What makes the FSU so interesting?

[Shadow]

You ask their mothers.

Which leads to an interesting question. If a mother divorces and re-marries, does the patronym change? And is it considered a stigma if the patronym of a child does not match the first name of the stepfather?

[mendeleyev]

Good question, Shadow. The patronymic does not change as it identifies the father and is part of the birth documents/records of the child.

Stigma? Not usually.

[Anotherkiwi]

Good question, Shadow. The patronymic does not change as it identifies the father and is part of the birth documents/records of the child.

Stigma? Not usually.

Seriously, mendy, how do you find out the name?  Just as an example, imagine that I'm going to Moscow on business for the first time.  Someone in the same industry has suggested a couple of good contacts, and has set up a meeting.  I've never corresponded with these particular people, so how on earth am I supposed to know that Boris Ivanov's father is called Alexander?  Or that Maria Romanova's father is called Ivan?
 
Even if our mutual friend knows the answers, and has told me, what would happen at an evening function (as another example) where I'm introduced to half a dozen new people?

[ML]

Seriously, don't sweat it.

I have met with hundreds of business men and women in FSU.

I only use their first names, and some I mangle quite badly.

No one cares.  These are sophisticated people and realize it is hard for outsiders to get all the formalities correct, just as they don't get everything correct referring to us.

Just be careful in use of the 'tender' names with business men and women.

i.e. Probably shouldn't start calling Svetlana, Sveta too soon or Valentina, Valusha too soon.

[Anotherkiwi]

...I only use their first names, and some I mangle quite badly.

No one cares.  These are sophisticated people and realize it is hard for outsiders to get all the formalities correct, just as they don't get everything correct referring to us.

Thank you!    That's all I wanted in the first place. 

[mendeleyev]

You often have to wait until they are introduced. If the use of patronymics is necessary in a conversation, then the person doing to the introduction will include it for your benefit. If you are meeting the other person without the benefit of a neutral person doing the introduction then they'll announce it themselves such as "hello, I'm Лев Николаевич Толстой (Lev Nikolayevhich Tolstoy) or they may drop the family (last) name and go with the first and patronymic.

In correspondence, match what you see. Whatever they use in a letter is what you'd use to reply. If you are the first to make correspondence do a little research even if it means calling that person's office to inquire.

When all else fails, play it safe to start. Use господин и госпожа ("gah spah dEEn" = Mr and "gah spah ZHA" = Mrs/Ms) until you see the direction the conversation is going. Those titles fell out of favour during the Soviet period but are making a handy comeback. I carry 3/5 cards and make notes in group settings.

If single, it doesn't hurt to play the "struggling foreigner" role either. Stroll over to a friendly looking pretty face, show your 3x5 card notes and ask for help. 99% of the time she'll lead you over to the persons in question and facilitate the introduction and you'll have scored points all the way around as everyone will both understand your language struggles while at the same time appreciating the level of effort you've shown.

If you're lucky and the pretty face isn't already married, such as to some government official or a Chechen mafia heavy, you may have enlisted the willing assistance of a new friend to help you learn more of the non-business side of Russia.

[Shadow]

If you're lucky and the pretty face isn't already married, such as to some government official or a Chechen mafia heavy, you may have enlisted the willing assistance of a new friend to help you learn more of the non-business side of Russia.

But do keep in Mind that in Russia she does not have to be married to be considered 'property' by said official or 'brother'.

[mendeleyev]

Ah, good point Shadow.

[mendeleyev]

The Mendeleyev Journal:

(German colony outside Kherson, Ukraine)

In 1919 the Red Army was killing landowners of estates across Ukraine. In the German colony of New Askaniya, Sofia-Louise Bohdanivna Knauff owned a large estate that her family had turned into a nature and wildlife preserve. From buffalo to deer to Ostriches and Peacocks, the estate was open for the public to enjoy with hiking trails and opportunities to picnic and enjoy nature.



Fearing that the communists would not care for the wildlife and the preserve her family had created, she refused to turn over the property for which she was shot on the spot.


(New Askaniya founder Friedrich-Jacob Eduardovych Falz-Fein.)

The new Soviet state turned the estate into a reserve for researching plant life on the Ukrainian steppes and over time began to reintroduce the animals which the founders had once protected.






Located near Kherson, New Askaniya Park remains a haven for wildlife and a treasure for the Ukrainian people. The ducks seem happy to swim in the ponds and the buffalo are content to graze on the rich grasslands of the estate.





The founder, Friedrich Falz-Fein was the first zoologist in the world to implement a model of natural reserve to be later recognized by UNESCO as the prototypical structure of a biosphere reserve in 1972.

No, those aren't retired football referees, those are real Zebras!








The largest bio-sphere of this kind in Europe, the estate covers 825 kmē (318.5 sq mi). New Askaniya is officially one of the seven wonders of Ukraine.





(Photo tribute to photographer extraordinaire Anna Panchenko)

[mendeleyev]

Months of repairs have been completed to Lenin's mausoleum on Red Square and public tours are again available.

Other than the TV reporters mistaken pronouncement that the tomb is a "popular" tourist attraction (it isn't and hasn't been for several years) and the ditzy American blonde's question about whether the body is really Lenin or just a wax figure, yes the tomb is now open for tourists.

Don't worry, you won't have to wait in a long line.

[mendeleyev]

Yalta is one of the most beautiful spots in Ukraine's Crimea:

[mendeleyev]

On Monday a deadly tornado struck Oklahoma in the USA, on Tuesday President Putin called USA President Obama to express his condolences, and on Wednesday a small tornado-like storm struck a suburb outside the Russian city of Tula.


Storm clouds form over Tula, Russia. photo: VOR

In his message to the Americans, President Putin expressed his sympathy and support to the families and friends of the victims, conveyed wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured, and stressed Russia’s readiness to provide any assistance that may be required during the relief efforts.

It is a small world and we are connected by means often other than geography. Not yet 24 hours after that message, wind shears from a micro burst ravaged 29 blocks of high rise apartments, 4 schools, 2 kindergardens, and 167 single family homes in the town of Yefremov, a suburb of the city of Tula.

Technically different from a tornado, micro bursts can cause large amounts of damage but generally are not as deadly as a tornado. Micro bursts can be wet in rain storm prone conditions or in dry desert areas.



Voice of Russia radio is reporting that the Ministry of Emergency Situations has declared a state of emergency in the western Russian region of Tula. Thankfully no deaths have been reported so far and local hospitals have treated around two dozen injured persons.

[mendeleyev]

www.MendeleyevJournal.com

They came to the Donbass Arena, orphan children eager to prove their football (soccer) skills against the professionals. After four seven minute quarters, the kids won by a score of 2-1!



Ukraine's best professional soccer team, Shakhtar Donetsk, recently crowned Ukrainian Premier League football champions and Cup winners, played valiantly but was no match against the kids as the orphan children outplayed and outscored the professionals on Friday, 24 May.



The team donated new uniforms and shoes and paid for the children to travel to the stadium. The team, Shakhtar Donetsk, played a charity match against a team comprised of 111 children from area orphanages.



The kids won! Imagine that, final score 2-1 in favour of the children. All the children got the chance to play in the rotation.



After the game the players autographed the children's jerseys. Very classy.



 

[mendeleyev]

(www.mendeleyevjournal.com)

Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem is making his first official visit to Russia and yesterday had an opportunity yesterday to sit down for a visit with President Putin at the presidential summer residence in Sochi.



After thanking the two Patriarchs, Kirill of Moscow and Theophilos of Jerusalem, the president welcomed them and their guests to his summer home.

Mr. Putin began his formal remarks by thanking Patriarch Theophilos for supporting the Russian initiative to build a pilgrims’ house in Jordan by the River Jordan. Mr. Putin went on to say, "We have very good relations with Jerusalem. Many Russian pilgrims visit the Holy Land. Our Russian Orthodox Church and the Moscow Patriarchate have a longstanding presence there too. I am very pleased to see that the two sister churches have developed such good relations."

Patriarch Kirill of Russia stated that "such meetings strengthen the relations between the Moscow and Jerusalem Patriarchates and further the cause of peace in the Middle East."

Patriarch Theophilos III acknowledged that the visit to Russia was of great importance for both churches, saying that "we see it as a historic event that seals the good relations between our two churches and also the ties that exist between the honourable Russian people and the honourable people of Palestine."

President Putin also invited Patriarch Theophilos to return for the Russian celebration of the 1025^th anniversary of the baptism of Rus in July of this year. The celebration will begin in Moscow on July 24, on the feast day of the Holy Blessed Princess Olga, grandmother of Prince Vladimir who brought Orthodoxy to the Kievan Rus in 988.

Recently Russian Patriarch Kirill had announced that the festal liturgy would be served in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It is expected that other Orthodox Churches will participate and the sacred celebration will move to Kyiv (Kiev) the place of Prince Vladimir's baptism  where a solemn divine service take place on St. Vladimir's Hill, at the monument to Prince Vladimir.

The July celebration will conclude in the Belorussian capital of Minsk with divine services held outdoors and followed by a large folk procession.

[SANDRO43]

Il Palazzo del Quirinale
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirinal_Palace)

What has it got to do with Russia ? Allow me a LONG, off-topic digression and I'll explain, eventually .

Today, June 2nd, is our Festa della Repubblica:

commemorating the institutional referendum held by universal suffrage in 1946, in which the Italian people were called to the polls to decide on the form of government following the WWII and the fall of Fascism. With 12,717,923 votes for a republic and 10,719,284 for the monarchy, the male descendants of the House of Savoy were sent into exile. To commemorate it, a grand military parade is held in central Rome, presided over by the President of the Italian Republic in his role as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Our President decided that this year our Festa should be less grand than usual - no military parade on the central Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome - as an example to save public expenditures in our still difficult economic situation.

Our national TV aired tonight an interesting documentary on the Palazzo, the enormous official residence of our President on the Quirinal Hill - Collis Quirinalis is one of Rome's 7 hills - which was built in 1583 by Pope Gregory XIII as a papal summer residence. It was also used as the location for papal conclaves in 1823, 1829, 1831, and 1846. It served as a papal residence and housed the central offices responsible for the civil government of the Papal States until 1870. In September 1870, what was left of the Papal States was overthrown. About five months later, in 1871, Rome became the capital of the new Kingdom of Italy. The palace then became the official royal residence of the Kings of Italy.

Among other things, the documentary showed the huge collection of tableware amassed there over the centuries, including sets of fine Sévres porcelain used for official dinners.

And now we finally come to the Russian involvement .

Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin (1676-1727) was the Imperial Ambassador to the court of Louis XV in 1724-7, where dinners were served placing simultaneously on the tables ALL the courses, so that what was warm would soon become cold and viceversa .

It seems that Kurakin then suggested to bring the fare to the tables one course at a time, thus establishing a new modus operandi that we still observe nowadays .

[mendeleyev]

Nice job, Sandro.

[Lily]

http://youtu.be/JN-n9qawVJc

[Lily]

[mendeleyev]

Who knew that the resignation of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin would generate so much heat on the day of his resignation in order to hold new elections for the position on 8 September of this year?

So when black smoke began to pour out of downtown Moscow Metro entrances, commuters joked that only when white smoke appeared would there be a new mayor, humorous references to how Western Popes are elected. As cute as the jokes went however, it was a serious situation inside as electric cables caught fire forcing the busy Red Line to shut down for several hours and commuters to be evacuated from the trains.

The high-voltage cable caught fire around 8:30am in a tunnel between the Okhotny Ryad and Biblioteka Imeni Lenina stations of the Sokolnicheskaya (Red) line, just a stone's throw from Red Square and the Moscow Kremlin. The fire started just as the crowded morning commute was thinning out yet some 4500 passengers had to be evacuated by fire and emergency workers.




Ambulances filled the streets outside the stations and at last count the number of injured stood at 76 persons. Sixteen of them were hospitalized of which four are in intensive care.



foto: teh-nomad.livejournal





Metro officials are asking commuters to use other stations and say that the Red Line will be returned to service by sometime today (Thursday).



foto: twitter user@Anna09d




Mayor Sobyanin had been appointed in 2010 to a five year term by then-President Medvedev but surveys showing overwhelming support for direct elections led the mayor to announce his resignation and to declare his desire to run for another term in September. Some say that the calling of an early election may yield to the people's demands for direct election instead of presidential appointment, but a quick election gives little time for challengers to plan and wage an opposition campaign.

Who will run the city in the meantime? Moscow is a federal city, operating much like a state, and one of only two such cities in the Russian Federation. Not to worry friends, Kremlin sources say it is likely that President Putin will appoint Sobyanin as interim mayor to serve until the election.

[Anotherkiwi]

Metro officials are asking commuters to use other stations and say that the Red Line will be returned to service by sometime today (Thursday).

One great advantage of the stations on the Ring line (for a foreigner, at least) is that they each have such distinctive architecture.  I can therefore say for certain that this is the wonderful Komsomolskaya station, looking rather more crowded than when I spent a day just taking photos of all the stations around the Ring.
 
Hopefully, mendy, there have been no further problems and that everyone in hospital is on the improve.

[mendeleyev]

The final total hospitalized ended at 11 and most of those for smoke inhalation.

Yes, that is one of the most beautiful stations!

[mendeleyev]

Plov (плов) is a middle eastern rice pilaf dish found often in places like Uzbekistan. Cooked all day in large containers outdoors, the dish is a delicious blend of rice, meat and vegetables with seasonings.




Ingredients
Rice, 500 grams
 Meat: lamb, pork, chicken or beef
 2-3 large carrots, 400-500g
 2 onions
 2-3 garlic heads
 Seasonings for pilaf (cumin, salt, black pepper, barberries, coriander, chili)

Preparation:
Wash/soak the rice for an hour
 Cut the onions into half rings
 Cut the carrots into strips
 Garlic: peel off the top of the husk

Cook:
Saute onions for 6-7 minutes, add the meat and fry until brown
 Add the carrots and cook until carrots are tender.
 Pour boiling water into the pan to cover the meat and turn down the heat and simmer for an hour.
 Add rice over the meat slowly while stirring, add seasonings and increase the heat to / medium / high.
 Pour boiling water to cover the rice by 1-2 cm
 After the water reaches boiling add the garlic to the rice and reduce the heat and simmer until cooked.
 When the rice is cooked reduce heat to low and leave for 30 minutes.
 Serve hot

Total cooking time is about 3:00


Salad:
Rinse an onion in cold water and cut into half rings
Add greens such as spinach or lettuce
Season with black and cayenne pepper
Lightly add vinegar and then olive oil. mix
Stir in chopped tomatoes and season with salt
Sprinkle with basil, gently stir

[mendeleyev]

Okay, so it isn't Russia or Ukraine. But it is Mongolia, on Russia's southern border and on the Trans-Mongolian route to Beijing. I don't know if you are familiar with the TV programme "An Idiot Abroad" but this is very entertaining. Plus, you'll learn a lot.

[Anotherkiwi]

Okay, so it isn't Russia or Ukraine. But it is Mongolia, on Russia's southern border and on the Trans-Mongolian route to Beijing. I don't know if you are familiar with the TV programme "An Idiot Abroad" but this is very entertaining. Plus, you'll learn a lot.

Never seen it before, but definitely entertaining!

[ML]

Plov (плов) is a middle eastern rice pilaf dish found often in places like Uzbekistan. Cooked all day in large containers outdoors, the dish is a delicious blend of rice, meat and vegetables with seasonings.

Interestingly, I just had this yesterday, and will be having more in days to come.

Ochka made a large batch of this before she left, put it into meal size containers, and then into freezer.  She also made some other items for freezer also.

She was afraid I would be eating too many TV dinners if she didn't do this for me.

Nice woman.