Zdrastvotoe!

Thanks for stopping by! This is the RJRussia Blog and I am, yours truly, R. J. Fensterman. First question I'm usually asked is: what's the 'R.J.' stand for? Well, my first name is NOT "R-dot J-dot". SoI have a first- and middle-name. It's NOT anything long and very complicated like "Rumplestillskin Jehosaphat". Actually, they're quite simple names: Robert John. When I first began to write for my college lit magazine (back in 'The Day') and put down my by-line, I decided the last name was long enough, so I just used my initials; and I've been using that ever since.

Who am I? I'm an American, born in New Jersey; my parents were born in New York City, and 3 of my 4 grandparents were born in Europe and came to America via Ellis Island during the first turbulent decade of the 20th Century: 2 from Brest-Litovsk (in what-is-now Belarus), and 1 from Genoa, Italy. The 4th (native-born) grandparent's ancestory is Welsh and Northern Irish. If there's anyone that believes in America as the "Melting Pot" it is myself.

No, I've never been to Russia, and I do not speak Russian. I grow up in an English-only household (with the exception of an occasional foreign expletive). I first became a Russoplile about the same time I decided to be "R.J" on my by-line: when I read Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" at the age of 19. Since then I've read most of the great Russian novels (in English Translation) as well as numerous historical works. I've worked as a journalist and a technical writer, and spent many years as a software engineer, retiring a few years ago. I've traveled a lot over the years -- all of the lower 48, Mexico, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, British Isles, Canada...

Yes,I'm going to Russia. Next May; in fact, you can find the details of the most exciting part of that 3-week trip on the Travel All Russia Website (Tours>the Golden Ring). This blog will explore the phenomenon of traveling to Russia, as well as many insights into the "Russian Experience." This is a topic as vast as the country itself. I look forward to hearing from any of you who have already traveled to the 'Land of the Firebird' or are planning to do in the near future. There's a lot to talk about...

Next week, we're going to talk about GETTING THERE.

-RJ Fensterman