Apartment Photos

Balcony: So, this style, built into the building is called a lodge, not a balcony. It is not climate controlled, but it is a room instead of open to the outside. In Russia people prefer to glass over their balconies, since it gets very cold. We can see here that there is ventilation, power, and the windows open. From the floor to the window is 40 cm and the balcony floor is 10 cm lower than in the apartment. I will be experimenting with how to fix this issue for the dog. I have ordered a 40 cm tall camping bed, which while designed for a person, can be used by a dog. I can position it so that he can choose either ventilation or window. I then need a way for him to get on the bed.

Bedroom: The size is around 3.5 by 3.5 meters with the bed being 1.6 by 2 meters. I don't have nightstands yet and one of the wardrobes needs to be built still. You can see here how the bed opens up to reveal yet more storage space. The mattress is Turkish rather than Russian.

Main Room: In Russia the number of rooms includes the living room, and does not just count bedrooms. My decision here was to get a place with a kitchen big enough to be used as a living room as well, so that if I have someone in the second room, I would have common space as well.

The first thing to note is that the kitchen still counts as furniture, so I had to have this built as well. The kitchen here is designed to not take up all the space. The table here is seen folded after the bar table. I have both a toaster oven and microwave here as I dislike toasters. I got a dishwasher which was visible (although also white). Russians tend to prefer that their dishwashers look like a cabinet. Trashcans tend to be smaller than in the US (seen here under the table). 

After the kitchen is the spot for the couch (which I finally cleaned). Then we see the lamp on the ceiling (there are so many variants) and the view of the courtyard out of the window. 

To the left in the courtyard is the playground for children, while in the back it is sports equipment for adults.

 

The final view here is of the TV and computer equipment. Unfortunately, this furniture is still not ready.

Bathroom: I have a second toilet, although it without a sink. There is a spot in the piping for the sink, but very little space for it. I don't know yet how I wish to use this room. The main bathroom is usable, but I have a self-standing towel rack due to not knowing which I like. The main bathroom has a heated floor.

Hallway: The hallway is a room in of itself, although full of doors. I had a closet built here at the side. The second toilet is opposite the closet. The back side reveals the doors to the two bigger rooms on the sides with the bathroom in the middle. And there is a mini display case.

Second Room: 3 by 5 meters

Windows are as big as those on the balcony / lodge. The radiators prevent access to the lower portion of the windows, although a small dog or cat can get around. I have a similar folding table here as in the kitchen. These tables have 4 sizes, from 30 cm long to over 2 meters. They are fake wood made from wood and glue, and laminated to appear like wood, like all the rest of the furniture (and the floors). Real wood is something like 5 to 10 times the price, but not necessarily better quality, so everything is made with this fake wood. 

The couch / bed here has a storage space underneath. The entire visible section of the couch flattens into a (comfortable spring) mattress. The size is 1.4 by 2.1 meters. 

Basically almost every couch in Russia has some mechanism for turning into a bed. I chose a couch here with a good mattress and a style of transformation which would ensure the mattress has no cracks. The one in the main room will instead be like 2 twins put together, if I remember correctly.

 

Update Mar-Apr 2023

I want to start with an update of what has been going on in the city:

Mar 11th: An American, nuclear capable plane simulated a nuclear attack on the city. 

Plane type:  B-52H Stratofortress

Call sign:  NOBLE61

I understand that the US is a provocative jerk which does this type of thing all the time, but it bothers me that it doesn't attract more news coverage or more significance, because it is a big deal and very dangerous. We are lucky that Russia (and China) are used to this by now and know not to respond.

Why this is important: 

• To remember who is threatening whom with nuclear weapons -- Russia and China have a no-first-use policy, with Russia emphasising that a nuclear war can't be won and must never be fought, while the US has a policy of "strategic ambiguity" and a policy of threatening and sanctioning (also an act of war) nuclear powers which it can't control (and by control, I mean force into submission). 
• To prevent from normalising all of America's provocative nonsense.

Based on my reading, the plane was broadcasting its location (which is required for civilian airplanes, but the signal is often turned off if a military plane or drone is attacking a target or spying on a target). This means that it was an open threat, not a planned attack. 

[Scott Ritter -- start at 37:45]

The plane flew over the Baltic states, so they agreed to this. From what I read, Finland also agreed. The Baltic states have for a long time been more interested in hurting Russia and Russians than protecting their people, but Finland only started being so stupid recently. Note that from St. Petersburg to Tallin or Helsinki is a 6-7 hour drive, not accounting for customs, with the border on the half-way point, so the countries agreeing to this are putting themselves at risk, not only for a counter-attack, but also from the nuclear fallout. 

Apr 2nd: Terrorist attack  

[Scott Ritter]

I was in my apartment when this happened, and rarely go to that island anyways.

My understanding is the individual who did the attack was a Russian liberal taking orders from Ukrainians. She may not understand very much about what she was doing. The target was a blogger from Donbass. My teacher told me that the target was actually a con artist and not a real military journalist. She used to read his work and became disillusioned by it, and she did actually look into his background. Whatever the complete story, this was still a Ukrainian terrorist attack on Russian soil. 

Apr 4th: Finland joining NATO

[Scott Ritter -- start at 27 min]

I don't really have much to add. I am not happy about this, but I can't do anything but to hope that the Finns realise that this is bad and reverse the decision. One thing to keep in mind is that the Finns sided with the Nazis in the blockade of Leningrad, probably because Stalin tried to retake Finland after it broke free from the Russian Empire during the revolution. After the war, Finland and the Soviet Union agreed that Finland would be neutral and independent.

From what I know, before the pandemic people would regularly cross the border to go shopping. When I was in PSI the Finn I talked to had a positive attitude towards neutrality. It is possible that the people are not so interested in joining NATO as the government.

Personal update

I bought an apartment in St. Petersburg. This has been consuming all of my time and energy. I will post photos in the next couple of days.