Where my alter ego ‘Natasha’ wants to work.

Articles about Russian gas giant Gazprom, like this one, from The Economist over month ago, make me very sad deep down inside. You see, unlike your average Westerner (in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not really average in anything), I actually harbor affectionate feelings for Gazprom, albeit for silly, sentimental reasons. You see, the word ‘Gazprom’ was one of the first words I learned to read in the Russian alphabet. (Though one can easily memorize the entire Cyrillic alphabet in a day or two, it takes a lot of time and practice for your brain to get used to stringing the letters together and reading them fluently. Trust me, I speak from personal experience on this.)

So first off, a bit of background about Gazprom, because I love to edify people about Russia, my favorite topic in the universe. Gazprom (which is a portmanteau of the ridiculously long phrase Газовая промышленность [gazovaya promyshlennost], meaning “gas industry”) was formed in the later years of the Soviet Union. It was privatized in the 1990s, but was kind of, sort of, renationalized after Putin came to power in 2000. From what I can tell, it exists in an odd state of limbo. I’m not sure I’d outright categorize it as a state-owned company, but it’s not exactly privately owned, either. Basically, it is a publicly traded company (on multiple stock exchanges – take that, Facebook!), but the Russian government has great influence over it, which in turn increases Russia’s influence in the world (since it is a huge and powerful company that delivers an important resource).

You’re probably wondering how this relates to me. Trust me, it does. This is the second reason why I love Gazprom so much. During my second year at university, I was waiting for a meeting to start for a political student group I used to be a member of. A few fellow members were sitting with me in some comfy chairs in a common area inside a building. Night classes were sometimes held in that building, including that night we were there, and sitting near us was a middle-aged man, known as Random Dude for the purposes of this story, waiting for his class to start.

Somehow, my friends and I mentioned Gazprom. Random Dude apparently was eavesdropping because he insinuated himself into our conversation. “Gazprom?” he asked.

I was so eager to answer that I think I cut him off. “Yes, it’s Russian gas company,” I said.

“How do you know about Gazprom?” Random Dude asked.

“Well, I’ve been to Russia and seen their building in Moscow,” I told him. So far, all this is true: I had indeed seen the Gazprom building and a billboard or two in Moscow the prior summer.

“Oh, you’re from Russia?” Random Dude asked. Before I could deny this claim, he plowed ahead. “Wow, your English is really, really good.”

I saw an opportunity here. For some reason, I always get a kick out of pretending to be someone else for a little bit. (I think this means I’m missing my true calling in life: acting. Oh well, you can’t have everything, right?) “Oh, thank you,” I said. “I’ve really worked hard on my English.”

“So are you a student here?” he asked.

“Yes, and so are my friends,” I said, gesturing to our small group. “After graduating, I want to work at Gazprom.” Random Dude nodded enthusiastically in approval.

I think it was at this point that one of my friends blew my cover, so to speak. He made a remark that made it clear I wasn’t who I said I was. Random Dude went off to his class (probably a bit early, to get away from my strangeness). I glared at my friend for exposing my deception. It had been so fun while it lasted, pretending to be Natasha from Moscow. My friends and I went off to our meeting, and that was that.

But I’ll always remember this little story and have a soft spot in my heart for Gazprom, even if the company does go bankrupt someday. (Which I hope it doesn’t, because where else will my Russian alter ego Natasha work?)

I read a book recently called Farewell: The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century by Sergei Kostin and Eric Raynaud. It was really, really good, as is the excellent film that is loosely based on it (L’affaire Farewell). The book was translated from French and unfortunately, the translation leaves a bit to be desired in certain sections, but overall it is very interesting.

One of the main things I remember from this book was the KGB slang I learned. (Yes, there is such a thing as KGB slang.) The term I learned was мокрое дело (mokroe delo), which translates to “wet affair” – i.e. an assassination. (If I’m not mistaken, this term exists in English, too.) I’m not sure what this says about me as a person that one of my favorite aspects of the book was learning this slang. It probably just means that I am way too obsessed with spies and Russia, but we already knew that, right?

Oh, and if you haven’t seen it, you definitely should watch L’affaire Farewell. It’s available on DVD with English subtitles and is amazing because Emir Kusturica is in it. Emir Kusturica is one of my favorite filmmakers and actors ever. And now that I’m thinking of him, I am reminded of the fact that he speaks Serbian and I want to speak Serbian so badly and so I’m going to publish this blog entry and go study random Serbian words.

One of my favorite spy novels

Dear authors,

I love a good spy novel. In my mind, spy novels are a sub-genre (or at a related genre) of thrillers, another type of book I love. I also love Russia and anything Russia-related. So, as you can imagine, a spy/thriller involving Russia just about makes me swoon with delight. What makes it even more amazing is the occasional Russian word or phrase inserted here and there, but don’t worry, this certainly isn’t required.

However, one thing that really, really cuts into my enjoyment of a good solid spy novel is factual inaccuracies. I specifically speak of those relating to Russia. One factual inaccuracy I often encounter is reference to the KGB in a modern (that is, post 1990s) context.

Look, I get it. The KGB was big and bad, and you think the modern Russian intelligence services are also big and bad. I don’t dispute that fact. However, it is inaccurate to make reference to a character currently serving in the KGB. The successors to the KGB are the FSB and SVR, so all those dreaded Russian spies roaming around now are either FSB or SVR employees. (The FSB handles internal affairs and the SVR external affairs.) Just for reference, there is also an agency called the GRU that handles military intelligence, too (and it, unlike the aforementioned FSB and SVR, has retained its name from the days of the Soviet Union).

I know that it’s hard to do research and have each and every fact be correct. Nevertheless, I feel that such an important issue as this really needs to be resolved once and for all.

If you have any questions about Russia, I would be happy to help.

Sincerely,
Natalie, your friendly neighborhood Russia expert

First, the United States.

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Who are all these people still using Internet Explorer? Internet Explorer is probably the worst browser ever created!

Here’s Russia.

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That’s better. I’m glad to see all the Chrome and Firefox users. Though I do wonder what browsers people in the “other” category are using.

And finally, the United Kingdom.

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Wow, I didn’t realize how popular Chrome is over there! Unfortunately, Internet Explorer also remains popular in the UK.

For reference, here is the worldwide chart. Chrome dominates, surprisingly. Too bad that Internet Explorer is in second place.

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Happy Victory Day!

Happy Victory Day! I hope everyone will take a moment today to remember those who died in World War II.

If you’re interested, there’s a video below of the parade at Red Square. As usual, Russia’s leadership wanted to show off its military might. I think my favorite part of the parade was at the end, when the airplanes with colored contrails flew. I have no idea how they color those contrails, but it looks so cool.

The most famous photo of World War II. Aleksei Yeremenko in 1942. He was killed in action in 1942, right after this photo was taken.

Victory Day will be celebrated tomorrow in Russia, as it is every May 9. Even in this era, World War II is a really, really big deal in Russia and many former Soviet countries. I’m not really sure why that is – perhaps it’s because of many years of Soviet propaganda, which was necessary because the Soviet Union really didn’t have many other accomplishments (aside from oppressing people, if you know what I mean).

The fact remains that World War II – or, as the Russians call it, the Great Patriotic War – is still well-remembered and really important. (As a historian, I obviously think it’s important and should be remembered, but the United States doesn’t retain the same respect for it as Russia does, unfortunately.) As Vicki aptly pointed out, so, so many movies made in Russia somehow involve World War II. In all honesty though, the Russians have made some really good films about the war (they’ve certainly had enough practice!).

Every year, the Russians have a massive Victory Day parade in Moscow. It’s awesome and I really, really want to go. (I’ve watched it on TV for the past four years and I plan to continue the tradition this year.)

Thinking about World War II always makes me sad because of the sheer number of people who died. The soldier in the photo at the beginning of this post died right after the photo was taken. His name was Aleksei Yeremenko and he was a political officer in the 220th Rifle Regiment, 4th Rifle Division. He never knew that he would become famous due to a serendipitous picture taken a moment before he died. That just said, and what’s even more sad are the millions of soldiers who died like Yeremenko, but who are not remembered because they didn’t have a famous photo taken of them fighting.

Happy Victory Day, everyone. Let us never forget World War II.

If you’re interested, you can read more about that iconic photo here in English, or here and here in Russian.

I think Puccini would have fit in well in Russia – those are some seriously depressing lyrics. Click here to read in literal English and poetically translated English.

Want to spend the rest of your life on Mars? In about ten years, you might be able to.

Here’s a piece about that plan to put people (permanently) on Mars. It could be a fun idea for a science fiction story, but it’s really freaky in real life.

How about that: “America’s tech talent shortage is a myth”. Looks like big tech companies propagated this myth of a “programmer shortage” in America in order to justify passing an immigration bill that would allow them to legally hire foreigners and pay them lower salaries.

A piece that isn’t anti-MBA. How refreshing.

Foreign Policy magazine has two epic articles about Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. I’m posting this for my mom, who I know really likes Lavrov.

Lastly, I finally signed up for Goodreads, so if you’re on there, add me as a friend.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

I found this semi-obnoxious image in honor of 1 May, a holiday in Russia. Click on it to see it larger and in all its ridiculous glory.

I can’t believe I haven’t written in a week! I was really busy last weekend studying for economics (I ended up getting an A in the class) and for most of this week, I’ve been writing. This week, I have written over 8,000 words of my novel. I feel like it’s finally shaping up and turning into something halfway decent. I have been very impatient about my writing recently since I discovered author Russell Blake. He’s written almost twenty books in fewer than two years.

In writing, there’s no substitute for lots and lots of practice, so I am trying to get that practice in and actually finish a novel. This current one I’m working on has been in the works for almost five years now. That’s a bit ridiculous and it’s time I finished it.