I decided to write on my time here in Moscow, Russia
and the focus would be on both personal and the salesmen side that is in
me. My first encounter with Russia was when on one of our trips in the late
1960’s or early 1970’s, our family visited Fort Ross, California
during one of our annual trips. It was
the first time I seen an onion dome church and the Russian Cross which is a
three bar cross with the bottom bar, Jesus’ footrest, slanted down to the left.
Later in school, I read more about the Russian history as at
that the time I was interested in early exploration of North
America and in particular, fur trappers. My research in both the school library and
the public library led me through the French Voyageurs who moved fur in the
French territories of North America, then to the Mountain Men of the Rocky Mountains.
That research led to the Russian-American Company and the Russians in Alaska and setting up a post in Northern
California. This led me to
read about Russian history and my ancestors (Vikings) involvement in the
establishment of Kiev.
That being in the back of my mind, I met my wife on ICQ and
eventually I went to Moscow,
Russia in the
July 27th, 2006 to marry my wife.
We chatted over the internet and spoke over the phone from around April
or May 2004 until my arrival that July.
Things finally worked out that I flew into Sheremetyevo and saw Russia for the
first time. I only saw suburban houses,
so I assumed that it would be the same in Moscow
as in the US and Canada. But I was wrong and will go into that later.
After getting off
the plane and through Passport Control and Customs, I met my wife and her
daughter. That was around noontime and
we took a bus to the closest Metro stop, which I do not remember and went to
start my registration process at a hotel.
After that we went to her place and got off and she bought a barbequed
chicken at a kiosk outside her Metro Stop.
I should say that Metro is the subway system of Moscow
and you can get around to almost anywhere in Moscow in a reasonable time.
The next day we took
the hired car to the Palace
of Marriage where our
“official” marriage took place. It is a
state marriage and a hold over of the Soviet times. Before our marriage, I insisted on a Church
marriage as that is the real wedding.
On the next Sunday,
we met with my wife’s priest at the local Russian Orthodox parish and after
questioning me about my Christianity, he agreed to marry us, but it would not
be until August 6th.
More to follow.
