I suppose everyone thinks they are lucky for the friends they have and I am no different. Ilia is a former co-worker and I also consider him a friend. He lives in St. Petersburg, Russia. He sent me an email that I thought was particularly interesting. He recently visited the US and this was his impression, in his words:

Visiting the US was really interesting. I was expecting to find more differences, actually. Most differences are minor things, like the way to turn on the shower ¨C I spent 5 minutes trying to switch the water before I understood to pull this little thing up -- or the fact nobody walks on foot -- my hotel was 10 minutes away from the office, but I could not get there without a shuttle, because there's a freeway between them. In Russia I would definitely walk to the office instead of taking a shuttle. But those differences are almost nothing, I mean they're not that important. What was much more interesting, talking to people, like Peter, Doug, guys from support -- Jarrod, Mike, Ron, Alexi (crazy Russian who told me that Moscow is more American than NY). That was great, I really enjoyed it.

I didn't see much of NY, I was there for about 2 or 3 hours only (not considering time in the airports), only enough to meet Jarrod in his hotel on 54th and 6th, have a lunch, walk to the Times Square and then to Grand Central Station. It was funny that this was the first time Jarrod traveled by train, in Russia trains are much more popular than planes. I'd like to stay in NY for couple of days or probably a week, but not to live there ¨C my first impression was ¡°too much for me¡± ¨C too many people in the streets, too high buildings, too loud noise, you know. SPb is considered a large and busy city here, but life here is slower and not that busy, probably I could get used to it, but this is not something I want :-)

Ilia also has a bird that is named after me, at least indirectly. This is what Ilia has to say about the bird:

My bird Jeremy is still alive, though I do not know how he manages to keep doing well. My wife and daughter left SPb to spend summer at her parents place, and I sometimes forget to feed him when I come home too late. Sometimes I get angry because he tries to steal food from my plate when I have a meal, and I tell him one day I'll cook a parakeet soup, but he does not look scared.