Posts Tagged "Moscow"
Yana: Coffee-to-Go Kiosk Owner
”We believed we had a good idea,” Yana said from her coffee kiosk near a major metro station that opened at the end of October. ”The most difficult thing was to take the plunge and leave our comfortable jobs. Our business has now become our life. It occupies us 24 our a day, even when we sleep.”
Mikhail: Electrical Engineer, Antique Repairer
Mikhail, 38, was working away in the chilly Industrial Museum, an old, private warehouse at the edge of Moscow containing thousands of antique goods - from Lenin busts, to hot irons to 1980s computers. Mihail, an electrical engineer, was fixing a car radio for a Soviet-era Volga car. He said he volunteers a few times a week to fix electrical goods at the museum. ''I do it solely for personal enjoyment,'' he said. A physics student at Moscow State University, he dropped out in the 1990s during his fifth year because he lost interest. He later enrolled at another university, where he got his degree in engineering. Mikhail said his favorite item in the museum is a 1967 reel-to-reel Leira-206, one of the first 'smaller' tape recorders, he said.
Zhanna: Odessa Native, Widow
Zhanna was taking her dog for a walk along Old Arbat. She said her husband, a lawyer for one of the Russian ministries, died six months ago. She now spends her time with her dog when not selling antiques. ''My husband was very smart and I used to tell him, 'Honey, you know everything!' And he would respond, 'It is impossible to know everything.'''
Anna: New Balance Store Manager
Before 2010, it wasn't common for Russian adults to walk around Moscow in sneakers. If you did see someone in Moscow in sneakers, it was possibly a foreigner. It was highly unlikely to be a Russian woman and it definitely wasn't New Balance they were wearing. Fashion has changed significantly over the past few years in the Russian capital and you will see all sorts of adults wearing sneakers. Anna, in her mid 20s, was wearing yellow New Balance as she took a smoke break outside a Moscow shopping center. Anna said she was a manager at the New Balance store inside the mall, so I asked about footwear trends and type of clients that come in. ''People in Russia now realize that they can wear sneakers and still be fashionable. It is not just teenagers and young adults. We get some grandfathers in their 50s, 60s, or even 70s that wore New Balance many years ago and remember them fondly.''
Anton: Moscow Fashion Industry
Anton was dressed in military style with white sneakers and a black baseball cap as he rode the Moscow metro. He said he worked in the fashion industry and I asked him about his view of Moscow trends and developments. Years ago, ''if you wanted to be fashionable and dress as you liked, you had to earn a lot and order everything from Europe or the US. Now, people can get what they want at stores in Moscow. Even tough street kids are wearing real Adidas.'' ''And there is now an opportunity for Russian brands to develop. We [Russians] now know what we love and what we can create for people.''
Valentina: Retired School Teacher, Street Dancer
Valentina, 75, is a regular on the busy Moscow pedestrian street Old Arbat, where she dances for the public. Holding a portable radio in her hand that plays music, she sweeps across the payment from left to right, occasionally spinning in a circle. Sometimes, she dances with a partner. She places a sign nearby that reads: ''If you sit, you will get sick; if you lie down, you will die; if you move, you will live. Lets dance.'' Valentina said she only started dancing when she retired as a school teacher at the age of 58. When asked why she started so late, she said ''I didn't have any time. After classes, there were group events or administrative things to do.''
Sofia: Korean Language Student
Sofia, 20, was among the few thousand attendees at a St. Patrick's Day celebration in Moscow. She was standing near the entrance of Sokolniki Park in a green scarf, green shamrock hat and with a shamrock painted on her face. She was holding a sign that said ''free hugs.'' Sofia said she is studying English and Korean at university and has visited Korea twice. She said she wanted to take an oriental language as she already knew French well. Sofia said she comes from a family of doctors and dreams of being a medical translator of Korean-Russian and English-Russian. I asked why Sofia why she didn't follow in her father's footsteps to become a doctor if she enjoyed the medical industry so much. ''I have problems with physics and chemistry, but no one said you can't be a medical translator.''
Liza: 3rd Year Law Student
MOSCOW: Liza, 21, was walking down Old Arbat street in Moscow with a bouquet of flowers ahead of Woman's Day celebration. A Chelyabinsk native who studies law in Moscow, Liza said she was given the flowers by a fellow classmate and was surprised by his gift. I asked how she plans to celebrate the March 8 holiday. "I have no idea how, but with my friends for sure.''
Aigul: Financial Analyst, Baker
MOSCOW: Aigul was waiting outside a Moscow metro, holding flowers given to her by a friend in celebration of Woman's Day. Half Russian and half Kazakh, Aigul said she was a former accountant at one of the Big Four and now works as a financial sales analyst for a food company. Aigul said she likes making food herself, particularly desserts and just started promoting her goods via social networks. ''It is my dream to have such a business....and I want a small, cute cafe. Now, I am just taking my first steps'' in this direction.
Svetlana: Moscow Poet
MOSCOW: Svetlana was walking down Arbat dressed in black and carrying a single red rose. She said she was a poet and had just finished a 3-hour walk with a friend, who had given her the rose ahead of the official celebration of Woman's Day. Svetlana said she now writes poems about Moscow and started to mention various poets she admired, none of whom I recognized. She then asked if she could recite for me a French poem. When I said I didn't know French, she said she would recite the Russian version of it. It may have been 8 or 10 lines long and it was about nature and waterfalls. I asked if she spends a lot of her time reading poetry. "Poetry isn't meant to be read, it is meant to be listened to," she said and then hurried off to meet someone.
