Between 1995 and 1997, I lived in Kazakhstan for two years before returning to the United States to look for a job. I heard the economy was doing well, and good jobs were plentiful.

I wanted a little excitement for my trip home, so I took a train from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Moscow, Russia. The train ride was three days, and I shared a four-bed cabin with a family. I slept on the upper bunk and read the Bible for three days. I also watched the scenery from the window. Then, people were constantly walking up and down the aisle bartering goods. I heard people selling beer, bread, home-baked goods, and lemonade all day in Russian.

Moscow has five train stations, and three specialize in passenger transportation. The other two stations are for transporting goods. I never went through customs when I left Kazakhstan or entered Russia. Customs officials concentrate on people who transport goods to the markets. Since tax evasion is high in Russia, customs officials make sure people pay customs duties and solicit bribes. People buy and sell goods, such as radios, electronics, telephones, and other small but valuable items, in large cities, where prices are higher than in the countryside. Then, people would transport these items by train or bus to smaller towns, where the products would be sold for a profit.

The picture above is Moscow State University, Russia's premier university. I have seen many photos of this university in my Russian textbook. Consequently, I went to the campus and saw it for myself. It was quite a sight.

The picture on the left is what Americans call the White House, the House of the Russian Federation. Boris Yeltsin's government is here, and it is the same building that Yeltsin bombed in 1993 when communists tried to retake control.

Moscow is quite a sight. The city is 852 years old. I saw every possible style of architecture. I saw 500-year-old cathedrals, the Czar's style in the early 20th century, the early Soviet style like Moscow State University, and the very ugly Soviet 1970s style. The late Soviet style is plain, boxy, and painted in dull pastel colours. The picture on the right is Red Square. The Kremlin is the castle walls which surround the significant government buildings. The Russian Parliament and high-level government agencies are on the other side of the castle walls.

St. Basil's is displayed on the left. This building is located on the edge of Red Square and was constructed several hundred years ago under Ivan the Terrible's reign. The building was so beautiful that Ivan had the artist's eyes blinded, so the artist could never create such a work of art again. Russian culture has many great artists and scientists, but they lived under such murderous governments.

If you ever get a chance to visit Moscow, take it! It would be quite a sight. The only drawback is that you have to speak Russian. Even at McDonald's, all the menus and tourist information are written in Russian. Unfortunately, Russians are not very friendly to outsiders, which is a hangover from the Soviet Union.

The Russian Federation

• The country's area spans 6,592,800 square miles, making Russia one of the world's largest countries.
• The currency is the ruble.
• The capital is Moscow.
• In 1996, the population was estimated at 148,178,487, making Russia the 6th populous country globally.
• This country has 1/2 the world's potential coal reserves and large reserves of petroleum.
• Russia comprises hundreds of ethnic groups, making Russia the most ethnically diverse.