My first trip to Moscow on Pan Am Flight 30 (top). This lady was a floor manager at the Russian Academy of Science Hotel in Moscow. She was kind enough to prepare evening tea for me. I gave her a box of American candies for her children (1992)

During the period 1920-40, Korean men learned how to write Hangeul which was used only by Korean women. Thus, Korean boys and girls were able to exchange love letters.

During this period, many Korean writers wrote romance novels. However, most of them are forgotten, but Yi Kwang-su alone remained as a historical figure. Yes, he wrote beautiful sentences. Would this alone make him so prominent?

To be honest, I have not read any of his novels. My mother was a Yi kwang-su enthusiast, and she read all of his romance novels. When she was telling me about his novel stories, I was not old enough to know the difference between boys and girls.

• In June of 1995, I met a Korean writer named Choi In-Ho in Beijing. I asked him many questions about the Korean literature, and I asked him specifically what magic Yi Kwang-su had to hit the hearts and minds of Koreans during the period of 1920-40, and thereafter. Choi told me Yi copied Tolstoy. Then, I asked him how Yi picked up Tolstoy. His answer was that Tolstoy was a world-wide trend during his time, especially in Japan. Click here to hear more about Yi Kwang-su.

  Choi's remark provided the answer to the questions I formulated during my visits to Russia during the period 1990-95. I made my first visit to Russia in 1990. Whenever I went, Russian ladies were special to me. They were like my cousins, and they always told me things I like to hear. I was wondering why?

  Naya Smorodinskaya. Her father was a very famous Soviet mathematical physicist (top). The ITEP building with director's office. Catherine the Great used to spend her off-duty time in this building.

  ITEP director's office which used to be Catherine's bed room.

• After hearing from Choi In-Ho about Yi's Tolstoy connection, I was able able to understand why Yi Kwang-su's novels were so popular among Koreans. The Russian man-woman relation must be the same as the Korean boy-girl relation. Indeed, with this hypothesis, I was able to socialize more systematically with Russian and other Slavic ladies. It is so natural to have photos with them.

• In October of 1955, I went to Moscow to attend a conference held at the ITEP (Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics). During one of the coffee breaks, one Russian lady wanted to talk with me, and we went into a small conference room. She said her last name is Smorodinskaya assuming that I would recognize her father's name. I passed her first test.
  1. Here is my photo with her.
  2. We met again in 2000 during a conference held in Dubna (north of Moscow).

  She then asked me how much I know about Ekaterina II (known to us as Catherine the Great). Ekaterina did many things, and I could tell many different stories, but it was clear to me what story she wanted to hear from me.

  I said she had many boyfriends, but they were not enough for her. She used to visit military camps and picked up the best-looking and strongest-looking young man, and disappeared with him from the Kremlin palace during the night. I passed her second test.

  She then asked me where she went to spend the night with her fresh boyfriend. I said I do not know. She said Ekaterina used to come "here" with a young soldier. She added that this place (ItEP site) was outside Moscow. Moscow was a much smaller city then. She said Ekaterina spent the night at a building now being used as the ITEP director's office. I then went to the director's office, and he was not there. I talked to his secretary to confirm the story. The secretary said YES. I took some photos there.

  1. The ITEP director's office, where Ekaterina used to spend the nights with a young soldier.
  2. The ITEP Building with its director's office.
  3. Tall Mechanical Clock was there from Ekaterina's days.

• After this experience at ITEP in Moscow, I was able to see why Yi Kwang-su's romance novels were so popular among Koreans. He copied Tolstoy who understood precisely how Russian men talk to their female counterparts. As far as romance is concerned, Koreans and Russians are the same people.

More Photos from Moscow

• Comfortable: A Korean boy surrounded by Russian girls. It was my first time to meet them at the Institute of High Energy Physics in Protvino (south of Moscow) in 1999. Those Russian ladies are the administrators of the Institute, and this photo was taken by the Institute photographer who thought it was an unusual scene.
  1. Like Brother and Sister with one of them.
  2. Russian Physicist. She was quite proud of being a Russian. I like those who are proud of their own country. In 1999, Russia was not in good shape.

• Iraida Kim is a professor of astronomy at Moscow State University. She was nice enough to spend one full day with me in July of 1999. We met at the Ho Chi Minh Dish outside the Akamedicheskaya metro station. We then walked to the campus of Moscow State University (with a big Stalin tower), and spent several hours there. This photo was taken at the entrance of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute.
  1. Waiting for a boat on the Moscow River (this file contains 7 images). We then walked down the hill together to the Moscow River. It was a very hot day, and we had to spend most of the afternoon time on a river boat. Luckily, there was an afternoon shower, and it became cooler. We then had a dinner together. She was born in Kazakhstan with Korean ancestry. Indeed, we felt as if we were brother and sister.

• Valentina Novikova works for the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (north of Moscow), and she takes care of foreign visitors. I met her in Yerevan, Armenia in 1998.
  1. Another photo taken in Yerevan.
  2. Two years later, we met again in Dubna (2000).

• Lydia Arndt also works for Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. She is a very quiet person, and she comes with her daughter at social gatherings. This photo was taken in Dubna (2000).
  1. Two years later, we met again in Prague (2002). Again she was with her daughter, who became taller.

• with Margarita Man'ko, on one of the bridges on the Moscow River Channel (1999). Margarita knows what is going on in this world, and we worked together on conference matters since 1990.
  1. Another photo in Paris (July 2002). Click here for more photos.

• Russian Ladies in Moscow. I spotted these three ladies near the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in November of 2010. I asked them whether I could photograph them. They said YES. We then took turns to produce two more photos.
  1. Photo of myself with two of those ladies.
  2. Another Photo with a different setting.
  3. Three receptionists at the Sheraton Palace Hotel near the Belaruskaya Station, from which an express train runs to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. This hotel is also two metro stations west of the Kremlin. I stayed there in 2010 and 2014. The staff members are thoroughly professional. I will stay there when I go to Moscow again.

• In front of the Chuch of Simeon Stolpnik, I had a photo of this gentle lady (June 27, 2014). This church is dedicated to two Byzantine priests named Kirill and Nephodiy who transformed Greek alphabet into the form suitable to Slavic language during the 9th Century. This Slavic form is known these days as the Russian alphabet.
  1. Book-reading lady at the Kievskaya Metro Station (2014). She was sitting next to me while waiting for the next train. She was of acadenic type reading a book. I proposed a photo with her. She said Yes.
  2. Two Moslem ladies from Azerbaijan. They are Moslems and they are not supposed to touch a strange man, but they said I am not strange to them because I am a professor in the United States. This photo was produced outside the Kremlin Wall (2014). Do you know where Azerbaijan is?

  3. Sergei Prokofiev's monument near the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. I am with a young lady from Saint Petersburg who came to Moscow for a job interview. A very intelligent lady.

     Prokofiev was one of the greatest Russian composers during the Soviet era. He was a popular figure in the Western world. His house was near this momnument on Kamergerskiy Lane with many multi-national restaurants. A very lively place!!

• Students of Moscow State University going to their graduation ball (2014).
  1. How do I look with these young ladies?
  2. I spent about 5 minutes while talking sbout their future plans. I told them to be ambitious because they are the citizens of a big country. They said OK.
  3. Russian ladies from Moscow in St. Petersburg (2016).

• Two ladies at the statue of Tschikovsky in front of the main hall of the Moscow Conervatory of Music (2014).
  1. Three music Students. I met them not far from the Moscow Conservatory of Music, also known as the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (2014). They said they are singers attending a better music school. We talked about some of the opera songs. They said they like Michael Jackson, and are fond of singing Proschanie Slavianki.
  2. This student is studying piano at the Conservatory. I asked her whether she likes Chopin. She said she likes Rachmninov better.
  3. This student is from Kazakhstan is studying harp. She said she has many Korean friends in her hometown.
  4. Irina Bochkova is a professor of violin at this Conservatory. She played Beethoven's violin Sonata No. 5, during a physics conference held in a Volga city of Kazan in 2000. She is a sister-in-law of the principal organizer of the conference. After her performance, I told her the Spring Sonata was one of my favorites since my high school years, and I gave her a postcard carrying the photo of the four string instruments Beethoven used to own. I usually carry a copy of this postcard in my portable photo album.

• Alla Kutepova is a receptionist at the the Hotel Metropol is near Moscow's Kremlin and Bolshoi Theater. Here is a the hotel webpage. Many kings, presidents, prime ministers, as well as other famous people stay in this hotel when they come to Moscow. For this reason, hotel attendants are highly-educated Russians.
  In July of 2016, when checked in, she sounded like a highly-educated person. I asked her about music halls in Moscow, she told me in detail where they are and how to go there. I like to meet her again.
  1. Maya Shirikova works at the breakfast room in the same hotel. She was very happy to meet me because her brother is a physicist. We had this photo in front of a harpist playing for the hotel guests having their breakfasts.
  2. I also met these two culinary artists who prepared artistic breakfasts, and I of course a photo with them.

• With two stage actresses during their break near the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.
• With two Russian Ladies at the statue of Alexander Pushkim in Moscow (2018).

• Coffee break at the Gum store overlooking the Red Square. Lenin's tomb is seen on the other side of the Red Square.
  Two Russian ladies at the center of the Red Square. Vladimir Putin's office is underneath the dome seen in the background.
  1. Two Russian sisters from Samara at the Gum Store in Moscow (2016).
  2. Two Moslem ladies from Azerbaijan. They are Moslems and they are not supposed to touch a strange man, but they said I am not strange to them because I am a professor in the United States. This photo was produced outside the Kremlin Wall (2014). Do you know where Azerbaijan is?
  3. Two Russian Ladies from Murmansk. The city of Murmansk is at the harlfway between Moscow and the North Pole. I met them at one of the samba theaters in Rio.
  4. Two information officers at the Hotel National near the Kremlin entrance in Moscow (2018).
  5. Two ladies in the breakfast room at the Hotel Metropol in Mocosw (2016).

• Two Russian Ladies in Athens (July 2008). I could tell they came from Russia, and they became very happy when I started talking about their country. They came from Moscow.

• Two Russian Friends in Shanghai (July 2011). They came from Moscow and are working at the Wyndham Hotel located at the East Bunt Region of Shanghai for practical training. They came from Moscow, and they are mighty proud of their city.

• In 2010, I was in Paris and enjoying a dinner at Les Cafe Deus Magots. I met there some interesting people. The lady on my right is my wife. The young lady on my left came from Moscow. She became very happy when I asked her whether she came from Yasanevo. She indeed came from there. Yasanevo is a jungle of high-rise condo buildings south of Moscow.

• Another Russian lady from Yasanevo. I met her at the breakfast room of a hotel in Zurich (2014). She is a financial engineer and came to Switzerland with her friend from Kazakhstan for money matters. I do not know too much about their business, but I know there are many banks in Switzerland, and there are many rich people Russia and Kazakhstan thanks to their petroleum resources. It is easy to trace how the oil flows, but you need a professional skill to trace how money flows.

• Liodmila Sarycheva, Professor of Physics at Moscow State University. She chaired a scientific session where I gave one-hour lecture at a conference on symmetry and spin held in Prague (2001). She is known as a very systematic person, and wrote several books on hadronic physics.

• Russians in Rio de Janeiro. I met these two Russian ladies at the Copacabana beach (2007). It was very easy to talk with them because I know about their country. They came from Moscow.
  1. Victory Day March. We noted that it was the 9th day of May. It was the Victory Day in Russia and Russian soldiers march on the Red Square. We then started to march in the Russian style. I did not do too well in walking like Russian soldiers.
  2. Victory Day March. Let us see how Russian soldiers march.
  3. Russian Ladies in London. I had a talk with them at a breakfast table in London. They came from Moscow. Their job is to construct a Russian amusement park like the Disney Land. When I was bragging about my visit to Kaliningrad, one of them told me she was there also. When I told them I went there to study Einstein's Kantian philosophical base, she asked how Einstein was influenced by Kant, I explained. She understood what I said. Great!

• Russian Ladies from Murmansk. I met them at a Samba theater in Rio de Janeiro (2011). The Russian city of Murmansk is in the half way between Moscow and the North Pole.
• Russian Lady from Moscow. I met her on a sightseeing buses in Edinburgh (Scotland, June 2013).
• Russian Lady from Moscow I met on the shuttle bus at the Riga airport (2016). Her job requires her to travel around the world. She has been to many European and Asian countries, including Korea.

• Three Russian ladies on the campus of Stanford University. They came from Moscow, and they live in the southern suburb. They becamce quite curious when I mentioned three Moscow metro stations: Yasanevo, Tripli Stan, and Yugo Zapanaya. I also reproduced the tune of "Proschanie Slvianki."
  • We had a photo together. A Japanese youngster is also in the photo. She wanted to be in the photo even though her mother told her not to.
  • The best solution was to invite her mother to come into to the photo.

• Two Russian ladies from Moscow on a narrow street in Venice (2014).
• with three Russians at the Marco Polo Airport while waiting for a flight to Moscow.

• Aeroflot Russian Airlines (flight from Venice to Moscow on June 25, 2014). Here is another photo.

• Another Aeroflot lady during a flight from Saint Petersburg to Moscow (July 2016). A very courteous and cheerful Russian lady.

  The Aeroflot used be the Aeroflight Soviet Airlines. The young ladies working for this airlines will have no recollection of those cold-war days. Presumably, to entertain those who remember those days or to entertain themselves, their uniforms still in Soviet style with Soviet marks. Those in non-communist countries had a great admiration for the Aeroflot ladies because they could not reach them. I had my first Aeroflot flight in 1990 when I was flying from Helsinki to Moscow, but I did not have a camera with me at that time. The Aeroflight lady was exceptionally kind to me at that time.

Saint Petersburg

The city of Saint Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great in 1703, and served as the capital city of Russia during the Romanov dynasty. I was fortunate enough to visit St.Petersburg during the historic year of 2003 while the city was celebrating 300the annuversary of its founding.

I was in Saint Petersburg from August 19 to 25 to attend the 3rd International Conference on Physics and Control. The city was in a festive mood to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the city's founding by Peter the Great. I was very happy to join the citizens for the celebration of this historic event. There were many interesting people and I took many photos. I am pleased to share some of them with you.

• Vladimir Putin and a Russian Lady in St. Petersburg (2003).
  1. Vikings. Many years ago, St. Petersburg was controlled by Vikings. This viking idol shows a nostalgia toward the Viking era.
  2. Gift Shop. There are many gift shops which are attended by Russian ladies looking like her. This young lady is exceptionally bright and speaks both English and French fluently. She has been to the United States. It was a real pleasure to talk with her. Many service-related ladies have relatives in the U.S., and they have been to New York, Boston, and/or Los Angeles. Thus St. Petersburg was not a strange place for me.
  3. Aeroflot. I met this off-duty airline lady working for the Aeroflot Russian Airlines at a bistro in Saint Petersburg (Russia). From the way she was dressed, I was able to guess she was an airline lady. She is a Russian but lives in Geneva and speaks French fluently (2003).
  4. Russian Lady with her Son on a shuttle bus at Spb Airport.
  5. Two Scientists at the lobby of the Hermitage Museum (2010).

• Nevsky Prospect is the main street of St. Petersburg. You can meet many interesting people there.
  1. Anichikov Bridge. I wanted have a photo on this bridge overlooking the Fountain Canal. I wanted have a photo with a Russian lady taller than I am. I spotted one passing by, and I succeeded producing this photo.
  2. Another Tall Lady. We had this photo in front of a restaurant on Nevsky Prospect (Spb's main street). This restaurant has an eye-catching name.
  3. Catherine the Great, near the Church of Resurrection.
  4. Russian ladies from Moscow in St. Petersburg (2016).

  5. High School Students. Wherever I go, I feel close to high-school students, because I had a very colorful high-school life, which covers the Korean-war period (1950-3). I still carry many habits I picked up during my high school years.
  6. Students of Korean Ancestry. Naturally, I become very happy whenever I meet Korean students. They are Russians born in Russia. Their grandparents came to Kazakhstan in from Vladivostok near the Korean border, and developed agriculture on the land of Central Asia.

• When I arrived at the Spb airport in 2014, a number of Russians came to welcome their guests. I asked them to welcome me even though I am not their guest. They did, and I had a photo with them. This photo was taken by one of the members of this group. I could not leave her out. I had a separate photo with her.

• While I was attending a conference in 2014 at the Spb Nuclear Physics Institute, this kind lady, as a staff member, was very helpful to me. In addition, she was a music lover, and we had many things to talk about. I had photos with her.
  1. at the Gatchina Palace, in front of a portrait of Catherine the Great.
  2. on a Neva River cruise boat during the evening hours.

• I met this student on a flight from Spb to London on July 5, 2004. She was sitting across the aisle from me. She was going to Oxford for a summer program there. It is always a pleasure for me to talk to students. It was and still is my God-given job.

• Catherine's Summer Palace is in the city of Pushkin 25 km south-west of St Petersburg. Many tourists come to this place, and their is a Russian band playing music to please international visitors. For American visitors, they play "Stars and Stripes Forver," and "Gunkan March" for Japanese visitors. I was there during my visit in the summer of 2003.

  I asked them to play a Russian military march: Proschanie Slavianki which is known to every Russian, but totally unknown to Americans. This has been and still is my favorite march since 1948 when I entered my middle school in Korea.

  1. Happy Musicians. The band musicians became quite pleased with my request, as you can see from this photo. They later greeted me with the same music when I was coming out from the Palace.
  2. Polish Lady is listening to the music. She is from Warsaw.

  3. Ekaterina II known as Catherine the Great in her mirror room in the Catherine Palace. With her is Gregory Potomkin, who was one her favorite boyfriends.
  4. Portrait of Ekaterina II, or Catherine the Great. One admirer is standing in front this portrait.
  5. Ekatrina's dress in a vacuum glass cage.

  6. Pushkin. The Palace is located at a town called Pushkin, named after Russia's greatest poet Alexander Pushkin. His statue is in the middle of the town. With me is the lady who worked for the PhysCon conference. She was a guide for a group of the conference participants who wanted to come here. I enjoyed talking with her. Her name is Oksana Meleshkina. A very smart lady!
  7. Another Photo with Pushkin, with a different lady. She took my photo with Oksana. I was courteous enough to invite her to have a photo with me.

  8. Two Sisters from Saratov. I met these young Russian ladies of Korean origin while I was in Saint visiting Catharines Summer Palace near St. Petersburg (August 2003). I was indeed pleased to hear perfect English spoken by these sisters. It appears that their parents, who are conscious of the atrocity Joseph Stalin committed to their own parents or grandparents in 1936, are determined to send their daughters to the United States. After having this photo, they came to me with their own camera to have this photo in front of Alexander Pushkin's statue.

• Conference on the Physics of Control (2003). I am a theoretical physicist. This branch of physics is still dominated by male physicists. The physics of control is oriented toward engineering and applied physics. It was very refreshing to see so many female physicists at this conference. It was very easy to talk to them, and have photos with them.
  1. Participants. There were many outstanding Russian scholars among the participants.
  2. Elena Hairjuzova was particularly interested in what is going on in the United States. I had a long talk with her.
  3. Father and Daughter were both participating in the conference.
  4. Organizing Committee. There were also many Russian ladies working in the registration room. I had a photo with each of them. I cannot show you all, but I thought I could introduce to you a lady whose height is the same as mine.

• The conference banquet was held at the Astoria Club Restaurant near the Hotel Astoria. In addition to an excellent dinner, the banquet included a Russian folk-dance show and a gypsy-dance show. I assume that this restaurant is a branch of the Astoria Hotel complex. George Bush stayed in this hotel when he visited Saint-Petersburg twice. I also heard that North Korea's Kim Jong-Il stayed here when he came to St. Petersburg. Bush and Kim did not come to this hotel at the same time.
  1. One of the Participants is dancing professionally with the gypsy dancers.
  2. I do not know how to dance, but posed with one of the dancers to produce this photo.

  3. Boy Watcher. While I was sitting at my table talking with my colleagues, a young lady came to me and told me her boss wants to see me and invited me to her table. The boss must be a professional boy watcher (in contrast to a girl watcher), and she knew quite a bit about me simply by watching me. Her name is Tatiana Denisenko. She is the director of the Agency of Business Cooperation of the destination management company called Monomax.Ltd. Among numerous services, this company provides managements to international conferences held in Saint Petersburg. She arranged all the programs at the banquet. She gave me her business card and told me she would be very happy to send me an invitation to St.Petersburg whenever I wish. To her, I appeared to be useful for her conference purposes. In fact, by 2003, I had organized more than ten international conferences in physics. She could see it by looking at me.

• Cathedral of Resurrection. I spent one day with this young lady and visited important places in the city. We started with the Museum Square. We then walked along one of the canals. Here we stopped for a photo with the Cathedral of Resurrection in the background.
  1. Close-up View. She is the most courteous lady I have ever met in my life. Her name is Daria Lomagina. I have only a son and never had the pleasure of having daughters. I can now understand why people spend that much money for raising their daughters.

     The Cathedral of Resurrection was built on the spot where Czar Alexander II was mortally wounded in 1881. Russians love him as Americans love Abraham Lincoln. He freed 20 million Russian slaves from their feudal lords. He also stopped Russia's endless territorial expansion and sold Alaska and Aleutian Islands to the United States in 1867. He was assassinated by a young student opposed to his policies. It is said that the 1917 revolution could have been avoided if Russians had implemented the reform programs envisioned by Alexander II.

  2. In front of Pushkin's Statue. We paused at the Art Square not far from the Cathedral, and she explained many things about St. Petersburg to me.

  3. Mariinsky Ballet Theatre. I told her I like to visit the Kirov ballet theatre. She told me the original name of the Kirov ballet is "Mariinsky Ballet" and it recovered its original name after the communists were gone.

  4. Stalin Organ. I told her I like tanks and like to visit a tank museum. She told me she does not like military stuff, but her father was a gun man on T-34 tank or Stalin tank during the Great Patriotic War (WW-II). The only possible place is the artillery museum, and we went there. I was interested in producing another photo like this which I took in Kharkov (Ukraine 2000). There were many guns, but we could not find the Stalin tank there. We decided to have a photo with another dreadful war machine carrying Stalin's name: Stalin Organ.

• In 2002, I met this physicist from Saint Petersburg in Minks (Belarus).
  1. Two year later, I met her again in Minsk. Can you tell she is the same person?
  2. She came with her friend from Saint Petersburg.

  3. Italian and Russian Physicists. In 2002, we had a photo with an Italian physicist from Sicily in Minsk
  4. Two years later, we produced the second edition of this photo again in Minsk.

• Mother and son from Novosibirsk. We shared the same flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg in Novemver of 2010. We became close enough to produce this photo on an airport transport bus in St. Petersburg.

• New York (2004). I met this Jewish lady at a Japanese/Korean restaurant called "Minado" in New York. She was born in Saint Petersburg but went to Israel with her parents when she was one year old. She then came to New York in 2002. This route is not uncommon among the Jewish immigrants in New York. She will work hard, and the United States rewards hardworking people. I think I am one of those so rewarded.

Photos from Kazan

Did you know Tolstoy found out women are beautiful while attending Kazan State University? Where is Kazan? Click here. You cannot understand Tolstoy without visiting Kazan.

Leo Tolstoy was born in 1826 at a small town called Yasnaya Polyayana about 200 km south of Moscow, but his parents died when Tolstoy was very young. He was raised by his uncle who was a high-ranking public official in the city of Kazan, and he entered Kazan State University.

However, Tolstoy was only interested in girls and dancing, and he was expelled from the University. He then returned to his hometown of Yasnaya Polyana and started writing novels. He wrote his "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" while he was young.

• I assume his War and Peace was based on the stories about his parents he heard from his relatives in Kazan. His father fought against Napoleon's army in 1812. It appears that her mother had two lovers (best and second best) before the war, and her best lover died in the war. That is why she had to marry the survivor (second best), who became was Tolstoy's father.

• It is quite possible that Tolstoy had a non-trivial affair with a married woman while in Kazan. This could be the basis for his Anna Karenina.

• Masha. When I visited Kazan to attend the 4th Int'l Conference on Geometrization of Physics in October of 1999, the chairman of the organizing committee assigned his daughter as my guide. She is witty, stylish, and always told me the stories I like to hear. I was able to make up stories to make her happy. I have some photos.
  1. with her children.
  2. at the Volga beach with Volga Shoes. This photo was taken by her mother.
  3. Two romantic cats. We were admiring them.
  4. At the Conference Banquet, she was sitting next to me. I look better with her on my side.
  5. Her mother in 2010. Eleven years after 1999, I visited Kazan again. I was very happy to have this photo.

• Zulia: In Kazan (October 1999), I met this Moslem girl. She wanted to go out with me and show me interesting places in Kazan. We spent some time at the pedestrian street called Bauman Street. We went out again next day, and had a coffee break. I want to see her again.

• Two Sisters from Tashkent. Tashkent is the capital city of Uzbeckistan, which used to be one of the Soviet Republics in the past. There are many people from Tashkent throughout Russia. This frame contains two photos taken in Kazan (1999).

• House wives spending their afternoon hours together. I was a total stranger to them, but they reacted like like old classmates. They did not know I was doing a systematic research on how to talk to Russian women.

• High School Students looking for troubles. I was able to exchange fun stories with them.

• My portrait. While I was presenting a talk at the conference, a Russian lady in the audience constructed my portrait. How do I look?

  From June 22 to July 3, 2001, there was a physics conference entitled "Volga XIII: Recent Problems in Physics" held at a camp called "Volga" about 30 km south from Kazan (Russia). This camp is of course located along the Volga River. The life style there is somewhat different from what I am accustomed to in the United States. However, I would like to emphasize that Russians there know how to make themselves happy.

• In this photo, a Russian girl is reading a book on a paddle boat parked on the Volga beach near Kazan (Russia). She was 15 years old. I boarded her boat and asked her what she was reading. She said "War and Peace" by Tolstoy. I asked her whether she read "Anna Karenina," and she said it is her next book to read. We talked about Tolstoy and other Russian writers. To me, it was just like talking with a Korean girl.
  1. She was tall. She was only 15 years old, but her level of abstraction was high enough to see the point Tolstoy made in his "War and Peace": In a war, the victors are those who save their lives.
  2. Much taller than I am. With her, I acted like a high school boy.

• River Cruise. With two students on a cruise ship along the Volga River. The Russian flag is in the background (2001).
• with another group of students. I look OK with them.
• Rivers force us to think. This young lady is thinking.

• In good terms with the appropriate person. I enjoy eating, but there are not many good places to eat at an isolated place like the Volga camp. How do I solve this problem? Answer: maintain a good relation with the master cook of the camp!

• Two Russian Sisters. When I was attending a conference at the Volga beach near Kazan in 2000, they always stayed close to me. I asked them why they like a man as old as their grandfather. They said I am like their elder brother. They knew what I like to hear. They seem to be interested in how I made out in the United States after coming from Korea when I was as young as they are now.

• Proud Mother. I knew Russians like American candies. I brought with me bags of party-sized (2cm-by-2cm) Snickers chocolates. The local organizers distributed them at the conference banquet. Those Snickers came from the "heaven" to a Russian boy at candy-loving age. He was four yeas old. He went to the microphone and made an eloquent speech thanking "Professor Kim" for bringing those candies. After the speech, I went to him to take a picture. He was afraid of me, but his mother was mighty proud. When I was a small boy, I had several occasions to make my mother happy.

• Neptune. Rivers and seas are very important to humans, and we have a tendency to believe that there are underwater gods who dictate our fate. For this reason, we often perform rituals to please those underwater gods, sometimes by donating attractive girls. The Volga River is very important to Russians. In a small city near Kazan, this ritual was produced by Russian students attending a physics conference there, and I was fortunate enough to be a participant.

• I love New York. I brought twelve "I love New York" shirts when I went there, and gave away randomly. I bought them in New York for $2.00 each. One of the boys asked me whether he could have one, and I said Yes. He was able to attract girls like a magnet.
  1. Student from ITEP (Moscow). This student liked the "I love New York" shirt which I gave to her. I gave her another one for her boy friend, who was not able to come because he has to prepare for an important examination during the summer in his hometown, Novosibirsk in Siberia. She was indeed a cheerful lady. I asked her why she was not wearing her shoes. She said she has beautiful feet . Here is Another Photo with this her during a Volga boat trip.
  2. This Student from Ukraine was also wearing the shirt.
  3. This Russian Physicist spent several years in the United States, and it was a familar sign for Yet, it was her first time to wear this shirt.

• In November of 2010, I went to Kazan again to attend another conference. During the decade from 2001 to 2010, the city has been becoming capitalistic. The most undesirable aspect was its traffic jam. Kanzan's road system was not built for so many cars. Otherwise, people seem to enjoy their freedom and seem to be very happy.

  After I had a photo with mother and daughter, the daughter pushed away her mom. She wanted to have a photo with me alone.

• A Beautiful Set of Mother and Daughter. I walked into Kazan's town hall to see what was happening there. There was a wedding reception, and many teenager boys and girls came in their formal dresses. I spotted there a mother with her teenager daughter, and asked them whether I could have a photo with them.
  1. Photo without Mom. Then the girl pushed away her mother, and wanted to have a photo with me alone. Her mother happliy stayed away. Beautiful people with beautiful hearts.
  2. This is Kazan's Town Hall.

• I spotted these two girls in the lobby of Kazan's concert hall. They agreed to be photographed, and then invited me to have a photo together.
  1. My photo with them. How do I look.
  2. Kazan's Concert Hall. Everywhere in Russia, Russians believe in music.

• The city of Kazan consists of both Christian and Moslem populations, and they live together harmoniously. Most of them do not show their religious preferences and dress up like all other Russians, but some Moslem people like to assert themselves. I took some photos.
  1. A beautiful Moslem family who came to Kazan's Kul Sharif Mosque to pray.
  2. Students at Kazan State University. I was told not to touch them.
  3. Moslem Store. There are Moslem souvenir stores. These ladies became very happy with me because I bought some items in their store.

• Hotel Giuseppe is an Italian-style hotel. I stayed there for five days in November of 2010. This building used to be an apartment building during the communist era, but an Italian businessman took over in 2000, converted into a stylish hotel.
  1. Hotel Reception Desk with Greek-style human pillars.
  2. Breakfast Room is is a very pleasant place to meet people and talk. Many vacationers come to this hotel from European countries.
  3. Attendants are all intelligent-looking in their neo-Russian costumes.
  4. Giussepe is the owner of the hotel. He comes to the breakfast room and talks to the hotel guests, poses for photo with guests and his employees. Here is another photo. How do I look with with these hoteliers?

• Kazan is a city of opportunity. Giuseepe came from Milan, but his wife is a Russian lady from Kazan. He saw an opportunity in Kazan, and is running a great hotel-tourist business there.
  1. S7 Siberian Airlines from Moscow to Kazan. It takes only one hour and 15 minutes.

  2. Young Russian Lady looking for an opportunity. While waiting for my turn to check-in at Giuseppe's hotel, sitting next to me was a Russian lady who came to Kazan to a job interview. She is an economist who can speak fluent English. A very intelligent lady, indeed.
  3. Taxi Driver who took me and my wife to the Airport at the end of our stay in Kazan.

• From these photos from Kazan, you can see why Leo Tolstoy was only interested in girls and dancing while he was a student at Kazan State University. Yet, he used his Kazan resources very effectively to become one of the greatest writers in history.

  You do not have to read Tolstoy's novels. Jusk look at the photos on this page. It takes much less time.

Kaliningrad

Kant's grave site in Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad).

Two German sisters born in Koenigsberg (top), and three generations of Russian ladies.

• In 2005, I went to the Russian city of Kaliningrad to study Einstein's philosophical base. It is well known that his theory of relativity was based on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and Kant formulated his philosophy based on geographical condition of his Prussian city called Koenigsberg. Koenigsberg became a Soviet submarine base called Kalinigrad after 1945, and used to be a place closed to all except Soviet military people.

  I spent three nights and two full days, and I did enough study of Kant's background. Here is my Kaliningrad page. Of course, I was able to meet some Russian ladies, and have photos with them.

• At the Kaliningrad Airport, I was lost. There are no bus services to the city 100 km away, and taxi drivers do not speak English. I was rescued by these two ladies. One (left) of them is Russian, and she came to the airport to pick up her German friend (right). Both of them spoke fluent English, and asked me to come with them. After arriving at my hotel, I thanked them and took this photo.
  1. Two German sisters born in Koenigsberg before 1945. They fled the city with their parents. They now live in Germany, but came to Kaliningrad to visit their birth place. They were also interested in the church where their parents got married. Next to me in this photo is the younger sister who was six years old when she fled, and her husband was very busy in his job in Germany. The elder sister is two years older, and she came with her husband.
  2. Three generations of Russian ladies. This photo was taken on a city bus. The grandmother came from Russia, and her daughter and granddaughter were born in Kaliningrad. By now, Kaliningrad is a Russian city.

• On the First Full Day, I was guided by this lady. She is a professor at a fishery college in Kaliningrad. Since she is a professor, we could talk very easily, and gave me an excellent history lesson. This photo was taken in front of the stutue of Peter the Great at the headquaters of Russia's Baltic Fleet. Peter the Great started constructing the Russian navy.
  1. Navy Sailors and Girls. Russian sailors are dressed like army soldiers on their land duties. Soldiers look happier with girls.
  2. Lady Gardeners. Gardening requires manual works, but these ladies were dressed stylishly.
  3. Sea Food Restaurant. We had a great meal at the city's best sea food restaurant.

• Kant as a Russian hero. In Russia, young couples hold their wedding ceremonies on Saturdays, and they then visit graves of Russian heros. Kant is one of their heros.
  1. Sisters. It would not be appropriate to have a photo with the bride, but I am allowed to have photos with her sisters. This is one of them.

  2. Catherine the Great of Russia had a strong interest in Koenigsberg and constructed an amber room in her summer palace from ambers from this area. Catherine was also fond of socializing with interesting gentlemen. Kant lived for 80 years, and Catherine was born and died during the Kant era (1724-1804). They both spoke German. I do not have enough expertise to tell whether she met Kant here, but I was happy to see her portrait in the Kant museum. It would be interesting to examine what they learned from each other.

  There were many German tourists in Kaliningrad, and they all told me to visit a resort city called Svetlogorsk located at the Baltic coast, about 100 km north of Kaliningrad. It was a German resort town before 1945, and it is becoming a resort area again for rich Germans. It takes about 90 minutes by train to go there.

• On the train, I met this young lady who speaks English fluently. She is a sophomore at Kant State University in Kaliningrad and was going home in Svetlogorsk (2005). She became quite interested in my background, because I went to the United States with two empty hands and became rich and famous. To Russians, everybody from the USA looks rich. She said she is planning to visit the States as an exchange student. Her name is Irene Ovchinnikova.
  1. Beach. After arriving at Svetlogorsk, we walked along the beach. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day, and it started to rain. There were not many people on the beach.
  2. Photo Together. We had a photo together.
  3. Lunch. I became somewhat hungry, and I invited Irene to a lunch at restaurant in an expensive hotel designed to earn Euros from German tourists. She said she was not hungry, but would drink orange juice while I eat. She then called her cellphone to tell her mother where she was. Her mother was initially upset because she was a strange man, but eventually became curious. The mother invited me to her house. Because it was raining, we took a taxi to go to their house.

  4. Family photo. She is with her mom and dad. Their house is one of the condos in a large building, as most Russians live. Irene's father is a very prominent surgeon in the Kaliningrad area.
  5. Mother and neighbor. As in the case of old villages, neighbors get excited when there is a strange guest, one of the ladies in the same condo building spent time with us. In this photo, on my right is the mother, and the neighbor lady is on my left. Irene is somewhat amused at the older people behaving like children.
  6. First floor. Their condo is on the first floor. This allows them to cultivate a beautiful garden in front of their house.
  7. Church. They showed me things around the town. Among them was an old German church, which still looks like a German church, but it is a Russian church inside. Irene goes to this church every Sunday.

• In London (September 2011), I met this lady from Kaliningrad. She was born in Berlin while her father was a military attache at the Soviet Embassy. She said this city is still called Koenigsberg in Germany. She was with her Russian colleagues in the amusement park business.

Russian Friends from Siberia and Central Asia

• Mother and Daughter from Khabarovsk. Khabarovsk is a Russian city at the eastern end of Siberia, north of the Korean Peninsula. I met these two ladies in the Church of Resurrection in Saint Petersburg (November 2010). While I was in Korea until 1954, I used to pick up Radio Moscow shortwave signals relayed at powerful shortwave stations in Khabarovsk, but I had never expected to meet anyone from Khabarovsk.
  1. Without me, they look better. Can you tell who is the mother, and who is the daughter? They are both fluent in English, and they have been in the United States. The mother knew that North Korea's Kim Il-Sung was trained to be a Soviet intelligence agent in Khabarovsk, while the daughter did not. Indeed, we had many interesting topics to talk about. I like to see them again.
  2. Another Group of of Russian ladies from Khabarovsk. I met them at a restaurant in Rio de Janeiro (2011).

• Russian Lady from Omsk. I met her on the Cote d'Azur beach. It was the first time to meet, but this Russian lady behaved as if he she were with her brother. This photo was taken by her embarrassed daughter.
  1. Mother and daughter.
  2. with full background.
  3. Cote d'Azur is a fun place to everybody. Everybody becomes everybody's friend.

• Ural Mountains. I met this Russian student at the Brasserie Les Halles in New York (2006). She came from a town in the Ural Mountains area.

• S7 Siberian Airlines from Moscow to Kazan. It takes only one hour and 15 minutes.

• Olga Germanova is a Russian engineer from Klasnoyarsk. I met her at a conference held in Hangzhou(China 2011). She is an excellent scientist and is a cheerful Russian lady. She was quite proud of her city, and we promised to meet again in her Siberian city.

• Two Russian students from Siberia near Tomsk. I met them in Las Vegas, at the Caesars Palace (June 2012). They came to the United States in the travel and study program and came to Las Vegas for curiosity. The young lady on my right is studying business and finance and wants to become rich and powerful. The student on my left is studying law and wants to become the president of Russia. It was a great pleasure to talk with those young students. Here is another photo.
  1. Unilke other girls in Las Vegas, they were not wearing high hills.
  2. Under the Hadrian's dome,this photo was taken.
  3. The Caesar Palace looks like this during the day time.
  4. Julius Caesar welcomes you when you enter the Palace.
  5. In the evening, the front of the Palace looks like this.

• Two Russian ladies running a gift shop in Munich. One of them came from Novosirsk and the other from a town I do not know about. They became very happy when I ask them when I asked them whether they are Russians.

• Russian students at London's Heathrow Airport (2016). I met them while waiting in the passport control line. The line was snake-like long. I met them while they were coming toward me in the opposite direction. I then met them again while we were moving in opposite directions. They invited me to have a photo again. They came from a Siberian town, and one of them was carrying a bulky camera.

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• Financial Analysts from Kazakhstan. I met them in Vienna (October 2007). They were attending a workshop on banking. There are people who trace the flow of oil in their country, but the country needs those who can trace the flow of money.
  1. Financial Engineer from Kazakhstan. I met her at a breakfast room of a Zurich hotel (2014). She came with her Russian colleague. I do not understand their business too well, but I know there are many rich people in Russia and Kazakhstan. I also know there are many banks in Zurich.

  2. This student is from Kazakhstan is studying harp. She said she has many Korean friends in her hometown.

  3. Students from Almaty studying at American University in Washington, DC (January 2008).

  4. Lady from Kazakhstan working in Kaliningrad (2005). Do you know where Kaliningrad is?

  5. Students from Kazakhstan returning home after spending the summer months in the United States in September of 2014. I met them at London's Heathrow Airport.

  6. Two ladies from Kazakhstan at a Georgian restaurant in Sopot (nr. Gdansk), Poland (2015).
  7. Two ladies from Kazakhstan at the Trump Tower on the 5th Ave. (New York City). This photo was taken on the Christmas day of 2019.

• Two Sisters from Tashkent. Tashkent is the capital city of Uzbeckistan, which used to be one of the Soviet Republics in the past. There are many people from Tashkent throughout Russia. This frame contains two photos taken in Kazan (1999).

• Tashkent Lady, married to a rich man of Korean origin. He drives an Audi (German-made car). This photo was taken when I was visiting Minsk in 1994.

  Russian Ladies of Korean Origin

• Iraida: with Dr. Iraida Kim of Moscow State University. She is a research professor at MSU's Sternberg Astronomical Institute. She is very popular among Korean astronomers. We were waiting on the bank of the Moscow River for a cruise boat. It was a hot day. One hour before, we were on the MSU campus which is at the top of the cliff about 100 meters high. We walked down the cliff. Iraida was born in Kazakhstan.

• Immigrant from Kazakhstan. I met this young lady at a night club called "Odessa" at Brighton Beach (New York 2002). She came from a Korean community in Almaty (Kazakhstan) recently, and she was so happy to meet a Korean man in the United States that her first reaction was to embrace him. She got her "green card" by lottery. How about money? She said Koreans in Kazakhstan are very rich. Here is another photo.

• Dancers from Kazakhstan. They are descendents of those Koreans who were forced to go there by Stalin in 1937. They were dancing in a Korean church near Baltimore in 1997. Here, they are performing a traditional Korean dance.

• Koreisky Children. On the Pushkin Square, I met these small Russian ladies of Korean origin. I was indeed happy to note that they could speak fluent English. I used to like girls when I was a child as young as they are now. Like to see some of my childhood photos? Click here.

  They came from Saratov, but they are descendents of those Koreans who were forced to move from the Vladivostok area (eastern Siberia) to Kazakhstan and Uzbeckistan in central Asia in 1936. About 400,000 Koreans were rounded up by Stalin's police and were transported by trains. Only one half of them survived during the transportation. Those survivors were thrown out to untouched wild fields. Those Koreans started digging the ground and developed agriculture, and they now produce high-quality farm products for the former Soviet region. Jewish people talk often about how they survived atrocities committed against them throughout the history. Koreans also have their own stories to tell.

• Koreans from Central Asia. I have a separate webpage for Koreans from Central Asia.

• President Hotel Kievsky is one of the upscale hotels in Kiev (October 2006). Receptionists are well trained to greet international guests.
  1. Gift Shop at the Hotel Rus in Kiev. This lady is very happy because I bought gift items from her (October 2006).
  2. Two Medical Doctors from Dnepropetrovsk staying at the President Hotel Kievsky in Kiev (2006). They appeared to have beautiful minds. I asked them whether I could photograph them. They invited me to sit down with them, and I had a photo with them. There are many medical doctors in my family. In order to be a successful doctor, he/she must have a beautiful mind and must always be ready to help others.

  3. Ukrainian Economist I met at a Kiev restaurant called Pervak. She was with her friends from Estonia and Lithuania who were classmates at the London School of Economics. They are having a re-union every year at a major city in Europe, such as Paris, Madrid, and Kiev.
  4. One of the Ladies I met at a restaurant near the Science Center of Taras Shevchenko University in Kiev (October 2006). I proposed a photo with her, and she said Yes. She was with her friend, and arranged my photo with her friend. They could not speak English, but they were cheerful Unitarians.

• Ukrainian Students in Kharkov (July 2000). A mid-aged lady sitting next to me does not seem to be interested in young people's affair.
  1. Yevgenia Ushenko is a post-graduate student at Chenivtsi National University (south-western region of Ukraine). I met her in Kiev (October 2006).
  2. Ukrainian Student, while waiting for a British Airways flight to Kiev at London's Heathrow Airport.

• The Kiev Day is the last Monday of every year, like the memorial day in the United States. It is a holiday for all Kiev residents for rest and relaxation. In 2010, I was fortunate enough to be in Kiev to share this holiday with all Kievskies.
  1. People are coming to the Liberty Square for good time.
  2. Liberty Square. People gather around the Liberty Tower at the Liberty Square, where political demonstrations are held from time to time.

  3. Kiev's Main Street was closed for automobiles People are free to roam around to make their causes known to others.
  4. I support her cause, even though I did not understand what she was standing for.
  5. The Main Street, without cars, became roller skaters' heaven.

  6. McDonald's is an American institution, and is everywhere in the world. This place was jam-packed on this holiday.
  7. Group of young people at the McDonald's. They are working for the American sales organization called "Amway."

• Everbody is everybody's friend.
  1. Mark and Spencer is a British department store.
  2. Graduating High School Students are going to their graduation prom (2010). They became very happy when I told them I am professor in the United States.
  3. Newly Wedded couple in Kiev (2010).
  4. Two Young Ladies are relaxing on a sidewalk bench. I asked them whether I can photograph them. They said Yes.
     • I asked them whether I can have a photo with them. They said Yes, but they seem to be somewhat nervous.
     • Senior Citizen. I then spotted this senior (somewhat) citizen enviously looking at the young ladies. I was courtenous enough to ask her to have a photo with me. She seems to be happy.
  5. Beautiful Young Couple at a fountain side.

• Happy to meet again! I met this Ukrainian lady at the Vienna Airport on July 23 (2000) and met her again at the Kharkov Airport in Ukraine one week later on July 30. She now lives in Dresden and spoke to me in German. I liked her questions and her answers to my questions, in spite of the stiff language barrier.

• Flight from Kharkov to Vienna (2001.11.4). I was sitting next to this lady. She told me taking a photo is not enough, and she gave me her e-mail address. She was born and raised in Ukraine, but now lives in Bologna (Italy). Everything she wears was made in Italy, but she is clearly an Ukrainian according to this photo. She knows how to live her life.

• at a Cosmetics Store in Kharkov (2000). She looks like my mother.

• An Un-invited Guest at an Ukrainian wedding ceremony (July 2000). I can do this only in Russia or Ukraine, not in other countries.
• Hotel Kiev in Kharkov. This Ukrainian lady works at the hotel canteen and overpowers everybody, but she is very warm-hearted and kind to everybody (2000).
• She got promoted. I was there in 1999 and 2000.

• Flower Lady. She sells flowers at one of Kharkov's subway stations (2000).
• Another Flower Lady. She sells flowers at another station.

• High School Girls in Kharkov, Ukraine (July 2000). They seem to know how to make themselves happy, even though we think their economy is not in the best possible condition.
• Two Sweet Girls. While in Kharkov (July 2000), I invited these two girls to a photo with my colleague. They were just walking by. In November of 2001, they came to me while I was attending the Akhiezer memorial conference held in Kharkov. It was a total surprise to me. They asked me whether I brought their photos. I apologized to them and promised to put the pictures on my website, and I invited them to join me in the conference banquet. However, my proposal was rejected by the conference organizers. Their reasoning was that these girls are too young. We were thoroughly disappointed. They wanted to spend more time with me. I now have their addresses and will make every effort to heal their wounds.

• Tanks. On June 25 of 1950, I was in the South Korean city of Seoul. It was a Sunday morning. Seoul's radio said there would be an important announcement and asked the listeners to stay tuned. At 1:10 PM, the radio said the North Korean tanks crossed the 38th parallel about 50 km north of Seoul. Those tanks completely destroyed the South Korean army and came into Seoul after three days. This is how the Korean War started, and those North Korean tanks were Soviet-made T-34 tanks. In 2000, I was happy to find out the T-34 tank was originally developed in Kharkov. During World War II, the T-34 tanks were mass-produced in the Ural-mountain city of Chelyabinsk. It is well known that those tanks destroyed the core of the German army in Stalingrad.

• Small Korean Community in Kharkov. This building is used for a Korean restaurant, Korean church, and the Korean community center.
  1. This elderly person on my left has a very interesting background. Before 1940, he studied at a university in St. Petersburg, and helped Kim Il-Sung in setting up a Soviet-backed regime in Pyongyang in 1948, but he later exiled himself to Kharkov totally unknown city to Koreans including Kim Il-Sung. When I met him in 2000, he was telling me how ignorant Kim I-S was. He had a grand plan for the unified Korea: combine the economic strength of the South with the military might of the North. Sounded great, but he was no longer there when I visited his place a year later in 2001. His son was telling me he was looking for a man who could translate his un-published book in Russian into Korean.
  2. Inside Korean Center. It is very important for Koreans to maintain their own heritage, even ar a place totally unknown in Korea.
  3. This lady of Korean origin is in charge of the Korean community center.
  4. This young lady is providing social services with her Ukrainian colleagues. Koreans believe in doing good things for the community.
  5. This Korean girl came from Kazakhstan, and works at one of the most expensive restaurants in Kharkov. She wants to make money for a better future.

Belarusian Friends

• First Visit to Minsk. When I went there in 1994, I was a strange person to these ladies. They gave me very warm greetinga.
• One of those Ladies I met again in 2002.

• These Two Ladies are excellent physicists from the Stepanov Institute of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences. They are Raisa Zaporozhchenko and Tatiana Karlovich (younger lady). We had this photo in 2004 while I was attending a conference held in Minsk.

• Two Students from Minsk. This photo was produced in front of Catherine's winter palace in St. Petersburg (2004).

• In September of 2011, I was in Minsk, and I spotted this young lady on a bronze wagon in the old town of Minsk. We never talked to each other, but we were able to produce a silent movie. Click here for the movie.

• Two Opera Singers for the Minsk Opera Group. I met them at the Belarusian National Museum (2011). I enjoy talking about music with ladies.

• Two ladies at the Minsk Airpot, while I was waiting for a flight to Vienna. One of them came the same flight with me. We were very happy to meet again at the Vienna Airport. at the Vienna Airport. We were very happy to meet again because we met earlier boarding the same plane from Minsk to Vienna. We were on the same plane, but we were separated for one hour. She has a job in Germany and speaks English fluently.

• Two Belarusian ladies from Minsk on the campus of the Humboldt University of Berlin (2015).
• Gentle-lady from Kamchatka at the breakfat room in the Hotel Belarus, Minsk (Belaruss 20190). I am still sleepy in this photo.

Russian/Ukrainian Friends I met in Other Regions of the World

• with a young Russian professor from Riga (Latvia), while waiting for a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt (Germany) at Washington's Dulles Airport (November 2002). She was going home after attending a conference in U.S.A. I am very comfortable when I talk to a Russian lady, and I think she felt in the same way.
  1. Russian Amber Store in Riga. She is very happy because I bought items from her and paid in cash instead of credit card (2010).
  2. Russian Gift Shop in Riga (2010). There are many Russians in Latvia, which used to be one of the Soviet Republics since the end of World War II and until the end of the Soviet Union. There are thus many Russians in Latvia, and they are very proud of their Russian root.
  3. Russian Lady from Moscow I met on the shuttle bus at the Riga airport (2016). Her job requires her to travel around the world. She has been to many European and Asian countries, including Korea.

• Russian Tea Room is a very expensive Russian restaurant in New York
  1. Dining Room looks like this inside. There are many other rooms for private meetings.
  2. Russian Bar Attender. One disappointing aspect of this restaurant is that you cannot meet too many Russians. Most of them are rich Americans. The only Russian was the bar attender, and I talked with her about her country.
  3. Russian Lady from Moldavia. She works at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. She came from Moldavia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. She said her sons are doing very well in the United States. I asked her why she has to work at a hotel. She said she is addicted to the work. We talked about Russia and Moldavia (between Ukraine and Romania).`

  4. Russian Student in New York. There are many Russian students in New York working at restaurants. They are very intelligent, and I can they came from Russia after exchanging a few words. They have ambitions, and are working there for better opportunities in the United States. Standing on my left is a student from Russia. This photo was produced at the seaport area of New York (2008).
  5. Russian Lady from Tomsk: a new immigrant from Russia working at New York's Russian restaurant called FireBird in New York(go there if you like to dine like a Czar). Her plan in the United States is to study business administration and become a Wall-Street giant. I am looking forward to meeting her again then.
  6. Ural Mountains. I met this Russian student at the Brasserie Les Halles in New York (2006). She came from a town in the Ural Mountains area.
  7. From St. Petersburg. I met this Jewish lady at a Japanese/Korean restaurant called "Minado" in New York (2004). She was born in Saint Petersburg but went to Israel with her parents when she was one year old. She then came to New York in 2002. This route is not uncommon among the Jewish immigrants in New York. She will work hard, and the United States rewards hardworking people. I think I am one of those so rewarded.

  8. Russian students at London's Heathrow Airport (2016). I met them while waiting in the passport control line. The line was snake-like long. I met them while they were coming toward me in the opposite direction. I then met them again while we were moving in opposite directions. They invited me to have a photo again. They came from a Siberian town, and one of them was carrying a bulky camera.

  9. Russian Lawyer in Washington. I met this tall Russian lawyer in one of the Hyatt hotels in Virginia (2013). She waw with her Saudi Arabian colleague, and I had a photo with both of them .

  10. Three Russian ladies on the campus of Stanford University. They came from Moscow, and they live in the southern suburb. They becamce quite curious when I mentioned three Moscow metro stations: Yasanevo, Tripli Stan, and Yugo Zapanaya. I also reproduced the tune of "Proschanie Slvianki."
      • We had a photo together. A Japanese youngster is also in the photo. She wanted to be in the photo even though her mother told her not to.
      • The best solution was to invite her mother to come into to the photo.
  11. Two Belarusian ladies from Minsk on the campus of the Humboldt University of Berlin (2015).

• Russians in Paris. I met this Russian family at one of the cafes. The father appeared to be a very successful businessman. They travelled around the world including the Unites States (2010).
  1. with a Russian Physicist attending a physics conference in Paris (2002). In 2000, I met him at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (Russia). His name is Denis Proskurin. He likes to be photographed with a lady.
  2. A Russian Lady at Gif-sur-Yvitte, southern suburb of Paris (2000). This lady is casually dressed, and the environment is nothing unusual, but this photo turned out to be artistic.
  3. with Russian Students at the Persian section of Louvre Museum (2010).

  4. Russian Lady from Yasanevo. The young lady on my right came from Moscow. She is so happy with me because I asked her whether she came from Yasanevo. Yasanevo is a jungle of high-rise condo buildings south of Moscow. Since about one million people live there and Moscow's population is about 10 million. The probability of my being right is 0.1 if I ask this question to everybody from Moscow. This photo was taken at Les Deux Magots (2010).
  5. Two Russian ladies at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, in front of the Medici Fountain (July 2025).

• Olga Germanova is a Russian engineer from Klasnoyarsk. I met her at a conference held in Hangzhou(China 2011). She is an excellent scientist and is a cheerful Russian lady. She was quite proud of her city, and we promised to meet again in her Siberian city.
  1. Two Russian Ladies in Shanghai (July 2011). They came from Moscow and are working at the Wyndham Hotel located at the East Bunt Region of Shanghai for practical training. They came from Moscow, and they are mighty proud of their city.

  2. Two Russian Ladies in Athens (July 2008). I could tell they came from Russia, and they became very happy when I started talking about their country. They came from Moscow.
  3. Young Russian Ladies in Berlin (2015). Their friend was getting married.

  4. Russian vacationers in Vienna (2008). I had a brief meeting with them at a hotel breakfast table. They could not speak English well, but we exchanged very pleasant greetings.
  5. Three Russian ladies near the Stephens Platz (city center) in Vienna (2013). They became happy when I told them I have been to their country many times.
  6. Russian Lady from Moscow. I met her on one of the sightseeing buses in Edinburgh (Scotland, June 2013).

  7. Two Russian ladies from Moscow on a narrow street in Venice (2014).
  8. with three Russians at the Marco Polo Airport while waiting for a flight to Moscow.
  9. Two Russian ladies running a gift shop in Munich. One of them came from Novosirsk and the other from a town I do not know about. They became very happy when I ask them when I asked them whether they are Russians.

• Russians in Rio de Janeiro. I met these two Russian ladies at the Copacabana beach (2007). It was very easy to talk with them because I know about their country. They came from Moscow.
  1. Victory Day March. We noted that it was the 9th day of May. It was the Victory Day in Russia and Russian soldiers march on the Red Square. We then started to march in the Russian style. I did not do too well in walking like Russian soldiers.
  2. Russian Ladies dancing on the stage in the Samba theater called Plataforma.
  3. I had a photo with two of them. They came from the Russian city of Murmansk, located at the half way between Moscow and the North Pole.

  4. Another Group of of Russian ladies I met at a Rio restaurant. They case from the eastern Siberian city of Khabarovsk.

• Ukrainian in Budapest. I spotted this Ukrainian lady at Budapest's Milehanad Park and started talking. She had been in the United States and speaks fluent English. She was with her mother who could not speak English, but I felt much closer to her. She invited me to sit down on her side.
  1. Ukrainian Lady selling sight-seeing boat tickects on the Elbe River in Dresden (2006). She is happy because I bought tickets from her.
  2. Ukrainian Lady managing a jewlry store in Copenhagen (2010).

  3. Ukrainian Lady Paris (2012). She works at Fouchet's Restaurant Here is another photo.
  4. London Metro (2011). This Ukrainian lady is very happy to able to work in London. I enjoyed talking with her. I enjoy taling with happy people. Here is another photo.
  5. In Salzburg, Cheerful Ukrainians (2013)
  6. Two Ukrainian ladies in Krakow (Poland 2013). They came from Lviv. When I told them Lviv once belonged to Poland, they vehemently denied. Their place has always been an Ukrainian city.
  7. Ukrainian lady from Lviv ln Veince (2014). Her hairstyle becomes that of Yulia Tymosenko she works at a restaurant in Venice. Let us look at Timoshenko's photo with George W. Bush, as well as my Julia.

• Two Russian ladies at the Myungdong shopping district in Seoul, South Korea (2017).
  1. Young Russian honey-mooners in front of one of the busiest post offices in Seoul (2017).
  2. Two Russian ladies from the Sakharin Island in Busan (2017). They were born and raised in the Kamchatka Peninsula.
     
     
     

Russian Musicians

• Tatyana: with a Russian violinist who looks exactly like Tatyana Samoilova, who used to be the most popular actress in the Soviet world. This violinist is about 15 years younger than Tatyana, and this photo was taken by my wife in London in 1999. Russians, though not all, think she is the real Tatyana. What does Tatyana Samoilova mean to Russians and to the world? Read the attached article.

• with Ballerinas. Russians produce great ballets, and those ballerinas look like dolls or angeles on the stage. How would they look when they are plain-clothed? How would they look when they are passengers on a airplane. This photo was taken when we were waiting on line for passport inspection at Kazan's international airport. There are two ballerinas in this photo. They are holding their Russian passports.

• Spring Sonata. During the meeting, we took a trip to Kazan, and had a brief ceremony followed by a violin recital by Irina Bochkova who was born in Kazan and is now a professor at Moscow Conservatory. She played Beethoven's violin sonata No. 5 known as the Spring Sonata. I heard this Sonata when I was a high-school student in Korea. To me Irina Bochkova was the best player of Beethoven's sonatas. In order to prove that I am also a Beethoven lover, I gave her a postcard carrying the photo of the four string instruments Beethoven used to own. I usually carry a copy of this postcard in my portable photo album.

• This student is from Kazakhstan is studying harp at the Moscoe Conservatory of Music. She said she has many Korean friends in her hometown.

• with a Russian music lover in front of Tchaikovsky's Bust in the main lobby of the the Tchaikovsky Music Hall in Moscow (2010).

• Mariinsky Administrator. I met this lady at the SPB airport while waiting for an AirBerlin flight to Dusseldorf (2010). She works on exhibitions for the Mariinsky company. According to her, Moscow's Bolshoi is not the worst ballet in the world, but it is basically wrong to compare the Mariinsky with Bolshoi.
• Russian Lawyer in Washington. I met her at Washington's Kennedy Center for a peformance of the Mariinsky Ballet's performance of the Giselle (2011).

Russian/Ukrainian Music

Russian Song and Dance during the reception for the participants of the first Sakharov Conference in Moscow (1991).

After the performance of the Spanish dance from Tchaikovsky's Spanish dance (Minsk 2006).

When Soviet troops moved into Korea's northern provinces, they came with their "song and dance" units. They were of course impressing Koreans, but Russians were strange people to Koreans. They are now ready to fully appreciate Russia's traditional culture. Let us see and hear some YuTube pages.
1. Kasatchok.
   • Another Version.
2. Katyusa.
   • Another Version.
3. Kalinka.
   • Another Version.
4. Korobushka.

5. Dance of Soldiers.
6. Cossack Dances by Soldiers.
7. Cossacks never die!.
• Red Army March No.5. Its original title is Proschanie Slavianki. My high school band played this march extensively before 1950. How could that happen in a staunchly anti-communist country. Click here for the story.

• Even before 1945, Russian music was not strange to Koreans. Korean children learn how to sing the following Russian songs in their elementary schools.
  1. Stenka Razin. Russian Kosak song.

  2. Volga Boatmen. Song of slave Volga boatmen.

• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is among the giant music composers. He wrote many symphonies, violin and piano concertos, and many ballets, as well as short pieces. Koreans love Tchaikovsky. Let us visit some of his music pages.
  1. Capriccio Italiana -- continued.
  2. Waltz from his Serenade for String. Violin by Jascha Heifetz.
  3. Andante Cantabile.
  4. Marche Slave.

• The Nutcracker is among the most popular ballet music Tchaikovsky composed. This is one of the popular familiar items during the Christmas season. Let us see the dances in its second act. They were performed the Mariinsky (Kirov) ballet team.
  1. Dance of Snow Flakes.
  2. Spanish Dance.
  3. Russian Cossack Dance.
  4. Chinese Dance.
  5. Arabian Dance.
  6. Dance of Mirlitons (French Dance).
  7. Dance of Flowers.

• Bolshoi Theater in Moscow (1990), north of the Red Square.
  1. Bolshoi Theater (2010) still being refurbished.
  2. Inside the Theater during the performance of a North Korean musical entitled "A girl who sells flowers" (1990).
  3. Czar's Box. Those seats these days for Russian president, prime minister, and dignitaries from foreign countries.
  4. Theater's Control Room of 1990.
  5. Karl Marx overlooking the Theater (2010). Marx is still an important person in Moscow. He is also an important person to me, and I visited his grave in London. I like what he says about philosophers.

• Tchaikovsky Concert Hall about 1.2 km northwest from the Bolshoi Theater.
  1. Close-up view of the Hall.
  2. Tchaikovsky's Bust in the main lobby. I am with another music lover, more precisely Tchaikovsky lover.
  3. Exhibition Boxes in the Lobby.

• Kremlin Theater in Moscow, after the performance of Mikhail Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmila (1992).
  1. People are coming to the Theater. They are well-dressed. Russians have a great respect for Glinka as the father of Russian music.
  2. I was there with Paolo Tombesi, Margarita Man'ko, Roy Glauber, and Daesoo Han.

• Moscow's International House of Music. Panoramic view from the opposite side of the Moscow River.
  1. Close-up View. This new music hall has the state-of-the-art electronic environment, but people say its acoustic environment is not as good as those of Moscow's traditional music halls.

• This statue is across the street from the Mariinsky Theater. I am happy to share with you photos I took during my visit to this theater in 2010. There was a a performance of Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo and Juliet."
  1. Front View of the Theater.
  2. viewed from its front-right.
  3. Mercedes-Benz passing through the front ground of the theater.
  4. Upper Tiers.
  5. Stage Curtain down.
  6. Chandliers. Telescopic view.
  7. Mother and Daughter from Novasibiersk, the science city in Siberia. I thought they are sisters.
  8. with J. S. Bach, and music lovers from Switzerland. The gentleman is a physicist.
  9. Mariinsky Administrator. I met this lady at the SPB airport while waiting for an AirBirlin flight to Dusseldorf. She works on exhibitions for the Mariinsky company. According to her, Moscow's Bolshoi is not the worst ballet in the world, but it is basically wrong to compare the Mariinsky with Bolshoi.
  10. Let us look at this video to see whether she is right.

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Russian Soldiers

I also have a number of photos of myself with Russian soldiers.
• Click here for the photos.