Username  moscowexileContact Info No contact information available. My Interests No interests yet. Quick Comments | 01-10-2008 01:25 PM |  |
If anybody had told me 24 years ago that I would one day be living in Moscow with a Russian wife and three children, I should have told them nothing was further from my mind, for at that time I had been working as a coal miner in my hometown for fifteen years: my job, I was then led to believe, would provide me with employment until my retirement.
However, there came a national miners' strike and in 1985 the British mining industry was liquidated. I could not find work in England and sought employment in Germany, where unemployed British miners were being recruited "im Ruhrgebiet'.
To cut a very long story short, I began to learn German (unlike the rest of my English colleagues) and passed exams in the German language. I was then urged to take a degree in German in the UK in order to better my employment prospects in Germany. I was granted a university place in England to study German but then, much to my surprise, I was told that I had to study another language, about which I knew nothing, in parallel with my German studies.
Such a system, namely studying a language from scratch or, to use the academic Latin phrase "ab initio", always applies to students of modern languages: it ensures that they do not have an easy ride whilst studying only one language that they are already skilled in using.
I was only given two choices for my ab initio languages: Spanish and Russian.
I chose Russian. I had to make my decision during my interview with my future German professor. At the time, I did not really know why I said "Russian" without any hesitation at all. Perhaps it was because I don't like warm climates. In any case, the result of my instantaneous decision to study German with Russian is that I have lived in Moscow for almost 15 years now.
I often think that if I had opted to study German with Spanish, then I would very likely be married to a Spaniard now and living in Madrid and my children would perhaps be called "Jose", "Margarita" and "Pedro".
My children borne by my Russian wife have dual British-Russian nationality and are called "Vladimir", "Elena" and "Aleksandr".
I should have liked to have continued my language studies and had an inkling to learn Dutch, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian, but my marriage in 1997 and the subsequent raising of my family put an end to such plans, as did my marital responsibilities put an end to my travels: having arrived in Russia after having graduated in 1991, I intended to work my way across Siberia to the Russian far East and thence I intended to travel to Alaska and settle in Canada. |
| 01-10-2008 11:33 AM | |
Klingt interessant. Ich wäre wohl nie auf den Gedanken gekommen um nach Moskau auszuwandern.
Sofern es für dich kein Problem ist, schreibe ich auf Deutsch weiter. Ansonsten ist Englisch kein Problem. 
Irgendwann später habe ich auch vor Österreich zu verlassen, mir schwebt Südamerika vor, da ich derzeit auch Spanisch lerne. Ich denke, dort kann man viel erleben.
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| 01-08-2008 08:41 AM | |
I am a teacher of English as a foreign language.
Why should you think that I would find it easier to answer in English? I have lived and worked in Moscow for 15 years; before settling in Moscow, I lived in Germany after having graduated in German and Russian: I studied both in the GDR and the USSR.
I must say, however, that the majority of my countrymen and United States citizens believe that everybody in the world speaks English and that they, therefore, have no need to learn another language. As regards this opinion, I am certainly not a "typical Englishman". |
| 01-08-2008 05:49 AM | |
I guess it's easier in English for you?
May I ask you what your work is?
I'm working in hospital management.
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| 01-08-2008 03:12 AM | |
Grüß Gott!
Jetzt gehe ich nach Arbeit.
moscowexile
Moskau |
| 01-07-2008 10:35 PM | |
Have a great new year! Please visit my profile and say Hello  |
| 05-06-2007 03:43 PM | |
I liked reading your curriculum. Another Brit who has accepted the Russian way of life. I arrived in August 1968, always returned and continue enjoying this country and the company of my old Russian friends. Needles to say that I had a lot of opportunities over here. In 79 I published with two Russian friends the underground art magazine A-YA. Not long ago the Ministry of Culture republished all the journals we had produced and honoured us for having promoted, what used to be "prohibited art". During the past 5 years many articles written by me have been published in the Russian Cigar and Lifestyle magazine Hecho A Mano. At the age of 70 I take things a little easier, spend time in Moscow, Montreux and London.
To you and your family best wishes.
Jack |
| 03-25-2007 05:45 AM | |
Quoting moscowexile:
Good morning!
The clocks went forward last night. Don't know why they do this. It causes all sorts of confusion. The US switched to Daylight Savings time a couple of weeks early this year. (although Hawaii doesn't change). Thank you for stopping by. You should post some pictures of your 2 children for us to see. Aloha! |
| My Media No media file selected. Recent Blog Entries No entries to display | About Me Gender Male |
Relationship Status Married |
Country Russia |
City Moscow |
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