Hatching Student Businesses Across the Globe

I've just come across a really neat program providing mentoring and business incubation for researchers and budding entrepreneurs in Russia (called StartUp Life).  Then, I found out that the program was started by Aalto University Center for Entrepreneurship....the very same university to which I've applied for a Masters Programme (hopefully starting Fall 2012!). 

THEN, I realized what an INCREDIBLE place their Center has for student entrepreneurs.  It's called Aalto Venture Garage and has to be one of the coolest student centers I've seen!  How come I didn't see this when I toured the campus last spring?

2011: Where We've Been

After work one Friday, a few weeks ago, I literally collapsed.  I sat down on my living room couch around 6pm - for what seemed like the first time in ages - and within minutes had fallen asleep. At 9am the next day I finally awoke, figured out where I was, and was astonished to realize how tired I had become.

I started to piece two and two together when thinking about the past year in review, as I always tend to do when December 1st comes around.  I've covered so many thousands of miles this year, and I'm so thankful for all for your notes of encouragement and support through all the journeys.  Let's see where we've been!

1. Belgium...I was here with my beloved Belgian host family the entire, wonderful month of January. What an incredible time to rekindle old friendships and reminisce on the life-changing experiences I shared with them in 2006-2007.
2. Spain...Meeting up with old friends from my exchange year in Belgium was one of the highlights of my travels in western Europe this year.  Victoria, from Britain, was studying abroad in Zaragoza, Spain this spring and invited me to visit!

Subway Bombing in Minsk, Belarus

In case you haven't heard: the capital of Belarus was rocked early Monday morning by a bomb exploding in the subway station where their two underground lines intersect.  12 are reported dead; more than 130 injured.
In a conversation with a smart, globally aware, middle-aged Russian colleague this morning, I was told that this bombing is a complete shock for citizens in the region: "Belarus is known as a very stable place: the people are not very well-off, but the country is very orderly and very clean.  The police are not corrupted; they are known for not being corrupt."
"I just don't see any motivation for this attack," she continued.  "Belarus is not involved in any conflicts like in Chechnya or anything, and they are not close allies of the United States or other big powers."

I was a little bit skeptical about her perspective and the reality of the "stability" in the region; from the way she was describing Belarus, it sounded like a great place to live.  I'd never heard such a great review of the country.  So I did a little research....

Moscow in Photos

It's about time I posted some photos from my recent adventures. Two weekends ago I was in Moscow, last weekend I spent hanging out with the John Forté band, and this weekend...well, I'm sick.  The downtime is a good chance to post some new content.

At Moskovskiy Vokzal in St. Petersburg, a large map of
Russian train routes decorates the main hall.

The Red Square was our first stop on my whirlwind tour of Moscow.

The Overnight Train: A Necessary Experience

The best way to describe my over-night train ride from St. Petersburg to Moscow would be to say, as Joe -- one of the other interns -- always says, “a necessary experience.” It was a truly Russian experience, to say the least. I ended up in a купе (coupé) with three Ukrainian sailors – soon to become three drunk Ukrainian sailors. Two of them were middle-aged, 50 and 55. And one – Sasha – was younger, thirty-five at the very most. Andrei and Aleksandr, the older men, didn't speak any English but were happy to converse in Russian. Sasha kept wanting to exercise his small English lexicon.

It was fun for the first few hours; I talked as much as my limited vocabulary would allow, while the sailors drank. And drank. And drank. Until all the vodka was gone. Then things took a turn for the worst. I knew it was going downhill when Sasha took a deep breath and said, “So, I have a proposition for you,” in his thick, almost-unintelligible Ukrainian accent. He then proceeded to try to convince me to marry him. Of course I played dumb and hoped that my “lack of understanding” would make him lose interest. Bad call on my part. Instead, Sasha seemed determined to not only make me understand his wishes, but to convince me that marriage would be a fantastic idea. The two older guys must have taken this as their cue to leave, and went out for a smoke – closing the compartment door behind them with a bang.

Moscow Bound

I just got back from the train station; I have tickets for the overnight train to Moscow tomorrow! My Russian professor would be super-proud of the way I obtained these tickets: all in Russian and all on my own!  The real test will come tomorrow when I'll have to actually decipher the cryptic ticket in order to find the right platform, the right train, the right wagon, the right compartment, and the right bunk! That's right, since it's an overnight sleeper train, I'll get my very own bunk.  Some friends who came up from Moscow on the night train last weekend spent the entire 8 hours drinking and chatting with a bunch of Russian students. Not my idea of the best way to start a long weekend of sightseeing, so hopefully I'll be in a compartment full of little old babushka's who'll let me curl up with my Kindle and get some rest.
It's a four-day weekend since Women's Day is next Tuesday, March 8th, and the Russians like to take off the "bridge days" when a holiday falls in the middle of the week....what better time to visit the capital city?

On my must-see list: the Red Square, the Kremlin (hopefully a tour of the inside!), St. Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Tomb, a ballet at the Bolshoi, the beautiful metro stations, and some busy Moscovites running around like crazy (Moscow is known for being very fast-paced and business-oriented -- at least in comparison to St. Pete.)

I'm dizzy just looking at the metro map. Good thing I arrive at 4am - the metro will be closed so I won't feel bad about splurging on a taxi fare. Now I just have to spot a cab driver who doesn't want to kidnap and sell me into slavery or a sex trafficking ring.  Wish me luck!

Miche: Je vais passer le weekend à Moscou!  Gros bisous, tu verras certainement les photos quand je rentre.

Change of Plans

Things have been happening so fast around here -- I've just realized I forgot to update you on my State Dept. internship...

By the end of my phone interview, back in August, it was clear that I was being recommended to the St. Petersburg Consulate, to work at the Political-Economic and Public Diplomacy desks. My education, skills, and interests lined up perfectly with the internship job description in the small St. Pete Consulate. I started researching like crazy and was really excited about spending time in the beautiful, historical city known as the cultural centre of Russia and dubbed by Russians and foreigners alike as Russia's "Window on the West."