Burlaki on the Thames

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Archive for December, 2007

29
Dec

Life goes on, to the movies with kids

My faithful reader will doubtlessly understand the interruption in my posts, for which I am heartily grateful. I have to admit that I have been a bit apathetic over the last few days.

I actually did write a post a couple of days ago, exploring the depths of our encounter with mortality. It turned out a bit too philosophical and psychoanalytical, and after having spent a few hours composing it, I decided to let my inner editor to drop it.

But I realize that we have to move on, with everything in our lives, including this blog. So here is the brief overview of my last few days with the kids, which were largely about movies.

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25
Dec

Sad Christmas

Natasha’s 17-year-old niece Katya, who has been fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma for over half a year, has passed away last night in Rostov. We knew that she has not been doing well lately, and one of the main reasons for Natasha’s trip was that she knew she might not get another chance to see her, but still, her death came as a shock. The year ended on the saddest note possible.

 

Katya

This picture is of a couple of years ago - somehow seems fitting…

 
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24
Dec

Outdoor skating

Three straight days of going out with children culminated in another skating event. Only this time, the girls skated themselves.

There are quite a few public skating rinks erected in various parts of London. They are always very popular and normally sold out ahead of time. Thanks to eBay, Natasha procured a couple of tickets for the rink at Somerset House, on Strand.

It is probably one of the best settings for an outdoor skating, taking up most of the vast inner courtyard of a magnificent palace. The midday drab sky spoils the picture a bit, but when the sun sets, the atmosphere becomes magical…

   Skating pair

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23
Dec

Christmas Carols at Royal Albert Hall

Today we entertained ourselves with a visit to the Royal Albert Hall for the Carols by Candlelight concert.
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22
Dec

Seeing Natasha off

Half past two can hardly be called morning, yet we got up at this ungodly hour today, so that I could drive Natasha to Heathrow for her journey to Russia.
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20
Dec

Winter golf

Winter golf is actually not as bad as it sounds. If the skies are clear and there is no wind, then even freezing temperatures are tolerable. That is, if you wear layers…
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19
Dec

Twelve months, one sentence at a time

A meme that I picked up via my favorite bloggers Brian Greenberg and Jason Bennion asks the author to re-post the first sentence of the first blog entry in each of the previous year’s 12 months.

Similar to Brian’s and Jason’s compilations, mine ended up somewhere between esoteric and nonsensical. The fact that my blog tries to adhere to a basic theme actually worked a bit in my favor here, as a common thread was clearly visible throughout the spring (if only I added “from Switzerland” to the first sentence in January, it would even be more noticeable). And even though the entire collection justifiably looks like a bunch of random thoughts, I read it and can clearly see family- and event-oriented narrative.

See for yourself.

January: “Well, we’re back!”

February: “I am changing my football allegiance.”

March: “Well, it was bound to happen and it finally did happen.”

April: “I will only manage to get in a single blog entry in between two vacation trips, so I better write as much about the first one as possible before going onto the second one.”

May: “The latest disruption in my posts was caused by a long-weekend excursion to Paris, which was immediately preceded by another round of problems with the website, which hopefully have now been resolved once and for all (but claimed as their victim the recent Tuscany gallery album, which I am yet to restore).”

June: “We are back from our trip to Amsterdam, and I am happy to report that it was another resounding success.”

July: “The American School in Central London costs around £20K per child per year.”

August: “My British colleagues are happily exclaiming that the summer is finally here.”

September: “A cousin of mine plays clarinet with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.”

October: “Another day, another momentous anniversary to celebrate!”

November: “Apparently, my Halloween lamentations notwithstanding, there is some fun on the occasion that can still be found in England.”

December: “By popular demand, here are two more numbers from Becky’s performance with her choir.”

Is this year really almost over?

18
Dec

How I turned out to be bad at driving

It is my turn to practice English driving skills with an instructor. Far be it for me to doubt my ability to pass any exam, but I have to admit: It’s not easy to do things the way one should be doing them in order to pass the English practical driving test.
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16
Dec

Baltimore? No, really?

Looking for novel ways to waste my time online (it’s Sunday, it’s fairly cold outside, we are not going out, I’ve already watched two football games, everyone in the family is occupied with something…), I completed this internet test that matches your personality to one of the 24 major US cities. My result? Baltimore.

With apologies to proud Baltimoreans, I was hoping for a more exciting result.
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15
Dec

Winter Wonderland in London

 

Winter Wonderland Hyde Park It turns out that there are German Christmas Markets right under our noses in England. Only a week ago we were touring the real thing, and today we spent time at one in Hyde Park, smack in the center of London.

Actually, as markets go, it was less than impressive, but the Winter Wonderland amusement area erected for the holidays is very lively and enjoyable.

 
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13
Dec

Requiem to snail mail

The weather turned decisively cold - every morning now I have to scrape frost off the windshield. No expectations of snow, though. Duh!!!
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11
Dec

Worth a thousand words

 
 

Becky modeling
10
Dec

Back from Köln

The road to Cologne was the longest - distance-wise - of any of our weekend trips so far, but even the driving rain that followed us for over 200 kilometers on the way back did little to dampen our enjoyment of this little adventure.

Cologne    The theme of the trip was Christmas Markets in Germany.

We have read in many travel publications that German markets are unlike anywhere in Europe during Christmas. Because we knew that we had limited time, and our research suggested that Köln hosted several different markets all by itself, we decided to eschew touring different places, and instead concentrate on just one city.

The trip turned out almost perfect.

 
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06
Dec

More than active

The period of heightened activity continued this week, further distancing us from the rash statement of generic boredom along the path blazed last week and weekend.

Wednesday, specifically, turned out to be quite a busy day for Natasha.
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04
Dec

Separated by common language

Differences in English language as spoken by the British and the Americans is a long overdue topic for an expatriate blog. Today, I am finally getting around for a primer.

This isn’t about the obvious difference in pronunciation. True, understanding spoken English on British Isles takes considerable training and unwavering focus for someone whose ear is used to the American version. But that is only a part of the problem. The other part of it is that while you may recognize certain words, they turn out to mean something rather different. Plus, there are words which provoke no recognition from you when you hear them for the first time; yet, they mean things that are quite commonplace.
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03
Dec

Weekend visits

We continued to disprove my earlier statement regarding diminished activity by making visits to friends over the weekend.
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02
Dec

Choir (cont.)

By popular demand, here are two more numbers from Becky’s performance with her choir.

 

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