DOBRO POZHALOVAT' V MOSKVU!
("WELCOME TO MOSCOW!")

Although BKC does a bang-up job of orientating new teachers to life in Moscow and Russia in general, there are some minor details one won't find in the teachers' manuals. These are things that just about any Muscovite will be able to tell you, but to save you some time and effort, here are a few tips. Hope you find them useful.

1. CDs, CD-ROMs, audio- and videocassettes: The Gorbushka electronics market near Bagrationovskaya (Багратионовская, west on the light blue line) metro station has far and away the best selection in Moscow. The underground kiosks near Lubyanka charge five rubles less for CD-ROMs, but the choice is severely limited. If you ever plan a weekend excursion to St. Petersburg (and you should, but I'll leave that article to Lonely Planet), the Yunona market there has even better prices and a variety comparable to Gorbushka's. Call me sometime at the Borovitskaya office for those directions. In the meantime, check out Gorbushka by going left from the metro exit to the first intersection, then into the large building across the street. The CD and cassette section is through the building on the other side of the courtyard.

2. Internet and computer services: TimeOnline (sic) is an internet cafe on the lower level of the Okhotnyy Ryad shopping center near the metro station of the same name (Охотный Ряд, central on the red line). While internet access is available at any number of similar establishments throughout the city, not to mention the self-access room at BKC's Borovitskaya office, TimeOnline offers a plethora of other computer services as well. Anything you may need to scan, print or burn to CD can be done for very reasonable fees. The staff is friendly and speaks English. The cafe opened earlier this year, and I understand it's quite popular now among tourists to scan photos there to e-mail them home while they're still on vacation.

Books in English: Once you've read everything in the library at the Tverskaya office, you might find yourself thirsty for more pulp fiction in the international language (no, not Esperanto). Anglia bookstore has the best selection by far, located behind Dom Knigi on Novyy Arbat. To get there, go to the Arbatskaya (Арбатская, central on the dark blue line) metro station, then turn down Novyy Arbat in the direction of the row of high-rises. On the opposite side of the street will be a post office, followed by an archway. Through the archway about 100 meters and to the left is Khiebnyy Pereulok (Хлебный переулок), on the right side of which is located Anglia. The prices can seem a bit steep by Moscow standards, since the great majority of the stock is imported from the UK, but the only alternative in most cases is to wait for books by post, which can take an agonizingly long time to get to Russia. Another option (but by no means less expensive) is the English Book store near the Kuznetskyy Most (Кузнецкий мост, central on the purple line) metro station. To get there, walk out of the metro about 100 meters, veering lightly to the right. Both shops also sport a large selection of materials for teaching English and other foreign languages.

Keoki Young