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December 6, 1998
Hi Friends and Family,
We haven't talked since before Thanksgiving. That's OK because not much has happened since then- at this end anyway. It's still cold although yesterday it went above freezing for a few hours. That was the first time we saw wet water outside in almost a month. Today it's cold and clear again so I expect all that "wet" is now ice. Oh well, in 1812 this is about the place and time where Napoleon was having second thoughts about invading the Russian Empire - but he pushed on over the ice and snow anyway. Maybe if he'd been a bit less stubborn and turned back from the killing Russian Winter, we'd all be speaking French. I know I'd trade Winter for French.
It really is the holiday season now. We did Thanksgiving at the school director's house out in the 'burbs. It was reasonably convenient for me since I had to work but his house is just a mile or so from my office. (The bad news is that it took the driver over two hours to deliver both Marianne and me to the house because he got waaay lost.) But it was a fun bunch of Americans and it seemed like a very normal Holiday - nice table , turkey, cranberries, kids and lots of laughs. Just to show that we are a partying group, we then had another gathering for brunch on the next Sunday. It's not possible to watch football like regular Americans but we at least talked about watching football - that's the best it gets.
Now we are into Christmas preparation. The local Christmas doesn't happen until January 6 and 7 but the international community starts much earlier. Marianne's relatives sent a picture from Mikulas Day (Santa's Day) in Hungary - that's today, December 6. The costume looks pretty authentic and that's Adam, Marianne's second cousin (I think), under the beard. His mom exchanges pictures with us from their home in Budapest and some day we'll fly there or take the 26-hour train ride. That train ride may be enough to satisfy our desire to take the Trans Siberian Railroad because it sounds more manageable than 7 days and nights.
Yesterday, we went to the International Bazaar. It's a charity operation with all proceeds going to orphanages. Marianne's school had a face painting booth and she was one of the star painters. In principle, we could also shop for foreign specialties from a couple dozen countries but the crowd was just amazing. This was, without a doubt, the most crowded place I have ever been in. And it was active crowding with pushing and shoving throughout. I managed a glass of French wine and a cheese baguette, a Brazilian drink (caipirinha) and lunch (feijoada) and little else.
On the way home, Marianne posed in front of the Opera House and we stopped by our local grocery and bought a week's supply of ham and cheese. We like this clerk because she's actually friendly and friendly clerks are quite rare in this formerly-Soviet community.
Today, we'll make one more run at tourist gifts for Christmas. No pictures though because it might spoil the recipients' surprise. Or, pictures might simply warn the recipient to have an excuse ready for why they are allergic to cheap painted boxes, nesting dolls, old Soviet flags, etc.
I leave for the States next Saturday (12th). This is a week early because my sister and I are moving my Mom from California to Maryland. Mom will be nearer my sister and in fact nearer me since my company's offices are in Maryland and I have to go there once or twice a year. I go to California on the 12, back to Maryland on the 16th and then join Marianne in-transit on our original flight to California on the 20th. Then I'm back to Maryland on the 28th and on to Kyiv on the 6th of January. I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to the travel since my time zone clock will be so confused it'll be Easter before I recover. But it will be nice seeing friends and family again - and talking in regular English.
Take care and enjoy the holidays. We'll see some of you folks in the next few weeks.
John & Marianne
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Originally mailed December, 1998. Reformatted for website May 12, 2001.
This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.