Foreigner in Russia?

Like for any other country, you have to fill a migration form when entering Russia. A part of it is returned to you and is kind of your “exit-visa” from Russia; you need to preserve this till the time you are in Russia.

In addition when you enter Russia, within a day you need register your visa. Again, you get a document you have to preserve carefully for the duration of your stay.

By the end of day one in Russia, I had - 4" x 2.5" migration card printed on a newspaper quality paper and the registration card (another small piece of paper) - and the nightmare of not losing them.

The interesting part... 

Russian police officers have the authority to randomly stop people and request their identity and travel documents at any time and without cause. So no matter what part of the world you are from, except Russia, you need carry your original passport with visa, migration card and registration with you at all times.

Bright colored domes of St. Basil's Cathedral on an overcast day

The story... 

I was walking back towards my hotel from my first weekend city tour. As I was enjoying the calm flow of the Moscow River besides me, a van drove off the road, onto the walkway and stopped right in front of me. The van door opened and one of the four policemen sitting inside asked, “Passport? Registration?” After I gave the documents to him, he uttered something in Russian which I understood as "are you from India?”

As one of the officials was examining the documents, the other three were busy playing cards and chatting with each other. Suddenly the officer who was checking my document showed something to he colleagues in my passport - I figured he was showing them the other visa pages of my passport. Then they started blabbering something to me in Russian, the only word I understood was “...Obama...”

Inferring that I don’t understand Russian, one of them put the cards he was holding in front of me...probably inviting me to join their game, I refused and they let me go.

I had taken just a few steps forward when they returned besides me. One of them took a pen out of his pocket and started saying something again in Russian. I was able to figure out words like..."souvenir"....."Amerikanski"...."Anglichane" (Russian names for American and British respectively). I opened my bag again and took out a pen. Promptly they gave me their pen, took mine and drove away!!

Marshrutka

My boss who is also an expat (he is Argentinean who lives in Switzerland), has been in Moscow since February. He is an amazing guy, but has not really tried too many things in Moscow. Being a workaholic, his life during weekdays revolves around office and hotel. More than six months in Moscow and he travels back home (to Swiss) EVERY weekend. He says, “So far I have missed only once and that was because of the volcanic ash!” Reminds me of the time when I used to travel back home to Mumbai from Pune (two Indian cities which approximately 4 hrs by car)…there is only a “small” difference, I used to travel by “bus” and he does by “airbus” :)

With two of us now, we are a team and we can support the fellow non-Russian speaker - recipe for being a bit more adventurous. We decided to try those shared cab kind of vans which according to him he always saw outside office but never thought of trying. Once we were on board - we saw something amazing. Everyone started passing money to one random fellow passenger - we realized that he was the self nominated money manager for the driver. It is amazing how the system works - no one says a word, one person (I think the one who is sitting in the first row - center) becomes the money manager by default....he not only makes sure the has collected money from everyone on driver's behalf but also handles issue of managing change for people who are not carrying exact fare. All by default pass the money to him/her.

I guess this small “collaborative” spirit, taking and sharing responsibility is one of the left over traces of the past socialism in Russia. It probably is tough to explain in words, but it was amazing to watch how the whole process works – super efficient!



Side note:
One of the means of transport available in Moscow is Marshrutka or public mini-vans. It seats around 12-15 people and can drop you at the destination for a bargain as compared to traditional cab.

Culture shock in office :O

As you spend a few days in a business complex in Moscow, one anomaly from business centers around the world is clearly visible…the professional dress code of women! The sex ratio is Russia is tilted in favor of women - so in office you see a lot of women, but what is surprising is that the dress code is far less formal.

We share the building with other know American corporate powerhouses such as IBM, GE, Eli Lilly, Novartis etc. To explain without exaggeration I will simply quote my boss (an expat himself) “They dress as if they are coming to a party....every single day of the week!!!" Sitting in the common cafeteria of the business center drawing my attention to some extreme examples he adds, "People back home don't believe me, but I dont blame them!"



Disclaimer:
This post is just a result of observation in one part of the city and might not be generally applicable.

Water...

In any restaurant I have ever been till date, one thing is assured the waiter definitely gets water for you immediately after you settle in your seat. Russia is different! No they do NOT get vodka for people :)
(Though I won’t be surprised if I find out that vodka is cheaper that water in Russia - water is fairly "expensive" in Russia)

Photo - The view from my room window -
Hotel Ukraina (Radisson Royal) & reflection in the Moscow river.

They simply don't offer water! Even the courtesy thirst quenching glass of fluid is not "free" in Moscow. You have to specifically "order" water with your appetizers and your main course. Once you have ordered water - comes the question still or sparkling?

Apparently Russians don't drink water while having food; they say it is not healthy. Also, on an average people drink a lot and I mean A LOT less water...one explanation I got on asking a Russian was - since the weather here is always cold people need less water!

Now for the cost part, consider this, at McDonald's in Russia a standard thick shake costs 59 rubles and a small bottle of water costs 44 rubles approximately. In the restaurant I have been to a few times after coming here, they charge approx. $6 (after converting to US dollar) for a bottle still water, 500 ml!!!

Moscow Taxi

After settling in my job and a spending a month in NY, my first global assignment begun – On the sunny afternoon of August 17th, 2010 I found myself in Moscow, Russia. For my first day (or half a day) in Moscow I was tied to the hotel, catching up on some sleep, exploring the hotel and mentally preparing myself for “tomorrow” – my first day of work in Moscow!


In the morning the office car was supposed to pick me up. The HR had said that the driver would have a company sign board, but would probably wait outside the hotel as often the authorities don't allow drivers to enter the lobby.

All set for my first day, I went out of the hotel. A car driver saw me walk out of the hotel; put his hand out waving towards me. He was parked on the opposite side of the road, in a jiffy he turned the car around and was in front of me with the door open, pointing in the direction of the office (while coming from the airport, they had showed me the direction in which the office was). I totally thought this was the office driver (the car certainly did not have a taxi board, neither did it look like a taxi), so I sat in. Just as he started driving, I asked him "(company-name), right?"....and he said something in Russian. Immediately it struck me that I was in the wrong car....somehow I conveyed him the message to get me back to hotel...was laughing at myself looking back....but was scared for the moment when I was in the car.

In Moscow, ANY car can be taxi...though they have traditional cabs as well, it is customary for people to give others ride for money in their own car. So if you are at a street and put a hand out to hire a cab, there is a strong possibility that a private car will stop....then you negotiate the fare and he/she drops you off to your destination!