Aschermann Russia Journey

For a number of years I had wanted to visit the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. During the fall of 2003 it appeared that this "want" was going to become possible but the USSR was no longer in business. So, I went to Russia instead.

The organizing of the visit was done by Dr. Eric Fenster who has been sponsoring groups to Russia when it was still the USSR. The 2004 Moscow Study Trip information is given. With the experience that Eric has he knows where to go, where not to go and how to extend the dollar or ruble to the maximum.

The Russian host for the study group was International Academy of Labor & Social Relations. The Academy provided guest speakers, housed the participants and made all of the local arrangements. With the exception of snafus that are always going to occur when making arrangements six months in advance, all went well. Exceptionally well in fact.

Participants "lived" in the dormitory housing for the Academy. Students on either side of my room were from China and Japan. Most of our eating was done in the dorm food service. [See the webpage "Food" for a discussion of this.]

The webpages or hyperlinks from this page will visually show what I saw during the weeks in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kaluga.

Considerations. The photographs [digital] that I took were the result of my frame-of-reference or background. I took photos that I was interested in. Other travelers will point their camera to something else that I might not have thought was worthy of a photo.

Frame-of-reference. "I went to Russia." Now some people will think that Aschermann is an expert on Russia--- far from true. What I know about Russia came from several weeks living in the country plus what I studied about in the late 1960's. [It was very interesting to see how much Soviet history, economics and social aspects of Russia that I remembered from the 1960's. I was surprised about "how much" I did remember... but, of course, I have to remember that the Soviet Union no longer exists.]

Also remember that I am from a rural area or small city. To a large degree Moscow and New York have some of the same characteristics for me: each is very large. New York and St. Joseph, Missouri are different. Moscow and St. Joseph also will be different. My frame-of-reference will be looking at Moscow ---a culture, history, economics --with the eyes of a small town person.

A second consideration--- while Moscow is the primate city of the new Russia, it cannot speak for the smaller cities or rural areas that extend across the map. Just as rural America and urban America are different , rural and urban Russia are different.

Keeping the above in mind, a series of webpages have been developed to see what Russia looks like: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaluga. On my next visit to Russia I want to spend time in smaller cities, in agri-business and schools.

People have asked me or commented "did you feel safe in Russia?" Actually I felt safer in Moscow than I would in most cities of the U.S. I have not compared statistics or looked at numbers. It may be that Moscow has had a 100% increase in theft, murder or whatever. Remember that statistics can give the wrong impression. If New York has "X" number of robberies and ten more occur, the percent of increase may be 5%. In Moscow, because there were so few to begin with, we can have a 100% increase by having ten more.

Safety? I went anywhere and everywhere that I wanted to in Moscow. Frequently I used some of the "I spy" tricks that I saw on TV.. [ :) ]... never did I think someone was following me. I went where I wanted to and I talked to who I wanted to.

Notice that I use the term "on my next visit." The experiences that I had in Russia and the people I met were all exceptional and on the "positive" end of the continuum.

Personal note-- during the spring of 2004 I had the opportunity to enjoy spring in four different places: St. Joseph, Missouri; Moscow, Russia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Osnabruck, Germany and Northeast Wales. The tulips and lilac were blooming at a different time at each location... a very nice spring.

Enjoy your armchair tour of Russia. Use the hyperlinks that are on the left side of this page.

All of the photos that are on the webpages will be increased in size if you click on them. Then hit the back button to return to the text.

Jerry R. Aschermann 12 July 2004

Addendum: The way to learn about a place as Russia is to visit there for several years. Not many of us can do that. Viewing motion pictures will help us understand the "place." Though somewhat abstract, reading can be very useful to become more familiar about "the place." An excellent book to read is Russka by Edward Rutherfurd. An earlier book of his is Sarum about a church in England.

Rutherfurd has books similar to those of James Michener. One reviewer of Russka says "

Timely... Like Michener, Rutherfurd makes his characters play second fiddle to the place and historical events... The pace of Russka builds steadily throughout the generations so there is almost a sadness about bidding farewell at the book's end.

In Russka Rutherfurd now turns his remarkably vast talents to an even larger canvas than the earlier Sarum: The Novel of England. The Russia book spans 1800 years of the history, the people, the politics, and the culture of Russia.

Russka ISBN 0-8041-0972-9 Ivy Books

Note: the series of webpages that present Russia in the spring of 2004 are not copyrighted.

If you find a photo that is useful to you, do the wipe, copy, paste technique.

I would like to hear from you. What are you using the photo for?

How is it adding to the program that you are developing?

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