So what is so special about this place? Why the heck did I end up in Krasnodar and not some place like Moscow or Saint Petersburg? Why Russia and not a common place most foreign language teacher starters go like South Korea, Japan, or China?
People who know me in real life and in the places I hang out online know that I have expressed my interests in Russia and Turkey. I have tried to apply for JET but failed to get an interview with them. I almost went to Azerbaijan, which would have combined my interest of both countries and languages (Azerbaijani is a Turkic language retaining some Persian and Russian influences) but document issues (migration would not allow more foreign teachers). As for choosing Krasnodar over other places like Moscow and Saint Petersburg, I like some adventure in my life and even though I would still get an adventurous experience in those places the opportunity showed up for Krasnodar and I took it.
So where the heck is Krasnodar? Not sure how many people out there know this place exists or where it's located. I remember someone in the Vienna airport though it was located in Croatia. One of my buddies in Moscow I had to tell him it's south of where he is (way south) but I don't blame anyone for being bad in geography (I may know all provinces and territories in Canada as well as their capitals but ask me to pinpoint them on a map I'll probably be way off by a lot). Krasnodar is the capital city of Krasodar Krai which is basically like a state or a province. The nearby largest body of water is the Black Sea and it's quite close to Crimea. The most recent (2014) Winter Olympics were held in Sochi and that same city will host some FIFA games in 2018 (2017 if you count the confederation's cup). The city of Krasnodar is nowhere near these places but still accessible by train or some bus of some sort. Still have no clue where the heck I am? take a look here:
People who know me in real life and in the places I hang out online know that I have expressed my interests in Russia and Turkey. I have tried to apply for JET but failed to get an interview with them. I almost went to Azerbaijan, which would have combined my interest of both countries and languages (Azerbaijani is a Turkic language retaining some Persian and Russian influences) but document issues (migration would not allow more foreign teachers). As for choosing Krasnodar over other places like Moscow and Saint Petersburg, I like some adventure in my life and even though I would still get an adventurous experience in those places the opportunity showed up for Krasnodar and I took it.
So where the heck is Krasnodar? Not sure how many people out there know this place exists or where it's located. I remember someone in the Vienna airport though it was located in Croatia. One of my buddies in Moscow I had to tell him it's south of where he is (way south) but I don't blame anyone for being bad in geography (I may know all provinces and territories in Canada as well as their capitals but ask me to pinpoint them on a map I'll probably be way off by a lot). Krasnodar is the capital city of Krasodar Krai which is basically like a state or a province. The nearby largest body of water is the Black Sea and it's quite close to Crimea. The most recent (2014) Winter Olympics were held in Sochi and that same city will host some FIFA games in 2018 (2017 if you count the confederation's cup). The city of Krasnodar is nowhere near these places but still accessible by train or some bus of some sort. Still have no clue where the heck I am? take a look here:
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| from here via google images |
and here:
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| from here via google images |
Note: I found these map images on google images which have appeared to come from some news/reporting sites so if you don't like the use of these images on this blog let me know. They're for educational purposes by the way.
Anyway from my impressions of the city before I got here I made some comparisons with my home city of Ottawa: Both are small but big (in terms of population), no metro (Ottawa, however will be getting a light rail system whereas Krasnodar has many modes of public transportation), and there is another region of the country across a river: Adygea.
Considering how long I've been here and the time between the intro post and this one is a lot, I still haven't seen much of the city. So far one of the coolest places I've been to in the city is Чистяковская роща which роща (roshcha) translates to grove, a park full of trees (and some monuments to things). I'll post about individual places and things that I've come across as I go along. For now enjoy this pretty picture of the park.
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| Чистяковская роща (Chistyakovskaya Grove) in Krasnodar |
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