I notice this site hasn't caught on to the new time system in Russia - Putin decided not to change the clocks this year, so they wouldn't lose valuable trading hours with the Far East. But it's messing eveyrthing up for everyone because now we've lost hours with the West and that's causing bigger problems - so it's expected to go back to normal next year. For now I have to pretend I'm in Abu Dhabi to get the time zone right. It's midday on Friday, and normally a...

I'm typing this while waiting for the next episode of Downton Abbey to finish streaming, so forgive me being distracted - I keep checking the progress. Since the last entry here, I've just had a list of bullet points of things I wanted to include, so I'll go through them pretty much in order and it will be hopelessly structure-less and nonsensical, but you're all wonderfully forgiving people so I'll get away with it. The escalator at my home metro station (Timir...

A month in, and I have now had some vodka. Admittedly only one shot, by myself, to accompany my imitation caviar, but it has been done. Continuing along the alcoholic theme, as I write I am drinking a mug of medovukha, which is basically mead. I bought it at the honey fair last Sunday (more of which later on), and this is it's first outing. My friend Ti was meant to come over this evening to drink it with me, but her schedule was changed at the last minute and sh...

Strange to think I've been here a week already. My journey was pretty uneventful (met my good friend Rob at Heathrow to say goodbye as he was flying to Saudi Arabia the same day) and I was met at Sheremetevo Airport by Denis, one of the staff at Inlingua School. We took the airport express train to the centre, at which point he informed me that instead of going to my flat, I'd be spending the first 5 nights at a hostel near the office, because the previous tenant...

My visa is in my hand (via a minitature drama and heart attack, but it all came together in the end and my friend Rob is wonderful) and my flights are booked - for a week tomorrow! It's real now and there's no escaping it. I now need to get down to the business of packing and stuff. I hate packing, but I'm going to try really hard to pack light for once in my life. I don't honestly know how soon I'll be able to get on the internet once I arrive, but I expect it'l...