Went to Yaroslavl this weekend, as it was Anthony's birthday, the day after pay-day, and we had Monday off (Men's Day).

Actually we had meant to go to Nizhy Novgorod but that didn't happen. Although the city has been called Nizhy Novgorod for a decade, no-one has told the Russian train network which still refers to it as Gorky, its old Soviet name. So what with that and Anthony getting temporarily detained by the police for having an out-of-date visa (not true, but at least this time it was a genuine mistake not an attempt to swindle money out of us), our chances of catching the Nizhy train were slim.

By the way, Anthony has since shaved off his beard so he looks slightly less like a Chechen terrorist. Hopefully this will reduce the number of times the police stop him - he's well into double figures now. The other day he stopped and asked a policeman for directions - big mistake. Can I see your papers? Are you carrying any knives? Could you accompany me to the police station? Could you pay me a bribe?

So, anyway, we caught the first coach out of Moscow, which, four and a half hours later, dropped us in Yaroslavl. Capital of, obviously, Yaroslavl region. Not bad for a random destination as it is a historic city (part of the 'Golden Ring', with almost no Soviet blocks of flats, and it's by the (currently frozen) river Volga. Plus provincial prices which saw us paying the equivalent of 7 quid per person per night for a hotel room. Maybe they were ripping us off for being foreigners, I don't know.

This was also the first mild weekend of the year, with the temperature reaching a positively tropical +3 degrees. Phew, better get the sun tan lotion.

Caught the train back. I think we bought the wrong tickets as we ended up on the sleeper train, in a little compartment, with our own beds. This for a four-hour train journey! A little excessive.

I forgot to mention that I went to an Anglican church here in Moscow the other Sunday. It might be interesting for some people to hear about that. If it's not for you, then don't read this entry!

I don't know what I was expecting. I had got the details from the internet so come Sunday morning I was walking round Moscow city centre with map in hand. I managed to find the turning I needed, into a quiet backstreet in an exclusive part of the city, only a stroll away from Red Square. I walked down the road for about five minutes, turned the corner, and suddenly was faced with this whopping great 19th century mock-gothic structure - like a parish church on steroids. Well, I certainly hadn't been expecting that.

Moscow as a city has relatively few genuine old churches, apart from in the Kremlin, because Stalin ordered a lot of them to be destroyed. But apparently this Anglican church was used as a recording studio during Communist times (good acoustics!), which was why it was spared. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the church building was (eventually) given back to the Church. It still needs a lot of reconstruction work as it has been neglected for a long time, but that is underway at least.

As for the service, it was quite a high church (formal) service, lots of incense and things. That's not necessarily bad, but it might take me some time to get used to. Don't get me wrong, it was a typical CofE service with all that that brings to mind. Most of all, it was great to take communion for the first time in over a month.

The congregation were mixed, the majority English and American, but also a high number of African people, and also Russian. The minister was English, but most of the rest of the church workers were Russian, I think. So that was interesting.

Oh yes - I also met my boss, sorry, DOS. She's based in Zelenograd which is a couple of hours to the north-west of Moscow on the train, which is why she isn't around very often. I think that's also a good thing. We have a monthly team meeting which alternates between Zelenograd and Moscow. So in about six weeks I'll have to make a trip to Zelengrad... well, that should be interesting.

Met a couple of new teachers - new in that they have been here less time than me. It's nice to know that I'm not the newbie any more. One of the new teachers is on work-study; he's called Hugh which is unfortunate as his name is only one dipthong away from the rudest word in the Russian language.

Also met a teacher who was at Uni with me in Nottingham. He was in the year below me so I didn't know him at all, but we were in halls at the same time and we know a few of the same people. It's a small world.

I have been given a new group to teach so I'm up to my contractual maximum now, of something-or-other astronomical hours. They are, incidentally, teenagers at FCE level. So quite capable.

Having a full schedule is a good thing as it means I won't get any of those early morning phone calls asking me to cover for an ill teacher in the other side of the city.

Coincidentally, I taught one of my new students at the summer camp in Obninsk last year! I don't remember her - they just bussed the kids in and out - but she remembers me.

One particular teacher, from England, was out on the town early last Saturday evening with a Russian friend. This English teacher could not speak Russian, but the Russian friend could speak English.

A policeman saw the couple walking down the street and promptly arrested the Englishman.

'Why are you arresting him?' the Russian friend asked the policeman with concern.

'He's drunk,' the policeman replied.

'No he's not, he's totally sober!' As indeed he was.

'What do you mean he's sober, he's so drunk he can't even speak!' And the policeman took him off to the station, fined him, let him go.

Yes, this is Russia.

SWEEPING GENERALISATION OF THE WEEK

There are two types of people in Moscow really. There are your stereotypical slavic Muscovites - tall, blond and hulking. But there is also a smaller, but growing, ethnic population from the Caucuses (excuse spelling).

I've noticed that the first group can be quite uncommunicative, while the second group are chatty as anything - at least to non-Russians like myself. At Planernaya we have an Azerbaijani kebab van man called George - now there's a tongue twister. But he gabbles away to me whenever he sees me...

Talking of Russian kebabs, they're really good. Called Shaurma, but they are just like our doners. But they're not swathed in chilli sauce like in England... they are really fresh with garlic mayonnaise, and I haven't had food poisoning once. Nice one, George.

Anyway, the Caucasian population of Moscow seem to be getting an increasing amount of grief from the Slavics, and especially the authorities. I think everyone assumes that if you are short and swarthy, you must be a Chechen terrorist... and you are guaranteed to get stopped by the police every time you use the metro. Even if all your papers are in order, there is a high chance that you will have to pay the police a small bribe at the least... that's if they're feeling magnanimous. Anyway, it must make life very difficult.

A new Russian Federation ruling and how it affects me.

If my passport is lost or stolen, I would have to leave Russia for up to four weeks while a new visa is issued... bad, huh?

Not really, as I would get to spend the time working for Language Link in either Talin or Prague. Oops, I think someone's just nicked my passport. Damn.

Or the new teacher who flew over from England to start his teaching position in Moscow, only to be told by Language Link that the position had fallen through and he was being relocated to Irkutsk, in Siberia.

No, it wasn't me either.

In the end LL found him a position in Korosovo, Moscow Region, which is where I heard the story. So it all worked out well...

Just wanted to mention the teacher who, travelling back home from a hard night out, decided to have a sit-down on a bench in the metro. He soon nodded off and awoke to find that some enterprising passer-by had quietly stolen his glasses...

No, it wasn't me by the way.

Talking of superiors, after nearly a month I still haven't met the (near-mythical) Rob Jensky, who is the great leader - sorry, Great Leader - of this whole Language Link Russia thing.

Everyone I've spoken to says he's quite a character, a real anecdote teller. The most popular anecdote seems to be about the time he was stranded in Israel and had to sell his motorbike to afford a plane ticket back to the States... although his Vietnam stories have quite a following too.

Actually, I'm quite looking forward to meeting him.

Okay, I've been wracking my brains for something else boring, oops I mean safe, oops I mean neutral, to tell you.

I should mention, I guess, that all the teachers here in Moscow are divided into teams of fifteen or so; each team is headed up by a Director of Studies, of which we have about half a dozen. My DOS is a Scottish lady called Joyce, but then I only found that out yesterday (things happen more slowly here). I haven't met her yet.

Actually, being out of contact with my DOS has been fortuitous because I haven't had to deal with team meetings, assessments, testing, all that serious work stuff. But I'm sure that will follow shortly.

My team is also in charge of putting together the newsletter that I quoted from the other day. It's edited by Jamie, in fact, who is one of the other two teachers based at Skhodnenskaya with me. (The third is a Canadian bloke called Trevor.)

No funny anecdotes today but I liked this article from the Missing Link, which is the Language Link teachers' occasional gossip rag. Well, I'll just give you an extract:

"A recent attempt by the Language Link males to engage in what one teacher referred to as 'the rugby match of the century' resulted in catastrophe as the entire team was chased off the field by Spartak 9-year-olds .... 'Those kids - they're mad,' remarked one frightened Brit who was involved in the face-off. 'They were glaring at us and snarling. I'm not sure I want to try again next time.'"

So it's colder again here, -16 the other night. I don't know what it is during the day, about -10 I think, maybe a bit colder... but the skies are clear and it's very bright, a few flurries of snow and that's all.

But I've noticed an unusual phenomenon with the weather - it gets strangely warmer in the middle of the night. I go to a club about 10pm and it's bloody freezing, but when I leave at 4 or 5am it isn't cold at all, not in the slightest. I can't explain this...