October 29, 2010 11:38 am
It was -15 degrees Celsius today with no wind. Olga and I are going to walk to the gym so that I can run on the treadmill and then spend some time in the infrared sauna.
Continued…8:20 pm
I had a good run on the treadmill and spent half an hour in the infrared sauna. One of the things I love about Russia is the sauna. Many dachas and some apartments here have saunas. The Russians treat it as preventative medicine as well as a type of recreation.
Sensei Gerisamov boasts that he has the best sauna in the area. In 2006 he treated our group to a proper Russian Banya (sauna). This meant getting a flogging with birch branches. It is supposed to serve as an exfoliation and bit of massage. The guys were a bit apprehensive, so I through myself in front of the herd and went first. It was awesome. After I received my treatment, they each took a turn and did not regret it.
My experience today wasn’t quite like that, but it was very refreshing nonetheless. I had an entire sauna to myself for the entire half hour. Olga was nearby reading her a book. Over my years of coming here to visit, the banya has always been one of my favorite things. I have done a lot of research and came to the conclusion long ago that we need one at our dojo. Someday…someday.
October 30, 2010 11:39pm
Today was Olga’s and Vera’s birthday. We celebrated as is Yemelyanov family tradition by waking them with flowers and offering them birthday congratulations. The temperature today was -20 degrees Celsius.
Most of the day was spent with me taking care of Malcolm while the family prepared the house and dinner for the Birthday party. Tonight we just had immediate family. Tomorrow night is the big jubilee party. We are expecting over 30 guests…all in this apartment.
November 1, 2010 1:56 am
Well, tonight (Sunday night) we had Olga’s and Vera’s big birthday celebration. We showed the birthday video compilation to the friends and family in attendance. Everyone loved it. Thank everyone that contributed and especially those that took the time to video and email the clips to us. Luckily Polina and Vitya both have experience in video production and were able to take the clips and put together a quality video. We will be sure to put it on DVD and make copies for anyone that would like one.
We also took plenty of video and pictures of the jubilee celebration tonight. I will post some highlights after I get some rest.
I read a few posts on Facebook about the Dynamic MMA Halloween party. It sounds like it went pretty well and people had a good time. As I have said before, the Halloween party is one of my favorite events that we do. I’m glad everyone had fun.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Yakutsk, Russia--Larry Keith
October 27, 2010 12:03pm Yakutsk time…
Well, the family picked up Grandma Faye at the airport at 5:30 am today. She flew in from Novosibirsk to be here for the birthday celebrations. Grandfather Visalia will be flying in from Moscow tomorrow. There are currently 12 people living in this 3 bedroom apartment. The sleeping quarters aren’t as much of a challenge as the living space when everyone is up and around.
One advantage to having all of us in one apartment is that Malcolm is constantly entertained. As soon as he is finished socializing with one family member, another one is close by. He is also infatuated with baby Olga, Vera’s 3 months old baby. She is my very first niece and Malcolm’s cousin. Any time she sounds uncomfortable, Malcolm is right there to help get her smiling again.
Malcolm has also been interacting with his great-great Grandmother Polya. She is 98 years old and spends most of her time in her bed these days. Malcolm sets up an altar and performs Russian Orthodox Church service for her every day. She loves every second of it. (I’ll post video soon)
It did snow a little bit overnight, so the city looks a little whiter this morning. Hopefully, the clouds rolling in means that it will snow again today. The cold seems a little more worthwhile if there’s snow to go along with it.
Victor and I went to the gym today. I had a pretty good workout. I was feeling pretty weak, having not worked out for nearly a month.
I will try to put together a couple more clips of activities with the family and outings. We really haven’t had many outings besides the trips to the airport. I will also be sure to post clips from Olga’s birthday party this weekend.
Next week I plan to get in some Judo/Sambo workouts. I will post some video on that as well…(unless I’m getting beat up!)
Well, the family picked up Grandma Faye at the airport at 5:30 am today. She flew in from Novosibirsk to be here for the birthday celebrations. Grandfather Visalia will be flying in from Moscow tomorrow. There are currently 12 people living in this 3 bedroom apartment. The sleeping quarters aren’t as much of a challenge as the living space when everyone is up and around.
One advantage to having all of us in one apartment is that Malcolm is constantly entertained. As soon as he is finished socializing with one family member, another one is close by. He is also infatuated with baby Olga, Vera’s 3 months old baby. She is my very first niece and Malcolm’s cousin. Any time she sounds uncomfortable, Malcolm is right there to help get her smiling again.
Malcolm has also been interacting with his great-great Grandmother Polya. She is 98 years old and spends most of her time in her bed these days. Malcolm sets up an altar and performs Russian Orthodox Church service for her every day. She loves every second of it. (I’ll post video soon)
It did snow a little bit overnight, so the city looks a little whiter this morning. Hopefully, the clouds rolling in means that it will snow again today. The cold seems a little more worthwhile if there’s snow to go along with it.
Victor and I went to the gym today. I had a pretty good workout. I was feeling pretty weak, having not worked out for nearly a month.
I will try to put together a couple more clips of activities with the family and outings. We really haven’t had many outings besides the trips to the airport. I will also be sure to post clips from Olga’s birthday party this weekend.
Next week I plan to get in some Judo/Sambo workouts. I will post some video on that as well…(unless I’m getting beat up!)
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Yakutsk, Russia--Larry Keith
October 26, 2010 12:30pm Yakutsk time
So, there are Russian Disney and Nickelodeon channels! Malcolm was able to watch Phineas and Ferb in Russian. Awesome! His Russian language skills are amazing. He is being saturated with the language. We are living in an apartment with, Grandpa Oleg, Grandma Tanya, Great-great grandma Polya, Aunt Polina, Aunt Vera, Uncle Vitya, Aunt Lilya, Mama Olga, and me.
Today we are going to visit a few of the local gyms to choose which one I want to work out at. Hopefully, we get started on it soon. It seems like it takes quite a push to get the ball rolling around here sometimes…not quite sure if it is a Russian thing, Yakut thing, or family thing.
Continued…10:43 pm Yakutsk time
We drove to a few different gyms today to check out the equipment, hours of operation, and rates. The gyms here are really behind when it comes to modern equipment and business management. However, we did find a gym to my liking. It has freeweights, machines, cardio area, and an infrared sauna. Tomorrow I will begin lifting.
The low temperature today was -16 Celsius. The wind wasn’t blowing much today, so it didn’t seem so bad. A person does have to pay attention to their footing as ice is everywhere. There obviously isn’t a liability issue here like there would be in the states as it seems all the businesses have stairs that are very slippery. The stairs here are treacherous enough without the added nuisance of ice.
So, there are Russian Disney and Nickelodeon channels! Malcolm was able to watch Phineas and Ferb in Russian. Awesome! His Russian language skills are amazing. He is being saturated with the language. We are living in an apartment with, Grandpa Oleg, Grandma Tanya, Great-great grandma Polya, Aunt Polina, Aunt Vera, Uncle Vitya, Aunt Lilya, Mama Olga, and me.
Today we are going to visit a few of the local gyms to choose which one I want to work out at. Hopefully, we get started on it soon. It seems like it takes quite a push to get the ball rolling around here sometimes…not quite sure if it is a Russian thing, Yakut thing, or family thing.
Continued…10:43 pm Yakutsk time
We drove to a few different gyms today to check out the equipment, hours of operation, and rates. The gyms here are really behind when it comes to modern equipment and business management. However, we did find a gym to my liking. It has freeweights, machines, cardio area, and an infrared sauna. Tomorrow I will begin lifting.
The low temperature today was -16 Celsius. The wind wasn’t blowing much today, so it didn’t seem so bad. A person does have to pay attention to their footing as ice is everywhere. There obviously isn’t a liability issue here like there would be in the states as it seems all the businesses have stairs that are very slippery. The stairs here are treacherous enough without the added nuisance of ice.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Yakutsk, Russia Day 4--Larry Keith
October 25, 2010 10:49 PM Yakutsk time
Today we went to the airport to pick up Vitya and Lilya. Vitya is Olga’s brother and Lilya is his fiancé. They live in St. Petersburg. If I were going to choose a city in Russia to live in, it would be St. Petersburg. The architecture is spectacular and the overall attitude of the people there is much more relaxed than in Moscow and more modern than Yakutsk.
I was asked to stop filming today by store security while we were in a supermarket. I was filming all the different vodkas available in a single store. I think the store management got nervous because there have been news programs filming stores because of bad food investigations. I am sure the food in this particular store is up to par, but they certainly don’t want to chance bad publicity. Once they realized that I was an American visiting my wife’s family, they cooled down. Anyway, I still got to film the vodka. I will post the video clip soon.
We also made a few calls inquiring about gyms to work out in while I am here. They have some really weird ways of operating their businesses here. If you only go to the gym in the morning hours, it is cheaper than if you attend in the evening hours. Cardio equipment is almost impossible to find. I think we finally found one with a treadmill. One doesn’t dare go for a run in these temperatures, so as bad as I dislike them, I will still have to opt for the treadmill.
Shihan Silasteen has sent word that he is expecting me to come do another seminar at his dojo. He is a traditional Jujitsu master that lives here locally. The guys that came with us in 2006 got to visit his school and will surely remember some of the cool techniques he taught us. Anyway, I am looking forward to meeting up with him again along with several other friends.
Today we went to the airport to pick up Vitya and Lilya. Vitya is Olga’s brother and Lilya is his fiancé. They live in St. Petersburg. If I were going to choose a city in Russia to live in, it would be St. Petersburg. The architecture is spectacular and the overall attitude of the people there is much more relaxed than in Moscow and more modern than Yakutsk.
I was asked to stop filming today by store security while we were in a supermarket. I was filming all the different vodkas available in a single store. I think the store management got nervous because there have been news programs filming stores because of bad food investigations. I am sure the food in this particular store is up to par, but they certainly don’t want to chance bad publicity. Once they realized that I was an American visiting my wife’s family, they cooled down. Anyway, I still got to film the vodka. I will post the video clip soon.
We also made a few calls inquiring about gyms to work out in while I am here. They have some really weird ways of operating their businesses here. If you only go to the gym in the morning hours, it is cheaper than if you attend in the evening hours. Cardio equipment is almost impossible to find. I think we finally found one with a treadmill. One doesn’t dare go for a run in these temperatures, so as bad as I dislike them, I will still have to opt for the treadmill.
Shihan Silasteen has sent word that he is expecting me to come do another seminar at his dojo. He is a traditional Jujitsu master that lives here locally. The guys that came with us in 2006 got to visit his school and will surely remember some of the cool techniques he taught us. Anyway, I am looking forward to meeting up with him again along with several other friends.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Yakutsk, Russia--Larry Keith
October 24, 2010 12:18 pm Yakutsk time
Today we walked to the church. Before we left, we had to make sure we were dressed warm enough. Baby Olga (my niece) looked like an Eskimo doll all bundled up. Malcolm reminded me of the little brother in the movie “Christmas Story” that could barely move due to all the layers of clothing. Today is a warm day for Yakutsk it is merely -14 Celsius. Keep in mind that it is only October and that we will be here until the end of November. It will get much colder before we leave. When we return in December, Oregon will seem like a tropical paradise.
Yakutsk Day 2 video
Yakutsk Day 2 video
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