Week No 3

Hi friends,

It’s Sunday and a little cloudy and I wanted to write this yesterday but I hadn’t realized that my internet/telephone credit had been used up. So my Guardian Angel Ivan today helped me out again…

The week was rather unspectacular filled with the classes, shopping for survival and regular visits to my favorite ‘News Café’. Favorite for it’s coffee, decent tea, excellent pasta and, yes, deserts. I’m by now a registered regular there and almost always get my favorite table. I think I have to go after this so they don’t get worried….

Although in the ‘Minsk in Your Pocket’ guide (really good, check especially page 2 of the pdf version ;-)  http://www.inyourpocket.com/belarus/minsk ) it is stated somewhere that you can’t get international newspapers (I also haven’t found any). There you find FT, IHT, Süddeutsche, Daily Telegraph and others albeit not daily but at least 3-4 times a week. Why not daily I have yet to find out. It is located in the center opposite the British Embassy in case somebody of you also wants to come…

So today is Trinity and I am sitting here in the hope that the Holy Spirit might come over me like about 2000 years ago with the apostles. But then again, who am I compared to them…

Unspectacular? Well, not quite: Friday night I again was invited to the opera by Priorbank who is one of the large sponsors. The opera was Prince Igor from Borodin. Few people know it except for some of the music which is played in concert. One of the reasons that it rarely is performed must be the cost. I guess that the total of the artists was exceeding 100 with a big choir (the national one) and a big ballet contingent. The cast included singers from all over the CIS including Kirgistan and the quality of those was outstanding. My favorites were a young tenor and a bass, the names of whom escaped me as I lost the program. But I wouldn’t be surprised hearing that they became international stars. Helen from Controlling got the ‘assignment’ to accompany me, which made the evening an even more pleasurable.

For those of you wondering about economic aspects in Belorus: generally the price level of daily goods is a little below ours. Petrol and Diesel I already mentioned. Bread is about half of what it is in Vienna and very good (dark) although there are no bakeries but only big ‘bakery factories’. Fruit and vegetables in the market are slightly cheaper which overall means that people here must spend a large part of their income for food as the general income level is low. But it appears that also the rent levels are low.

People are mostly living in high rise apartments some of them 20 floors and higher.

Architecturally they are as (un)attractive as anywhere else in the world but what makes many of them stick out positively are the big tracts of green with playing grounds. I mentioned already that the city is very green and because of the many high risers it uses up much less space for buildings then let’s say Vienna (not to talk about London…) which makes the city quite ‘compact’. I measured 15km from north to south and 18 from east to west. And the population is about 1.85 mio which makes it a similar size compared to Vienna. As much as I like Vienna, from an environmental point of view (‘ecological footprint’) this concept has its values. Naturally it ‘helped’ that about 80-90 percent of the city were destroyed and the planners could start with a ‘clean slate’. But at that time nobody, of course, considered the ‘ecological footprint’, political reasons prevailed…

Yesterday, on one of my excursions I did see some one family houses, those people must be really privileged although admittedly the sizes were modest. How exactly the real estate market works I still have to find out….

At the beginning I made a comment about the traffic and the cars. Here a correction: there are a lot of cars older than 10 years but being kept in good shape. And as apparently the size of number plates in Belarus is identical to that in Germany many of them bear the number plate holders of German car dealers as there must be a booming trade in second hand cars from Germany. Without having taken a count I would think that the ranking would be BMW, VW Group Mercedes and then Toyota and the rest including a surprising amount of US models. There is practically no model of car (including all the late models including the really expensive ones) you don’t find here. How they keep them on the road remains a mystery to me except that there are talented mechanics and a few car part warehouses that sell anything you might imagine related to cars. They remind me of Chinese trading centers full of max 12 sqm stalls with those dealers specializing in oil and filters, spark plugs, accessories etc. and certain car brands, of course. How it is possible that that many traders/people can make a living out of that is also a mystery to me as prices are moderate, even for the imported stuff. 

Well, that’s it for today. It always surprises me how much an ‘almost no event’ week produces in impressions but nobody told you to read all this anyway… But it may give you an explanation why I do all this… it gives me real pleasure…

So then till maybe next week!

First pictures and video

A Normal Week

Hi friends,                                                                                                                    

I guess it’s time for an update although not much exiting is happening. The hard work period has started and it is as feared. The brain doesn’t absorb as much and as quickly as it used to (well, it never really was that quick anyway). But I knew it wouldn’t be easy anyway. Thank God my teacher is blessed with patience…                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Last night I had a break in form of an invitation to the National Theater, which is the equivalent to our State Opera, and it is in size and in terms of the quality of the ballet it must be too although admittedly I’m not the expert. But the Swan Lake I saw last night must have been as good as anything you get in Vienna. It was really great both from the dancing as well as from the music point of view. But then again: Swan Lake is one hit after the other….

Otherwise Minsk grows on me. Once one gets used to some of the atrocious 60s and 70s architecture (just like in Vienna) one starts appreciating the many parks everywhere and the intelligent way housing estates were designed. Many are within or around parks must be real nice to live in. I haven’t seen any from inside but I guess some of them might be in need of renovation but then again there is building and renovation everywhere. From my city-side windows I counted about 25 cranes and in the streets (which already aren’t bad) I have gotten used to finding new ways around blocked roads as practically every other day another road is being blocked to be resurfaced (no, this time I’m not exaggerating)

Even the way of shopping I have gotten used to. Today I discovered another ‘Hypermarket’ which is as good as any in Austria and I even found mechanical pencils (I had forgotten mine) which I was looking for the last few days. And then you find things you don’t find in Vienna (or anywhere else as far as I know): beer in 1.5 l and 2 l plastic bottles. I didn’t go for the 2 l ones but the 1.5 l is quite good an idea I find… and it’s quite cheap (1     eur) and tastes very good. Talking about cheap, eat your heart out: 1 l  of gas or diesel is about 0.60 eur! No wonder people drive like crazy. Technically there is a 60 km speed limit in town, technically… the reality is quite different and they are driving more aggressively than in Austria so I have to be quite careful on my little bike.

           

Once you know your    way around you find really everything (including Porsche Design). Well, almost: I still ha ven’t found rain trousers for riding on the motorbike and thank God I’ll hopefully get Leo’s from Vienna once the next people are coming from Vienna. On Tuesday and Wednesday I got quite soaked but at least found some nice rubber motorcycle boots. The problem only was that it rained so much that the water was coming in from the top…. yes, there is supposed to be a good public transport system, but you know me…

           

And the other night I discovered that around the Swobody Sq. the motorcycle crowd is meeting in the evening. Amazing the tools they are showing off. Nothing less than 500cc and quite a few Harleys and Gold Wings including custom neon lighting and blasting stereo…yes and sexy bride, of course… Naturally with my 125cc I stayed out of their way…        

           

Today it was beautiful so I took my Yamaha and went to look for t        he memorial for the about 60000 mostly Jews from Austria that were murdered in Mala       Trostiniez between 1942 and 1944. It took me a while to find it as it isn’t big and there is no real explanation except a sign in Russian which talks about 206000 killed. T  his, however, is historically wrong and probably the figure of all people murdered in the     Minsk area, including about 100000 Russian prisoners of war. But what do figures mean    in this context anyway? The atrocity of these crimes is anyway difficult to imagine… This country definitely has suffered more than their share. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maly_Trostenets_extermination_camp

With this sobering sight I leave you for today, more when there will be something to report…

Sunday after Victory Day

Hi again,

It’s Sunday night and some of you expect some discipline in my reporting… and one of these days I’ll learn how to get pictures in the right format to attach…

Well, I stopped at the end of Thursday. On Friday I, or better we, that is Ivan and his crew and I, continued battling the bureaucracy by getting my passport translated and the translation notarized, an important building stone for admission to the university. He called me about 11 and I rushed to the bank and yes, he had the document and I wasn’t even allowed to accept the coffee invitation of Maria from HR but immediately had to go to ‘”my” university.

Meanwhile I knew the way well and within a few minutes my Yamaha got me there and I went up to the admin office where I already was expected. They filled out 3 forms required to pay in the fees and sent me off to another bank about 10 min by motorcycle (and I shudder to think what it would have taken by public transport) which was comparatively easy as only one person was ahead of me. So after another 15 min (sic!) I had gotten rid of my USD 860 for 1 months tuition (on individual basis, not group!) and was back on my way to the university where immediately, it was now about 1pm,  they introduced me to my teacher Galina, a nice lady of about 50+ who speaks excellent Russian and French and a little English and German. Actually she is the ideal teacher for me as we are basically forced to communicate in Russian as my French has turned real bad and therefore the other languages are really only for emergency use…

You may have noticed that I didn’t have any time for lunch as we immediately started the instruction. Normally there should be a 20 min break after each “academic hour”. Not with Galina! She went on until I protested about 3. We took a break in the cafeteria (she hadn’t even known that) where I got some coffee and a snack and we went back upstairs to continue the instructions. Shortly after 4 she finally gave in and I felt drained… (she too admitted some tiredness). It is quite impressive that straining your brain can be physically exhausting.

What I had not expected was the effect on my Yamaha’s battery. It also suddenly showed signs of exhaustion and I barely was able to get it started. Funny actions on my LED display followed but I managed to get home. But that was it! Once home there was no more starting. Well, I called my guardian angel, yes, Ivan, who immediately organized a motorcycle mechanic for the next morning at 820. Meanwhile I tried to recharge the battery with my special charger and it looked ok for a moment but as soon as I got it into the bike the current dropped. After some further checks by the mechanic the next morning and a trial jumpstart it was clear: the battery had died of sudden death. Well, no prob, let’s get a new one… Much easier said than done in a country with a low, I’d say ultralow 2-wheeler population (today I saw 2 and I was on the road for about 40 kms in town). So you might guess, Ivan found one by noontime and delivered… I still don’t know how and where he found it (have to ask tomorrow) but it is a Bosch and very reasonable. So I was “back in business”, however by that time the weather turned from 24C to 4C at night with complementary rain which made me recapitulate my lessons from Friday and learn some vocabulary. Yes, it is difficult and takes even more effort than 48 years ago… but then she said that I wasn’t doing so badly… we’ll see the result in about a month.

Today, Sunday in the morning I continued my revision and vocabulary repetition but by noon had really enough. I hopped on the bike and proceeded to the center looking for a place with WIFI as only then I could download some literature on my Kindle (compliments of my staff, really thoughtful). One of the coffeehouses on the main street (Nesavisimosti) claimed to have WIFI so I went in. After some difficulties were solved by local staff I was able to log in and had quite a decent lunch too.

Back to full strength I proceeded my discovery of the city by driving around, finally ending up at the War Museum. It’s a rather drab 50’s building next to the People’s Palace and the Cultural Palace but once you are inside it’s daunting. As an Austrian a medal certificate of a German “Gefreiter” for participating in the occupation of Austria in 1938 right in the first showcase was the introduction. The rest was exclusively in Russian with the exception of German Army and SS declarations. But most pictures told more that 1000 words and many were really awful to look at. What this people had to suffer was definitely far more than their share! And it makes understand the certain skepticism towards everything German (maybe except their cars) although I am told that more students now chose German over English. I would like to go back though if I could get a proper guide who could get some more information about the many objects and pictures… It is really difficult to understand how it is possible how a museum like this has not a single publication in any other language than Russian…

After this I went to the Komarovsky market and surroundings, Minsk’s answer to Les Halles. Well, not quite, but still quite impressive. It’s quite a large modern (60’s ?) structure selling predominantly meat in any shape and form thinkable and judging by the attendance on a Sunday about 5pm very popular by the Minsk population. The same can be said by the vegetable market next door. I got some very nice tomatoes and strawberries (intensive red and tasting strongly, yes, like strawberries, not like that stuff from Spain we are used to). And further next to it are again some markets, not the fancy mall-type but pretty much like, say in Hongkong or Jakarta, one little stall next to the other, interspersed with some larger shops. Here Minsk’s girls and ladies apparently get their stuff to make them attractive… But by that time it was 6pm and many of those shops were shutting and I found it was time to get home. On the way I stopped at the concert hall to check their program. At the end of the month Fedosejew will be conducting. Let’s see if I can grab a ticket…

I just realize, again so much, sorry, but then again I’m enjoying myself here quite a bit and the city in spring is quite nice with it’s many chestnut trees abloom everywhere…

Till next time or as he said: I’ll be back…

 

Around Victory Day

Dear Friends,

It’s time to recapitulate the last few days…Tuesday I, and for the better part my helpers in the bank, spent with getting me registered at the police as otherwise I’d be an illegal alien and ready for deportation… Ivan also thought that I should maybe plan to stay a little longer and therefore extend my health insurance. Anyway, the registration was done in record time (usually takes 3 days) and so there was no more hindrance to get registered at the university and start the program. At least that was what I thought… Wednesday everything was shut as it was one of the highest holidays in this country: Victory Day!

It’s actually quite understandable if one realizes that 80% of Minsk was destroyed during the war and the Nazis committed incredible atrocities in this country so that the liberation by the Soviet troops indeed was an extremely welcome event. The fact that Stalin also suppressed the Belorussians pales against that. Also few people in the west probably realize that the German (and Austrian) prisoners of war were obliged to help rebuild much of what they (and the Russians, of course) had destroyed before. In this context it was interesting to hear from one of my supporters here that her parents live in an old house that after the war was rebuilt by German prisoners of war and that sticks out through superior build quality that has only required minor restoration work over the years.

So there was a parade of  the second WW veterans which I went to see. The access wasn’t that easy as security was very tight (the government district was totally closed to low level aliens like me) but everybody was very friendly about it. Lots of children and young people were there, both at the parade and as spectators. It was all very relaxed and only the very first detachment of the army was in parade step, the rest didn’t even march militarily although they were playing marches… It really was more like a strolling of thousands of people to honor those that had died for their country. Quite impressive…

Then I changed location to Komsomolskaya Lake where the celebrations continued in the form of  food and drink and folklore programs. Actually quite nice, I listened to the Belorussian State Choir which contributed both patriotic but also folk song and dances in quite splendid costumes. I did some videos but haven’t figured out yet how to upload….

After that I went “home” to fix some damage of my motorcycle carrier that I had inflicted during reversing in a tight spot (despite my rear view camera). Now it’s back to how it was before (almost ;-) ). And yes, my motorcycle proves to be a brilliant investment: just the right thing to get around town efficiently and comfortably as the public transport system appears to be quite efficient, but rather crowded at times. Surprisingly there are few fellow 2-wheelers, and if yes then on rather heavy equipment like Honda Goldwings and the like. On the other hand you see hardly cars that are older than 5 years and I think I have seen less than 30 old cars of Russian build (apart from trucks). Traffic is heavy at times but seldom stuck as the almost total destruction during the war was used to redesign most of the town with rather big avenues.

Equally the reconstruction has resulted in some big Stalin-style buildings in the inner city and apartment complexes in the suburbs. The architecture is mixed and I must admit that not many of them are attractive to my eyes (but neither are those in Vienna or elsewhere). To their credit it must be mentioned that some of the destroyed buildings now are being reconstructed, apparently to give the inner city some more atmosphere again. What really sticks out is the construction activity everywhere: underground lines, office buildings, apartment buildings, streets. The whole place is full of cranes and deviations…

Otherwise it is clean and I feel safe although being told to watch out, but really couldn’t see for what yet. What impressed me also was the number of banks and casinos (maybe related). For a country that has gone through several crisis and whose people aren’t exactly that rich it must be also for the visitors from the East as I didn’t notice too many from the west yet. What I have never seen before elsewhere are ‘flat screen’ traffic lights. They are the latest technology with LEDs instead of bulbs and look quite smart.

Yes, and in the evening there were big, impressive fireworks…

So today I was at the university for the first time. No, not to get taught but to get registered. Well, so I thought… I was missing a translation of my passport which has to be notarized which hopefully will be done by tomorrow…. Only then I can pay and then I’m really in business… The rest of the day I spent exploring the shopping situation which is less impressive than say NY, London, Paris, or Amstetten … but I’m not here for shopping and so far I have found really everything I needed (and that included some tools and other normally hard to find things). People here seem to be less concerned about ‘shopping’ and spend their time with getting together with friends etc.

Now that I’m settled I’ll probably check out some of the museums and other cultural spots so if you want to find out more stay tuned….  

This got a bit long, but you don’t have to read it anyway if you get bored…

Finally in Minsk

Hi friends!

yes, I'm delayed... many things had to be taken care of before I finally could leave last Fri afternoon. Against my original intention I had to skip my detour to 'my' orphanage in the Ukraine and I also broke my promise (to myself) of not using motorways, stopping wherever there is something interesting to see etc. Instead I took the fastest route to Minsk, via Brno (where I slept around the corner from Villa Tugendhat ,
http://www.tugendhat.eu/de/
alas I couldn't visit due to the mentioned time constraints)  and on to Warsaw where I had a short reunion at Josef Wancer's house. After a delightful early dinner I went on (guided by my GPS through an unpaved one motorhome-width dirt road with no turnaround possibility and swamps left and right) to the main road which got me to the town of Minsk-Masovietski, about 200km before the Belorussian border. After a beer in the pub I had found what I thought was a nice side-street to spend the night, when somebody from across the street came over and asked in good English if I wanted to spend the night in their garden. I was first very surprised but gladly accepted and was promptly invited for a glass of wine and after the second and third one we were friends...
I don't think it will be that way always, but it was exactly what I had hoped for: meeting nice local people.

Sunday morning I left shortly after 7 with anticipation of my crossing into Belarus. To make a real long story short: I arrived at 1000 and left at 1530....! I have no idea why it took so long as when it was my turn they were quite friendly and while I had to run for a few different documents for the temporary importation of the MH and mcycle the customs people were quite friendly. They dubbed my vehicle "Datcha" which I kind of liked.... I arrived abt 8pm in Mnsk where I was met by Ivan Varenitsa from Priorbank who escorted me to the place where I'll stay during this month, a very nice apartment which belongs to the bank. He also helps me with all my registrations and got me a phone and net sim card, in short behaves like a kind of guardian anel... Today I took my Yamaha to the bank and had lunch with those board members in town. The CEO is taking a few days vacation. Minsk is very green especially now in springtime and apart from tomorrow for which the forecast is bad the next days should be quite pleasant. The rest of today I spent shopping for some supplements for my place, the car and foodstuffs etc. Tomorrow I should get registered and mybe even start my language training.... stay tuned....