rubles (about € 10).
Doesn't sound like too much. But then:
A health certificate ...
Added on Tuesday, 2009-12-29 20:00 CET in category Moscow
So here I am, in Moscow! It sure was a long trip. An exciting one too :) After spending Christmas in the Netherlands, dropping off my wife and the cat at Düsseldorf Airport, and picking up my dad-in-law, our road trip to Moscow had started!
On the way we visited my dad, who left me some rations of typical Dutch food I'd be missing. We continued into Poland, and then at about 5:30 the car ...