My 1st time

привет, my friend!

If you thought the title refers to my first sexual experience, you have a dirty filthy mind.

The title refers to my 1st time in the Moscow office, which was today. After a very bad night of sleep still under the influence of the infamous jet lag monster, I woke at 7am (11pm NY time) and got ready for work.

I was picked up by a company driver, and in 30 minutes I was at the most amazing business center I have ever seen my company at. The complex consists of 4 six-story buildings, which was just finished last September. The people I'll be working seemed extremely nice, and I had lunch at the cafeteria (beef liver and buckwheat) with another expat.

At 2pm, I was picked up by a real estate agent to start looking for a place to live. Saw 3 places: one near the office, one closer to city center and the last one somewhere between the other two.
The theme for house-hunting was "don't judge a book by its cover": buildings in Moscow are extremely run down, with old elevators and dark hallways. But everything changes once you enter the apartment: parquet floors, stainless steel appliances, neatly tiled bathrooms, etc.

I believe I will rely on public transportation during my stay in Moscow. Drivers are quite aggressive here, and may drive at 120 km/h on an urban avenue. Furthermore, I've never driven on snow, which should start accumulating by early October. So far, the apartment I liked the most is just 600 feet away from a subway station which is just 7 subway stations away from work. I will see some more apartments tomorrow, but I'm really close to settling for that one.

пока!

PS: I was about to publish this post, when I saw my wife's comment to my early post asking whether I am eating vegetables. Just for the record: I just had a grilled salmon steak with broccoli for dinner -- the menu originally had boiled potatoes, but I asked to replace it with broccoli.