Moving to Moscow

This is the first post on this brand new blog "Eye On Moscow".  We were "Eye On Perm", but the impending move from Perm to Moscow demands a new blog title.

It seems I know Russia better than I know my homeland of America anymore.  This feeling was underlined during a visit to the States last fall when I was at a complete loss as to how to put the title of a car in my name, which is a task I can readily perform here in Russia.

I've traveled through Moscow probably hundreds of times.  But Moscow is not like the rest of Russia, and transit is not equal to residence.

Size and cost seem to be the main impressions of Moscow at the moment.  Both exhibit shallow understanding yet real hurdles.  And both accent the challenge of finding proper housing for our family of six in Moscow.  

Since I also need to decide where I'm going to work in Moscow (meaning I need to find office space too), prime geographic location is at the moment a bit of a mystery.  As I'm still not accustomed to living in the city that is home to the world's third most expensive real estate, cost of rent is now daily raising my bushy eyebrows.

I like a challenge and a learning experience.  Looks like Moscow will be both.  Class begins next week as I travel from Perm to Moscow and I look ahead to the goal of determining housing location deepening my study of this great city.