Отправлено: 17.10.06 22:04. Заголовок: Hello from Old Blighty...

I've got to admit, I kind of miss this forum. Just popped in to say hello to those who still remembers us (and those who don't).

 Отправлено: 18.10.06 07:14. Заголовок: Re:

Curious
Ураааааааааааааа!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
С возвращением!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Отправлено: 18.10.06 07:22. Заголовок: Re:

Curious пишет:

цитата:

I've got to admit, I kind of miss this forum. Just popped in to say hello to those who still remembers us

И это все - "just to say hello"? А поболтать? Нет уж, если скучаешь, то вот вернись сюда и общайся. Расскажи, что интересного у вас на острове.

Добро пожаловать назад в родные пенаты

 Отправлено: 18.10.06 13:08. Заголовок: Re:

What do you mean, what's new in Albion? Divorce season, of course. McCartney - Heather and Abramovich - Irina. And we were worried that we'll be bored for a couple of months before Christmas kicks in.

 Отправлено: 19.10.06 21:34. Заголовок: Re:

... and help me god

 Отправлено: 20.10.06 05:31. Заголовок: Re:

Romashishka, I am off to sunny Zurich the day after tomorrow and you still did not reply to my email. Please do, otherwise it might be too late. Off to check the weather in Zurich....

 Отправлено: 18.01.07 09:48. Заголовок: Re:

Hello again, how is life in Calgary? Belated Happy New year to everybody, did not have time to pop to the forum, too many parties, too much fun. But since now we are all (presumably) back to work.....

 Отправлено: 18.01.07 21:08. Заголовок: Re:

Dear ,
I'm so glad you're back. Does the lure of Old Blighty still attract you fervently?

 Отправлено: 19.01.07 03:04. Заголовок: Re:

More than ever. Now, when it's almost three years since we moved back to the UK, we cannot imagine what were our reasons to move in the first place - sheer madness.

 Отправлено: 19.01.07 17:50. Заголовок: Re:

Welcome back, C.! But please, please change (or partially repaint) your avatar. I like the lower part but the upper one is too blue to my liking...
Also , what was the madness- moving to Calgary from London or the other way around? Elaborate, please.

 Отправлено: 19.01.07 18:02. Заголовок: Re:

Koba, darling, so nice to hear from you - although we have never met. I cannot change my avatar, I'm afraid, the spirit of Rene Magritte will not forgive me, and still I owe one of my dissertations to him - I should be courteous. I believe the madness was to leave the vivacious London for Calgary - although we totally did not understand it at the time. All in all, it's a good thing - we managed to find out where we really belong - so come and visit!!!

 Отправлено: 19.01.07 18:06. Заголовок: Re:

koba пишет:

цитата:

I like the lower part

I liked the color of the lower part of the body, too. She definitely got a nice tan there.


Curious,

Has Kyrill gone? I hope you stayed indoors.

 Отправлено: 22.01.07 19:12. Заголовок: Re:

Спасибо за приглашение, С., Лондон, действительно, чудесный город, хотя жить там я бы не захотел. Но если Вы там себя нашли- замечательно, и я рад за Вас. Кстати, мои друзья, живущие в Л., разделяют Ваше мнение об этом городе и считают Англию лучшей страной для проживания.
К тому же, оттуда все так близко и доступно..
Ромашишка, а что за часть тела изображена на Вашем аватаре- руку, вроде, распознаю, а остальное? В чем идея?

 Отправлено: 22.01.07 22:53. Заголовок: Re:

koba пишет:

цитата:

и считают Англию лучшей страной для проживания.

"...У русских нет центров сосредоточения, они селятся там, где им заблагорассудится, и достаточно свободно чувствуют себя в британских условиях. Они очень успешно ассимилируются, обрастают английскими связями. В диаспоре практически не существует устоявшихся институтов общения. Как ни странно, такую функцию в последнее время все чаще берут на себя магазины. Еще 5 лет назад русские продуктовые лавки в Лондоне можно было сосчитать по пальцам одной руки. Сейчас русские продукты можно купить в более чем в сотне мест и это, пожалуй, один из наиболее ярких показателей неудержимого роста русской диаспоры..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/russian/international/newsid_6264000/6264745.stm

 Отправлено: 24.01.07 09:22. Заголовок: Re:

Oh, we have fantastic Russian shop near us. Wonderful place, great food and really nice owners too. Regarding Russians in London - I recently set up a Russian club at work - there were four of us initially, and now we have almost 200 members, most of them are not Russians. Now we say: "we even have some rare native russians in our club.... " We organised Russian lessons, Russian festival, got the embassy involved as well - so it is flourishing.

 Отправлено: 24.01.07 22:09. Заголовок: Re:

А можно нескромный вопрос - при такой любви к русскому, зачем вы на английском пишете?

 Отправлено: 25.01.07 01:41. Заголовок: Re:

And here we go again. Veterans of Ostrovok would certainly experience a sense of deja vu now. The answer is: no, you cannot ask any kind of indelicate questions.

 Отправлено: 25.01.07 18:32. Заголовок: Re:

koba пишет:

цитата:

Ромашишка, а что за часть тела изображена на Вашем аватаре - руку, вроде, распознаю, а остальное?

Да, угадать что там, кроме рук, довольно сложно. Но уверяю вас, koba, это совсем не та часть тела, что, к примеру у Curious на аватаре... гораздо менее интересная

 Отправлено: 25.01.07 19:27. Заголовок: Re:

Раньше факт про русский клуб известен не был. Ну да Бог с Вами.

 Отправлено: 26.01.07 02:00. Заголовок: Re:

Moving on.... it's soooo considerate of the lovely man I met yesterday to open a gorgeous little Cuban restaurant next door to our house! Went there to celebrate my promotion yesterday and it reminded me of Cuba so much, almost booked the plane tickets on my return. Unfortunately, holiday plans for this year are already made - it would have to be 2008. Cuba is truly gorgeous, and I cannot recommend it enough. And it is a lot closer to Calgary than to London, what's stopping you? Lara, Romashishka, koba (please forgive me if I missed anybody) - I dare you to go to Varadero April 2008 - there is plenty of time for arrangements.

 Отправлено: 26.01.07 07:07. Заголовок: Re:

Yeah, Cuba is beautiful I'll think of getting together there in 2008

 Отправлено: 26.01.07 09:22. Заголовок: Re:

there is plenty of time - and we will do our best to be there in April, so start googling.

 Отправлено: 26.01.07 19:32. Заголовок: Re:

I beg to differ. Was amazed by miserable people existence on this "island of freedom". Talked to many Russian- speaking folks (educated in the USSR). It is simply mpossible to imagine their standard of living. Havana is in ruins, lots of beggars, public transportation is horrific, people drive American cars of 50-60s or old Russian Ladas, prostitution is rampant, almost everything is hard to come by...In short, one of the best examples of the socialist disaster...
The beaches and hotels of Varadero are relatively OK but you really have to close your eyes related to anything outside of this artificial paradise.

 Отправлено: 26.01.07 20:59. Заголовок: Re:

koba пишет:

цитата:

I beg to differ. Was amazed by miserable people existence on this "island of freedom". Talked to many Russian- speaking folks (educated in the USSR). It is simply mpossible to imagine their standard of living. Havana is in ruins, lots of beggars, public transportation is horrific, people drive American cars of 50-60s or old Russian Ladas, prostitution is rampant, almost everything is hard to come by...In short, one of the best examples of the socialist disaster... The beaches and hotels of Varadero are relatively OK but you really have to close your eyes related to anything outside of this artificial paradise.

koba,

Perhaps I sound brutal and ruthless, but if I'm not planning to immigrate there (and I am not), I would close my eyes on the poverty of cuban locals, ashamed, but I certainly would. They could die off if there was no tourism infrastructure developed whatsoever. Tourism gives them jobs and chance to survive, therefore I wouldn't lose any sleep over seeing poor but not dying of starvation Cubans. How they live is exclusively their biz… rather, I would enjoy an ocean and beaches.

 Отправлено: 26.01.07 23:26. Заголовок: Re:

Привет, Куриус анд Ромашишка!
Коба напугал меня этой нищетой всякой, я видимо очень впечатлительна, не могу глаза закрывать. Бывала я в Египте.
Нет уж, лучше Сан Диего или Флорида. Океан и там есть.

 Отправлено: 30.01.07 08:18. Заголовок: Re:

It's not quite like that, my dearest koba, besides I believe people tend to choose what they see. Beauty in the eyes of beholder.... Havana in ruins - not quite. There is a lot of hurricaine damage practically every year, so that does complicate things, but at the same time there is a lot of restoration work going on everywhere in Havana. Old cars and lack of stuff in the shops - yes, too. Cuba is under embargo, and it makes things really difficult for them. It hit them very hard when Russia withdrew their support as well, almost plummeting the country into economic ruin. However, they survived. Yes, there is prostitution - just like in every resort in the world. There are beggars - like everywhere else, but at least Cuban beggars are creative in their approach - they sort of try to become friends with you first. There is very high level of education and the standard of medical care is very high too. In other words, I can feel nothing but admiration for people who managed to live in their own way among so many difficulties. And people are what's so special about Cuba - not beaches or colonial architecture.

 Отправлено: 30.01.07 11:08. Заголовок: Re:

Конечно. можно отвлечься от окружающей нищеты и бесправия и не замечать ничего, кроме пляжа и моря. Но даже там, на пляже, через каждые 20 метров стоят стражи в полной форме, в ботинках, с рациями, и надзирают за порядком, не допуская контакт с нежелательными элементами (торговцами ворованных сигар, проститутками). А в Гаванне, чтобы увидеть не фасады, а настоящую жизнь, надо заглянуть во дворы или в боковые улицы. Да ещё Фидель может в любую минуту отдать концы, и тогда может начаться общий хаос и заваруха...Словом, стоит призадуматься перед поездкой.

 Отправлено: 01.02.07 02:58. Заголовок: Re:

no, there are no armed guards on the beach, I haven't seen a single one in two weeks. But they do warn you about fake cigars - obviously. And I have been to Havana's side street - of course there is poverty, just like everywhere else, have you been to Harlem, for instance? Not sure about the lack of rights either (apart from leaving the country, which is difficult and which is caused by the whole US thing in the first place) - surely, the right to education, free housing and free, good healthcare is very important. Everyone I have spoken to, freely discussed their political situation, and no, the country is not going to descend into chaos when Fidel dies - I am willing to bet on it. What is impressive though, is a number of highly educated young people, who are totally aware of what's going on in the world - very unlike their north american counterparts.

 Отправлено: 01.02.07 20:40. Заголовок: Re:

Curious пишет:

цитата:

no, there are no armed guards on the beach[/quote/ А я и не писал, что они вооружены( рация- не оружие). Ну, а как насчет карточной системы, постоянного отключения света (из-за чего портятся жалкие карточные пайки в холодильниках), отсутствия самых элементарных лекарств, невозможности продать в течение 10 лет свою машину, необходимости для юношей учиться последний год в военизированной школе, невозможности выехать из страны самолетом и т.п. и т.д. И я бы не стал упрекать всех североамериканских студентов в невежестве относительно мировых событий.. А что касается Curious пишет: [quote]the right to education, free housing and free, good healthcare i

, то мы хорошо помним цену всего этого по нашей бывшей стране проживания- СССР. Не даром там родилась поговорка: "Даром - за амбаром"

 Отправлено: 02.02.07 01:29. Заголовок: Re:

koba, you seem to attribute all Cuban problems to Cuban government whereas I would have to remind you about years of embargo and stopping of all economic help from Russia. Have they been able to trade freely, things could have been very different. Absolute nonsense about lack of medicine too. You know what, I was actually appalled at the behaviour of Canadians there - on one side, they bring a lot of school supplies, etc with them, but, on the other hand, they are terribly condescending, to the point of insult. and I think it is due to general North American ignorance (sorry for repeating that, but it's not a secret for most of the world - the levels of general ignorance in North America are frightening). One Canadian 'lady' asked a tour girl whether she shares the bedroom with her brother. (!!!!!) Another, speaking loudly like you would to deaf or dumb people, was telling a dancer (who, by the way, could speak seven languages fluently) - 'your english is good', I can go on forever. And about those guards on beaches - I have seen a guy in swimming trunks with a radio - surely, you don't mean him? yes, it is very difficult for them to leave the country. Not defending this particular rule in any way, but... if a country is under constant attack and a threat (do I have to list all American attempts to overthrow a government of this sovereign country?), maybe that's an option. And finally, about military service - you might be surprised, but there is quite a lot of talk in england for bringing back the National Service - apparently it worked very well for many young men...

On a more positive note - one of the sweetest thing in Havana - kissing girls, dressed in a colonial fashion, they will kiss anybody and would appreciate a peso in return. My husband managed to spend quite a lot....
Or, wonderful barmen in our hotel - one, a lovely happy open person, and another - sarcastic guy with wicked sense of humour; their personalities were reflected in their cocktails very much. We had loads of late night chats with them.
Or, a bar in Varadero which is favoured by locals - much better than touristy places - people spilling out on the streets to dance....
In a nutshell, I have never seen nicer people as a whole, not in any other country. And maybe we should stop talking about what's wrong with their country and let them get on with it.

 Отправлено: 05.02.07 03:12. Заголовок: Re:

And moving on from Cuba to Mexico, Morocco and Japan.... Went to see Babel yesterday - wonderful film, highly recommend. Checked what russian press said about it - shocking, it almost as if it's an entirely different movie. One of the film critic actually suggested that the director managed to get into Hollywood on diversity agenda and now created a melodramatic crap worthy of daytime tv soap operas.

 Отправлено: 07.02.07 07:45. Заголовок: Re:

Hmmmm..... my memories of Calgary include seeing people going to the movies. Are all the cinemas covered under snow?

 Отправлено: 21.02.07 07:58. Заголовок: Re:

I thought I try to encourage cultural discussion further - in the faint hope that somebody actually reads books and watches films out there. Secret History by Donna Tartt (ignore her surname, it's just silly) - really interesting book about self-imposed exclusivity and crashing of the idols - highly recommend.

 Отправлено: 01.03.07 01:35. Заголовок: Re:

I am still continuing my quest to encourage conversations about books, films, theatre, etc. (not trying to distract anybody from all important immigration issues though). So.... anybody found anything interesting to read lately?

Really disappointed with Babel not winning an Oscar, but, on the other hand, we all know that the best actress rightfully went to our girl - Russian Brit!

 Отправлено: 01.03.07 23:25. Заголовок: Re:

So how our Russian British people like this movie (The Queen)? Is this close to reality?

I'm glad that Helen Mirren got Oscar. I know that it wouldn't take "Best film" (or best director), since it would be really surprizing if movie about the Queen took the first prize in America.

Curious, I'm afraid to dissapoint you with my reading... I've read Sophie Kinsella recently and found it very fun. Now I decided to read all stories. Also I was surprised to find Oksana Robski "Casual" TRANSLATED in our book store! I really wouln't consider her worth translating... Just to support a reading-movie-theatre conversation...

Thank you for the good tips Curious. Nice to have you back btw. I'm curious what people are reading and what they find interesting...

The thing is that now NHL is coming to its play-off and I suspect that Russian-Canadians (including me) are so interested watching hockey, that they simply don't have time for reading...

 Отправлено: 02.03.07 01:58. Заголовок: Re:

foxi пишет:

цитата:

So how our Russian British people like this movie (The Queen)? Is this close to reality?

Apparently, Helen has done an amazing job and now she gets to have an audience with her majesty. She also was one of the few Oscar winners who did not forget to thank the original in their acceptance speech (remember Julia Roberts forgetting to thank Erin Brockovich?).

NHL - I can definitely sympathise, it's like the World Cup here.

 Отправлено: 19.04.07 08:08. Заголовок: Re:

Back from sunny Palermo (Rome and Florence)... Always loved Italy, but Sicily is even more impressive that the northern Italy, so beautiful. Being back to work is not that much fun though, but somebody has to do this... Planning my next trip already.

 Отправлено: 30.04.07 21:04. Заголовок: Re:

Curious пишет:

цитата:

Back from sunny Palermo (Rome and Florence).

Hey lucky you! Any pics? Umm, you must have really enjoyed sunshine, didn't you?

 Отправлено: 02.05.07 04:21. Заголовок: Re:

pics are still to be downloaded from our cameras... will take a while I guess. the weather in London is glorious, sunshine and everything, don't even have to go to Italy. BTW, I finally decided to bite the bullet and applied for my PhD (got accepted too) - so no life for me for the next 4 year at least. Obviously, part time, wouldn't want to leave my job ever.

 Отправлено: 02.05.07 06:56. Заголовок: Re:

Great news But please be sure to save some extra time for showing up here on this forum

 Отправлено: 23.07.07 01:18. Заголовок: Re:

You all probably heard about hideous floods in the UK, so just to let you know that we are still keeping our heads above water... only just. My Supposedly-Better-Half had to cross the road knee-deep in water last Friday (West London!), but otherwise it's fine in London, which is more than I can say for the rest of Old Blighty. We had absolutely no summer so far, and there could be just one solution to being drenched in rain. Therefore we are packing our bags and off to Barcelona at the beginning of August. Of course, according to sod's law, there will be glorious sunshine in London the moment we take off.