And then there were the good old days of...dare I say it, the American Sports Bar, the infamous Hungry Duck, Hippoptum, and finally, though last but by no means least, Doug & Marty's Boar House; which were, at one time or other places of infamous repute and one was surely guarunteed to see familiar faces and share a beer (or several + chasers) with ex-pats.
And I certainly feel that while things were, how shall I say, a little more risque and even more excitingly; even deliciously risky in those days - there was a feeling of comradarie, which I feel, has been sadly lost and eroded away, over time - never to be replaced. The days when Russian taxi drivers drove clapped out Volga's and Zhigulie's; without headlights on at night, in case of having a flat battery as a result + the days n' nights when the streets were lined with girls of the night and a sight to behold for any red-blooded male, in deed. The days when the mere act of putting yer seatbelt on would usually draw an upset comment from the driver to the effect of, "Don't you trust my driving skills?" "Ne nada nosit eto fignya." Nowadays, however, most of the (Russian) taxi drivers have gone up market and drive nice (and usually) very clean cars. While those driving the mobile, dirty, scrap heaps, with cracked winscreen (and, moreover, usually haven't a clue about where they're supposed to be going - never mind about how to drive safely) are from either Armenia, Georgia or the Caucuses and they try to talk to you in high-pitched, nasal, voices. And it's almost always the same question for starters..."Where are you from?" "Dude, just drive the f*cking car and concentrate a little more on the road, rather than on me please, cos where I come from's really not that important to you," is my usual answer. Then there were the nights, when the working gals would congregate around the Intourist Hotel, of old, before it was demolished and they built somthing a little more up-market (posh) and just a "tad" more expensive in its place. Ahh, those were the days my friend. So, where have many those ex-pats of yesteryear gone? Have they gone home or elsewhere? Or have (we) just become more fragmented as a community? Or have many got married, a little more mellow and/or just settled down period? Thanks to whoever started this conversation and I hope it keeps going with other people's comments and memories of the way things were, for and, with us, ex-pats in the mid-noughties and early 2000's. Sent from my Nokia phone -----Original Message----- From: Human Resources Sent: 23/11/2010 2:59:29 pm Subject: Expat List waning of the expat Interesting, it seems that there may have been a demographic change. The expat as a social class may have largely disappeared. I don't mean the been there, done that, read the book, bought the T-shirt kind of expat like Nick Rees and others who have been around since god used to have to go to May 1 and Nov. 7 rallies. But, the you know, the ugh... this phrase ages me, the young expat, the 25 to 35 year old. The ones who used to fill the clubs, talk loud in Coffeemania, explain to the guards at Soho that the guards are idiots for not letting them in. My impression is that this demographic has collapsed. If they are the ones who would look for a job (possibly) through the Moscow Times the laughable (on one count 85% of ads from iMedia itself) help wanted pages on Wed and Fri would seem to indicate that there are no jobs. Had an occasion to be at the, ugh... just gets worse... ophmatologist, at the American Medical Center (well... at least the building is clean, though I can't otherwise recommend it), and well... it's no longer the "American" Center (it's Medsi) and there are no expats. Asked the doctor, she said, well... there are guys your age (40+), but no, no younger ones. Why do I bring it up? Well... thoughts of Turkey Day, I distinctly remember when there was some place near 1905 Metro station, Navarro's? And well the food wasn't terribly good, but 3 years ago they needed 2 full sittings to fit everyone in, last year a couple of large tables at Correa's and it's all dynosaur expats (40+) and in a few cases, their wives. This year... a hearty handshake and sandwich? Seriously, not that I care, but it's weird to be part of a dying demographic. As Kurt Vonnegut wrote, "and so it goes". Perhaps, though, the most relevant Vonnegut quote was: Bad guys turned informer. Good guys didn't no matter when, no matter what. Not that it's relevant to anything in Russia. _______________________________________________ Expat mailing list E Email truncated to 2,000 characters _______________________________________________ Expat mailing list [email protected] http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat http://www.expat.ru/forum/
