L'viv

Last weekend I was in L’viv. It’s beautiful (mostly baroque) city close to Polish border with an amazing history. It belong to Poland, to Habsburgs , than Poland again. After WWII it became part of Soviet Union. The city is an encyclopedia of major European styles. The old center is breathtaking with beautiful old buildings in renaissance, baroque, rococo and neo-classical style . Everything was build in a very solid manner as during last 70 years (under Soviet rule and since its fall) no money has been invested in maintenance of beautiful buildings. Yet they still shine. While old buildings overwhelm you with their past grandeur - presently you see that the city and its people struggle economically.
But where is no money people have time - so L’viv has contagiously relaxed atmosphere. I tried to capture some http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/LVivCityscapes .
Cobblestone streets meander through the city and while architecture is breathtaking, ladies negotiating cobble stones in high heels are amazing. In L’viv it is difficult to see a woman in heels less than 10 cm. I tried to capture some of them http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/LVivHighStandards .
On Saturday the city is full of brides. I sat and enjoyed a Viennese coffee while brides were passing by http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/CityOfBrides
L’viv is 535 km from Kiev. This first time I went by car with my friends Kees and Catharine. We took my car but Kees was driving. He lives in Ukraine almost 5 years and usually races through Kiev on his BMW motorbike. He is used to the Ukrainian driving style.
Ukrainians think that once they are in a driving seat they underwrote an immortality policy. We had few close calls. On our way to L’viv we were stopped by police three times. First time only Catharina noticed police tried to stop us. Kees was driving too fast to stop. Second and third time police got us. Over speeding. But policemen do not speak English and I was hiding my rusty knowledge of Russian. So they let us go. The third stop was quite interesting as the policeman wanted to write a protocol which he will send to Kiev. Kees will be called to go to the court. The court will decide upon a level of penalty fee. “Writing a protocol” in Russia means you walk with a policeman to his car and while he asks you for papers accidentaly some 100 roubles (that was few years ago) find a way from your wallet into your documents. You pass doc’s to a policeman. He flips through them, takes money, returns doc’s, and you are free to go. Still unfamiliar with Ukrainian customs I just said: “No protocol. No court. We pay now. How much? “ The policeman gave me a strange look, became speechless, waved his stick and let us go. Russians are more pragmatic.
From Kiev to L’viv and back we took E40 - a main road route to EU and kind of East-West Ukrainian highway. Judging by appalling route condition EU is centuries away. Outside Kiev I have not spotted one fancy car Kiev is buzzing with. On E40 I saw mostly old timers: Zhigulis, Volgas, Ladas… En route we passed villages where people plough with a horse, a woman carries hay on her back, village women try to sell strawberries, apples, potatoes or pickles along the road.
The road is full of heavy trucks all bringing to Kiev goods from Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Netherlands. Few trucks have expensive cargos like BMW 4WD, Lexus cars etc…The difference between living in a capital and in a village 200km away is huge.
Once outside the city the landscape is amazing. Even on my poor photos one can see how rich the soil is. I heard they can have three harvest seasons a year. There is no reason for this country to be poor. Next to amazing landscape the best thing along the road are stork nests. I was lucky to catch few on my photos http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/EnRouteKievLVivE40AndM06
This weekend I go to Odessa.

Some good news

Have some good news to share. The weather improved and I started to make trips outside Kiev. Last weekend I was in Pirgova, an ethno-park about 30 min drive from Kiev. I went there with Alexandra, an Ukrainian freelance photographer, her boyfriend Kolya, my friend Catherina and Frantisek, a colleague from ING Prague who arrivd here to help me to put things in order. It was a lot of fun. The school year finished on May 30th and lot of graduates came to the park to celebrate. On attached photo you can see a typical school uniform. We had great weather and I enjoyed shooting. For photos of Pirgova please check:
http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Pirgova
Another great news is I finally found a lady to clean my home. Finding one was like an executive search. I appreciate many of them finished university and have BA and/or MA and merciless random life events put them in a position of considering a house cleaning job. But some interviews were weird. One lady tried to convince me I do not need a cleaner three times a week as I live alone. Another one told me she does not like pets so I should not take a dog. One announced she takes two months holidays in July and August and cannot start before September. Finally two weeks ago I found Yulia who is 28 years old and has a 5 year old daughter. Yulia is unemployed and with her husband builds a house about 30 km from Kiev. She is "pure" Ukrainian and does not speak much Russian. Her Russian is as rusty as mine but we manage to understand each other. So far she cleans well and is very nice.
Last week Esra gave birth to five puppies and one of her boys will come to Kiev. I will call him Igor. In Russian Igor means the warrior. I'm fighting here so many problems I need a warrior by my side. Igor was also the first grand prince of Kiev. There is a Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. I hope my Igor will not write barking symphonies. I will get Igor in about 3 months. For photos of wonderful tibbie puppies see :
http://home.kpnplanet.nl/~O.enM.ottens@kpnplanet.nl/Pagina%206%20PUPPIES%20ESRA%20X%20MARVIN.htm
I hope to be able to visit a puppy during the summer. Maria and Sandra – the proud tibbie breeders (http://www.tibbies.nl/) - already investigated what is necessary to get Igor to Ukraine. It seems next to my normal work - getting paperwork arranged to fly Igor to Kiev will keep me busy for weeks.

May mood

I am bit embarrassed that more than two months passed since last blog. But last two months have been quite tough.
My grandma passed away on April 1st. She died in sleep at the age of 92 but it still came as a shock. We all expected that given her upbeat attitude she would live few years longer. I’ll miss buying underwear for her. The last time I saw her she was chatting up a waiter. Her funeral was a surprise for us – the family. We expected a small one with only family members and few close friends attending. It turned out to be a large one. Her five girlfriends with whom she walked almost daily around Sljeme came. Distant relatives from Slovenia I never met before arrived. Friends from work – although she stopped working 42 years ago. She had a hard life but nevertheless she knew how to live it and share it with others. It was eye opening to see how many people she touched in her life.
While at home for the funeral I saw my dad who is not getting better. My mum tries everything to hold him on. We all pray and hope he will manage to pull out.
As Tibet was closed due to March unrest my trip planned for first two weeks in May was cancelled. There was an idea to go to Sikkim but I was told at the last moment I need a visa which I could not arrange on a short notice. So I decided to go home instead. It was good to spend time with my family. For photos taken in my parents’ garden please check: http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/VugrovecMay2008. I also went for a few days to Holland. This was my second trip to Holland in two weeks as I also needed (to finally) arrange my working visa at the end of April. In last two months I travelled a lot.
At work we are slowly sorting out the mess. I had two audits and an inspection. Based on their reports we now start to put things in order. But it remains hard work with almost no time for private life and socializing.
My stuff from Seoul arrived on April 12th but due to lack of time my flat is still messy. It takes time for things to find a new fitting place.
Since cold and depressing March now in May Kiev turned into a blooming garden. Countless elegant chestnut trees decorate most of Kiev streets at the moment. With such generous help from nature Kiev looks dramatically improved.
I still have not found a puppy but I am working on it and hopefully will find one soon.

Hospital and waltzing in the metro station

Catharina - a friend of mine I met first time in Bulgaria in 1999 had appendicitis on Friday. She is in Kiev since 2004. I went to see her in the hospital. The taxi stopped in front of the building which hardly resembled a hospital. I called Catharina’s husband Kees to check if I am in the right place. I described him a building and he confirmed I am in the right place.
There is no reception. Security guards read news papers and do not bother checking visitors. I took elevator. Catharina's room is on the 4 th floor. But Kees explained I have to go to the 5th floor and then walk one floor down as elevator does not work for the 4th floor. There were hardly people around. I saw few nurses just to be assured I am in some kind of medical institution. I wondered around a bit until I found Catharina’s room. Nobody stopped me and asked me what I am doing. Surprisingly open place. Catharina looked well – considering everything. Rooms are clean but basic. See photos.

Beds are made in a very strange manner. Overall it’s better than Bulgaria in 2000 where elevators did not work and one had to bring own bandages, syringes, toilet paper and food.


Every Sunday at 18.00 in the metro station Teatralnaya Kiev’s pensioners meet to dance and sing. There are two accordion players and a drummer and they play Ukrainian folk songs. There is also a choir. As there are more women than men, women pair up and dance. It’s a great sight.

Internet service

Office work keeps me busy. Still making very long hours. But have few things to share.
I moved to my place last Monday. I needed internet connection. The internet guy was first scheduled for Wednesday, but that did not work out. He came on Thursday afternoon. I expected "geek" stereotype – but the guy who came was far from it. He is young and his English excellent. He came in a suit. He expected to fix the connection within 15 minutes but he stayed longer - about two hours. While he was fixing wires we did some small talk. He asked where I work. My answer was “I have very boring job in the office”. I did offer a coffee. After about more than an hour trying to fix the connection he took his jacket off. And I saw he has a gun.
He noticed my jaw dropped and started to explain that he has two jobs as the one with making internet connections does not bring much money (USD 500 monthly). The other job involves carrying a lot of money and walking along criminal streets and he needs a gun as a protection.
I regretted I gave him a coffee. What if it makes him jumpy? I was also happy I have not told him where I work. In an attempt to give some credibility to what he said or perhaps to calm me down he gave me his business card. It said he works for some Swiss foundation connected to the police. I politely took the card.
He did not succeed to make a connection on Thursday. We agreed he'll come again on Friday. I canceled the appointment. I want a stereotyped geek with glasses thick as ashtrays and without a gun in his pocket.
I shared this story with the guys in the office. Showed them a business card. The guys laughed and told me it is not a problem to copy official cards here.
Armed internet service aside there is one thing I noticed watching Russian TV (I do not have a cable yet). There is amazing amount of military/war films and programs on Russian channels. The amount of Russian militarism on the TV is frightening. All Russian channels have old Soviet army movies (WWII, spy movies, cold war movies, Afganistan, etc) or contemporary antiterrorist (anti Chechen) movies. Daily news program covers government officials visits to arms factories. Guys in uniforms play “Wheel of fortune” or similar programs. That’s not Russia I know.
It could be that the last week was just a foreplay for today’s big holiday. Today – on Saturday - it is the Day of Soviet Army or what in Russia they call “Day of Defenders of the Nation”.
In the office we also celebrated the Day of Soviet Army. One guy brought his army hat. I wonder if this celebration is only a melancholy for old days. But why would anybody be nostalgic about old Soviet cold war days? Here are few photos of the Soviet Army Day Celebration in the office.



One evening coming home this week I got lost at the metro station and asked a young girl for directions. I asked in Russian but she spoke English. Her name was Anya and as she was going in the same direction we started to talk. Anya works as a dealer in casino and gets USD 600 per month. She deals black jack, poker, and whatever other card game they play in casino. She counts cards the whole day. She also told me there are about 80 casinos in Kiev. Never thought of Kiev as some kind of Las Vegas.
I will finish with a note about a bank account. I am now three weeks here and although ING expands in retail banking I am unable after three weeks to open an account with ING or any other bank. Therefore next week I’ll be paid in cash. There are about 7 people working on the issue of my bank account opening but they could not find a solution yet.

First week

I am slowly settling in. As expected the first week was hectic. Took some time to get work email functioning. Something went wrong with my account. Apparently – on Korean side. I would be surprised if the email transition was smooth. I spent days in meeting, interviews , etc. In general I just tried to get some sense of what is going on. I am still amazed how polite and warmhearted people in the office are.

Due to retail expansion there is not much available space and temporarily I share the office with two young guys - Stanislav and Vyecheslav. They take care there is enough chocolate, soft drinks, sandwiches and cakes in the office. With them I cannot loose weight…They are also fun and we share jokes and tease each other. After Seoul my jokes are a bit rusty but I am catching up. During the last week I laughed more than in 3 years in Seoul. They are telling me fun office stories. I am updated on the office gossip and getting filled on different personalities fast…
I also looked at apartments. Moscow's experience came very handy. I did not flinch looking at overdesigned bedrooms with glass ceilings, bright yellow kitchen, huge flowers painted on the walls, strange light fixtures, winter gardens, BBQs, etc…I saw about 12 apartments and on Wednesday found one I liked. I wanted that the COO from the bank checks the place too and we made appointment for Friday at 1 pm. The flat has a great location (in the Center between two subway lines). It’s not overdesigned and has two guestrooms (if I recall correctly). It came with a garage parking. Friday morning I spent in meetings and when I returned to the desk and checked the mobile I had 7 calls from Katja – my broker. She was frantically calling me as some Russians from Switzerland also liked the place and were ready to pay cash for one year immediately - the same afternoon. First I thought “bullshit” but Katja convinced me that she trusts the owner and that the story is possible. So Kees and I went to see the place. Kees liked it to. The owner was there and told us that the Russians want to move to the flat at 16.00 pm. But as he does not like Russians and prefers lease longer than one year if I commit by 15.00 the flat is mine. So it was Gordie vs. rich Russians with their cash from Switzerland. Plus I had to clear the price with the HO. I did not believe it would be possible to get the HO’s response by 15.00 hours but miracle do happen occasionaly and on Friday at 15.00 hours the landlord agreed to rent the place to me. Ukrainians really do not like Russians - even the cash rich ones or especially these. The contract negotiation starts tomorrow but as long as the contract is not signed one never knows what might happen in meantime. Perhaps Russians will appaer again...
Over weekend I worked few hours at home. Saturday afternoon I spent with Kees and Catherina who are in Kiev four years. We went to Bessarbaski covered market. The building is from 1901. Fantastic art deco but I was mostly amazed by amount of veggies and fruits. Did not see such abundance for long time. More photos of Kiev and market are on http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Kiev_Feb_08
Saturday and Sunday evening I went to the opera. Norma on Saturday and La Traviata on Sunday. Norma was excellent.