Life As A Teacher Of English To Students Of Other Languages In Moscow (Ben story)

Life As A Teacher Of English To Students Of Other Languages In Moscow (Ben story)

Introduction
In The Beginning
Teaching
Summer camp
Moscow
Random Day Trip to "Scherbinka"
The Moscow Metro
The Militia
Night Life

Introduction

I'm Ben, and this is my little spot for random thoughts and wild rants. If I come across something interesting I'll be finding its way into this section to become what I hope will be something worth reading.

A little about myself: I'm 32 and working for BKC in their Molodezhnaya school. I've been in Moscow since July 04 and I am loving every second of it. Previous to this I spent 13 years in the British Army, reaching the rank of corporal. Essentially I am still part of the Army. I am only on leave here, albeit unpaid, until my return to the forces in Nov 05. I've served in Northern Ireland, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, and Cyprus as well as having been based in Germany for the best part of 10 years. I'm single and always have been and unless I learn how to grow out of adolescence I probably never will be!

I enjoy clubbing and the company of others. I also like sailing and travelling.

In The Beginning

Since having left the Army in April my life has been turned around on its head. My initial plan of leaving for Russia after only a short break in the UK was not to be. Visa complications and other red tape prevented me from getting the teaching slot I had anticipated getting and as a result I was left stranded in the UK for a month longer than I desired. I took a job in a factory making rope during this period, probably the most mind-numbing job I have ever had to do! The company wasn't up to much either, recruited from the dregs of society that live in the estates of my home town. Still, it paid a wage and kept me in the lifestyle that I was accompanied to, A lifestyle that was to change dramatically, although I was totally unaware of this at the time.

Things were going fairly smoothly right up to the time when I was due to receive my Letter of Invitation, an essential document required to obtain a visa from the Russian Consulate. UPS managed to get it cleared through Russian customs with only one weeks delay before losing it after its arrival somewhere in the UK. With no time to arrange another Invitation and travel arrangements already made and paid for I was forced to travel on a tourist visa and hope I could obtain a full visa when I got to Russia.

Another set back was waiting for me at Birmingham International Airport. My luggage was considerably over the meagre baggage allowance and cost me one hundred and forty pounds prompting me to think that maybe I should try to get more into my hand luggage next time.

By sweet comparison, my arrival in Moscow was smooth if not swift. Customs officials in Russia are in no rush at all to process the mile long queues that wait standing in line by the checking booths. Once I had waited in line for about 90 minutes I was finally allowed to approach one of the customs booths to be interrogated. The female official took my passport and seemed to stare at me of all of 2 minutes before doing anything. Then she attempted to ask me some questions in Russian which I, not knowing any Russian, could not understand. So I just smiled nicely at her. It sort of did the trick as she let me pass without another comment. My luggage was all accounted for and I exited the terminal. I was greeted by a stunning woman in a powder blue suit holding my printed name up on a large piece of card. Seeing this made me feel somewhat relieved and also a little important as no one had ever met me off a plane holding up my name on a piece of card before.

The ladies name was Natalia and she was a member of the administration office in BKC, the language school I was going to work for. I was presented with a document that told me everything that was to happen to me in the next few hours of my stay in Moscow, along with some Rubles, some fresh bedding and washing items, a map and the keys to my flat. I got into the company Lada, a car that is somewhat ubiquitous here in Moscow.

Arriving at my flat which was on the forth floor of a high rise building in Bagratyonovskaya, I was reminded of a visit I once made to the Stasi Museum in Berlin. The furniture and decor were straight out of the USSR of the 1960s. The pale green and striped gold wallpaper was reminiscent of rooms I had seen in films about Soviet Russia. There was no time to inspect the place as I was ushered off to the companies head office to have my visa processed and be given my timetable for the next few days. I had arrived on a Monday and was to start teaching on Friday. In the meantime I was to go through the company's orientation schedule; learning about pacing schedules, student placements and other parts of my new job. Having met with the Director of Studies and other key members of staff I was escorted home on the Metro underground to make sure I got there without getting lost.

Teaching

My first class was at a school in an area of Moscow called Kropotkinskaya. It was an all female Upper Intermediate class shared with 3 other teachers. I was quite nervous for this first lesson but the class were in no way hostile. Quite the opposite in fact and by the end of the lesson I had developed quite a rapport with them.

My first class.	My apartment building.

The linguistic ability of the class was varied and it is evident to me now that many of the students were incorrectly placed. This mix of abilities caused by incompetent administration staff and/or teachers was to appear quite often in many of my classes to follow.

Arriving in the summer meant that my lesson schedule was somewhat sporadic and saw me teaching in four different locations. Most teachers would baulk at this but as a new arrival I was more than happy to be sent hither and thither and to see the sights on route. I am on a thirty hour contract but I started initially only working twenty four academic hours (one academic hour equals forty-five minutes.). Sounds good, but each lesson can take another one two or even three hours to plan and prepare depending on experience and which text books you are using. Any teacher or instructor will tell you that teaching is easy if you know the subject, therefore its pays to know exactly what it is you are teaching. Languages change constantly and linguists are always finding new grammar rules or making new ones so if you don't know what a non-defining relative clause is or the difference between a gerund and the continuous then you have some work to do. Its always possible to fumble through a lesson but students are not stupid and will see straight though you if you do. Simply being a native speaker is not enough for some students who have a low tolerance of ambiguity. They will press you for a full explanation of any grammar point they fail to grasp which can really hold up a lesson if you let it.

If I had known that teaching like this was as much fun as it is I would have done it years ago. There are downsides to it like any job but they are far outweighed by the plusses. So far I have had only one student who didn't like me, or any other male teachers for that matter. In order to get a female teacher she fabricated a sexual harassment story instead of just asking the administration staff for a female teacher. It can be like that here. In the UK I'd have been suspended and investigated and my fresh reputation would have been tarnished before it had even begun. Here however I was given more than just the benefit of the doubt, I was encouraged to put it behind me and not worry about the pretentious wife of a rich husband with delusions of grandeur. She got her wish any way and was given a female teacher, who after two lessons refused to teacher her anymore because she would do the work assigned.

Summer camp

The countryside around Vladimir, a town which is part of the "Golden Ring" and where the camp is located, is very different to the green hues that you see in England. The earth here doesn't have that dark, rich quality of the countryside where I come from in Malvern. The land here is of the same kind of terrain that you see all over Eastern Europe with a pale, gritty, sandy earth that gives rise to course grasses, towering pines and aches of Silver Birch trees. It's in these surroundings that the sanatorium of Sosovny Bor is situated. The Building itself is very much one from the Soviet era with a distinctive "unfinished" appearance to it; the grey bricks and mortar are exposed to the elements instead of being plastered or tiled.

Many of the buildings appear derelict from the outside and certainly not safe for human habitation so I was greatly surprised to note that some of these buildings housed offices or flats. Strange that the exteriors of these constructions has been so neglected, yet the windows are sparklingly clean.

The air here, while just as warm as Moscow lacks its humidity and is a great deal more refreshing and I was glad to be here for that reason. After two months of enduring the summer in that huge city it was a relief to breath the clean air here. Not all of the buildings are old, the company has invested a lot of money in some new buildings that serve as either classrooms or accommodation and a new gymnasium complex is under construction alongside a newly built Banya. The varied paths that lead around the place bring you to few places of interest other than a small shop that only opens in the mornings, a small village which appears to have randomly appeared from nowhere and a small beach which lies alongside a narrow river. The waters which flow here are clean enough to swim in and you can hire a canoe for a day, arranging to be picked up downstream if you wish.

The river with its beach. Swimming are Vlad and Luba who became friends of mine.

This is mostly a quite place, peaceful and calming. I say mostly as the school disturbs this piece infrequently with discos that are held in the sanatorium for the children, and the occasional firework display. While I had no objection to any of this I decided that joining my colleges on a wooden patio some distance from the sanatorium itself was the better location to be in. Here we could drink our beers and have a cigarette in peace without the children seeing us. It was also a chance to meet with the people who work there and talk with them and it was interesting to see how that life here was in now way rushed or hurried.

A view from the sanatorium.

The patio, with some of the administration staff on a team building day.

The children are forever active, until it comes to teaching them. It takes a certain amount of drive to occupy their minds and to maintain their interest. It should be remembered that all of them, including the youngest ones were dancing until midnight the night before. To capture their imaginations I decided to do some tasked based learning, where things had to be constructed as a team using English to communicate. The lesson most enjoyed by all my students was the "River Crossing" activity which I had them prepare for unawares the day before. An area of land about 3 meters by 8 was marked out. This was the river. In it there were deadly piranha, made by some of the students the day before. Using ropes, benches, string, planks they had to get themselves and a heavy water canister from one side to the other. You can see in the picture how this was done:

After a day of activities like this the children were naturally quite hungry so along with the other teachers I made a point of attending mealtimes a little early. Russians have no concept of queuing and the rush for dinner can be likened to a flock of gannets attacking the remains of a fish in a harbour. Everyone just gathers around the buffet table and jostles for a position where they can reach over everyone else to grab what they want. How the attendant who tried to dish out the meals remained calm I am not sure, but I know I lost my patience with them when I first tried to eat there only to be pushed out of the way! In 13 years of Army experience I had never witnessed anything like it.

Teaching on the whole was not as easy as it was back in Moscow, but this didn't make it unpleasant. This children, or young adults as quite a few of them where, had been there a long time. One had been abandoned there for nearly three months. I was there for the last week of the camp so tempers were fraying and the novelty of being there was long gone. Still, the atmosphere was still good and everyone enjoyed the shashlick barbecue on the final day.

All in all it was a pleasant experience and I'd do it again. Yes really! Perhaps with a little more experience, the next time I go it'll be even more fun.

Moscow

Having travelled to many countries I am accustomed to experiencing culture shocks of varying degrees. Russia is possibly the biggest surprise to me. The body count here seems to be as high as Iraq right now as rival drug dealers/arms dealers/bankers/property tycoons/night club owners etc. fight it out amongst each other for the best places. There is a huge divide here between the wealthy and the proletariat. The middle class are the thin line of division and I am meant to be part of it. I still can't afford a washing machine though so I scrub my clothes in the bath. Mind you, after so many exercises and operational tours I am no stranger to that! Moscow is not what I would call a beautiful city. Most of the architecture is grey, dull, monolithic and uninteresting. Even the parliamentary "White House" fails to impress and doesn't require a second glance. However, scattered around the city are a great many wonders that simply have to be seen by any visitor regardless of the duration.

The Cathedral of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God and Red Square

Naturally the first place I went to see when I got here, and actually only ten minutes walk from the central office school where most of the administration for BKC takes place. Summer hadn't quite arrived by this time so there was a cool air blowing around the streets when I went to see it. More commonly known as St. Basils cathedral (there is a chapel inside dedicated to St. Basil which was added later hence the confusion with the name) it lies on the southern end of Red square with the red bricked Kremlin wall looming over its western flank. Lennin's tomb is also here, an orange marble structure which has seen many Russian heads of state stand upon it addressing the populace or saluting hoards of goose stepping troops in knee length boots being followed by absurdly big missiles carried on the back of even absurdly bigger tanks.

By Day…..	and by night.

Red Square looking north towards the State History Museum.

Lennin's Tomb

Victory Park

This is the first park I went to see. I live less than a kilometre from it and I can see the towering obelisk that dominates its centre. Nike, the Goddess of victory, can be seen near its top facing south east towards the city centre in admiration of the Kremlin and its leaders!

Here the is a huge open air military museum with a collection of pieces from WW2 and some prominent Soviet tanks and planes. It was quite exciting to see these with my own eyes instead of on slide shows from aircraft and AFV recognition lessons. Strange to think that during my time in the Artillery as an air defence Gunner, these were the very aircraft I was trained to recognise and shoot down!

Hind.	Hip.
Frogfoot.	Don't know.
Fitter.	Fulcrum
Flanker.	Fishbed.

The park is vast and is one of the best maintained ones in Moscow. In winter the roads are sprayed with water which then freezes so people can go ice skating on it. There is a small Russian orthodox church here as well as a synagogue. At the north west end of the park is a curious display of naval guns and torpedoes. A large pond houses a stone reconstruction of a WW2 naval destroyer and it is surrounded by submarine turrets, propellers and other boat parts.

The naval exhibition.

Park Kulturi or Gorky Park

Made famous by the Scorpions song "Winds of Change", this park turned out to be something of a disappointment. The huge gated entrance charges a small entry fee unless you are foreign, in which case the entry fee miraculously quadruples. Best thing to do in this case is walk around the back to the car park and get past the lazy security men to gain entry for free. Once inside you are first impressed at its size only to be quickly dismayed at how gaudy the whole place is. Lots of little impromptu cafe and food stands have set themselves up here, all playing different music as loud as possible to attract customers. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to eat there while suffering such a terrible din or why it was even allowed in the first place. I got the feeling that this was a much more pleasant place to be during the soviet era and my guides (students from my first class) were inclined to agree.

Park Skupturi

Visited on the same day as Gorky park as the two are very close. Its one of the worst maintained parks I've visited, despite the dual pricing system for Russians and tourists. I'm no art critic, but the statues weren't all that impressive. There is a team of stone masons resident in then park who constantly churn out different statues, having used power tools to drill or grind them out of the cheap permeable stone. The grass hadn't been cut for months, weeds were growing in every corner and stifling the poorly attended plants and flowers. Still, it was quiet there and was pleasant enough for a picnic and there was a very nice cat that stayed and played with us. Highlight of the day, that was.

A nice cat.	Russia's ugliest monument. Peter the Great or Christopher Colombus, depending on whom you believe.

VDNkH, The All Russia Exhibition Centre.

Once known as the USSR Economical Achievements Exhibition Centre, this fantastic park really does give you a feel of the intense pride this country once had. First opened in 1939, it was added to over two decades and it's buildings, fountains and monuments which represent all the states of the USSR lend the feeling of what it might have been like during the Stalinist period. It is also huge and covers some 200 hectares of land. Again there are the annoying food stands which insist on playing music loud enough to make the bottles of beer they are selling rattle on the stainless steel tops upon which they are sitting. Thankfully however, they are not as prevalent as in Gorky park and can largely be avoided.

The building themselves are most impressive from a distance, all designed in the fashion and style of their native Russian states. Closer inspection though reveals the sad fact that Russia simply doesn't have the money anymore to maintain such grandiose parks. The buildings are in severe need of renovation and all of the exhibitions bar one have disappeared and been replaced with tacky food stalls and mobile phone shops. I was genuinely saddened to discover this upon entering the first and most prominent building in the park. I held out hope as I entered each of the building surrounding the parks ornate centre, only to be disappointed each time to find the same type of mobile phone stalls and mini "produkti" selling food and drink. Still, if you like architecture and I guess even if you don't, you cant fail to be impressed with what remains here.

The entrance.	One of the many impressive but barren Buildings.

The Fountain of the Friendship of the Peoples is the centrepiece of the whole park.

Random Day Trip to Scherbinka

Scherbinka is the southern part of the Moscow conurbation and has liitle or no tourist value. Why go there then? Well, it aroused my curiosity when I was looking at a large map of Moscow. There was a peculiar circle of railway line there and I wanted know why. Its too far to get there by metro so I asked one of my students if they would drive me there. There really isn't much there at all, its just another proletarian suburb. But the railway circle turned out to be a testing track for experimental trains. It made for some interesting photos and the security there were kind enough to let us in through the gate to look around a little.

The Moscow Metro

Moscow's first metro line opened in 1935 and it consisted of thirteen stations. Over a period of more than fifty years it has expanded to some two hundred stations and they vary from the plain and functional to the ornate and lavish. Operating at tree depths at some stations, navigating your way around Moscow this way takes some getting used to, but seeing as Moscow was never designed for mass car ownership and the traffic problems the arise from this it is, in my opinion, the best way to get around town. Opinions vary on this subject, depending on your social status. I asked one of my richer students if she used the metro. Her reply was "Foo! Iks, no! Its not nice, the people smell and you get your clothes dirty!" And she was such a nice girl too..

A tour of the metro is a must for any visitor here. Some of the stations have the appearance of art galleries, with ornate mosaics, bronze statues and intricate lighting. It can get very busy and the trains wont stop to let you on if you can't get through the doors in time, but it's reliable and the school I work for pays for the season ticket. People are often found sleeping on the trains; students between lectures, people on their way to work in the morning, drunks, English teachers with hangovers etc. People here become aggressive and rude and won't wait for you to get off before trying to push past you to get on. Civilised it isn't, but I enjoy using it. Metro timings are from six in the morning till one a.m.

Komsomolskaya	Krasnie Vorota
Kieveskaya mid level and one of the mosaics.
Novokusnetskaya	Kievskaya, lower level.

The Militia

The Militia function as the police. Badly. The traditional role of police officers the world over is to protect and serve the community. Here however the is very little of this evident. People, myself included, live in fear of being stopped by the Militia in order for them to check personal identity and registration documents. The law states that valid I.D must be carried and supported by the registration at an address and any visa's you may need to enter and stay in the country. The Militia will search for any inconsistencies and will arrest you or extort a bribe if they find any. This appears to be the soul function of the Militia and they hang around in groups, usually near metro entrances or tourist traps preying on the unwary or drunk. They are despised by all factions of Moscow residents and disrespected for their lack of competence and professionalism. Why is it like this? The simple answer is that they are very badly paid and trained. The state would much rather spend money on knocking down a perfectly good hotel only to rebuild it than paying a higher salary to the Militia and training them better, which might stop them trying to extort money out of people at every opportunity. Case examples:

1. On leaving the metro with a bag on the way to the train station (I was going on a trip to Tallin), I was stopped by 3 Militia who inspected my perfectly valid passport. After 10 minutes of "checking" it and asking needless questions like "where is your visa" while looking right at it, one of them who could speak some English and knew I was in a rush to get a train, guided me down a dark alley and informed me he was "Russian police" and demanded I give him a "present". I knew what he wanted but wasn't about to give him anything. I decided to show him a half empty bottle of vodka I was going to drink on the train. "how about some vodka? Russian police like vodka?" I asked. Angily, he shook his head. "No, 1000 rubles (20 pounds), you give 1000 rubles." I laughed. "No, I not have 1000 rubles" I said and smiled sweetly. He put his hand on his holstered gun. "I Russian police," he repeated. "You give 1000 rubles." I laughed at his gesture and looked in my wallet and made a great show of it, taking out a 10 ruble note. "Here, have 10!" "No, I Russian police, you give 1000 rubles." "Why?" I asked . "I Russian police, you give present, 1000 rubles." This went on for another ten minutes before he finally realised he was getting nowhere. Handing me back my obviously British passport he said "You bad American!" "I looked at my passport. "Yes" I said waving it. "I bad American!" I made the train with about 8 minutes to spare.

2. At a metro station in the city centre with three friends, one of them Russian. Documents were duly inspected and sadly my American collegue didn't have a required stamp. After half an hour of threats of being arrested and detained in a police cell, which I hear is a definite no-no if you don't want to be robbed and ridiculed, we had to resort paying our way out of the situation, costing 1000 rubles.

3. Red square at night with a female companion. Again three militia stopped us and insisited that my documents were incorrect and had me sent to the police station on foot with a single militia escort. We walked for twenty minutes across the square and when we were out of sight of the others the militiaman handed me back my passport and left. My companion had evidently sweet-talked him into believing we weren't worth wasting time on. A lucky escape.

Night Life

One of the best reasons for living here! Unlike most of the UK where everything stops at 2am, a lot of nightclubs and bars are open for business twenty-four hours a day. Some are affordable but most are not. On my wages, which are about one seventh of what they were in the Army, I can afford to frequent about two thirds of the clubs in this city without worrying too much about the cost. Bear in mind that I earn about a little more than twice the national average. Moscow's expatriate community keep the remainder of the clubs exclusive where a typical night would cost me about two or three weeks wages without pushing the bout out. Some of them simply have to be experienced though to be believed. A good time can be had in just about all of them if you go on the right day, and newspaper guides like The Exile can help you find your way around.

The Hungry Duck

Located in the city centre and costs about 200 rubles to get in.Famous, or should I say infamous across the world, this place is not the den of iniquity it was rumoured to be but it was still fairly extreme. Strip shows take place and the pricing system ensures that plenty of girls come. Drink prices are moderate and the clientele usually don't mind who they go home with. There is no dance floor as such so people usually jump on the bar and surrounding tables and dance there. My first visit saw me being taken home by a beautiful 26 year old, only to be woken up by her somewhat disappointed husband returning home from his own night of revelry. It wasn't all that bad though and he politely indicated that I shouldn't be in such a rush to leave and that I should join him for a morning coffee, despite the fact we couldn't communicate. I obliged of course, before wandering into the crisp morning air to try and find a metro stop.

My second visit saw me being chatted up by a young girl who was bi-sexual. Sadly nothing exciting came of this meeting. My third visit (yes, I really like this place!) saw be being invited onto the bar come stage by a beautiful blonde and leggy stripper who undress herself, and then undressed me. Completely. Photographic evidence is available at www.HungyDuck.com if your are prepared to pay the fee for viewing.

Doug and Marty's Boarhouse.

A peculiar place but generally an agreeable one. Drinks can be outlandishly cheap or expensive depending on the time of day. Mondays are "countdown" days where you can get 4 for the price of 1 from 7 pm, then 3 for one from 8pm and so on. Again, some of the most beautiful women can be found here but watch out, many are on the game. How can you tell? Well, look for the prettiest ones who are drinking soft drinks and look miserable until you get close to them. They're the ones that cost up to 300 dollars a night. Ouch! A recent visit saw one of the teachers from our company, a woman, being followed to the toilet by one of the "Pros" who slashed her leg with something out of jealousy. Equally bizarre was the fact that it was the teacher who was expelled from the club and not the other woman!

Garage

A compact but very popular place, especially on a Wednesday. It can be difficult to get in as it is rather exclusive. Its not cheap either at any time of day, but the atmosphere is usually fantastic and the girls look great. If you are lucky you'll meet some rich, arrogant, narcissistic Italian wanker who hates every but buys all the drinks. I kept adding all my drinks to this idiots tab all night with the result of not remembering how I got home! The small dance floor is often crowded but people don't really go there to dance anyway. Face control can be snuck through if you are not drunk and can talk your way through them in English.

Karma Bar

Also in the city centre not far from the Duck. There is a 200 ruble entry fee. Its popular with university students with money to spend and you get to know the faces of the groups that go there. This means if you end up going home with one of them then you are unlikely to be as lucky with their friends the next time so go infrequently. There is always a good atmosphere here and the music is usually chart music. It has a chillout area where you can smoke a water pipe. Security ensure no drugs are taken or dealt in here which keeps the trouble to a minimum. Drinks are not too pricey and if you are lucky the barman will give you a good deal when buying in bulk. The large dance floor is packed from 11pm onwards and occasionally you will be invited up to try your hand at belly dancing. Upstairs is a separate dance floor playing Latin music and free dance lessons are given between 11 and 12pm. Lots of expats come here so you wont feel too lost.

Dance floor, Karma Bar.

Fabrique

As one of the newest clubs in Moscow, word hasn't really spread yet as to how good this place is. Its has a modern glass and steel design with a dining area and outside bar. The large dance floor is played to by foreign DJs usually from Germany of the UK. Although there is no entry fee, contrary to popular belief, the drinks are a little more expensive than is normal, but its worth it to see tom of the most beautiful women that Moscow has to offer. Talented barmen often give displays of "flaying" al la the film "Cocktail" and frequently set fire to the bar. The atmosphere here is always good and everyone is happy to talk to a foreigner. Watch out for the uni-sex toilets. The ones on the bottom floor are the kind where you have to squat down over a hole. Quite how the girls tolerate this I am not sure and the designer must have had a sick sense of humour. Upstairs toilets are much more pleasant and have the appearance of a sort of space age upside down vulva. A bit like returning to the womb really. At least you can sit down in them. All toilets have long queues after 1am.

Freudian but cosy.	Always good DJs here.

Park Avenue Disco

Located near Taganskaya in the east of Moscow, this club is impressive to begin with. It has a bad reputation as being dirty and lacking in moral etiquette, so that's why I went there. There are three floors to this place and you can eat on two of them. The main dance floor has a stage which often has strip shows. My last visit saw a strip competition take place. Contestants were picked from the crowd and they willingly began to undress. Not quick enough for one of the contestants, who had her clothes of in less then 20 seconds and who then proceeded to drag a guy from the dance floor onto the stage and strip him. Not content with this, the girl treated the entire crowd to a 2 minute fellatio show and non of the security attempted to stop her! If that not enough, there are about 12 booths on the bottom floor which lock from the inside and are just big enough for two and designed for one obvious purpose! The downside to this club is the disappointing ratio of guys to girls, the girls usually being outnumbered three to one.

Other Places of Interest

My teenage class decided to do some research on a couple of places and reported on them. These are their findings; in their words, mistakes and all, which they requested be included in this write up as well as finding their way to the BKC website:

Masha Negodova:

The Matrix Cinema, by Masha Nagodova

I visited the cinema which opened 2-3 years ago near with the tube Krilatskoe. As a result I have some general points to make and some recommendations:

Facilities.

Inside the cinema on the first floor there are shops with clothes, cosmetics accessories and toys as well as a casino. On the second flour there are restaraunts and the cinema with 4 halls. Outside there are cafe and disco. I think that it would be better, if was changing rooms and food wasn't so expansive.

Ease of access:

The cinema is situated in 7 seconds from the tube and the buses go there often enough, so it is very comfortable.

Prices:

I think that the prices were reasonable. Entry to the cinema is absolutely free. You will pay money only if you buy something. There are reductions for children whose age is under than 11. on weekdays prices are lower than on weekends and if you are going to go there with big company, you will have reductions too.

Conclusions:

This is a good cinema and there isn't many complaints for this place. It was very popular, it is very popular and it will be very popular cinema. I recommend that the management should:
A, make the changing rooms
B, make prices for food cheaper than now.

Address: Krilatskoe, Osenniy Blvd 7

Architect, by Anastasia Lvova

Yesterday I was at the new restaurant. It's called Architect. They've open just a few weeks ago. All taste are different, I like this place but I'll tell you about it so you can say.

Firstly the food was excellent. Salmon in mushroom sauce, chocolate milkshake and cheesecake, that's what I had. It was very tasty and not very expensive for me.

Also it is one of the Moscow restaurants where is mini-cinema. You can watch a film while you eating. There are all kinds of movies from Charlie Chaplin to Tarantino. The night we were (Tuesday) there a jazz band "Jazz Time" was playing. I don't like jazz but other people may like that. Actually it was the worse thing about that night. The music was too loud so we can't even talk.

So I do not recommend to go there on a Tuesday but other days it is a lovely place.

Address: Malaia Nikitskaia street, 20.

Swimming Pool In Pionerskay, by Philip Bumbliss

Facilities are excellent. There is a swimming pool inside. With warm water. Inside there is clear and nice. Limited people can go inside.

The swimming pool is between station Kunzevskaya and Pionerskaya. If you want to go there you have to get out of metro on station Pionerskaya and go about ten minutes. Then you will see big white building with blue windows. With parking places for cars.

Prices aren't big. One ticket ia about one hundred rubles.

This is a best swimming pool where I have ever been. But I think they should do a cafe outside.

"Brest Cinema", by Andrey Krilov

There are many cinemas in Moscow. On the whole they are very big and comfortable. I usually go to the cinema which is not far from my house. I never go to the cinema alone. I always go with my friends. We like to share our our impressions after seeing a film.

I like "Brest" cinema, becourse new films are often on in it. This cinema in not big in comparison with other Moscow cinemas. There is one cinema hall in "Brest". I think seven hundred people can see a flim there. But I know a cinema there are twelve halls in it. You have a choise to see an American film our Russian one. It mabe thriller, an adventure our documentary or animated cartoon.

In mine opinion "Brest" is not so big but it's cosy. You can have a cup of tea our ice-cream our cake on the first floor of the cinema. The prices are not so high at that cafe.

"Brest is not far from underground station Molodeynaya. It takes me only ten minutes to get there. I like to go to the cinema but I must say I don't go often. Usually I go to the cinema in my holidays. Almost all people have TV set at home. They never do to the cinema, but most young people visit cinemas, becourse they want to see a film on a wide screen. I agree with such people. There is no doubt in it. Besides you can see a new film in the cinema. But you can't see a new film on TV.

There are two traiding centres not far from "Brest". You can always buy a ticket for a film in "Brest".