Posted in Architecture, Holidays, Religion, Russia, Sergiyev Posad, Sightseeing, Travel on April 8, 2007 | 12 Comments »
Sergiyev Posad is one of the Golden Ring towns. That is, it’s one of twelve towns floating around Moscow which are historically significant and are recommended as worth a visit if to anyone who is going to be in the region for any length of time.
You’ve actually been to two. The other one was Suzdal.
But you tended to [...]
Posted in Books, Britain, Morality, Patriotism, Religion, Russia, The Rest of the World, The USA, War on March 3, 2007 | 8 Comments »
So there you are about to recommend a book in a thread as a result of Midnight Jester’s very thoughtful and sensible post on the nature of responsibility in war. Suddenly you realise that you have done this so frequently over the last few years that rather than wear out the keyboard and encourage people to read it one at [...]
Posted in Britain, Language, Music, Religion, The Rest of the World, Work on February 11, 2007 | 1 Comment »
It’s the Easter concert term at your choir, and you are having a Mary fest. The lynch-pin of this is Dvorak’s Stabat Mater.
The blurb to your copy of the score says that during the period he was writing it no less than three of his children died. I think this is supposed to lend poignancy to what is, after [...]
Posted in Britain, Clothes, Culture Shock, Education, Feminism, Footwear, Morality, Religion, The Rest of the World, Work on February 4, 2007 | 11 Comments »
There are a number of things which colour your attitude towards the whole debate about whether or not Muslim women should be allowed to follow their religious duties and impose their dress codes on the rest of the work force, not least of which is that your stubborn puritan streak puts you much more in [...]
Posted in Britain, Culture Shock, Education, Feminism, Footwear, Morality, Patriotism, Religion, TV, The Rest of the World, Work on February 1, 2007 | 3 Comments »
You are no longer convinced about the value of the concept of equality.
This is mainly because there’s a common misconception that in order to be equal, things have to be the same.
You can claim until you are blue in the face and ready to stick a fork in someone’s eye that, say, feminism - to take a concept entirely at [...]
Posted in Language, Music, Religion on November 6, 2006 | 14 Comments »
If you needed any more proof that there’s a predictive text function hardwired into our brains it’s come from trying to sing The Chichester Psalms, which happens to be in Hebrew. This is a language you have no idea about and it turns out to be astonishingly difficult to even attempt to put the words in [...]
Posted in Marriage, Public Transport, Religion, Russia, War on October 13, 2006 | 8 Comments »
After turning on the TV, the second thing you and B did in Moscow was visit B’s newlywed friend A and his bride. Which was a lot of fun.
About halfway through the evening, A said, giggling, “Do you remember the time we went to the monestary?”
Sure do:
The social call to B’s monk at his monestary had [...]
Posted in Art, Monarchy, Religion, Russia, Sightseeing, War on June 27, 2006 | No Comments »
You’ve just said goodbye to the cousin from St Petersburg. Her visit meant you got in some Proper Sightseeing, and reminded you of the time you stayed with her in her home town. Here’s what you wrote:
2003 marks the year when Peter I stood in the middle of a mosquito-infested swamp he had just wrested [...]
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