It was an interesting day. Peculiar things happened.
We had a meeting with a Russian company we're co-operating with, sort of. We had a meeting to discuss a contract on purchase of geophysical data, sort of.
You can't just buy these kind of things in Russia, and you can't bring it out of the country. It's secrets of state. Permits are handled by the Department of Defense. However, you can buy a report, with the data (which is what we really wanna buy), as an appendix. Don't ask me why. It's just the way it is.
We were going to negotiate the conditions of the purchase, and the work program. Our meeting with the technical director of the company we're dealing with was scheduled for 1 pm.
He showed up around 2pm, and he was drunk! You could easily see it on his eyes, and he didn't try to hide it. Fair enough, he excused himself, and said:
"I had an arrangement were I got too much alcohol. I know it smells. May I have a cup of tea before we start, please, to recover?"
"Sure, we'll get you a cup of tea, no problem."
He did his job, as if everything was quite normal. I was impressed by the way he handled it, but I must admit it was kind of weird, to negotiate a some-million-dollar deal with a drunk guy.
It was a rare experience, and part of the fun and excitement of doing business in a foreign country; quite interesting, I would say.
Tonight, we planned for a night in downtown Moscow, around Tverskaya Prospect, a major street with lots of cool restaurants (I can recommend the Pushkin Restaurant) and bars. We never got that far.
We had dinner in the restaurant on 34th floor of our hotel. The food and beer was good,and the view of central Moscow was stunning. We just stayed, to admire the Moscow sunset, and didn't get anywhere, Nice evening >:)
(Moscow is a modern metropol, with 12 million people. It's a very interesting city. I took the picture above from the hotel, in the restaurant at 34th floor. You can see the shadow of the hotel in the left part of the picture, First time I was here was in 1990, when Moscow was the capital of the Soviet Union, and Gorbachev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party. I can tell you that the changes throughout the last 20 years are huge)
I have no idea what I can possibly add to this except to say I really liked this post. I like the honest drunk guy and wonder what kind of tea he drank to sober up enough to confront the terms of the deal.
ReplyDeleteI would think negotiating with a drunk guy would be entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Moscow. The view is stunning even in the picture.
ReplyDeleteMy old boss used to be drunk after lunch. So his editing turned interested in the afternoon. You should give him more wine. Then you might have gotten better deal.
ReplyDeleteChemical Fusion
Cool picture. That's quite something, to be able to see how a country has changed. Sounds like you meet some interesting people too.
ReplyDeletei like the title for this post even better after reading the post. :)
ReplyDeleteNot sure whether the drunk Russian was funny or sad.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see Russia, but it's my daughter who really wants to go. Alas, it appears Twitter has no reason to send her there.
First, that's a fabulous photo. Second, that's a great story.
ReplyDeleteSuze: It was Twinings English Breakfast.
ReplyDeleteAlex: It was interesting, and new experience to me.
Susan: Moscow is a very interesting city, it has become a metropol as good as London and Paris.
Enid: Maybe that would work, didn't try. We only gave him tea.
Sheila: It's very interesting to compare Moscow 1990 to Moscow 2011. I'll try to find some pictures from my first visit. I have some old paper copies somewhere.
id: Thanks. I have more Moscow stories to tell, maybe I'll write them down some time >:)
Helen: Good point. I think the vodka is a tragedy for Russia as a country. The average expected lifetime for men is down to 59 years.
Lisa: Thanks.
Must be a lot of fun to travel to other cities and meet new people and their cultures. Living in So. Cal I get to meet people from around the world living here or vacationing or on business. But I have yet to visit any city in Europe. Some day. Some day.
ReplyDeleteI love the sort-ofness and some-millioness--the secretiveness--of this post. It's precisely how I imagine Russia (at least in my wilder dreams).
ReplyDeleteStunning photo. ;)
Jayne: Exactly, to the point. That's the way it is. Lot's of weird things, and very interesting to be part of. I really enjoy getting to experience this. Fortunately, we have people in our Moscow office who know how to play the game. Without them we would probably do serious mistakes. The Russian culture is different from the Western. It's a very interesting country. The way the Russians have changed Moscow from the capital of a communist super power to a modern metropol in is impressive ... and scaring >:)
ReplyDeleteStephen: Southern California is great. I've had a couple of unforgettable trips along the coast from LA to San Diego. Palm Springs is too hot for me though. Once I spent a week there with temperatures never going below 120F.
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