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Happy New Year!
Jan. 1st, 2005 11:14 amWork actually stopped at 6 pm last night as people got ready for a party at the "Proton Club," located a short walk from the hotel. It's a facility that would do many small U.S. towns proud as a community center, offering an auditorium (with stage) and a roomy lobby on the first floor, with a kitchen, bar, and a small banquet room off to one side, and enough room on the second floor for several full-size billiard tables and a couple of table tennis tables.
Our New Year's blowout was set up in the lobby, and as people filed in, the interpretation staff moved off to one side, except for Vladimir V., who was appointed to be "in the barrel," so to speak, as various managers at the head table rose to propose toasts. The idea was that at appointed intervals, the rest of us would take our turn in Vladimir's place, but it never came to pass.
First, because the toasts petered out fairly quickly (I'm guessing that few attendees were paying attention by the third or fourth toast), and second, because - I suspect - Vladimir was really enjoying himself, as he threw himself into interpreting the words of others using as beautiful language as he could muster.
From time to time, the rest of us would be called upon to interpret for individuals and small groups, and I derived the most enjoyment interacting with Fabrice D'A., the lead technician from the French side during the previous night's haul of the satellite container and the ground support equipment. Fabrice is a very animated fellow when he speaks (and he spoke quite a bit last night!).
I almost missed the festivities, which kicked off at 10 pm, because upon returning from the полтинник at a little after 6 pm, I decided to grab a couple of hours of shuteye and overslept, waking only when Viktor called me a few minutes in front of 10 o'clock. Not having anything to wear but what I've been wearing (and laundering, daily) for the past week - my unconnected luggage should get here late tomorrow night - deciding what to wear was not a problem.
In the end, the time flew and a good time, as the saying goes, was had by all. The French graciously provided quite a bit of wine, champagne, and foie gras to the effort, and before I really noticed, it was getting to be past 4 am and time to return to the Fili. The night was cold and brisk, and the walking was treacherous, as a light dusting of snow had fallen during the last hours of the old year and the first hours of the new.
As I write this, I note that it's less than an hour to the New Year back home in Colorado, which reminds me that if there was one sour note to last night's party, it was the common affliction shared by all travelers who find themselves far from home at times like these: the absence of those near and dear to us. I certainly miss my family.
To all who read these words, Happy New Year!
Cheers...
Our New Year's blowout was set up in the lobby, and as people filed in, the interpretation staff moved off to one side, except for Vladimir V., who was appointed to be "in the barrel," so to speak, as various managers at the head table rose to propose toasts. The idea was that at appointed intervals, the rest of us would take our turn in Vladimir's place, but it never came to pass.
First, because the toasts petered out fairly quickly (I'm guessing that few attendees were paying attention by the third or fourth toast), and second, because - I suspect - Vladimir was really enjoying himself, as he threw himself into interpreting the words of others using as beautiful language as he could muster.
From time to time, the rest of us would be called upon to interpret for individuals and small groups, and I derived the most enjoyment interacting with Fabrice D'A., the lead technician from the French side during the previous night's haul of the satellite container and the ground support equipment. Fabrice is a very animated fellow when he speaks (and he spoke quite a bit last night!).
I almost missed the festivities, which kicked off at 10 pm, because upon returning from the полтинник at a little after 6 pm, I decided to grab a couple of hours of shuteye and overslept, waking only when Viktor called me a few minutes in front of 10 o'clock. Not having anything to wear but what I've been wearing (and laundering, daily) for the past week - my unconnected luggage should get here late tomorrow night - deciding what to wear was not a problem.
In the end, the time flew and a good time, as the saying goes, was had by all. The French graciously provided quite a bit of wine, champagne, and foie gras to the effort, and before I really noticed, it was getting to be past 4 am and time to return to the Fili. The night was cold and brisk, and the walking was treacherous, as a light dusting of snow had fallen during the last hours of the old year and the first hours of the new.
As I write this, I note that it's less than an hour to the New Year back home in Colorado, which reminds me that if there was one sour note to last night's party, it was the common affliction shared by all travelers who find themselves far from home at times like these: the absence of those near and dear to us. I certainly miss my family.
To all who read these words, Happy New Year!
Cheers...
