I have arrived. I am home.

In a strange way, I feel very settled here, as if I've been here for months. Yet Moscow is still incredibly unfamiliar.

Having spent so much time in Europe and in a range of different parts, I didn't think I would experience any remarkable culture shock coming back to Europe. Sure, there plenty of places here I hadn't yet seen (notably Eastern Europe or any former Soviet state), but I assumed the culture and people would be at least identifiable. And yet, while the city and people did initially appear familiar, Moscow is very a new experience for me and in a word, foreign. To a lot of people (and to myself, to a certain extent), that's an intimidating thought. But it's also as much as I could ask for. In my life (and at the risk of sounding cliche), I've found stepping out of your comfort zone into something completely fresh and new, even alien, reveals more to you about the world and yourself than any other experience.

Disclaimer: I love Western Europe. I think it has immense beauty, culture and depth, and I can personally attest to having some amazing life experiences in some of the countries there. But I wonder, how different is the culture than the United States really? In the scheme of things, not much I'd say. As Americans, look at where our ancestors come from (scroll about 2/3 of the way down to the "Ancestry" section). Not any surprises in that top 15, right? Western Europe is fun for us to visit (no more links, promise) because it feels familiar. It's where we come from. We can relate to it, our history is entrenched in it, and it is recognizable and native to us. Obviously that's a big attraction to many Americans, but for me, I've been around the block a few times. I thought it time to try something new. To challenge myself.

And thus I find myself, in Moscow, Russia. Perhaps not as distant as the Orient or Africa, but it is still the furthest from home I've ever been. The places I'd moved to before (San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Graz, back to New York) had all felt very new at first, but never took too long for me to acclimate to. These places revealed many great new things to me, but in retrospect were hardly too outside "ordinary" for me. For the week and a half I've been in Moscow, I've been expecting to gain that quick sense of familiarity and warmth* and comfort, but it's been fleeting and elusive. Part of this has been my inability to explore as much during the week because of my busy work schedule as well as the fact that I only know a handful of people here. But I'm beginning to realize a major reason for this semi-isolated and uneasy feeling is that moving here was a bigger step into the unknown than I thought. And that is incredibly exciting to me. 

The concept of starting over for a few months scares and exhilarates me. At this point in my life, I fully embrace change and I would hate to stagnate or plateau. I am now in a place where I think I can learn something that I wouldn't have before, staying in my happy Brooklyn box. Russia is an enormous and complex country, and Moscow is a direct microcosm of that. I've gotten my footing here and I am anxious, motivated, intimidated, energized and ultimately excited to continue exploring here. Outside of work, I have no direction and I'm perfectly OK** with that. 

Since my last update, I've gotten a broader perspective of the city. Here are some extensions of my previous observations:

• I mentioned before that commercialism and consumerism were rampant here. The more I thought about it, the more I think this comes back to the fall of Communism here (of course). When the Soviet Union fell, the carpet was essentially pulled out from underneath the people in a very real way. Wanting to distance themselves from their past, Russians clung to anything different and new. With the freedom to buy whatever they wanted, people made up for lost time and started spending freely and thus, an intimate attitude towards consumerism was born. In a way, Russia is now a very young country, still finding it's identity and culture. Now everybody wants a slice of the pie, hence the overwhelming focus on shopping/fashion, technology and driving (everybody drives here). That's the modern way, and it is rooted in the rebirth of the country.‡ 

• I also mentioned that people (particularly older people) have a way of not looking you in the eye and simply looking straight ahead at all times. This has to do with the old ways of Communism as well. Cultural exploration was dissuaded, so people minded their own business and kept to themselves. This tendency of older people to stick to their old traditions actually revealed a really fascinating juxtaposition between the old and new generations here. When young people notice you here-- whether it be because you are ravishingly handsome, speaking English loudly or simply because you caught their eye-- they will burn a goddamn hole in you with their eyes.They don't play that subtle eye game that people play on the subway in New York when you pretend like you're not looking at someone but you're totally checkin' 'em out. They let you know they're interested in some way. And I think this difference is representative of the city as a whole and the clash between the old and new cultures is something to behold. One of my favorite observations so far.

• The food. Right. So I would say I'm fairly open-minded when it comes to food, even a "foodie" at some points. I expected to dive right into the local cuisine and eat like a Russian while I was here. The thing is, Russian people don't really eat traditional Russian food. I've seen more McD's and English-style pubs here than I have Russian restaurants. Most people I've talked to rarely eat the stuff. I think it's because Russian food is kinda, well, weird (I lied about the links. Just click it, it's relevant. Even if it is a BuzzFeed article). It has a very old fashioned feel to it, like these dishes have truly been around for centuries. But I can actually say with a straight face that I enjoy it. It's very reminiscent of the culture, and I like that. Disappointingly, they don't really drink that much vodka either. I'm gonna still act like they do, though.  

At the risk of boring or overwhelming you, I will write a second part to this post about some of the things I've been up to. I want to take some time to edit the pictures I've taken as well. Plus, I'm tired˟. I will share with you my favorite picture I've taken thus far.

Hopefully you can get a sense of what it's like living here, from my perspective and in general. As you can tell, I'm still figuring this place out and it mystifies me in a great way. Understandably, it gets lonely venturing in the unknown by oneself but the sense of adventure mostly drowns that out. And besides, I have you guys to share my experience with. 

From Russia, with love,

Eric

§ Recommended listening:
Yo La Tengo- Fade
Darkside- Psychic
Future Islands- On The Water
 

*Not talking about the weather. It's actually been mostly pleasant since I've been here.
**A Russian person told me that the world "okay" came from a Russian phrase or something. Seems relevant. I have no idea if that's true.
‡ Just my thoughts, not necessarily true. Remember that.
˟ I'm 8 hours ahead of the East Coast, which means a full 11 hours ahead of you West Coasters. 

§ Music has definitely already contributed immensely to my experience here, so I'm gonna feature a few relevant albums on each post. Feel free to give 'em a listen. 

The title and subsequent picture in this post comes from a publication by Thich Nhat Hanh. I'm not familiar with his work nor am I Buddhist, I just think it's cool.

First impressions of Москва

It's hard to believe that the last time I was outside the United States was just under three years ago, when I was studying abroad in Austria. It certainly doesn't feel like Graz was so long ago, and I'm sorta disappointed I haven't traveled outside the country since then, considering what a profound experience that was. Gotta feed the wanderlust. I have traveled around inside the country though (and I did move back across the country), so at least there's that.

In any case, I now find myself smack dab in the center of Moscow, a city I admittedly knew little about before coming here. Regardless of what you know about their past or present, this is a complex culture and people, something you can't really begin to understand until you have the chance to experience it personally. And while I came here for work, I plan on making the most out of this trip as possible. I should have some time to travel (Sweden, I'm coming for for ya) and even just being outside of the US for a little while will be a welcomed break. Without further ado, my first blog post (in a while):

What better place to start than A summary of my short time here thus far:
Sunday
I landed on Sunday and got to my apartment around noon or so. I've got to admit, my company hooked me up with a sweet place. Very spacious, fairly modern and clean, furnished and just all around home-y. And in an odd way, it does seem like a home for me already (or at least a home base), though it could use some personal touches. For the rest of the day Sunday, I mostly slept (9.5 hour flight with minimal sleep + 8 hour time change) and settled into my apartment, to the sweet sounds of football (of the American variety).
Side note: Whenever I'm traveling, I vow to stay out of my apartment/hotel as much as possible, and now that I'm settling in here, I plan to make good on that (however difficult that may be once the weather turns).
Monday
Yesterday, since I am technically here on work, I headed to my project site for the day (an oddly similar commute from what I'm used to in NY-- a ~35 minute door-to-door subway commute).  First impressions of this project are mostly positive. My boss (Cecil), a transplanted Texan, has been in Moscow for around 12 years or so and has much useful advice to share with a newcomer to the city. While his personality and mine aren't too similar, we get along well enough and there's certainly much I can learn from him. The other members of the Turner team are a younger local engineer (Sasha) as well as a Turkish engineer (Emrah), both extremely friendly and accommodating. I'll get more into this later but all in all, I think working here will actually be pretty cool. Afterwards,  I was able to explore my neighborhood a bit, buy myself some groceries (always an adventure), watch the finale of Breaking Bad :( and break in some of the pots and pans in my apartment before turning in (still getting over that jet lag a bit).

This is my apartment. If you look closely, you can see this fella parading around in his boxers.

Tuesday
Much of the same as yesterday, but today I was able to explore some of the sites a bit. I took a quick trip to the Red Square with my real estate agent (hehehe...) and took a quick peek at one of the most famous sites in all of Russia. I wasn't able to spend any significant time here but it was nice being able to explore a bit and see some of the city after being somewhat confined before. For starters, St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kazan Cathedral are some of the most unique buildings I've ever seen. They look more like something out of a toy box than an actual structure. Once you wrap your mind around the fact that these are real structures, you realize how truly beautiful they are. Ridiculously complex and ornate, Ivan the Terrible supposedly had the architects rip out their own eyes after building St. Basil's so that they could never design something so beautiful again (hmmm... so maybe Russians are a bit crazy). This is one of those sites that gives you an  insight into what the 16th century felt like. You can feel the history around you.
 I wish I could have stuck around longer because St. Basil's really is hard to take your eyes off of. I will certainly be back here again.

The Northern entrance to Red Square

Yes, St. Basil's is a real place.

I can't be serious, especially not for tourist pictures. C'mon.

St. Basil's and Spasskaya Tower

While I've only been here a few days, I can at least comment on the biggest stereotypes and FAQs I've personally been asked:
1. Yes, it's cold here. It's been in the high 30s to mid 40s since I've been here, which is obviously isn't bad (even though fall technically just started), but the temperature is dropping. And judging by the way the Muscovites talk about the winter, it's going to  drop. Luckily, it's been mostly dry with little wind since I've been here, so the weather has been more than bearable.
Here's to hoping for a mild winter (or at least while I'm here).
UPDATE: Since writing this, I was informed that this is supposed to be one of the coldest winters...ever. Like -50 F (-45 C) cold. Uhhhh maybe I'll leave around Christmas time after all.
2. From what I can tell, Russian people are indeed a bit crazy (look at their president for chrissakes), but not to the extent that everyone believes. I did see a guy try to walk across 8 lanes of a busy freeway (to which our driver shrugged and said "eh, it's Moscow"), but that's about it so far. Though there is something about those high cheekbones that makes everyone look a bit too serious/suspicious all the time.

Some dangling Russian window washers (from a 35+ story building, mind you). OK fine, Russians are crazy.

3. Yes, the women are beautiful. Even the average ones. It sorta took me by surprise. It has something to do with how everyone always looks their best in public and again, something about those high cheekbones... I promise to revisit this again later.

Oh yeah, the Olympics are going to be here in February. Maybe I'll stay past Christmas after all.

From my first few days here, I can certainly say Moscow is unlike any city I've been to before. It has the the sprawl and size of LA, with more architectural styles that I could count on both hands. While Communism still has its fingerprints all over the city, it seems that Moscow has over-Capitalized to make up for lost time. There is no shortage of shopping malls or advertisements, and the locals readily recognize the impact of commercialism and consumerism on the city. It's not a bad thing necessarily (though almost everything is absurdly expensive here), it's just an interesting contrast to what people normally think about Russia. Given the size, extremely foreign language*, and less-than-welcoming people**, it's a city that I will need some time to figure out. It doesn't have the upfront charm of Paris or New York (or even Graz) but people seem to genuinely love it here and I look forward to understanding why.

I feel like when I studied abroad, I could have updated my blog a bit more, so I'm going to try to write a bit more regularly this time. I plan on writing less about my small, day-to-day activities and more about any particularly profound experiences and observations, as they are what's truly interesting. This post ended up being a bit longer than I envisioned, but Moscow has somewhat of an overwhelming first impression. In any case, I enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences, I hope you enjoy reading them.

UPDATE: I'm writing this after an uneventful Wednesday (I know, I know). I am about to go out for a few rounds with some of my new friends and coworkers. I am the only American and I suspect real Russian vodka will be involved. The way I see it, you'll never really understand a city unless you get drunk there first. I blame any decline in quality on this. Cheers! За ваше здоровье!

*Since I'll be here for a similar amount of time, I am determined to leave here at least as fluent in Russian as I was in German when I left Austria. It is a wildly complex and intimidating language, but I do already have the alphabet down and you'd be surprised how quickly you can pick a language up when you are immersed in it everyday.
**Pretty much all of the people I've met so far are welcoming, accommodating and friendly. The people you see walking around though are suspicious of any foreign people or behaviors, and the police have a reputation for harassing anyone they want. Everyone sort of minds their own business, and people rarely even look at one another. It's somewhat off-putting.