Wednesday, January 24, 2007

New Country New Blog Name Coming!!

what a great place

Well I am in Germany and aside from the cutting winds and the snow I am okay. My friends are great and I am really being spoilt, they are far too generous and kind to me. I must be in Poland by the weekend and I will have a long journey to traverse the Polish landscape.
Problems with my bank in Australia and ruining my rest here, the problems I stuggled to fix in Moscow have yet to be fixed. So I am still cut off from a lot of my money. I have to keep sending faxes and call them and also find a Western Union affilate in the south east of Germany... There was one at the airport but I didn't have all the info I needed to send money back to a very generous and patient friend. (she knows who she is)
Well I will now relax and wait until I must go to work in Poland... I have a train ticket from Erfurt to Berlin and from Berlin to Poznan, but I must buy a ticket from Poznan inside Poland... so I will just have to start speaking german or english ro sign language... wish me luck kids! 12 hours in total.
Obi going to KalbasaVegas!

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Grant McLennan

It seems to me, as I look at my overflowing suitcase, that nothing really fits in this world. I have been wondering why I never fit anywhere particular in the last 36 years and still I continue to try.
This thought tonight was triggered by the fact that Grant McLennan died 7 months ago and I didn't even know... - Listen - Much like many of the people in the last 13 months leaving this world for a better one, they have left a positive mark on the world and in the hearts of millions.
Just a thought - a gloomy thought for Old New-Year. This is a Russian celebration of the Old New-Year as it was marked in the Julian?? Calendar. So hats off and glasses full for all those celebrating tonight...
Next Tuesday the 16th will see me at the airport and then a 3 1/2 hour flight to Frankfurt where I will find my way to a Bahnhof and catch an IC trail to my friends. A few restful days there in the company of warm friends should shake his flu I got as a New Years gift and set me on the track.
Then - with all the trust and faith in a new boss (that seems like an idiot) I can muster, I will go into Poland. Tho I think I will do it as a tourist so that it doesn't goo all FUBAR on me...
Well I have to take some more paracetamol and sleep a few more hours - I got 2 hours sleep tonight - I hope I can sleep thru until dawn...
Tomorrow day I will be going to some cultural sights and maybe a gallery of 2, then at night I am off to see a concert of Verdi with Delboy - an ex music teacher, to sample some of the cultural highlights that I will miss when I leave.
Bedtime for Bozo-obi.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

My New Boss

My new boss seems to have his heart in the right place.
But please dear readers, mark my words, he will be my downfall...
Put simply, he is saying that I don't need a visa to Poland to work, I went to the embassy in Moscow, (yes they are geared toward Russians there) but they said I needed a work permit letter from the regional government. My boss replied and said not needed. I bet it is...
So that seems to be one small problem off my shoulders (HA!) and now I have 2 banks to deal with...
Faxes all around Obi

She is the best!

I would like to post a tribute to the best travel agent in the world!
Lisa, she knows who she is, and I know she is a star! 120% helpful, 120% kind and always happy to give me the information I need!
Obi is so grateful!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Icecream Hands

Well I went to the Polish Embassy today, I had to wait until today because being a catholic country they had Christmas from 22nd - 3rd and then carried on with Russian Orthodox Christmas and new year too... So, until today, which is the only day I could get a translator to come with me to gather information.
I was sure that one piece of information was missing and sure enough, it wasn't the bit I thought but I is crucial. Seems I need permission to work form the region not the country. So my boss has to apply to the state capital to get a letter and have it issued, then FED EX it to me... The real question is will he get off his ass and do it quickly enough. I CAN get the visa on the same the day, BUT I must have all the pieces...
Being thrown out of my home on the 16th so I better be organised.
My bank arbitrarily froze my accounts last week, dunno why, and now I am late with my mortgage payment, which is not healthy for my peace of mind... So I must fax them, without a printer or a fax, and no internet cafes, (I knew you would say that) and pleased for them to undo their error... Banks, gotta love em...
... And I must get my stuff together and get hold of Lufthansa to change my flight details, but I can't doooo thaaaat until I hear from my boss and get the visa sorted out...
Obi feels as useful as icecream hands...

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Severn Daze

It has been a rare week this past 7 daze and I am glad for the escape. The escape from the freezing temperatures, the biting winds and the absence of colour. Tho strange as it may seem I have been deathly ill with a shocking flu virus. Fevers chills weakness the works, but still I was smiling all the way through...
Delboy and I have been heading out quite a bit, making meals together and watching DVD's 'borrowed' from the internet library...
I sent the 3rd with some Armenian friends, old students and new firm friends. They invited me to their home in northern Moscow and lavished table set you rival Aunty Bev in Melbourne bless her heart, tho, the benefit of going to her place at Christmas was that she never kept toasting with vodka and filling my glass to the top again... Boy I got SmAshed! My friends are immigrating to Australia, tho they are well over due for their letter from Australian Immigration.
Yesterday I went to the Tretiakov Modern Gallery Opposite Gorky Park, next to Park Kulturi) where I was blown away at the works, the effort and the forms of many of the Pre-Soviet artists. The quality of the art of the period was amazing and sadly stifled just as Stalins revolution was taking a strangle grip of Russia.
The future is uncertain, I can usually have a sense of visualise snippets but this time I cannot. The visa situation is still a mystery to me and I must hire someone to come with me and help me sort out all the information I need.
Also I need to go to Lufthansa and change my ticket which has been rebooked for me.
Oh, and my bank for some reason has suspended my net access so I cannot access my account and pay my mortgage which is now a week overdue... (that is a whole nuther ball of anxiety right there!)
Obi blowing in the fridgid winds of uncertainty...
P.S. Website will be going through a facelift as the new country approaches... It needs a good Polishing... haha!
<BGSOUND SRC="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/sounds/farting.mp3" LOOP=0> <BGSOUND SRC="http://stormii.com/Wavs/3yrsold.vav" LOOP=0> <BGSOUND SRC="http://www.ibiblio.org/samneill/sounds/reilly/7-Gambit/moscow.vav" LOOP=0>
I - Obi...