It becomes a funny time – we have to coordinate five different languages. Marzia speaks Italian, Russian and English.

Peter knows Russian, English and of course Swizerdütsch. Nikolaj speaks Russian knows well German and a little bit English – he also learns Italian. We know German (of course), English, a little bit Russian and may understand also Switzerdütsch.
As they left the next visit comes: it´s Nicola and her russian friend Igor. We are very happy to see Nicola again. She has been here in December and we hope she will come again in March.Than over the frozen Baikal with her bicycle.
They bring us meat for kebap and at cold temperatures ( -25°C) Igor makes the best kebap we ever had!
Because of the frosty wind which blows around the house we eat them inside.
Only a few days after they have gone the next guests are knocking at our door. This time it´s Kolja the joiner and his father-in-law Batomunko. They bring us some new pieces of furniture, install them and after this they drink our last Vodka.

In these days it´s Burjatic New Year and it is usual to visit friends and drink one or more Vodka. Batomunko starts to sing the brujatic hymn so that the walls of the house seems to break down. Kolja invites himself and his wife for the next day, before both of them stagger away.
In fact Kolja and his wife Bajrma visit us the next day. Obviously the bring us some Vodka and sweets. They invite us for the next Saturday – the first birthday of their son.

The next Saturday we are guests at a funny burjatic birthday party.
Table is full of tasty foods and the one whose birthday it is, the one year old Alnar, his three years old sister Aldana, the parents-in-law Batomunko and his wife Dischidima, the brother of Kolja, Dan Doc and Kolja himself and his wife Bajrma are in best mood when we arrive.
Some hours later the neighbours Shenja and Sina are fetched also. A radio is organized from somewhere and than it´s time for „Danzewei“. Everyone is hopping to some english music and also “Walz”, a funny swinging is danced.
The two children are also with us the hole night – it´s their party!

Meanwhile we are able to speak some Russian and also learning some words in the burjatic language, which is spoken only between Burjatics.
Burjatia as an independant republic remembers us to Mongolia from time to time. Names are equal, faces of people, language and customs too. These peacefull mix of Burjatics and Russians exists only once in Russia, we think so.

The Russian custom to drink no Vodka without toast is taken very seriously. The first must been taken fast, the third too. Between them it´s allowed to drink slowly. The ninth and fivteenth fast again and so on... ;-D
We don´t take care of these customs – lucky we are! Kolja, Batomunko and Dan Doc do so. When it´s time to go Dan Doc falls down from the chair, Batomunko is not able to speak any more and Kolja wants to accompany us because of the drunken Russians on the street.

One week later we visit Shenja and Sina for a tea and some fish. Sina puts many tasty things on the table: the typical Omul of course, rissoles made of Nalim ( a kind of eel ) and as delicacy some pieces of sturgeon - meanwhile a really rare fish in the Baikal.

"Brigada na rabotto!"
Shenja is a fisherman and wants to show us where we can drive with the car on the ice. There are some warm springs and the ice breaks from time to time. So it´s usefull to know where to drive. Actual we planned this when the temperatures are a little bit warmer, in March.
But we don't have to wait untill than.
Eliane and the Swiss Debora, who learns Russian in Ulan-Ude and is travelling since seven month in Russia, visit us in the middle of February.
For Shenja it's ok to drive with us on the ice even now.

After we picked up the sympathic fisherman and his tools we bump with the heavy Mascha over the ice.
Almost 2,5 t of weight we must have and it's impressing to drive on the ice which is about 60 cm thick. A crazy feeling!

Six km we follow the "road" before we reach the first of his iceholes and start to work. Shenja crashes the ice in the hole than it's time to apologize to the Baikal. A little Vodka for us and a big one into the water. This is really serious because of the Baikal is a holy place for Burjatics.
Weather changes soon and it starts snowing accompanied by a cold wind. Sight over the lake becomes less and it looks fantastic - only a desert of ice!

The ice in the bay of Maximicha is even - outside here it looks different. Big and small pieces of ice are sticking in the ice in a chaotic order. The ice from outside crashed onto the one in the bay and build bizarre sculptures and small icebergs. It's not possible to go over them by car.
Between snow covered ice there are sometimes areas free of snow, slippy and even like a mirror. Some are signed by huge and small cracks at other places we look onto a dark black ice. Some pieces are as clear as a window so almost unvisible.
We shoot one photo after the other and film untill our fingers are frozen - a fantastic scenery of ice!

Allmost two hours we watch Shenja working and help when we can. Than it's time for a break and we take a tea and some snacks in the car.
Without a possibility to warm up in a car or a place protected of the cold wind it would be very uncomfortable outside here.

Normally Shenja goes to his fishing places by feet, works often without gloves and resorts to the net into the water whith naked hands - respect!
As we ask him if it is not to cold he just said that he is just a hot type...

He only finds one bigger fish, a Nalim in the nets but it doesn't matters. He just enjoys the view and to be here - the fish will come sometimes.
We put a third net under the ice. Laughing he offers us to help him. "Brigada na rabotto!*", it sounds out of his frozen beart and we do it with pleasure.
When we come back the next winter we can do it on our own, he says with a smile.
*"Brigade at work!"

In spite of our warm clothes it becomes cold - this morning it had about minus 30°C- and we are thankfull for his invitaion to take a tea at his home.
On our way back we stopp at one more hole. Here Shenja has also a net in the water in which we find four small fishes - they are given to the dogs later.

The way back Carsten drives the UAZ Mascha - it's a great pleasure to drive with the car on the ice and a real new feeling of driving :-D

Back again in Shenjas home Sina starts cooking some fish for us. She prepares a Nalim and two big pieces of the tasty sturgeon.
Shenja pulls out a small bottle of Vodka as Sina can't see him and takes it on the table that it looks like we have brought it. A clever man! ;-) Ok, a small one is allowed after a hard day and we enjoy the tasty foods on the table.

As it becomes dark we start again and take the way back over the frozen river which devides Maximicha.

Even in Maximicha we are not spared with the Miliz...
One day a policecar is standing in front of our door and the policeman wants to see our passports as he recognized that we aren´t Russians.
Our documents are ok – we thought. This man doesn´t know what to work and tells us we need a new registration because of we left Ulan-Ude. Otherwise: ”Strafa!” Normally it works when we switch to the “Don´t-understand-method” but this one is really stubborn. So we tell him that we arrived yesterday and drive to the next police-station in the 30 km far away Ust-Bargusin the next day.
We just have time and nothing better to do...

Arrived at the police-station no one knows what we want – our documents are ok. Fine, than we can go! Oh no! We should come back after the midday-break.
If we must, we do...

We spent the time with a tasty dinner at the sister of Vera and come back at 13:45.
Now it becomes funny:
They have thought about it and found something for us – and what an unbelievable nonsens!!
The woman who is “working” in our case gives us a paper where we should write down in German that we have a registration in Ulan-Ude and don´t need a further one. Vera writes the same in Russian and signs it. We should also do, so we sign it too.
A second document is given to us for subscribing and as Alex reads what we should subscribe again she finds something about 1000,- Rub. “Strafa”. Fine? For what?
We should pay it because we didn´t went to the Police in Ulan-Ude and got a paper that we are allowed to drive to Maximicha. They are talking rubbish! Never we will sign or pay this f... nonsens!!
The lady behind the counter is a little bit confused. Vera tries to get an explanation and to tell us what this will means but we can´t understand everything. We are very angry about this mad news and refuse to subscribe and pay again.

Alex tries to get our passports but the lady in uniform tells something abou driving to Ulan-Ude, get a paper that allows us to come here, bring it to her and everything is ok and we can get back our passports.
Oh no dear lady – we will not go without our passports!
After Vera has told it to her she understands that we are not able to drive to Ulan-Ude without passports and they decide to copy them.

Two and a half hours we are waiting for the passports – no one knows what they are doing with them.
Soetimes she comes back with the documents. They have send a fax to Ulan-Ude, phoned with someone and now she wants to know why we have a students-visa. That should not interest her but we tell her that we use our at the universiy of Ulan-Ude learned Russian here. If she believes or not but we get our passports and can leave this silly place.

The policeman who has started this nonsens appears during we are waiting and Vera asks him why he brings so much trouble to us. He tries to explain that people from Uzbekistan and Azerbaidschan need a registration here and he thought we do also. Madman – has he ever heard about Germans who stayed in Russia illegal?

Remont means to renovate
...and we do this with passion in the four rooms of the house of Eliane. It might not sound like a lot of work if we say that we renovate four rooms. In european houses with normal wallpapers and smooth walls it is not very difficult. But in a siberian, wooden house with russian plaster it´s a little bit more trouble.
Already during pulling down the, for our view ugly russian wallpaper plaster is falling down. The wholes which appears by removing the rest of wallpaper are big enough to hide a treasure – unfortunately no one did ;-))

So we work a lot with spatula – the house has more than 50 kg more weight now (we hope that it doesn´t break when the ground becomes wet in spring... ;-)) and color up the walls.
Vera (the former owner) visits us from time to time and everytime a new wall has been colored she just says: “interiessna”.

Between painting we are fascinated by the russian way of doing the electrician works. Some switchers want to be changed and Vera has left some “very nice” lamps – sometimes we are lucky about our tools for cutting cables...

After Christmas we started working – at the 13^th of February we finished.

Many friends and people asked us what we will do in the siberian winter next to making wood, getting water, free the ways of all the snow, baking bread... – and if it won´t be boring in the long time of winter...


Frosty greets to God Old Europe!
Till the next report on this screen,

Alex & Carsten