the heater came on

The city turned on some heaters this week. Progressively the hot water units that heat houses are magically switched on. The down side is that this is what your hot water tap looks like until the pipes clear.

The weather is quite mild this week although it is expected to cool again. We have had no rain since we brought our umberellas. The leaves are changing colour and falling from the trees. There are lots of parks around - some of them very pretty, with lots of sculptures and art work. We found a complex fountain when we got lost at a bus depot last week. A mixture of flowing water shapes and lights. Very pretty. next time we will have the camera.

The Salvation army in Moscow is small in comparison to the size of the city ( 12 million people are thought to live in Moscow)and the army still trying to establish itself. It does not have the luxury of a well established history and logo to identify it in the community. This was highlighted last week when the band took to the street for the first time in a number of years..We were down from the hall at the metro station. Just a small band of 8 players. The flag had been placed in a stand in the circle. A local baboushka - (short, elderly russian lady) walked right up into the centre of our circle - looked around at us, and taking the end of the flag completely unfurled it held it out, studyied it and, satisfied she went on her way. Would have made a great picture. The cadets are in session and so this was a new experience for them. We are not sure how long we will do openairs - little difficult to do when the snow comes - they tell us the mouthpiece stick to your lips!

Today we felt a little closer to home. After 3 weeks of no english Tv we decided to visit some other officers who had cable Tv to watch the grandfinal. It was exciting to watch it and realise that my kids on the other side of the world were sitting and watching it too. We turned down the russian commentary and listened through the internet to ABC. The day did not go all to plan - the Cats failed to complete the task.

At work we continue to look at files and records to understand our new roles. The territory is very dependant on funding from overseas and so our roles are crucial in ensuring adequate funding and accountability so that the work can be done and grow. It will be challenging - but its all good.

Till next time...Lyn

I've found hot chocolate

Russians drink black tea with lots of sugar or coffee. I finally found a hot cocolate place!

Week 2

We continue to make discoveries every day. Language learning continues - but there are some things that just dont need translation! Ron is most intent in his language learning and is well on his way to learning the new alphabet and he shares his new found knowledge with me. Words will follow and we hope to start with a tutor shortly.

We are managing to survive living out of our cases as we await the arrival of our luggage. The Tim Tams will be greatly appreciated if not stolen by customs.

We have walked to work each day - about 20 min so this has been good for us. Groceries are only what we can carry home in our hands, so we shop regularly and are managing surprisingly well without a car. The temperature dropped rapidly and is hovering around 5 - 8 degrees each day. When we have 5 days below 5 degrees the city will turn on the heating system - till then you rug up and wait!

On Tuesday of this last week we ventured out to the Choir practice - a fairly professional choir preparing for the Messiah at Christmas - they do 3 charity concerts at christmas and the choir is made up of 'ex pats' and practice is at the Finnish Embassy. Very interesting - we had a 2 hour practice and never sang a word - just notes! This is more up ron's ally - but will be good for me to go out and meet other people outside of work. Last week I sat next to the Australian Ambassador who also sing soprano.

Thursday night was band practice - Ron & I have picked up instruments again and joined the 'orchestra' We also held an openair on Sunday and played in the meeting.

On Saturday we found our way to a different shopping centre - this is the biggest in Europe! - absolutely huge - and very busy by lunch time - so we left. Needed to get home to see who the cats were playing next week.

Work for us is mostly admin at present as we look at files and history of project work across the Territory. Won't always be that - hopefully we will be released from the desk soon to get out and really see what is happening.

Till next week - love from Lyn & Ron

Off to work we go

Our days of a small country drive to DHQ are over. Now it is a 20 minute walk with the temperature rapidly dropping. The THQ building is set in the midst of a busy metro, high rise apartments and shops. There are many trees surrounding and some kids play areas. The building is over 100 years old. You realise that, as you enter and find your way through a maze of small offices. In fact some workers are placed in areas we would use as a broom closet at home. It is quite amazing to see the way work is done over here. Every potential space is used for something. Storage is found wherever it can be placed and stacked to the roof.
The dining room is in the basement and you sit in a communal dining room with floral plastic table cloths. The TC & Chief have modest offices on the middle of the three floors.
Our office on the top floor looking out over a tree filled park. They tell us when the snow falls it is the best view.
There is no luxury of a welcome receptionist, no lcd screens, but the latest war cry in the foyer with some army pictures remind you of where we are.
And so our work begins. Lots of paperwork to begin but we look forward to finding ways to connect with people and make a difference in this place.

Language learning

We ventured out yesterday to discover a large shopping mall. Our limited lanuage learning has been bolstered as we studyed the important symbols. No we did not eat any - just had a coffee.

We shopped for some essential things to keep us going until our luggage arrrives in a couple of weeks.

We are creatures of habit and one of the things we keep forgetting is that on escalators you stand on the right hand side and leave room for the fast walkers on the left. Just like the roads this is opposite to what we know. The metro - or underground they say is the best in the world - not in the newsest trains as they are old rattlers - but in effectiveness to transports millions of people each day around Moscow. We are starting to familiarise ourselves - the long station names can be confusing so we just follow the coloured dots and instructions on how many stops to go through. When the language skills are developed a little more we might follow the letters.

There is much to learn - Ron discovered this week that you do not whistle ! it is thought to bring bad luck. We will be constantly learning and challenged as we grapple with a new culture. We look forward with much anticipation. This week will mostly be in the office studying files and trying to get our head around a very large Territory - 5 countries, 5 languages 5 cultures and probably 5 different ways of doing the same thing!

We've arrived

It is now one week exactly since we landed in the City of Moscow. Having departed Melbourne on the wed evening (the 3rd Sept 2008) we enjoyed a one day stop over in Dubai. This allowed us to rest and recover from the final farewells, to get on to the same time zone and arrive reasonably refreshed. We were met at the airport and taken to our apartment. We will live in this small one bedroom apartment until our more permanent residence is made available in about three months time.

We were introduced to the public transport system when on Saturday we returned to the airport to collect a bag I had left on the plane.

Our first Sunday we went by train to the Army. The Moscow Corps which is also the site for DHQ, Training College and the main social program. A busy place.

Our first week at THQ began with coffee and cake and the official exchange of eppaulettes, but then it has been straight into discovering what our new roles are about. Project work is an essential source of funding for this Territory and so our role in supporting the sources of funding and ensuring the process of implementation and accountability will keep us busy.

So week one comes to an end. We know with a confidence and peace that we are where God wants us to be and look forward with great anticipation what is in store in coming days.