Ao contrario do que voce pode pensar sabendo que a produtividade aqui eh baixa, aqui nao se emenda feriados como no Brasil. Hoje eh sabado e cah estou eu na agencia. Acontece que terca-feira eh 1 de maio, dia do trabalho, e eh feriado nacional. Ao contrario do que aconteceria no Brasil (4 dias de fuzarca), aqui eles trabalham normalmente no sabado para poder emendar a segunda na terca.
Para compensar o profissionalismo governamental, tem a alegria interna. Aproximadamente 50% dos funcionarios da agencia (incluindo meu departamento), vao emendar os dias 2, 3 e 4 ou os dias 7 e 8 (porque quarta-feira dia 9 eh feriado tambem). Ou seja, todo mundo trabalha no sabado e esquece os dias normais como se fosse normal. Bem, aqui EH normal...
Fui...
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This is just a post about the way people arrange holidays in Russia. Nothing special...
Cheers.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Ja falei de garagem?
Did I mention the garage?
Se voce pensa que garagem soh eh problema em Higienopolis, se engana. Aqui na Russia (ne Ucrania tambem) pouquissimos predios tem garagem propria. Mais de uma vaga por apartamento entao deve ser considerado piada de mau gosto por aqui.
Mas como proteger seu querido carro durante o inverno, ou simplesmente durante a noite quando os bandidos estao aa solta? Nessas horas, nada melhor do que a garagem Tabajara: um caixote de ferro (que deve ser) praticamente impenetravel. A julgar pelo peso das portas, acho que nem o dono abre. Eh um incentivo ao transporte coletivo. O mais legal eh que elas variam de acordo com o carro que voce tem. Nao soh a "qualidade", mas tambem o formato. Essa no primeiro plano deve ser para um Peugeot 106, nao?
Fui.
Ps - No Flickr tambem tem uma foto divertida sobre o que nao fazer num supermercado Russo.
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How do you protect your car during the harsh Russian winter, or simply during the night when the criminals walk free in a place where very few buildings have their own garage? That's when your "self-made" garage comes in handy. It's basically a car safe. It's so thich that I doubt if the owners even care to open it. I think it's more like an incentive to using public transportation. The coolest thing is that those "garages" vary according to the car you have. Not only the "quality", but also the shape. This one in the foreground is probably holding a Peugeot 106, right?
Cheers.
Ps - I put a funny picture on Flickr with a "what not to do in a supermarket" sign.
Mas como proteger seu querido carro durante o inverno, ou simplesmente durante a noite quando os bandidos estao aa solta? Nessas horas, nada melhor do que a garagem Tabajara: um caixote de ferro (que deve ser) praticamente impenetravel. A julgar pelo peso das portas, acho que nem o dono abre. Eh um incentivo ao transporte coletivo. O mais legal eh que elas variam de acordo com o carro que voce tem. Nao soh a "qualidade", mas tambem o formato. Essa no primeiro plano deve ser para um Peugeot 106, nao?
Fui.
Ps - No Flickr tambem tem uma foto divertida sobre o que nao fazer num supermercado Russo.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
How do you protect your car during the harsh Russian winter, or simply during the night when the criminals walk free in a place where very few buildings have their own garage? That's when your "self-made" garage comes in handy. It's basically a car safe. It's so thich that I doubt if the owners even care to open it. I think it's more like an incentive to using public transportation. The coolest thing is that those "garages" vary according to the car you have. Not only the "quality", but also the shape. This one in the foreground is probably holding a Peugeot 106, right?
Cheers.
Ps - I put a funny picture on Flickr with a "what not to do in a supermarket" sign.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Caipirinha para as massas.
Caipirinha for the masses.
Aas vesperas de completar um mes na agencia (ja que fiquei uma semana fora do pais), resolveram fazer meu anuncio oficial para que todos os funcionarios pudessem ver minha cara. Me perguntaram qual seria a melhor maneira de promover esse encontro e eu logo disse "Caipirinha". Na verdade, eu queria fazer uma feijoada, mas nao ia dar certo por varios motivos. O primeiro, claro, eh que eu nao sei fazer feijoada.
Ao contrario do que aconteceu na Ucrania (voce deve lembrar do post), dessa vez nao tive problemas tecnicos: tinha cachaca, limao, acucar e gelo de sobra. O problema ficou por conta dos participantes, que nunca tinham tomado uma cana e nao souberam dosar a brincadeira. Apesar de ter ficado feliz por promover a festa interna mais longa da historia da agencia, fiquei triste ao ver meus Group Heads (homens maduros de 40 e poucos anos) dormindo no chao, igual mendigo brasileiro.
Bora.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Just when I was about to celebrate a month in the agency (I was out for a week), the management decided to promote a formal introduction, so every employee could see my face. When asked about the best way to do that, I promptly answered "Caipirinha". Truth is I'd rather have a feijoada, but it would never work for many reasons. The first one, of course, is the fact that I don't know how to prepare feijoada.
Unlike the problems I faced in Ukraine to prepare caipirinhas, things went smoothly over here: I had enough cachaca, ice, limes and sugar at my disposal. The problem were the guests. Since many of them had never tried cachaca in their lives, they didn't manage to dose it appropriately. So, if on one hand I was happy to hold the longest internal party in the history of the agency, on the other hand I was sad to see my Group Heads (grown men in their 40's) sleeping on the floor. Just like Brazilian hobos.
Giddy up.
Ao contrario do que aconteceu na Ucrania (voce deve lembrar do post), dessa vez nao tive problemas tecnicos: tinha cachaca, limao, acucar e gelo de sobra. O problema ficou por conta dos participantes, que nunca tinham tomado uma cana e nao souberam dosar a brincadeira. Apesar de ter ficado feliz por promover a festa interna mais longa da historia da agencia, fiquei triste ao ver meus Group Heads (homens maduros de 40 e poucos anos) dormindo no chao, igual mendigo brasileiro.
Bora.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Just when I was about to celebrate a month in the agency (I was out for a week), the management decided to promote a formal introduction, so every employee could see my face. When asked about the best way to do that, I promptly answered "Caipirinha". Truth is I'd rather have a feijoada, but it would never work for many reasons. The first one, of course, is the fact that I don't know how to prepare feijoada.
Unlike the problems I faced in Ukraine to prepare caipirinhas, things went smoothly over here: I had enough cachaca, ice, limes and sugar at my disposal. The problem were the guests. Since many of them had never tried cachaca in their lives, they didn't manage to dose it appropriately. So, if on one hand I was happy to hold the longest internal party in the history of the agency, on the other hand I was sad to see my Group Heads (grown men in their 40's) sleeping on the floor. Just like Brazilian hobos.
Giddy up.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Certos como o dia de amanha.
As sure as the rising sun.
Moscow tem restaurante para todos os gostos, principalmente se o seu gosto eh comida japonesa. Isso porque tem sushi em TODOS os restaurantes que voce vai, independentemente da cozinha pela qual o restaurante eh conhecido. Fui num restaurante com comida do Uzbequistao e lah estava o menuzinho de sushi. Deu ateh medo: olhar um cozinheiro gigante, com cara de invocado (cara de matador), apertando bolinhos de arroz.
Outra coisa que nao falta em restaurante nenhum eh o chicletinho pos-refeicao. O engracado eh que Wrigley's nao vende quase nada na rua porque as pessoas preferem tabletes (tipo Orbit). Os caras acharam uma mina de ouro, afinal esse tipo de chiclete eh embalado individualmente e cabe no livrinho capa dura da conta. Claro que o cliclete supre a necessidade de escovar os dentes depois do almoco (para eles, nao para mim).
Abrasssssssss.
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Moscow has restaurants for all tastes, especially if your taste favours Japanese food. That's because there's sushi in EVERY SINGLE restaurant you go to, regardless of the cuisine for which the restaurant os known for. I went to an Uzbek restaurant and there it was, the little sushi menu. It was almost frightening to look at a huge cook, with an angry look on his face (like a matador), squeezing tiny rice balls with his fingers.
Another sure thing in any resturant is the post-meal chewing gum. The funny thing is that Wrigley's gum does not sell well in street shops because people prefer tablets. They found a gold mine in restaurants because their gum in individually wrapped and fits inside the hard cover bill book. Of course, the gum also supresses the need of brushing your teeth after the meal (for them, not for me).
Cheers.
Outra coisa que nao falta em restaurante nenhum eh o chicletinho pos-refeicao. O engracado eh que Wrigley's nao vende quase nada na rua porque as pessoas preferem tabletes (tipo Orbit). Os caras acharam uma mina de ouro, afinal esse tipo de chiclete eh embalado individualmente e cabe no livrinho capa dura da conta. Claro que o cliclete supre a necessidade de escovar os dentes depois do almoco (para eles, nao para mim).
Abrasssssssss.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Moscow has restaurants for all tastes, especially if your taste favours Japanese food. That's because there's sushi in EVERY SINGLE restaurant you go to, regardless of the cuisine for which the restaurant os known for. I went to an Uzbek restaurant and there it was, the little sushi menu. It was almost frightening to look at a huge cook, with an angry look on his face (like a matador), squeezing tiny rice balls with his fingers.
Another sure thing in any resturant is the post-meal chewing gum. The funny thing is that Wrigley's gum does not sell well in street shops because people prefer tablets. They found a gold mine in restaurants because their gum in individually wrapped and fits inside the hard cover bill book. Of course, the gum also supresses the need of brushing your teeth after the meal (for them, not for me).
Cheers.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Benvindo a Noorwijk. Ou algo assim.
Welcome to Noorwijk. Or something like that.
Para quem nao sabe (99% de voces), passei a ultima semana fazendo um treinamento na Holanda. Mais precisamente em Noorwijk, uma praia bem bacana, proxima aa area de cultivo de tulipas (uns 35 km de Amsterdam). Apesar da temperatura agradavel e do sol, so deu para curtir uns minutinhos de praia no ultimo dia. O que nos leva ao motivo pelo qual eu nao postei essa semana: tempo.
Minha experiencia na Ucrania me dizia que essa seria mais uma perda de tempo, um treinamento cheio de gente desinteressada, torcendo pelo break para poder beber. Minha nova experiencia ensinou o contrario: eh possivel ter um treinamento proveitoso e, acima de tudo, com gente dedicada. Foram 5 dias intensos, comecando aas 8h da manha (o treinamento, nao o cafe-da-manha) e terminando aas 7h da noite. Eram so dois coffee-breaks de 15 minutos e 30 minutos de almoco. E depois? Depois, tinha jantar de integracao, que comecava aas 19h15 e ia ate as 22h. Resumindo, nao sobrava tempo nem para respirar.
O destaque ficou para o jantar de quarta e o jantar de encerramento. Cada um foi especial aa sua maneira. O primeiro foi num restaurante chamado Party Company, onde os convidados tem que preparar a comida. Eu fui responsavel pela sobremesa: torta de maca. Sorte que o pessoal do peixe nao se cortou com as facas... O jantar de encerramento foi num lugar chamado Supperclub, um barco que ja ganhou varios premios de design. Sao tres andares: um lounge todo branco embaixo, um restaurante todo preto e um deck no topo. Ele passeia ao redor de Amsterdam e eh incrivel. Se voce estiver por la, nao deixe de conhecer. Agora eh descansar e comecar a semana para botar em pratica tudo que eu aprendi.
Fui.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For those of you who didn't know (99% of you), I spent last week on a
training program in Holland. Specifically in Noorwijk, a nice beach, close to the area where Tulips are grown (about 35 km from Amsterdam). Despite of the warm weather and the sun, I could only enjoy the beach for a couple of minutes on the last day. Which leads us to the reason I haven't posted this week: time.
My experience in Ukraine showed me that this would be a waste of time, another training full of uninterested people, hoping for a break to drink. My new experience showed me the exact opposite: it's possible to have a fruitful and, above all, full of dedicated people. We had 5 intense day, starting at 8h in the morning (that's work, not breakfast) and ending at 7h in the night. During the day, we had only 2 coffee-breaks of 15 minutes each and 30 minutes for lunch. Afterwards? Afterwards we'd go for a dinner of integration between teams that started at 19h15 and ended around 22h. That means we had no free time at all.
The highlight was the dinners we had on Wednesday and the closing dinner. The first one happened in a venue called Party Company, where the guests have to prepare the food. I was responsible for the dessert: apple pie. Good thing the people responsible for the fish didn't cut themselves with the knives... The closing dinner was at Supperclub, a boat that has won many design awards. It has three floors: a fully white lounge, a totally black restaurant and a deck on top. It goes around Amsterdam during the dinner and it's amazing. If you're ever around, don't miss the opportunity of knowing it. Now it's time to rest and start the week to put all the knowledge I got to the test.
See ya.
Minha experiencia na Ucrania me dizia que essa seria mais uma perda de tempo, um treinamento cheio de gente desinteressada, torcendo pelo break para poder beber. Minha nova experiencia ensinou o contrario: eh possivel ter um treinamento proveitoso e, acima de tudo, com gente dedicada. Foram 5 dias intensos, comecando aas 8h da manha (o treinamento, nao o cafe-da-manha) e terminando aas 7h da noite. Eram so dois coffee-breaks de 15 minutos e 30 minutos de almoco. E depois? Depois, tinha jantar de integracao, que comecava aas 19h15 e ia ate as 22h. Resumindo, nao sobrava tempo nem para respirar.
O destaque ficou para o jantar de quarta e o jantar de encerramento. Cada um foi especial aa sua maneira. O primeiro foi num restaurante chamado Party Company, onde os convidados tem que preparar a comida. Eu fui responsavel pela sobremesa: torta de maca. Sorte que o pessoal do peixe nao se cortou com as facas... O jantar de encerramento foi num lugar chamado Supperclub, um barco que ja ganhou varios premios de design. Sao tres andares: um lounge todo branco embaixo, um restaurante todo preto e um deck no topo. Ele passeia ao redor de Amsterdam e eh incrivel. Se voce estiver por la, nao deixe de conhecer. Agora eh descansar e comecar a semana para botar em pratica tudo que eu aprendi.
Fui.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For those of you who didn't know (99% of you), I spent last week on a
training program in Holland. Specifically in Noorwijk, a nice beach, close to the area where Tulips are grown (about 35 km from Amsterdam). Despite of the warm weather and the sun, I could only enjoy the beach for a couple of minutes on the last day. Which leads us to the reason I haven't posted this week: time.
My experience in Ukraine showed me that this would be a waste of time, another training full of uninterested people, hoping for a break to drink. My new experience showed me the exact opposite: it's possible to have a fruitful and, above all, full of dedicated people. We had 5 intense day, starting at 8h in the morning (that's work, not breakfast) and ending at 7h in the night. During the day, we had only 2 coffee-breaks of 15 minutes each and 30 minutes for lunch. Afterwards? Afterwards we'd go for a dinner of integration between teams that started at 19h15 and ended around 22h. That means we had no free time at all.
The highlight was the dinners we had on Wednesday and the closing dinner. The first one happened in a venue called Party Company, where the guests have to prepare the food. I was responsible for the dessert: apple pie. Good thing the people responsible for the fish didn't cut themselves with the knives... The closing dinner was at Supperclub, a boat that has won many design awards. It has three floors: a fully white lounge, a totally black restaurant and a deck on top. It goes around Amsterdam during the dinner and it's amazing. If you're ever around, don't miss the opportunity of knowing it. Now it's time to rest and start the week to put all the knowledge I got to the test.
See ya.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Minha sala + Fisica.
My office + Physics.
Bem, essa ai eh minha sala. Como tinha um monte de gente querendo saber como ela era, decidi postar. Eh pequena, mas tem bastante luz e alguns dos meus bonecos. Eh bom ter uma sala, por mais que isso que "isole" um pouco da equipe que eu tenho que cuidar.
Mas o curioso da minha sala tem mesmo a ver com fisica. Nao sei que raio de combinacao de materiais (piso de madeira, mesa de vidro, cadeira de madeira, etc.) gera eletricidade estatica suficiente para acender a luz da sala. Nao tem jeito, toda vez que eu encosto no computador eu recebo uma descarga de 100W. Umas 30 por dia. Eu ja vou preparado, com o dedo tremendo em direcao ao mouse. Se alguem souber como resolver o problema, pode escrever.
Abraiiii...
----------------------------------------------------------------
Well, this is my office. Since many people asked how it looked, I decided to post it. It's not big, but it's got plenty of light and some of my action figures. It's nice to have a room, even though it "isolates" me from the team I'm supposed to supervise.
But the curious thing about this office has got something to do with physics. I don't know what awkward combination of materials (hardwood floor, glass table, wooden chair, etc.) generates stactic electricity enough to light the room. I know that everytime I touch my computer I'll get a 100W discharge. About 30 a day. I even pace myself before grabbing the mouse now. If you know how to solve the problem, please write.
Cheeouch...
Mas o curioso da minha sala tem mesmo a ver com fisica. Nao sei que raio de combinacao de materiais (piso de madeira, mesa de vidro, cadeira de madeira, etc.) gera eletricidade estatica suficiente para acender a luz da sala. Nao tem jeito, toda vez que eu encosto no computador eu recebo uma descarga de 100W. Umas 30 por dia. Eu ja vou preparado, com o dedo tremendo em direcao ao mouse. Se alguem souber como resolver o problema, pode escrever.
Abraiiii...
----------------------------------------------------------------
Well, this is my office. Since many people asked how it looked, I decided to post it. It's not big, but it's got plenty of light and some of my action figures. It's nice to have a room, even though it "isolates" me from the team I'm supposed to supervise.
But the curious thing about this office has got something to do with physics. I don't know what awkward combination of materials (hardwood floor, glass table, wooden chair, etc.) generates stactic electricity enough to light the room. I know that everytime I touch my computer I'll get a 100W discharge. About 30 a day. I even pace myself before grabbing the mouse now. If you know how to solve the problem, please write.
Cheeouch...
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