keeping abreast of the information

As a native speaker English teacher, you're prepared for all kinds of questions about the language and sometimes really having to get into the nitty-gritty, nit-picking nuances of language use but nothing prepared me for a most surreal debate involving senior staff.

Aaaarggghhhhh!!!

Finally finished off the New Year food...

New Year's Eve - Russian-style in the UK

New Year in Russia is a bit like Christmas in the UK. It's the day when you tidy ready for a clean New Year, exchange for presents and consume a belt-breaking quantity of food.


This year, Lily had to do a mad rush on her business on the 31st so while she busied herself with that, I busied myself with the food and the tidy up.

Before we could get to...

Champagne and the Kremlin

We had...

Getting ready for New Year... Russian-style

So here I am on a bitterly cold, icy Sunday morning in Sheffield. I could've been doing so many relaxing things... sipping tea while reading a Sunday newspaper, taking the dog for a walk (I don't have a dog, but it sounds relaxing, but I'll make do by watching idiots freezing their ass off taking their whippets for a walk) or watching TV (then again, it's Sunday morning and a choice of religion, cartoons or cooking - that's separately of course, together would be kind of weird... a Bible-bashing Bugs Bunny baking biscuits?). But no, with just four days till New Year, talk has turned to the preparations. There's a Russian in the house... peanuts, crisps and booze will not suffice...

Happy New Year!

Concerned parents

My in-laws, in Siberia, sent several messages because they were worried about us after seeing Sheffield on the Russian news and how it had been affected by the snow.

Sheffield, Dec. 2014

Photo of the Month

One of the things I miss about Russia is the guarantee of snow and the beauty it can bring.

Crisis? What Crisis?

President Putin's major end of year press conference glossed over the current situation in Russia, almost echoing Jim Сallaghan's dismissiveness, paraphrased and immortalised in the Sun headline, "Crisis? What Crisis?"

source

So, what's the feeling among 'ordinary Russians'?