Konstantin’s Weblog

I have always enjoyed this about New York. Some people think that public music is annoying or disruptive but I really do enjoy it. Take this case. I was coming back from something or other and there were these two guys just jamming in the subway. One had a guitar, the other had a violin. They were probably music students and they weren’t playing for money but just for their own personal satisfaction and the entertainment of others. Little things like this always manage to lift my spirits just a little bit. Anyways, off to class for now but I am going to make an effort to write more often so please don’t lose interests if you are a regular or even an occasional reader of this very informal publication.

A subway jam session on the 1 line

Last week was World Leaders Forum week here at Columbia. If I were to write about every impressive and distinguished speaker or head of state that I had the pleasure of seeing and meeting last week it would take me far too long. I think that it is best to just reflect on the week as a whole and to try to give you a general impression of it. Among the heads of state that came to visit we had the President of Argentina, the Prime Minister of Nepal, the President of Serbia, the Prime Minister of Thailand, and the President of Guyana. In addition there were also a few ministers such as the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. Also of note was a really interesting conversation with Martti Ahtisaari and a lecture by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan! Most of the speakers focused on the topics of democratic development, conflict mitigation, and the fight against climate change. Of course the Q&A sections of these events are usually the most interesting and I have to say that most of the speakers were very impressive. I especially enjoyed the idealistic speech given by Kofi Annan regarding the importance of addressing climate change. Also, Boris Tadic’s (Serbian Pres.) remarks on Kosovo were very interesting especially when taken together with Martti Ahtisaari’s lecture on conflict mitigation. The award for the strangest speaker has to go to the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Bernard Kouchner (also founder of Doctors without Borders). If I understood him correctly, he wants a Europe without states and a powerful European President. He was also inexplicably afraid of the podium and kept moving around a lot. Very strange. Overall, it would have been nice to see more people from my region of interest but I still enjoyed all of the talks and got some excellent pictures! However, a part of me is glad its over since I was going to about two or three extra lectures a day which was rather exhausting considering the amount of work I had to do for my classes. Enjoy the great picture of Kofi Annan after the break!

Kofi Annan at Columbia University, 2009

It is difficult to believe that it has been a year since the last San Gennaro festival and more then a year since I moved to New York. I am consistently caught off guard by how fast time flies in this city and annual events like this are a good reminder. This years festival was every bit as fun and crazy as last years. There was plenty of excellent food offered by both the street vendors and the restaurants on Mulberry street. Needless to say the crowds were intense and it took some shoving and elbowing to make any progress whatsoever. We decided to sit down at one of the restaurants just to relax for a few minutes and to get away from the crowds. We stayed away from the carnival games with the exception of the obnoxious clown at the dunk-tank. I remembered this guy from last year and if at all possible he got ruder and meaner this year. Due to limited funds we were able to afford only three attempts to dunk the clown and unfortunately we were not successful. However, shortly afterwards someone else got him so justice was served. Enjoy the picture after the break.

The Dunk Tank at the 2009 San Gennaro Festival

Okay, I realize that it has been a while since I have written on this blog so in the next few days you are going to see a lot of retroactive posts just to update you on what I’ve been up to in New York. First, we will start with the US Open. As many of you already know, the one sport that I really follow and care about is tennis. Therefore, it is impossible for me to pass up the opportunity to go to a grand slam tournament held right here in New York. This year I had the company of two good friends from Chicago. We had a really good time despite some of the worst organization and luck. We got to the stadium at around six o’clock only to find out that Andy Roddick was still playing his match against John Isner. Apparently, every time I pay money to go to a tennis tournament, Andy Roddick is there to ruin it for me. He lost at Indy to Ginnepri a few years ago, played very poorly against Djokovic at last years open, and took five sets to lose to someone he shouldn’t have lost to at this years open (however, kudos to Isner for playing well unlike Roddick). We had to wait for four hours on the crowded grounds of the tennis center and paid way too much for terrible sandwiches and souvenirs. Because of Andy Roddick, we didn’t get into the stadium until 10:30 pm at which point they decided to move the womens semifinal match to a different court. In short, we got to see only one match and it was only a three setter between James Blake and Tommy Robredo. The one nice thing that happened was the seat upgrade we got for the final set of the match. We won a text message seat upgrade contest and got to sit a few feet from the court. We also managed to get Robredo’s autograph after the match. In retrospect, it would have been amazing to have daytime tickets as those fans got to see a great match between Federer and Hewitt and then the Roddick/Isner match (not to mention that they were invited to stay for the night session!!!). Nevertheless, we had a good time at the open and it was nice to see friends from home. Oh, and Elliot, if you are reading this, post the pictures!

James Blake vs. Tommy Robredo at the 2009 US Open

After living in New York for Exactly o e year, I finally manage to make it out to see some of the magnificent museums of NYC. The first was the Guggenheim which was followed by a brief visit to the Met. The Guggenheim had an interesting exhibition of Frank Lloyd Wright’s sketches. It was both appropriate and ironic. Appropriate because it was held in a building designed by Wright but ironic because New York is probably the anticedent to Wright’s vision for an American city. Nevertheless I enjoyed the exhibition and even bumped into someone I know from high school. There was also the Met where I saw some of my favorite works by one of my favorite paiters of all time: Marc Chagall. Seeing Van Gough is always appreciated as well.

So we were walking around I Brighton Beach. My parents came down for the weekend to help my sister move in. We saw thus wierd sign in a window of a restaurant. For those of you who don’t read Russian, the place is looking for a woman (specifically a woman) to “create salads.” What a fantastic job! To apply, swing by Brighton.

Some of my colleagues might disagree with me, but I actually really like the New York subway. You see all types strange and weird people. Also, some of the stations actually look kind of nice. For instance, the 23rd Street N-R-W station has hats all around it. You can totally try on different ones as pictured below. One of these days I will have to go around and just photograph the New York. Yes, I know it sounds weird but I definitely want some photograph just to have some memories even if I’m staying here for a little while.

Me with a Subway hat. Yay!

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a talk by the Prime Minister of Croatia Dr. Ivo Sanader. As always, you can’t really count on a Prime Minister to reveal any sort of juicy details about the country in question. They are usually very diplomatic and well spoken and Dr. Sanader was no exception. However, I did get a nice overview of some of the issues that Croatia is facing today. For instance, they are dealing with a 10% unemployment rate and their economy is suffering in light of the current economic crisis. They just became NATO members very recently and they are now trying to enter the EU but Slovenia is blocking their motion because of a border dispute. In short, I rather enjoyed the talk since I got to learn a little bit about a country that is outside my focus. I actually really want to go to Croatia since its supposed to be a beautiful country and a relatively inexpensive one to travel to. Who wants to go with me?

Prime Minister of Croatia at SIPA

We all know that New York is the melting pot and that all types of crazy things happen around here. And yet, I can’t help but be surprised when I see something like the “Chinese Hispanic Grocery” store. Why has no one though of this before? Clearly, the Chinese and Hispanic cultures are really close to each other so its perfectly normal to have a grocery store that incorporates both. I suppose it sort of makes sense since this place can theoretically cater to two of the largest ethnic communities in NYC. Still, taken out of context, I think this place is really amusing.

The Chinese Hispanic Grocery store!

Check out the sign that someone left on the door of one of the apartments in my building. I believe that this is in reference to the stuffed monkey that was sitting on the windowsill in the staircase on the second floor. Apparently, you can totally trade toy monkeys for crack around here though its possibly just a rhythmic device in this case. I can tell you one thing. I did not throw that monkey out the window! For the record, I completely agree that it is “Mad Wack” to throw monkeys out the window.