International Experiences

China lacks "soft power"

2008-06-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

The other day i received this interesting report which is definitely worth checking out if you are interested in Asia in general and China in particular:

"New Report Reveals China Lags Behind U.S. in Using Non-Military “Soft Power” to Gain Influence in Asia
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the East Asia Institute (EAI) released a major new report, Soft Power in Asia 2008. The report provides an eye-opening look at how China, just months before it is set to take the world’s center stage during the 2008 Summer Olympics, still ranks below the United States as a multifaceted power in the opinion of its Asian neighbors.
The report, which is based on public opinion survey in five East and Southeast Asian countries and the United States, reveals that perceptions of China’s soft power -- the ability to wield influence by indirect, non-military means -- generally trail those of the United States and Japan. These perceptions persist despite China’s strong economic relationships in Asia, and around the world, and its consistent and concerted efforts to leverage the Olympic Games to bolster its public image.

The Chicago Council and EAI conducted more than 6,000 interviews in China, Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States in January and February 2008 before the unrest in Tibet and the Sichuan earthquake. The survey asked between forty and sixty questions in order to gauge how citizens of these five Asian nations and the United States view each country’s popular culture, commercial prowess and brands, intellectual influence and appeal, universities, diplomatic reputations, different political systems, and more.

The full report of survey findings can be downloaded online at thechicagocouncil.org.

WHAT WOMEN WANT? - Ladies, please cast your vote!

2008-04-10T13:01:00.000-05:00

My firend is running an international poll that may be of interest to some of you, especially LADIES!

Capucines Boulevard international art gallery launched an international art poll on April 9, 2008 called "WHAT WOMEN WANT?" and it will run 2 weeks. We truly believe that all women are artistic and more often than not they want to receive something special as a token of attention and appreciation, something besides the trite and commonplace gifts like a purse, perfume or a box of chocolates. We believe they deserve something unique and beautiful - an original work of art.

From Leonardo da Vinci to Salvador Dali women inspired the creation of most outstanding works of art. And even if you think of a landscape we believe it is also influenced by a feminine energy, after all, Mother Earth is a LADY :-) It's time they received something back.To celebrate the up-coming Mother's Day and women everywhere we would like to ask you, dear, ladies, what DO YOU WANT?

You have to go to http://capucinesblvd.blogspot.com/ and choose from various artistic forms and genres. It will take you less than a minute. You will also be able to see how other ladies around the world voted.

Thank you for your participation!

A seminar for job seekers

2008-02-16T17:49:00.002-06:00

If you are an international living in Chicagoland (whether a professional or a graduating students) and have a very slight idea on how to optimize your job (especially if you have not yet realised that 70% of all job in the U.S. are found through networking according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics) you are very encouraged to attend my seminar for job seekers that I am organizing on March 10, 2008.

You will be able to learn all the important tools and techniques, the HOWs and the WHEREs of networking specifically tailored for Chicago market. All participants will get a FREE copy of my Chicagoland guide "The Legal Alien's Guide. Building a Career and Life in Chicago, Ilinois" For more information and to register, please, visit http://www.legalaliensguide.com/Seminars

My book signing event

2008-02-11T17:31:00.001-06:00

SAVE THE DATE!!!

I cordially invite everybody to my first book signing event!

WHEN: MARCH 21, 2008, 7 – 9 pm
WHAT: Book signing “The Legal Alien’s Guide. Building a Career and Life in Chicago, Illinois” Meet the author, ask questions about career and small business related issues, get your signed copy of the comprehensive Chicagoland networking guide.
WHERE: Barnes & Noble, 659 W. Diversey Parkaway, Chicago, IL 60614

I will be very happy to see everybody!

International Experiences

2008-02-03T15:38:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned a couple of months ago I have recently published a book about my experience of relocating to USA which I believe will be helpful to many people as a guidebook to building a career and life in this country. You can read more about my book at http://internationalexperiences.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-book-has-been-published.html

This story (which consists of 3 short stories actually) is my "international expereince" with trying to promote my book with various cultures.

1. THE AMERICAN STORY. I often promote my book at various business networking events and there is this one business networking group that I really liked and that I have been a member of for 2 years. Recently the group leader changed and now instead of us paying for whatever everyone eats/drinks during the lunch meeting as it used to be everyone has to pay a flat fee whether one eats or not. I raised a question about it because I have a baby who is breastfeeding and has serious colic so I am very selective about what I eat (I don't eat outside home for now) but I was told I must pay as everybody else because that's the new rule or I should go to a "mommy & baby" netowrking group instead. I was totally appauled by the approach (people totally don't understand the concept of diersity and inclusiveness): they may be vegans in the group, jews who eats only a Kosher food or muslims who don't eat when it's Ramadan... And many other specific situation which are totally discarded by the group leadership. And this is a typical American approach in business too: "we either do it our way or we don't do it at all". No further comments.

2. THE RUSSIAN STORY. I was doing a networking presentation at one of the networking groups where I also sold my books at the end of the event. I Russian woman came to me for advice and she also wanted to buy the book but she didn't have cash with her. She promised to send me a check by mail so I gave her the book. Guess what? I never got the money. Some time after that I decided to hire a PR company to help me promote my book and I wrote my parents about it. Do you know what was their first reaction? - "Don't! People will take your money and run away with it!" Having lived abroad for 9 years now I already forgot that this in fact a common thing in Russia. Very often you cannot trust people you do business with. If in Europe and USA such occurances are more of an exception from the rule, in Russia it's more of a norm, unfortunately... Be vigilant!

3. THE ASIAN STORY. A week ago I was promoting my book at the Asian American Gala. All attandees coulb be devided into 2 main ethnic groups Indian-Pakistani and Chicnese-Korean-Japanese. The former expressed a keen interest in my book, they were very communicative, asked a lot of questions and some of them bought the book because indeed it is designed to help all the immigrants. The latter behaved in a strtange way: they seemed to be intrigued by the look of the book but when I asked them if they wanted to learn more about it they got confused and left the booth. I really cannot explain this phenomenon. Either they were shy or not confident in their knowledge of English or something else. It looked like they were interested but didn't dare to ask for more information, let alone buy the book. May be I was doing something wrong... I wish I could understand my customers better so if anyone has an insight, please share it with me!

Art and Politics

2008-01-20T16:44:00.000-06:00

It is amazing how international relations (i.e. relations between governments) influence all areas of everyday life, even art on the international arena.

One of my favorite blogs, International Art blog, has recently published a post about the scandal around the potential exhibition of treasures from Russian museums in UK. Quite an amazing story which also generated an interesting discussion on the blog. Even if you are not into arts this is an interesting reading and something to reflect upon: http://capucinesblvd.blogspot.com/2008/01/art-politics-and-internet.html

TouristClick

2008-01-05T11:49:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of travel site out there but I find very fiew of them special. I recently came across a site, a travel directory, that I really like - http://www.touristclick.com/

The owners not only provide general information (hotels, insurance, air travel, etc.) you can find on other site but also try to attract contributors from all over the world to add to the site. They have a blog directory with blogs from all over the globe, forums for each specific country. The site is also developing a travel photo gallery too.

I also like their section on Special Travel (http://www.touristclick.com/SpecialtaTravel.html) which includes very unique categories such as:
Mystery
Archaeology
Native American
Pilgrimage
Battlefields
Rail
Science
Ecotourism
Supernatural
Working Holidays

and many others.

Country Insights

2008-01-01T17:05:00.000-06:00

Usually good "countries of the world" are put together by Americans. There are loads of educational resources from CIA Factbook to more detailed specific information per country. That's why I was very surprised to find out a great CANADIAN website with tons of useful information (not that the Canadians are not capable of doing such a thing but because U.S. websites always somehow dominate search engine results...)

Country Insights, http://www.intercultures.ca/cil-cai/country_insights-en.asp?lvl=8 , is a Canadian government site that has fast facts, profiles, and useful links for countries worldwide. I also like that some profiles have cultural dos and don'ts which tell you the local attitudes and customs about dress, conversation, displaying emotion, punctuality, resolving workplace conflicts, religion, and communication styles, so you can make the best impression when you go there.

Answering my reader's comment - 2

2007-12-14T18:02:00.000-06:00

I was thinking a lot about my another reader's comment regarding Russian, Chinese or Indian companies making mistakes while working with Americans. These cases are more difficult to find. I have not managed a project for an Indian or Chinese company so I cannot say. In terms of the Russians, here is the story.

They usually aproach an international project possibility with a lot of attention to detail. They do excellent background research. While Amercians might not KNOW how to deal with other cultures Russians, in most cases, do, but sometime they prefer to IGNORE that just because of being obstinate. Once I lead negotiations between a Russian and a British party and the former knew the latter very well, but chose to stick to their unacceptable methods of dealing with the other party because they didn't want to loose and inch. The ultimatum basically was "take it or loose it" and this is not the way to deal with the British (well, not the way to deal with anyone, really) The Russians KNEW that and this was their conscious choice to behave that way.

Did they win anything? They did, in terms of money on that one particular deal. They lost in terms of respect from the British and possibilities of having further deals with this party.

Another thing is that I noticed that Russians when aware of the other party's limitations will use this knowledge against the other party creating a win-lose situation rather than trying to make a compromise and get a "win-win".

Not all Russian companies are the same, of course but these are the things to be aware of.

Everything about global air travel

2007-12-04T10:09:00.000-06:00

Now that the holiday season is upon us many will be travelling to visit family and friends around the world and comprehensive information about air travel will be very handy.

There are plenty of sites on the Web with flights information, but Airtimetable ( http://www.airtimetable.com/ ) is a portal with a wide variety of airline and travel information, where you can find everything in one place. You can check routes, compare fares, book a flight, scan airplane seat maps, locate an airport, find a discount airline, read reviews of airline food, track a flight in real time, get a weather report, look at a map, read a guide to your destination, and much more.

Happy and safe travelling!

Answering my reader's comment

2007-11-11T21:41:00.000-06:00

Following up on one of the comments left by 1 of my readers to the following post http://internationalexperiences.blogspot.com/2007/10/major-mistakes-companies-make-when-they.html (what is "an 'all-star cast' of assets to have when going into the international arena" ) my professional opinion can be summarized as: you need a man with a plan at least.

What I mean by this is that for any international expansion to succeed, primarily, there should be a person (or a team of people) internal or external working with an organization who have the vision, the knowledge and the experience in the international field. This person or a team of people should be leading the project. As obvious as it sounds it is very often not the case.

For example, I know 1 company which continuously wants to be my client and I continuously refuse to work with them because the new owner (a rich guy from a rural Midwest who never worked abroad) wants me to organize the project of their expansion into Russia the same way the previous owner penetrated South Africa. Overall, the company does have some international experience but the guy at the top doesn't have a clue.

Secondly, any new market entry project should follow a certain set of steps (a plan). The steps are basically the same, no matter what country you are looking at. However, the information you get at each step and decisions you make based on this information will be different for each new market. I developed this topic more profoundly in my article "New Market Entry Strategy" (http://www.mycontentbuilder.com/Article/New-Market-Entry-Strategy/30298) Obviously, this is just a basic "skeleton" and my job as a consultant is too put "meat" on it but it gives you a general idea of what I was referring to earlier.

These are just the basics but you will be very surprised to find out how many companies don't get even these basics.

My book has been published!

2007-11-02T20:06:00.001-05:00

My dear blog readers!

I apologize that I have not been posting any information for a coupe of weeks: I was caught in the launch of my first book - "Legal Alien's Guide. Building a Career and Life in Chicago, Illinois".

The book is based on my own unique "international experience" of relocating to USA and starting my life from scratch, building my own business and making friends. "Legal Alien's Guide" is a comprehensive reference guide to various networking organizations, groups and clubs that help you to find a job, start your own business and meet people in "the land of opportunity".

You can learn more about the book from my publisher's book store (though the book is also available at major retailers such as Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com): http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-44622-1

as well as the book's blog: http://legalaliensguide.blogspot.com/

From now on I will have more time to up-date the blog. In the near future I am planning to address some interesting comments that my visitors left regarding the previous post. Keep tuned!

Major mistakes companies make when they decide to expand internationally

2007-10-19T14:55:00.000-05:00

I want to share my experience having interacted with many business owners who would like to expand internationally and I hope it will help you to avoid mistakes in your business. Here are some classic examples:
1. A company has no idea what exactly it wants to do: just to export a product, open an office in a different country, set up a number of distributors, etc. The objectives change in the process and as a result there is no clear vision of where the company wants to go.

2. If it is the first "international experience" there might be no specific person on staff responsible for this project. The project might be allocated to a marketing manager, business development manager or anyone else who also has his/her own primary responsibilities and has vague idea about international business. As a result the project is stalled each time an important decision has to be made, i.e. there is no structure in place to successfully develop the project.

3. If a company already did a new market entry there might be a belief that any subsequent new market entry will be very easy and each new country will be pretty much the same. It is erroneous to think that the experience in Russia will be the same in Romania or Hungary, for example. The simplistic approach to doing business internationally may cause a lot of troubles based on the lack of understanding another country's culture, business models, values, etc.

4. There is a wrong belief that a lot of valuable information required for the project are available on-line. Indeed there are a lot of sources of information on the Internet but it is important to remember to study not only English language reports but the ones in the local language which sometimes can only be found through a local search engine (not standard Google search) Sometimes the mos valuable insights are the ones that have not been translated into English yet.

As an International Marketing and Business Development consultant I try to help people to avoid these pitfalls, I also always utilize my local knowledge and experience on every project I work. I will keep posting information related to the topics mentioned above and I hope they will be useful to many.

International networking made easier

2007-10-10T19:09:00.000-05:00

Nearly everyone knows about such popular networking sites as LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook. You can find profiles of millions of people around the world: your colleagues, classmates, friends - current ones and those you have not seen for years.

Recently I found out about a great new site that actually makes your global search for people much easier. It is called WINK the people search engine, http://wink.com/ You type the name of a person (and a location globally if you know it) and it will give you links to his/her profile wherever it can find it. When I typed my name WINK pulled out my LinkedIn profile AND my membership page at Institute of Management Consultants USA. Thus, you don't need to guess which network a person might belong to and perform a search on each of them. You just search once and see all results immediately. I found it very helpful.

Passports

2007-09-28T17:31:00.000-05:00

These days to have an international experience one needs a passport. Most of us have one, an official document issued by our respective countries.

However I know about 2 other types of passports that help you in your international experiences and allow you to help a good cause too. I wrote about one of them, AllergyFree Passport, in one of my previous posts http://internationalexperiences.blogspot.com/2007/08/allergyfree-passport.html

Today I would like to tell you about another Passport - WWF Passport: http://www.passport.panda.org/index.cfm?uNC=78470595. This one is "issued" by World Wide Fund for nature protection. WWF Passport is no ordinary website because you can do extraordinary things. It is your licence to campaign for the environment, no matter where you are in the world, all over the world. It’s not a toy or an environmental Internet game. It is for the genuinely concerned individual who takes action on-line for on-the-ground results. Passport provides concise calls to action on important issues such as endangered species, global warming, and forest protection. The whole idea behind Passport is that it makes it easier for people who are short on time to have a big say on critical issues.

I have WWF Passport since 2000 and I campaigned or various environmental issues on all continents and the great thing about it is that it works. Out of a couple dozens of campaigns I got 2 e-mail responses and one personal letter form 3 countries (2 ministers and 1 prime-minister) informing me that they paid attention to our appeal and actually changed their environmental policies. Three responses out of approximately 20 is not too much but at least it's something! And definitely know your concerned voice is heard!

In addition to addressing environmental issues with WWF Passport you have a chance to learn a lot of things about different countries, animal and plan life around the world without leaving your home.

I am personally very proud that I have WWF Passport and it helps me to make my own contribution to nature conservation on our planet.

MegaConverter 2

2007-09-19T10:31:00.000-05:00

If you are involved in ANY sort of international activity: business or just travelling you cannot do without this very handy MegaConverter 2 http://www.megaconverter.com/Mega2/

It has hundreds of conversions in areas like chemistry, cooking, currency, dress sizes, engineering, finance, fuel efficiency, lighting, oceans, shoe sizes, and more.

The site also has a scientific calculator that performs operations far beyond adding, multiplying, subtracting or dividing. It calculates logarithms, tangents, random numbers and may other things (if you know what they mean and where to use them :-)

Best world airlines awards 2007

2007-09-05T15:31:00.000-05:00

Though summer is over it might still be a good time to go on vacation since airlines will soon start to lower their ticket prices with the beginning of the "off-pick" season.

Here is a good website to check out before flying wherever you go and wherever you live - GLOBALLY: http://www.worldairlineawards.com/ Here you can find information on the best airlines in the world, i.e. you can see who won 2007 World Airline Awards in various categories, such as:
- Airline of the year
- best cabin staff
- best catering
- best lounges
- best business class
- best economy class, etc.

It's interesting to note that most of the best airlines in the world are Asian or Middle Eastern, the majority of the European and U.S. airlines didn't even come close to the top...

And the absolute winner is... Singapore Airlines:

Doing business in European Union

2007-08-29T12:09:00.000-05:00

EU represents a huge attractive market for many companies around the world but to succeed on this market one needs to know all rules, regulations and existing opportunities.

One good site, http://www.buyusa.gov/europeanunion/, provides a lot of information on doing business in EU. It has links to:
- EU standards & regulations;
- where to find EU grants, tenders & financing;
- reports on various sectors of the EU market;
- trade documents;
- the latest news & information and much more.

Of course doing business in France might be a very different experience from doing business, say, in Hungary because of country specific business culture, mentality, etc. You will most likely need to find an organization (consulting) that will help you with peculiarities of a specific market but at least the aforesaid site can give you a big overall picture which is also very important.

On-line solutions for global expansion of small businesses

2007-08-21T21:16:00.000-05:00

I would like to continue the tradition of providing examples of successful strategies small businesses apply in expanding internationally.

The easiest way to reach wide audiences globally is, of course, through the Internet. But what else can you do if you already have your business running on the Internet? It doesn’t seem like much… unless you are very motivated and creative, like CapucinesBoulevard.com art gallery.

CapucinesBouloevard.com is an on-line art gallery and auction that exhibits and sells art works of various artists from around the globe. And recently they added another line of business - an on-line gift shop! When you visit, say, National Gallery in London and you fell in love with a couple of, say, Monet works what do you do? You buy a calendar or a fridge magnet or something of this sort to take a piece of Monet with you, don’t you?

CapucinesBoulevard.com followed the same logic: why don’t give our visitors a chance to buy a gift with an image of their favorite work of art if they cannot buy the work itself? And the choice of gifts at their gift store http://www.cafepress.com/capucinesblvd is fantastic: cups, bags, apparel, clocks even cute teddy bears - lot's of stuff for you, your family and friends!!! But what is most important, the prices are very affordable and gifts can be shipped anywhere in the world! Excellent customer service, 30 days return policy, secure transactions – everything you will expect from a major reputable on-line store.
I believe it is a great idea, very well thought-through and very much in-line with their core business, which actually enhances their core business even more. I applaud their creativity, enthusiasm and consistency in pursuing their international ambitions. This is a great example every small business can learn from.

World Maps and more

2007-08-15T12:20:00.000-05:00

Whether you are interested in international issues due to the nature of your business, love of travelling, your studies, etc. various maps of the World will come handy.

National Geographic site http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/ has a very good maps resource. There are satellite maps, road maps, and maps with special themes (Weather, Natural Disasters, Population Density, Farming & Natural Resources). The maps are easy to read and show details like vegetation, average temperature, and local habitat in bright colors.

In addition to maps general National Geographic site http://www.nationalgeographic.com/index.html has loads of information about various destinations/countries, nature, global issues, etc.

AllergyFree Passport

2007-08-09T12:37:00.000-05:00

Travelling internationally can be very exciting if you are a healthy person and quite miserable if you have any types of food allergies. You might not be able to find the food you used to at home or the labelling on products might be very different which can present a big problem. Even if you think you don't have any food allergies chances are you might try some exotic food in a fancy restaurant on the other side of the world and to find out that, yes, you do have an allergy, hopefully not a severe one.

AllergyFree Passport®, http://www.allergyfreepassport.com/and its affiliate GlutenFree Passport®, http://www.glutenfreepassport.com/ are global consulting firms focused on health education and creators of the award-winning, internationally acclaimed book series, Let's Eat Out! Your Passport to Living Gluten and Allergy Free book series. These organizations provide you with wealth of information on allergies and international cuisine both in their books and on their website.

Now they also launched a unique global research study: Understanding Gluten and Allergen-Free Experiences of Guests & Hospitality Worldwide which bridges the gap between allergen-free guests and the restaurants who serve them. Focused on eating out and travel experiences, the ground-breaking study surveys guests living with food allergies, intolerances and celiac/coeliac; as well as the food service and hospitality professionals who cater to them.

Guests and hospitality professionals can participate in this global study by completing one of the 3 surveys that best describes their respective point-of-view.
To be a part of the Understanding Gluten and Allergen-Free Experiences of Guests & Hospitality Worldwide study, individuals and businesses can share their insights by visiting:
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=9fpygdcab.0.cjm8pccab.s79moccab.4789&ts=S0265&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.allergenfreeexperiences.com%2F for those managing food allergies
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=9fpygdcab.0.bjm8pccab.s79moccab.4789&ts=S0265&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.glutenfreeexperiences.com%2F for celiacs/coeliacs and the gluten/wheat intolerant
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=9fpygdcab.0.hjm8pccab.s79moccab.4789&ts=S0265&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.allergenfreeguests.com%2F or http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=9fpygdcab.0.gjm8pccab.s79moccab.4789&ts=S0265&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.glutenfreeguests.com%2F for hospitality & food service professionals.

Each survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. All feedback is confidential and will not be shared with any third party. Only one submission per e-mail address will be accepted and the survey closes as of 31 August, 2007.

Upon successful submission and if requested, respondents will receive complimentary eating out educational materials and be entered into various prize drawings. In addition, in the fall of 2007, key findings will be sent electronically to participants if requested.

This innovative study should empower individuals with the knowledge to safely and confidently live a better quality of life anywhere in the world. At the same time, businesses can leverage the empirical data to justify new programs and services addressing needs of people with allergies.

Undegraduate education around the world

2007-08-02T22:35:00.000-05:00

In July 2007 SCIENCE magazine published a very interesting special report about undergraduate eduction in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) The report focuses on lives of a dozen faculty members covering countries on all 6 continents (ex.: Australia, UK, USA, Russia, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa, etc.) It's an extremely interesting report looking into the fields of studies that will play the most important role in the progress of our society in the future.

As it is indicated in the introduction to the report despite the vast differences in the makeup of their students, cultural, economic and other factors specific to each country under analysis, university professors in all these countries have the same issues and problems. All these faculty members point to "lagging interest and poor preparation in science among students, insufficient resources, heavy professional burdens and antiscience attitudes in society at large." But each of these scientists is trying to bring science in the life of students in exciting and innovative ways.

This exciting report can be found in SCIENCE VOL 317, 6 JUL 2007. The complete discussion is also available at http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/undergrad_education07

Understanding international trade documentation made easy

2007-07-27T13:07:00.000-05:00

Here is an extremely useful site for international businesses: http://www.scinet-corp.com/associates/index.htm?bdd_md.htm~index2 A glossary of selection of terms used in world trade of goods, products and services, in 4 different languages: Spanish, English, French and German.

The only drawback of the glossary is that the terms are sorted alphabetically in English only (i.e. it's made easy to translate a word from English to any other 3 languages). However, if you have a German word, say "Vorleistung" and you need to translate it in English or any other language you'll find it difficult because it is not listed under V, it is listed opposite English word "advance" under A.

But this site also offers information on a number of other useful world trade documentation such as (check the links on the same page above the glossary of trade terms):
EXPLANATION OF BILL OF LADING TERMINOLOGY
INCOTERMS 2000
DOCUMENTARY CREDIT

and others.

UK in photos

2007-07-22T18:20:00.000-05:00

Here are some of my photos from London, Bath and Hever Castle to give you a flavor of UK:

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland

2007-07-12T12:30:00.000-05:00

Before coming to US 1,5 years ago I lived in UK for 5 years. It was like second home that’s why nostalgia made it quite difficult to write about it for quite some time… But now that passed and here is my story. I planned to write it in summer because it’s the best time to visit the country since July – August give you the best chance of avoiding rain.

There are 3 concepts in my mind that describe UK best of all: tradition, mystery and aristocracy.

TRADITION and HISTORY: everything in this country is about tradition and most of its customs go centuries back, so far that you start doubting if the world existed then… The guys still have the Queen, the Crown and other stuff like that! It feels like there are more palaces and ancient castles per square mile than anywhere else. And it’s not enough to visit one or 2 of them to get the full picture. Each castle is unique, it has different architecture, interior design, surrounding garden and it dates back to a specific era and has its own history and (often) love story behind it. Security cameras at royal palaces (mostly Hampton Court) even capture old ghosts in black cloaks on camera from time to time. Nowhere else you’ll be able to see the abundance of ancient armor and crown jewels on display.

Speaking about customs I couldn’t avoid mentioning one specific, tradition which is well known but not so well understood around the world: English tea. It’s not the tea that’s important but the ritual. It is a 2 hours’ long occasion when the tea is served with special finger sandwiches, small cakes, scones, clotted cream and jam. Take away 1 ingredient and it is not English tea anymore.

MYSTERY: besides the ghosts that haunt the royal Hampton Court Britain is home to 2 other most famous mystical sites: the Stonehenge and the Loch Ness. I visited both of them and each one made a deep impression on me though I have not seen the Loch Ness monster with my own eyes (note: the less the amount of tourists found at the spot the better the impression). There is something inexplicable about these places, something beyond words. I even didn’t try to explain anything to myself; I was just left with an inner feeling that I touched the untouchable, the unimaginable… One must see and feel it with ones own eyes….

ARISTOCRATIC: or “high-class”, or “upscale” or “posh” whatever word you use Britain has a lot of places and events you can attend which will make you feel like “royalty” for a day. For starters it will cost you a fortune but this is exactly the point: if you could afford it every day it wouldn’t be such a special treat! Try special seats at Wimbledon with Champaign and strawberries; a visit to Ascot (horse races favored by the royal family) where you HAVE TO be dressed elegantly (for ladies a beautiful dress, heels and a stunning hat is a must); or see a performance at Royal Albert Hall or Royal Opera.

Finally, don’t be disappointed if you don’t get a chance to meet the Queen - go see the change of the royal guards that the Buckingham palace. The site of dozens of well-trained, handsome, tall and young “warriors” will definitely substitute for that of one old lady.

World Public Opinion - Global Issues 2007

2007-07-02T11:08:00.000-05:00

A week ago the Chicago Council on Global Affairs released an in-depth study of world public opinion on key international issues, including climate change, globalization, the future of the United Nations, U.S. leadership, and the rise of China.

Participating research centers interviewed nearly 22,000 people in China, India, the United States, Russia, Indonesia, France, Thailand, Ukraine, Poland, Iran, Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Argentina, Peru, Armenia and Israel, plus the Palestinian territories. In addition to a global overview of opinion on key issues, the report includes detailed country-by-country analysis. The publics polled represent about 56 percent of the world’s population.

On this site http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/dynamic_page.php?id=61 you can download the full report or just the parts of it, depending on what you are interested in. I personally found the study very interesting and enlightening in a way

Useful sites for Tourism

2007-06-26T12:35:00.000-05:00

Though I do talk about International Business a lot (since this is my profession - International Business Consultant :-) I cannot ignore the fact that it is summer now and many people are finally fulfilling their dream of a long vacation. So to help those planning a trip (nationally or internationally) here is a good resource: http://www.everything-about-tourism.com/

It is a centralised directory including information on 70 most popular countries on all 5 continents in various categories: airlines, accommodation, golf, festivals, limousines, discos - anything. When you perform a search the results will bring you Internet links to relevant sites. Very handy "one stop shop" for travellers.

Trade Promotion Directory

2007-06-18T20:08:00.000-05:00

I just recently found an excellent resource for companies who are doing or planning to do business in Europe: UNECE 's (United Nations Trade Economic Commission for Europe) Trade Promotion Directory, http://www.unece.org/trade/ctied/tradedir/trddir_h.htm

As mentioned on the site "this Directory is intended to help enterprises and investors find the organizations and information they need for trading or investing in the UNECE region.

The information is organized by country. Under each of the 55 European countries (the list includes also USA and a couple of countries in the Near East, such as Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, etc.) are lists of organizations covering the following areas:
-Information for investment and enterprises
-Government organizations and other supporting organizations
-Trade facilitation
-Corporate governance (including regulatory agencies)
-Trade and enterprise financing
-Chambers of commerce, and business associations
-Sectoral business associations "

The informatin is regularly updates and the site mentions in which country directory there were recent changes.

World Customs Organization

2007-06-12T15:17:00.000-05:00

As fantastic as it was to talk about travelling there is always business to attend. Here is a great resource for everyone doing business internationally: Customs Administartion Websites world-wide http://www.wcoomd.org/ie/En/CustomsWebSites/customswebsites.html

Everyone trading across the borders knows that customs regulations and procedures are usually the most complicated in any country. On this site you can find links to Customs offices in most of the countries in the world that will make your task a little bit easier.

One tip: when you try to select "Europe" as a continent the page does not work properlly, so just select a country you are interested in from the "select a quick link" drop-down menu below.

Puerto Rico, Part III of III

2007-06-07T13:50:00.000-05:00

As usual, here is the visiual story to go with the text (all photos we made ourselves while in Puerto Rico). From the rain forest to underground caves to old San Juan Puerto Rico didn't stop to amaze me. Do you see a wild geiko on a "Wild Life Watch" sign? :-)

Puerto Rico, Part II of III

2007-06-01T11:47:00.000-05:00

In my previous comment about Puerto Rico I forgot to mention the business side of things (I was so mesmerised by the natural and architectural beauty of the island that I forgot about everything else).

It's another example of a small territory in a region (Caribbean) that managed to recreate itself and achieve great results (compare with similar stories I already posted about Dubai (Middle East) and Mauritius (Africa)) Puerto Rico was poor, devastated by hunger, unemployment and hurricanes in late 1930s. In the forties the government of PR realised that they could not any more rely on agriculture for the growth of the economy and in 1942 established Puerto Rican Industrial Development Corporation. They placed their bet on 3 main areas: rum, industry and tourism - and won.

To cut a long story short, though since 1940s Puerto Rico had some ups and downs, eventually great results were achieved. It was a smart move to finally realise that fight with poverty was more important than fight for independence from the U.S. and Puerto Ricans managed to capitalize on all the benefits the tie with the U.S. offered, especially the Section 936 of Internal Revenue code that for some time exempted manufactures from having to pay federal income tax on profits earned by their subsidiaries located in Puerto Rico. And though this clause was later abolished thanks to it more than 2000 factories operate now on the island. Pharmaceutical industry accounts for 1/4 of gross domestic product and I already mentioned the famous Bacardi factory in my previous post. Tourism industry is booming too: more than 700 cruise ships come to the port of San Juan every year.

Though Puerto Rican per capita income is less than anywhere in USA it tops most of the Caribbean islands and it is higher than anywhere in Latin America. Actually, Puerto Rico has one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean.

Once again I cannot fail to mention how fascinated I am with such stories of success, the stories of how small countries can make big changes.

Puerto Rico, Part I of III

2007-05-24T19:49:00.000-05:00

I have never been to Latin America and this May was my first time – we went to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a US island in the Caribbean basin though only on paper. In spirit it is nothing but. It is truly Latin American in all respects and this is what I liked most about it.

If I had to describe Puerto Rico in two words I would say it is all about Celebration of Life. From the lush green and bright fragrant flowers everywhere to multi-colored houses of old San Juan (the capital) where indeed there are no 2 houses alike: pale pink next to bright orange, sky blue to vibrant green - it seems like these houses represent all colors of the rainbow, all shades and all variations except for boring black and gray which dominate the usual urban landscape.

The abundance of tropical fish swimming even in shallow waters right at the beach compete in variety of colors with the old San Juan’s buildings.

In addition you hear birds singing everywhere: various birds, many distinct voices. You might not see them since they are hidden somewhere among beautiful tropical plants but their songs follow you wherever you go.

In the evenings there are other songs heard on every corner: street festivals, bars, and clubs welcome you. It is not by chance that it was Puerto Ricans who invented one of the hottest Latin American dances – salsa.

Puerto Rico reminded me of Mauritius (I already wrote about this island on my blog): it is tiny but it has so many things to explore. An amazing tropical rain forest with magnificent waterfalls, a cave park with stunning stalactites and stalagmites, old fortresses and cathedrals, the famous Arecibo Observatory and so much more. If you are into nature or arts or history or astronomy you will realize that your trip to Puerto Rico was worth making.
So when next time you see a Bacardi rum commercial on TV which invites you to the “Latin Quarter” you can be sure that the “spirit” it is talking about is very much real and it is very much Puerto Rican (again, it is not by chance, I think, that the largest Bacardi plant is located on this amazing island).

Small businesses going global: International Art Gallery

2007-05-15T15:15:00.000-05:00

When we talk about International Business, most of us think about huge multinational corporations. What fascinates me personally is the ability of small businesses to find their unique niche and grow the business globally. With this article I start a series of stories about such companies.

Capucines Boulevard art gallery and auction (http://www.capucinesboulevard.com/) is a very interesting entrepreneurial venture based out of Chicago, IL which succeeded in becoming international on several levels:

1. Capucines Boulevard gallery attracts artists from all over the world: though it's a relatively new venture founded in 2005 it already represents nearly 60 artists from Western Europe, Eastern Europe, India, USA. Therefore it creates a unique opportunity for visitors to experience everything from the mesmerising landscapes of New Mexico to unusual sceneries from a small Russian village. Paintings, ink drawings, prints; glass and metal works; painted silk - an art lover can find anything and everything in this gallery. But most importanly many of the exhibited works of art can be found ONLY at CapucinesBoulevard.com. Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, for example, are not strong in e-commerce yet and Capucines.Boulevard.com is the only outlet where artists from these countries offer you their art for purchase.

2. Being an Internet based art gallery and auction CapucinesBoulevard.com has a truly global outreach: it can sell a work of art to anyone anywhere in the world. You can make a purchase from the comfort of your own home and it will be delivered to you by a courier within a couple of days.

Of course, there are many Internet art galleries but the following characteristics make CapucinesBoulevard.com unique:
1. It does not specialise on just 1 - 2 - 3 countries, this gallery is truly diverse and international
2. The experience you get from interaction with the gallery is dynamic: you can view the photos of the works of art, listen to the artist's favourite music or their interviews, view virtual tours of their studios, etc.
3. Even static works of art come to life in CapucinesBoulevard.com gallery!! To learn how it's possible you can watch these videos:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-6C6S0Zma8
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obNvYJSsGdI

This company is a great example of a small business going global, an excellent sales and marketing approach and an exciting experience for customers - all in one.

PS The ink drawing included in the article is called "Dancing Libra" from Zodiac collection of a Russian painter Anatoly Kudravcev exhibited at CapucinesBoulevard.com

International Consultants

2007-05-09T21:20:00.001-05:00

I wanted to share my recent observations with regards so-called "international consultants" who are plenty in USA and whom I meet quite often at various networking events.

I don't really understand what is the reason behind the phenomenon I am going to talk about (may be the geographical position of USA - far away from most of the world, i.e. Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa) but most of Americans I meet who spent at least a couple of months abroad during their lifetime (either working or as a student) consider themselves to be professional international consultants. Here are 2 classic examples that I recently met:

1. Middle-aged guy who spent 3 months in Europe as a student (about 20 years ago) insists on being extremely knowledgeable about in European business. He never worked in any European company and since his days over there many countries do not exist any more and new ones emerged.

2. A lady who spent a year or so in Europe working as a ground personnel for 1 of the American Airlines (you know those girls who check in your luggage before the flight) now has her own consulting company specializing in... international business and international relations! How much did she learn about European business models printing baggage receipts???

Moreover, neither of these so-called "international consultants" speak any foreign language and I suspect has know clue about cultural aspects of the regions they "specialize in" either.

However, their businesses exist and, apparently, some companies trust them! I just wanted to warn my readers about these types of "consultants" and "international experiences". Don't waste your money! If you have never been abroad except as a tourist your experience and knowledge is not inferior to that of such "consultants" even if they spent several month abroad. The main question you have to ask is what were they able to learn doing whatever they were doing while staying abroad? Drinking in pubs with other students or printing boarding passes (as per my examples) has nothing to do with understanding the principles of international business.

I do call myself an international consultant too (my company is Emerging Markets Advice http://www.emadvice.com/ ) but in contrast to what I have already mentioned I lived, studied and worked in 5 different countries (and when I say "studied" I mean I studied international management, and when I say "worked" I mean I worked as international business development professional in big multinational companies). I also participated in a number of cross-regional and global projects involving a dozen other countries and in addition I speak 3 languages.

This phenomenon does not exist, say, in Europe because you cannot fool a truly international community where the majority speaks at least 2 languages, has experience studying abroad and some of them have worked abroad too. There you really have to show you can add value compared to everyone else.

Therefore, dear business owners, if you plan an international expansion, please, be careful choosing a consultant to help you with the task! Beware of former international camp councelors, flight attendants and the like.

Starting in Exporting

2007-04-28T18:05:00.000-05:00

Last year (August 29, 2006, see the blog archive) I posted information on this blog on how to start in International Trade from a UK point of view. I mean the site it based in UK but information they give is pretty generic and quite useful.

Here is a great US site of the similar nature: http://www.foodexportusa.org/export101/. Though some specifics are US and food industry related they are just a few, most of the information is applicable to any industry. For instance, there is a checklist you need to go through to evaluate if your company is ready for exporting or guidelines on export pricing applicable no matter what product you are planning to export.

Each page on the site gives you numerous useful links on that topic too, for example: http://www.foodexportusa.org/export101/price-links.htm

2007-04-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

I borrowed some of these photos from some excellent sites where you can see even more pictures of Morocco, such as: http://www.raingod.com/angus/Gallery/Photos/Africa/Morocco/, www.morocco.com

PS: photos above represent several of the places of interest I mentioned in my story about Morocco:

Pic 1: Yves Saint Laurant Garden

Pic 2: Marrakesh

Pic 3: Atlas mountains

Pic 4: Marrakesh, main market squareDjemaa el-Fina

Morocco

2007-04-16T19:33:00.000-05:00

To continue the theme started in my recent posts - here is another story about the Muslim World. This one is about Morocco. I also decided to write this story now because recently I saw a new movie, “Babel”, a part of which takes place in Morocco and I can definitely say that the movie doesn’t give this country justice. And don’t get me wrong, the movie is great (actually it is in itself a great international experience since the action unfolds in 4 locations: USA, Mexico, Morocco and Japan) but they way it portrays Morocco is horrible it doesn’t show any of the beauty and charm of this African jewel so I decided to restore the country’s reputation in this abstract.

If Dubai has the “future” look of the Muslim World, Morocco has the past (in the good sense of this word). Naturally, your hotel will be as modern as anywhere else but outside its walls there is a totally different world. The only truly modern city you will find in Morocco is Agadir, the resort city on the Atlantic coast, but it is modern only because a terrible earthquake entirely destroyed the old city in the middle of the 20th century. It is funny how, in fact, Dubai, is trying to imitate Moroccan heritage: one of the most famous hotels in Dubai, Madinat Jumeirah, is built in the old Moroccan style.

Morocco made a major impression on me in three ways:

1. UNUSUAL SIGHTS: I always had a misconception, as many of you, my readers, probably do too, that Africa is hot and there is no snow there except for the top of the famous Kilimanjaro. Imagine my astonishment to see snow covered mounts on the background of Moroccan sun burnt landscape in May, which turned to be the Atlas mountains. They look magnificent!

Another amazing sight, which I have never seen before – goats on the top branches on trees! (I don’t remember the name of the tree but goats love its fruit (or leaves) and they climb all the way up to get some!)

The most remarkable sight though is the main market square (the square in front of the souq) in Marrakech: fruit and sweets traders, acrobats, magicians, snake charmers and other performers – the picture out of a fairy tale indeed…

2. SMELLS: the amount of various extraordinary smells embracing you on your trip: eucalyptus forest (camel ride through which is a hilarious experience), cooked lamb, freshly baked bread, spices, Agadir seafood market and the famous Moroccan mint tea everywhere…

3. COLORS: the amount and brightness of various colors like in Morocco I have never seen before: the colors of the souq (everything from carpets to silk scarfs of all colors of the rainbow, really), the colors of the Majorelle Botanic Gardens (which not so long ago was taken over and restored by a famous fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge – it combines pink and red flowers, bright blue buildings, green foliage and red-brown paved walkways), mosaics in the mosques, palaces and restaurants, etc.

My story-telling ability is not too good to be able to describe in words all the richness of this country. If you are intrigued you can read more in Paolo Cohelo’s book “The Alchemist”, but better still go there and experience it by yourself – trust me there is nothing in the world like Morocco.
I will be posting some photos of Morocco later this week: they won’t be able to reproduce the smells but I will do my best at the sights!

Legal Alien's Guide

2007-04-13T17:54:00.000-05:00

One of my biggest and most important International experiences was relocating to live in USA. It is very hard for a newcomer to rebuild one's life in a new place so I decided to write a book based on my own experience which, I hope, will make the life of everyone relocating to US and even within US to Chicago much easier.

The book is called "Legal Aliens Guide. Chicago. IL. USA". It's a comprehensive guide to various organizations, associations, clubs, etc. that help you to find a job, start/develop your own business or just find friends. The book is also full of useful Internet resources from cheap international telephony services to free daily networking calendars of events.

The guide is designed to be a help for everyone who is new to the networking scene and though I give Chicago as an example most of the organizations I talk about are active nationwide.

The book is in publishing now and it is coming out end of spring - beginning of summer 2007.

For more information you can visit the book's blog http://legalaliensguide.blogspot.com It not only provides information about the book but it is a living addition to the book because new organizations appear every day, interesting one-time events are being held which are not mentioned in the Guide but they will be posted on the blog as soon as the information about them comes to my attention.

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T18:27:00.000-05:00

I would like to continue this year's introduction of holidays around the globe. Today is a rare occasion when both Catholic and Orthodox Easters coinside (they usually don't because since 16th centuray Catholics adopted Gregorian Calendar and Orthodox kept the Julian one). I send all my warm wishes to everyone who celebrate this Great Holiday today. Here are 2 postcards representing how the two communities celebrate this holiday: the "chocolate" one for my Catholic friends and the egg and "kulich" (specially cooked cake) for my Orthodox friends.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Truly International Experience - RIVERDANCE

2007-04-05T23:27:00.000-05:00

I just came back from Riverdance performance in Chicago (they are touring USA at the moment and the other company is touring Europe, as I understand they do these tours every year) and I could not fail to mention it. It's an eccentric and exciting fusion of Celtic folk dance, Irish history and other folk traditions: Flamenco, Russian folk dances, jazz, etc. It is a truely international fest of dance, music, light and colour.

If the Company is coming to your city I strongly recommend going - I bet you have not seen anything like this before. To learn more information about the performances, locations and dates, visit their site: http://www.riverdance.com/htm/theshow/index.htm (the photo is from the site)

"In Paris, Language Sparks Culture War"

2007-04-05T16:16:00.000-05:00

The title of this post is the title of an interesting article published in New York Times on March 31, 2007. The article is a great find especially for those interested in France and the French language. It describes how such processes as globalization can dramatically influence a country, a culture, its language and literature.

Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/books/31ridi.html?_r=3&ref=arts&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Trade in Muslim World

2007-03-26T18:16:00.000-05:00

If you are planning to engage in international trade with a Muslim country (whether in Middle East or Africa) here is a great help: http://www.muslimtrade.net/tradeguideline/ This site has great country specific information such as export/import regulations, legal framework, banking system, taxation, etc.

Some of the countries' profiles are missing for now, such as Jordan and UAE, for example, but the site promisses that "other muslim countries are on the way..." so it's worthwhile checking it out on regular basis for new additions.

French Chambers of Commerce and Industry Overseas

2007-03-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

I have a personal interest in France and French culture and the other day while researching some info on France I found a great website that would be useful for everyone interested in international business, not only business with France. This is the site of the Union of French Chambers of Commerce and Industry Overseas which brings together and supports the development of the 112 CCIs overseas in more than 75 countries: http://www.uccife.org/en/index.htm

Part of the site is, of course dedicated to France: you can obtain a lot of useful info about everything from doing business to travelling in France. The other part of the site, however, is dedicated to French Chambers of Commerce work overseas: here you can find market research, market information (i.e. useful publications) about most of those 75 countries around the world where French CCIs work.

The site can be viewed in French, English and Spanish.

Dubai: Part III of III

2007-03-01T14:27:00.000-06:00

As I promised finally here are some pictures of Dubai. It is surprising that there is no 1 good site about Dubai where you can see all the great photos so I borrowed these from a number of sites:
www.burj-al-arab.com , www.arabianeye.com, http://pixdubai.com, www.trekearth.com. But even neither of these photos give due credit to what is there in reality. I guess the only way to appreciate this place is to see it with your own eyes...

Dubai: Part II of III

2007-02-15T12:18:00.000-06:00

One of my readers has recently left a comment or rather a request to write about memorable things that happened to me while travelling. I hope this part of Dubai story will cover that.

I went to Dubai after having travelled nearly all over Europe and USA and not expecting to be very much surprised. Well, I was wrong: I was astonished, amazed and surprised by Dubai every step during my visit.

It started at the arrival gate of the Dubai International Airport. I had a greeting service booked for me: this is a kind of VIP service that is probably available in most of the airports but just for VERY important people. In Dubai you can easily book it for yourself for just 21 USD and it it highly recommended for first time visitors, elderly, passengers with kids - http://www.marhabaservices.com/ They meet you at the aircraft door, take you to the customs in a nice little car, you don't wait in line for visa clearance (and lines there are enormous!! it looks like an endless sea of people! - that was my only negative impression of Dubai) then they wait with you for your luggage as long as it takes and make sure that you get everything and in proper order and finally deliver you to the trustworthy hands of your hotel representative in the Arrival hall. And all the way they are nice, smiling and courteous which makes you feel that you are the most important person in the world.

My second surprise was waiting for me in my hotel room. I stayed in a regular 4 star hotel in the business district, nothing special, not like those amazing ones that Dubai has along the seashore, but still... When I entered my STANDARD room I was amazed to see that it is 3 times bigger than the regular room: first it had a regular bed, 2 night stands, an armchair a table and then you already expect to see the wall with a window - not at all! Right after that I had.... a castle! I assume it was a place for kids if I came with a family! The castle was as high as the room itself, had 4 walls and windows and a door and inside it had 2 beds, storage space and "gaming" place!
And after the castle I also had a sofa and a coffee table and THEN I had the wall and the window!

The thrid surprise was waiting for me on the street: there is virtually no system of public transport. Most people drive their own cars and only poor workers usually take buses and may be occasional tourists because taxis in Dubai are very cheap and this is the best means of transportation around the city excpet if you want to go to a major shopping mall in the rush hour: to get back you will have to wait in line for a taxi for 30 minutes at the mall..

All major siteseeing places will amaze you too. Definitely start with the Dubai National Museum to learn the story about this wonderufl city (much more than than I told you in my Post I about Dubai) : http://www.datadubai.com/entertainment/museums/dubai-museums/

Then go see the famous Burj Al Arab (known as the Sail) - the most expensive hotel in the world. They have excursions inside and you can also visit their skyview bar on the top or "aquarium" style restaurant at the bottom (it is below the sea level) http://www.burj-al-arab.com/ The only luxury of similar sort I saw in Versaille Palace, France but even there the rooms are so much smaller :-))

A lot of modern wonders you see in Dubai are considered to be the most technologically advanced in the world: try Wild Wadi water park to understand what I mean http://www.wildwadi.com/

Definitely go outside Dubai for a desert safari with dune rides, arabian BBQ, henna painting and belly dancing http://www.lamadubai.com/desertsafaris.html It will be like a "time machine" experience: from the ultra moredern to the good old days in arabian desert.

My final surprise was waiting for me at Dubai International Airport. I did expect a great duty free shopping but what I saw really exceeded my expectations: a huge golden palm tree in the middle of the hall which made the roof of an enormous gold jewlry store! People buy gold here not by item but by weight and this is how they are priced: you can only see the price of a gram of gold and then you ask a shop assistant to weigh whatever little masterpiece you've chosen.

To sum up, Dubai really NEVER stops surprising you and due to the fact that it is constantly developing, evolving and modernising, every time you go new wonders will be waiting for you on every corner.

Dubai: Part I of III

2007-02-02T22:34:00.000-06:00

In my blog I haven’t yet written about the Middle East and today I want to share one of my stories about this region.

Dubai is one of the most fascinating places in the world I have been to. And I am usually most amazed by the ability of certain countries to grow from nearly nothing to incredible heights (and for that matter the inability of others in the region to do the same). The rise of South Korea or Mauritius (about which I already wrote in my blog) is very similar to the rise of Dubai though the latter took it a very much advanced level.

Even in the middle of the 20th century Dubai (which is a part of United Arab Emirates) was still a small fishing port which had 2 main possessions: the sands and the sea. How many small ports around the world can you name that have never developed into something as magnificent as Dubai? Probably dozens. But Dubai did. And its main secret is not oil: there is practically no oil in this part of UAE; the secret is the smart heads of the state that ruled this territory in the 20th century. They were able to see something that many other country rulers in the region still don’t see in the 21st century. They saw that freedom, international trade, good climate for investment and later tourism are key for the prosperity of the region. And just in about 40 years they achieved their dream!

Nowadays Dubai is one of the most modern cities I have ever seen. You drive to the outskirts of the city and there is only desert and… the best highway in the world. In the city itself the construction never stops, not even at night and Dubai is now constantly producing the architectural marvels never seen before: the most luxurious hotel in the world (the “Sail”), the Palm Island and the Burj Dubai that is currently built, which will become the highest building in the world. Dubai also has one of the fastest growing airports and international airlines that strive to be the best in global aviation industry and, frankly, they are not too far from their goal.
But most importantly this is one of the few states in the Middle East that gave equal rights to women. You will probably be surprised to know that the majority of students at UAE University and the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) are women. Besides the traditional fields of education and health, there are many women graduates working in various disciplines such as engineering, science, media and communications, computer technology, law, commerce, and the oil industry. There is even a women's corps within the Armed Forces.

If you want to learn more about this fascinating place, please, visit http://www.sheikhmohammed.co.ae/ and also wait for my 2nd post about Dubai where I will share particular interesting stories and impressions from my visit there. The post with photos will follow too.

Law Library: International Taxes

2007-01-26T23:14:00.000-06:00

I would like to introduce the Law Libray - fantastic resource for anyone doing business internationally: it provides an incredible listing of sites related to International Tax Laws per country (25 "most wanted" countries included from around the world from Australia to Russia to Brazil to South Africa). Whether you are an accountant, a lawyer or a marketing manager doing market analysis - this site will be a great help for you:
http://www.law-library.info/page/tax-international.htm

Sea Ports Worldwide

2007-01-18T16:09:00.000-06:00

This is a great resources for those working in the field of Export/Import, Transportation, Supply Chain and Logistics. The website below lists links to all major sea ports around the world:
http://impoyexpo.com/ports.htm

This comes very handy since you have all ports in one place and you don't need to spend your time looking around. One correction, though: the link to Russian port of Vladivostok is invalid, the proper link is: http://www.vladcomport.ru/index.html?eng

Environmental Issues

2007-01-14T19:46:00.000-06:00

This is a wall pannel from Chicago's Field Museum: "From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved", - Charles Darwin.

I was thinking the other day that there is one truly international “thing” that unites all of us around the Globe. It is the environment, the nature. Air and oceans do not have boarders: the division is purely artificial, man-forced. That is why I believe that our efforts to preserve the environment cannot be country-specific they have to be international and coordinated globally.

I travel a lot and I see that the “eco-friendly” efforts are very much dispersed. European Union is very concerned with the issue. In Germany’s Frankfurt airport I recently saw 3-4 different types of garbage cans: for paper, plastic, glass and other stuff. When I was living in UK, since 2004 we had special blue plastic bags delivered home for free where we could deposit all recyclable waste.

EU also initiated a so-called “Stand-by” initiative as early as 1997. Stand-by power of electrical equipment is the electricity consumed by end-use devices when they are switched off or not performing their main function. Stand-by power consumption is an increasing fraction of the electricity use and the fast penetration of new and digital technology is likely to increase this share. It is estimated that stand-by power already accounts for about 10% of the electricity use in homes and offices of the EU Member States. A number of proactive steps has been taken by EU in this regard and you can read more details at http://energyefficiency.jrc.cec.eu.int/html/standby_initiative.htm

Central Europe, Russia included, are a bit behind. I know in my hometown there is a big buzz about energy saving light bulbs. They need less electricity to electric bill is smaller and therefore a lot of pensioners (my parents are a good example here) changed their light bulbs to more efficient ones. This is not much but at least it’s a step forward. In addition, in most families I know (my relatives and friends) there is a strict rule of not leaving any equipment on stand-by.

Now having lived in USA for more than a year I am very surprised that the question of environment protection is not as burning as elsewhere. My husband (who lived in USA for 5 years and traveled a lot around the country) says that he saw a couple of recycling bins for newspapers and soda tins but I haven’t seen any here yet. I am surprised that this issue is not widely discussed or implemented. May be I don’t know much about this country yet but here are my observations: tons of electricity are wasted (especially by equipment on stand-by), monstrous SUVs are everywhere (huge cars that consume a LOT of gallons of fuel per mile).

The one thing USA is good at, as it seems to me, is animal/plant life conservation. Only in Chicago there are 3 museums that I know of that in one way or the other devote their exhibitions to nature conservation. There are also 2 zoos, one of which is FREE to public where you can also learn about endangered species.

Washington zoo has recently had a baby panda born in captivity for the first time and the news was everywhere. It seemed to be nearly as important event as presidential elections. I even saw a 1-hour film on TV made to this occasion!

I don’t have a plan how to make environment protection a truly global effort or to force USA sign the Kyoto agreement. But I truly belief that if every single person out of 6 billion living on the planet makes at least 1 conservation effort on a regular basis the Earth will be a much better place to live.

My own New Year’s resolution is to reduce to minimum the amount of time my home/work appliances left on stand-by. I also already fulfilled my previous resolution: we bought one of the most fuel efficient cars on the market, new Honda Civic, not the hybrid yet (that will probably be the next step) and I also have been supporting World Wide Fund (WWF) for many years (you can see more details about this organization by clicking “Protect Nature” link on the right-hand side navigation panel).

I came to write this little abstract now because this has been the warmest winter ever, both in Chicago and in Russia where I am from. I do not want my children to celebrate their Christmases in raincoats listening to the stories about a strange substance called “snow” or extinct creatures called “penguins”. I am sure most of you feel the same way too! I strongly believe that this issue is not just governments’ responsibility, it is every one’s responsibility everywhere, because we don’t have Chinese nature or Argentinean nature or Egypt’s nature it’s all ours, it is international!

Foreign Direct Investment

2007-01-03T12:22:00.000-06:00

Recenty I found a great market reserach tool analyzing Foreign Direct Investment Projects globally: www.locomonitor.com . Extensive reports can be ordered for a fee but snapshot reports and some extra reports are available for FREE per country.

The snapshot reports give you data for the last 4 years (2003-2006) and provide information on total figures, figures per country (investing in your chosen country), industry, by business function and data on the top 5 multinational companies investments.

In Downloads section you can find some extra free reports and presentations related to international business and FDI.

Finally, Locomonitor publishes free quaterly reports per certain topic. For instance, Q1 2006 report analyses China outbound FDI and Q3 2005 report is talking about Strategic Ivestment Locations for 2005.

I hope you find this information useful for your International Business/FDI projects.

Happy Holiday Season!

2006-12-27T20:56:00.000-06:00

Winter time and mostly end of December - beginning of January is a Holiday Season for most of people around the world, of all religions and all nationalities. So here is my HAPPY HOLIDAY greetings to all my readers around the Globe.

Most of the Christians have just had Holly Jolly Christmas - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody! In Russia, however, Christmas is on January 7 so this holiday is still to come. And one more thing about holidays in Russia: our Santa ("Father Frost") brings us presents not on Christmas, but on New Year's Eve and he usually comes with a company - his granddaugter, The Snowgirl. So below are 2 greeting cards: for my Western and Russian friends (Santa and Snowgirl):

Our Jewish friends have their own holiday this time of the year - Chanukah, which is the festival of light and it celebrates triumph of light over darkness. The festival lasts 8 days and in 2006 it was celebrated December 16 - 23. Happy Chanukah!

Our Muslim friends celebrate their holiday this time of year too - Eid-al-Adha or Feast of Sacrifice. It lasts for 3 days and commemorates Ibraham's (Abraham) willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son. Muslims believe the son to be Ishmael rather than Isaac as told in the Old Testament. According to the Koran, Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son when a voice from heaven stopped him and allowed him to sacrifice a ram instead. In 2006 Eid-al-Adha will be celebrated on December 31. Happy Eid!

Finally, our Chinese friends will be celebrating Chinese New Year on February 18, 2007. And thought there is still time till that holiday I wanted to congratulate our Asian friends anyway since we are talking about Christmas and New Year. Year 2007 will be the year of Pig according to the Chinese calendar. I wish you Good Luck in the New Year!

You can find more beautiful e-cards for all your family, friends, colleagues and customers on these websites (where I found mine): http://www.101chinesenewyear.com/ , www.sendoutcards.com, www.mail.ru www.arabiccards.com

In my experience, it doesn't matter what nationality a person is - everyon will be very happy to receive a note from you on THEIR holiday. So send warm wishes and spread the joy!

Russia in the Spotilight, Part II

2006-12-21T14:47:00.000-06:00

One of my blog readers asked about the link to the articles about Russia I mentioned in my post called "Russia in the Spotlight". I didn't include the links to these articles because I read these articles in the hard copy of Business Week. But I value my reader's opinion and thus, I performed on-line search for these 2 artcile and here are the links:

1. http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2006/gb20061207_520461.htm?chan=search
2. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_51/b4014100.htm?chan=search

How to be a successful International Business Consultant

2006-12-18T16:36:00.000-06:00

At the end of November 2006 I was giving a presentation at the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC USA, Chicago Chapter) about skills to have and things to know to be a successful International Business consultant. I put the essence of this presentation into an article which I have recently published. You can read this article at http://www.emadvice.com/articles.html (article # 5)

Russia in the spotlight

2006-12-13T00:10:00.000-06:00

If you are interested in doing busienss in/with Russia you should have a look at the recent Business Week magazine (December 18, 2006) There are 2 full articles about Russia, which in a way complement each other.

On the bright side it shows that Russian middle class is growing, hence the consumption is growing too including the demand for foreign made goods. In addition Russia is also popular with foreign investors and the stock market is up.

However on the dark side there is a question raised about the sustainability of such a growth since the most of the money inflow is oil money and only a very tiny percentage of population really benefit from it. And in addition all the recent political scandals and a growing controling role of the government are called "troubling signs" by foreign experts.

Both articles make a great reading (one is an essay style and the other is an interview with a famous Russian chess player, Garry Kasparov) and I just wanted to add my personal views on the topic. It is true that sometimes doing business in Russia is like walking on the mine field unless you have a map of dangerous areas. But even with the "map" you have to be very careful because there might be a dozen of addendums to it which you, as an outsider, might not know about. Or in the middle of your walk the government can intervene and change the rules of the game...

Why are people still coming then, you may ask? Well, I guess it's because the prize on the other side of the field is really attractive. Just look at the automotive industry: in the recent years a number of foreign car manufactures (Ford, Toyota, VW, etc.) started to open their huge manufacturing plants in Russia despite the fact that the Russian governemt is very protective of the Russian automotive industry and potentially it can interefere with the foreign manufactures' plans if they see a real threat. But Ford and the likes are still going for it because there is demand and hence, there is future. It might not be the bright and easy one but the potential is there.

Links we LOVE

2006-12-08T00:16:00.000-06:00

I wanted to say a few words about a section of this blog called "Links we Love".
These are not the links I am paid to promote but rather great examples of orgnizations that excell in doing business internationally: sensibly and for the greater good of the communities they opperate in. An I believe the future competitve landscape will be changed by the appearance of a bigger number of such organizations who sincerely care about communities and environment and are not just extracting cheap resources (labor, natural resources) from developing countries.

Protect Nature link takes you to Word Wide Fund for nature protection. This organization is famous all over the world and doesn't need a special introduction. I just admire their work in all the remoter coners of the globe and support them by being a member of WWF and taking action whenever I could.

Beauty+Purpose link takes you to the fashion site (scarves designer). The company's accessories are designed in USA and are hand made in Latin America. For once, this company tries to preserve a rare technique of knitting (doing greater good for the local community) and also it makes sure that a percentage of the proceeds from sales support organizations dedicated to Conservation of Beauty, Environment and Community.

International Art Gallery link is a link to an internet art gallery, which gives possibility for artists around the world to exhibit and sell their art. This is especially importnat for the countries where e-commerce capabilities are not well developed yet and the talanted artists do not have an outlet to promote their art internationally (Russia is a goof example here). A portion of procedes from sales is also spent on charitable purposes.

EMAdvice is my own company and my goal is to promote understanding and cooperation between cultures and countries for the benefit of all the sides. And in addition I support WWF, as I mentioned earlier and this is my contribution to "the greater good".

77 Sigma is a link to my friend's blog who is like myself a consultant and a great promoter of being internationally aware. A great expert on China, he runs an organizatioonal development consultancy whose slogan is "Make your Resources more Human."

Each of these links reperesent a case study if you wish that helps you understand what makes an organization successful internationally. Each from a different industry but with the similar purpose in mind.

International Trade Newsletters

2006-12-02T17:39:00.000-06:00

I've recently found a couple of useful newsletters to which you can subscribe for free and get loads of precious information if your business is related to International Trade. They will provide you with the latest news on trade, trade shows, laws, etc. Here they are:

International Trade Law Alert
http://www.exportimportlaw.com/newsletters/
Offers news up-dates on International Trade, Export, Import and Immigration Law.

Latin Business Chronicle
http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/frontpage.aspx
A fantastic source of information if you you are doing/planning to do business in Latin America

Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T14:11:00.000-06:00

Today is November 23, 2006 and it is Thanksgiving holiday in USA. I very often heard American say that Thanksgiving is the most American of all holidays and, probably, the most loved. If you are not American but you live in USA you still cannot forget what day it is today: first of all, on my way to the local supermarket I was constantly followed by a delicious smell of turkeys being roasted in every house in the neighborhood. Second of all, you couldn't even get a hair cut at noon - nearly everything is closed (except for supermarkets and drug stores that work half day today).

Here is a short history of Thanksgiving for my readers outside USA (the info taken from www.infoplease.com):
The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Indians. Days of thanksgiving were celebrated throughout the colonies after fall harvests. All thirteen colonies did not, however, celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time until October 1777. George Washington was the first president to declare the holiday, in 1789.

By the mid–1800s, many states observed a Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, the poet and editor Sarah J. Hale had begun lobbying for a national Thanksgiving holiday. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, looking for ways to unite the nation, discussed the subject with Hale. In 1863 he gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving. In 1939, 1940, and 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt, seeking to lengthen the Christmas shopping season, proclaimed Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November. Controversy followed, and Congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 decreeing that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November, where it remains.

And here are some fun facts about the Turkey, the most important food of the day:
1. There are a number of explanations for the origin of the name of Thanksgiving's favorite dinner guest. Some believe Christopher Columbus thought that the land he discovered was connected to India, and believed the bird he discovered (the turkey) was a type of peacock. He therefore called it 'tuka,' which is 'peacock' in Tamil, an Indian language.
Though the turkey is actually a type of pheasant, one can't blame the explorer for trying.
The Native American name for turkey is 'firkee'; some say this is how turkeys got their name. Simple facts, however, sometimes produce the best answers—when a turkey is scared, it makes a "turk, turk, turk" noise.
2. At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although "vain and silly", was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was "a coward".
3. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving
4. Domesticated turkeys cannot fly. Wild turkeys, however, can fly for short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. They can also reach speeds of 25 miles per hour on the ground.
5. Turkeys can have heart attacks: turkeys in fields near the Air Force test areas over which the sound barrier was broken were known to drop dead from the shock of passing jets.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYBODY!

Images of Mauritius

2006-11-19T22:07:00.000-06:00

Here are some of my own images of Mauritius: ocean, volcano crater, watrefalls, coloured sends and much more!

Mauritius

2006-11-19T21:18:00.000-06:00

In this abstract I want to continue the tradition of writing stories about countries I visited and this one is about MAURITIUS.

I just wonder how many of my readers even know where this country is... Well, to solve the mystery, it is a small island in the Indian ocean to the east of Madagascar. My personal facination with this country is due to the fact that it is tiny, with not so many natural resources and yet it is one of the best developed countries in Africa.

Here is a short abstract about Mauritius economy from CIA World Factbook: "Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been in the order of 5% to 6%. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 25% of export earnings. The government's development strategy centers on expanding local financial institutions and building a domestic information telecommunications industry. Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa, and investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion. Mauritius, with its strong textile sector , has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act". Just look at the labels on the bunch of your cotton stuff (from underwear to T-shirts to jeans) and you will be surprised how many of them are produced in Mauritius.

But not only that: Mauritus worked hard on developing the tourist sector and having tried the benefits of it myself I can definitely say they did a fantastic job. Finally, Mauritius has established itslef as one of just a handful of diamond cutting places in the world. Graff's diamonds and jewlry manufacturing base is situated in Mauritius. Unfortunately I couldn't afford any of their masterpieces (which they absolutely are!) but I can assure you that I will never forget in my life what I saw in their factory's exhibition hall.

So what I was driving at is my amazement at how this tiny African country somewhere at the End of the World reinvented itself, which is still not possible for a lot of countries on the Black Continent...

In addition to the "economic wonder" Mauritius is a good example of how cultures blend with each other and live happily together. Here you can find strong French, Indian and creole influences and each of them just adds to the beauty and uniqueness of the island.

Finally, there is fascinating nature here: lush tropical vegetation in the wild and in botanic gardens, waterfalls, coloured sands, volcano and of course turquoise lagoons and millions of tropical fish.

To me there is only one definition for Mauritius - it is one of the most Precious Jems in the African crown and I strongly recommend everyone to see it for themselves.

Corruption discussion

2006-11-10T13:30:00.000-06:00

I would like to invite you to discuss corruption as a phenomenon. It is obviously a barrier to business and trade develpopment and it is, unfortunately, most common in those countries which now represent the most attractive markets: India, China, Russia...

Corruption always has a money label attached to it but how do you define the following phenomenon, which doesn' t involve money transaction but still is a barrier to fair trade in the aforesaid countries: Mr X needs A from Mr Y. But instead of paying 100 USD to get A, Mr X promises Mr Y to help him with B because he knows that Mr Y needs B. Mr V and W who also need A will never get it and Mr S and T who need B will never get B because Mr X and Mr Y have a sort of agreement or arrangement with regards A-B exchange. A and B can represent products, services, favors - anything besides money. It looks like corruption it feels like one and it hurts like one. So what is it?

I cannot find a name for it, at least not in English, which is not my native language but the issue is that this phenomenon exists and florishes. In Russia there are networks of people (on personal, busness and government levels) that are tied together in this way. It doesn't matter that you are the best at what you do, someone esle will get the contract you want because, say, his wife is a personal dentist of the guy from the local authorities who is responsible for deciding who gets the contract under discussion.

It is extrememly difficult to do business in Russia in this respect for those who are not a part of the relevant network or if you don't know anyone who can connect you to the network. So even if the government solves the problem of corruption this phenomenon will still remain because it is a part of culture and mentality. So what do you think of that?

Corruption worldwide

2006-11-09T21:49:00.000-06:00

Corruption is an unfortunate cost of doing business in some countries. Transparency International http://www.transparency.org is a nonprofit organization that monitors corruption internationally, and on their website is an invaluable resource for research on markets and countries. The site has unbiased information that will help you see what's really going on in various countries. It is a great feed into the Risk Analysis part of your New Market Entry Strategy (see my New Market Entry Strategy post dated 10/24/2006)

There are regional and national surveys and indices, a Bribe Payers Index, a Global Corruption Barometer, the latest news, a Corruption Perceptions Index, tips on how to fight corruption, and much more.

Greeting Cards as a CRM tool

2006-11-01T23:01:00.000-06:00

Today I would like to continue the topic of Customer Relationship Management. In my CRM article (see my post dated october 29, 2006) I was talking about greeting cards as a powerful Customer Relationship Management tool. Many companies produce and sell greeting cards but one specific company stands out - SendOutCards (www.sendoutcards.com) Why is it so? When I first read their introductory message to the website visitors it touched my heart:

When was the last time you sent an unexpected card at an unexpected time to someone you care about? Do you think it would make a difference?

Do you remember people's birthdays and other special occasions? Do you think that matters to them?
How about a simple thank you or expression of appreciation. Do you think that would make a difference?

With this incredible tool, not only can you remember people and share appreciation, you can motivate, uplift, encourage and truly make a difference. Here is the interesting thing, the more you do this, the more you realize that you, the sender of these cards, benefit the most.
We are changing people's lives for good one simple card at a time.

And these are not just words. SendOutCards offer several unique benefits:
1.Convenience: you can send out cards out of your home
2. No stuffing, stamping or sending – just a click of a button
3. Time saver: you can send a card in under 60 seconds. You can send hundreds of cards in minutes: just download your contacts into the system in Excel and never write an address again
4. Contact Manager and Campaign Manager functions
5. Money saver: it costs less than 1 USD to send a card, including postage and handling
6. Quantity and quality: choose from 2500 original glossy cards for all business and personal occasions
7. Personalized approach: choose hand written font you like, download your pictures, logos, your signature.
8. Add 10 – 50 USD gift card from leading retailers.
9. For Winter Holiday season: send a card that has a 2007 calendar inside – at no extra cost!

But most importantly these greeting cards help you to build and develop relationship with customers. There are types of greeting cards in SendOutCards catalogue that you cannot find anywhere else: depending on your business, there are cards for detists, brokers, realters, beauty palors, etc. Once a friend of mine who organizes chocolate tours asked if SendOutCards had a card with chocolate on it... and they did! There are Thank You and Meeting Requests cards and cards-calendars. There are fantastic cards series which you can send one after the other with motivational and inspirational themes that use various proverbs and sayings of famous people.

The reaction of the person who receives such a card will always be positive: this is not a spam e-mail, this is a real nice glossy (and wise) card which one would most definitely keep because it made him/her feel good. The person will never forget you because your card will definitely stand out among all the junk mail that he receives. Even if this card will not bring you business imediately, it will make someone smile - isn't this great?

So how does SendOutCards relate to my International Experiences theme? Well, first of all, this is an international company and its services are now available in USA, UK, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zeland and it's growing.

Secondly, SendOutCards catalogue has series of "international"cards: there is a series in mandarin and English with oriental wishes, the Spanish language section and a new collection is being developed now, which is called Around the World where you will be able to choose from photografic postcards from... around the world. The collection has started with the photos from all US states.

So to sum up, on SendOutCards site you can find a nice something for all your collegues, family, customers and friends. And it is especially important now when the holiday season is on your door step!

You can find more information about these greeting cards at www.sendoutcards.com There you will be able to see some sample cards but to see the full 2500 cards' catalogue you have to be registered with them. If you are interested and would like to register, please, send an e-mail to surprisethem@sendoutcards.com I guarantee you a response within 48 hours: isn't this a great example of customer relationship management?

P.S. Just wanted to leave you with a nice thought that I borowed from one of SendOutCards greeting cards:
Life isn't measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away.

Customer Relationship Management article

2006-10-29T20:44:00.000-06:00

Today I continue publishing articles that I wrote as an EMAdvice consultant. I believe that proper customer relationship management is crucial for any organization because very often it makes the difference bewteen losing the customer and customer retention. I wrote this article after I came to USA and frankly had a cultural shock in this respect. In my job I have noticed that understanding of CRM, its meaning and importance is so much lower in America than in Europe where I come from.

I based this article on my personal experiences and I hope it helps my Blog readers to get insights into the essence of CRM concept and its successful implementation.

The article can be viewd at http://www.emadvice.com/articles.html , 2nd article in the list.

New Market Entry Strategy article

2006-10-24T19:20:00.000-05:00

As I have promissed in one of my earlier posts I am starting to post articles that I worte as an EMAdvice consultant in relation to various business topics.

The first article is New Market Entry Strategy. This is a step-by-step guide on planning a New Market Entry irrsepetive of the geographical region you plan to expand to. It consists of 2 parts: Analytics and Implementation and draws your attention to the factors not present in your standard local marketing plan, such as: country risk analysis, unfair competition, stakeholder management on government level, etc. Special attention is devoted to Exit strategy in case things are not going according to plan. These are the basics of International Marketing you must know before expanding your business overseas.

The article is 1st in the list of EMAdvice articles at http://www.emadvice.com/articles.html

Your comments on the article will be very much appreciated.

Photos of USA

2006-10-22T14:08:00.000-05:00

With all the difficulties of doing business in America one has to admit: it is a VERY beautiful country. Of course, its location and wide territory provided this richness of nature but we should give credit to Americans who are still manageing to preserving these riches very well. I haven't been to many places yet but here are some of my impressions from Colorado, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Doing Business in USA

2006-10-19T23:15:00.000-05:00

Here in USA businesses are interested to expand globally, therefore, the rest of the world has to learn to deal with Americans. This story is about my own experience of doing business with Americans in America.

Usually, building international business starts with the 1st business visit to the country and one can understand a lot about the nation just from dealing with its customs authorities. I am no longer surprised that I am being held in a detention center (for documents check) every other time I cross US border. But I am surprised with the tendency: I was NEVER stopped by an American who was born in US, but I am nearly ALWAYS detained by a former immigrant. How do I know? I can tell from the accent that the guy is Mexican or Polish but not born and raised here, he was in my position, probably, a couple of years ago and then he got the passport and now he’s “the king”.
The same thing you’d notice anywhere here while dealing with business people or authorities: the ones who were once in a disadvantaged position themselves now tend to over-exercise their authority and make your life miserable.

The next thing you do (if you are let into the country) is getting acquainted with potential customers, partners, etc. I often feel uncomfortable in this situation because most likely the dialogue goes like this:
- So where are you from?
- Russia
- Oh!!!! My great-great-great grandmother was from POLNAD!!!!!!!

And then I am confused: I see that the person is over-excited by the fact that he met someone, as he believes, from his homeland. But I cannot share his enthusiasm: I have nothing to do with Poland, Russia doesn’t even have a boarder with Poland (or Czech Republic, or Slovakia or Croatia, etc.) We are two different countries!! But at the same time I don’t want to upset him. So at this point I just smile for about 20 seconds and then try to change the topic of the conversation.

The discussion of the potential business opportunity is the most difficult bit. Most Americans are sure that they know everything about other countries or rather they think they don’t really need to know anything about other countries because for them selling their products from Illinois to California seem to be the same thing as selling products from USA to UK. They don’t see why the process/product/price/advertising campaign etc. should be any different. And if they ever sold a product abroad, say to UK then they believe that the whole world will be at their feet because they already know how to do business internationally. They don’t have a slightest doubt that you cannot approach the Russian market the way you approach the UK market. By the same token the Brazilian, Chinese, French, etc. markets will be totally different. You would think that by now they should have learnt something from their mistakes but NO! Just recently I heard from a potential customer who never worked with Russia and was looking for some consulting advice: “We don’t need market research, we just want to sell”.

And this case is not exception it’s a RULE. At a certain stage I was so upset with American approach to doing business that I wrote a series of educational articles on how to do business with other cultures, which I will be publishing on my blog soon (please, come back to read!). The first of them is New Market Entry Strategy where I talk about steps a company must take when deciding on entering a new market. Some of the steps should be taken before entering the market to avoid mistakes in the process.

After the meeting there is time to follow up. Americans almost never follow up. And if you do follow-up yourself they are not likely to respond. Generally, they are not likely to respond to about 90% of correspondence sent to them. You won’t believe how many e-mails, postcards, letters and faxes that I sent were left unanswered. If it is a “cold call” - 99% of your correspondence will get no response. But even if you met with a person before, your chances of getting an answer are very slim too. Many times I was sending people I know information that was beneficial to them (articles, links, invitations, etc.) and I never even got a “thank you” note. Most of the time they even don’t call you back when you leave them a voicemail! This is very frustrating. In my culture it is disrespectful and if it were up to me I would never deal with such people, but I have no choice: then I would have to cross out the majority of American customers and colleagues. The funny thing is they all admit with regret that this is true about their way of dealing with people and still they don’t change it.

The only way to fight with this approach is continuous education, I guess. So the second article I wrote is about Customer Relationship Management, which I will also be publishing in my blog too.

This is a snapshot of what I learnt about American business culture during the 9 months of my living and working in USA. I don’t want to sound negative, though, but I guess this was an outlet for my frustration that built up over a period of time. In reality it is not all “doom and gloom” here. The best part of doing business in US (if you have your business registered in US) is a great support for small and medium size businesses and entrepreneurial initiatives of all sorts. Especially if you a minority, say, a woman. The amount of support groups, associations, government programs, etc. is just phenomenal! And all of them exist with the sole purpose of helping you to develop your business.

I guess it’s been a bit difficult for me because I am foreigner and I need to adjust to this new culture and this is why I am sharing my experience with you – so that you are prepared if you want to business in USA.

Photos of Ukraine

2006-10-15T23:24:00.000-05:00

The photos are from a wonderful site www.tryukraine.com with much more pictures and useful info.

PS I especially like that these photos represent the diversity of of Ukraine: here you can see Greek (Chersones, the Crimea), muslim (Bahchisarai, the Crimea), catholic (Lviv) and Russian orthodox (Kiev) legacy - all in one.

UKRAINE

2006-10-15T23:23:00.000-05:00

I would like to finish my Eastern European sketches with the one of Ukraine. There is so much to say but I cannot find the right words. The story of our 2 countries is the story of love and pain that lasts for centuries. We were together and apart and then togther and then apart... For those of you who know TV series "Friends" , from my point of view the story of Russia and Ukraine is the story of Ross and Rachel: "I love Ross - I hate Ross! I love Ross - I hate Ross!"... Even the names sound very similar :-))
Ukraine is very close to evry Russian heart because most of us have relatives and friends there. Historically, Ukraine, Russia and Beylorussia (being Slavic nations) were most close to each other which led to very close cultural, social and economic interchange. And frankly, now if someone blindfolds me and takes me to a city in Ukraine, I would hardly be able to tell that I am not in Russia. We are so similar from traditional, cutural, historical, social, religious etc. point of view. And if a person were walking along the street in my home city I would never be able to say if he is Russian or Ukrainian.

I mean, when you cross a border from England to France you KNOW you are in France or by the same token from Bulgaria to Greece. You most definitely can tell an Englishman, from an Italian, a Greek, a Finn. And even if some Ukrainians will not like me for that, but I have to say it: I don't see much difference between us, we started as one country more than 10 centuries ago, then we drifted apart but we were constantly drawn in together... So I cannot see a reason (except for political ambitions of some people) why we cannot be together...

But to be fair to Ukrainians, I would like to draw your attention to some things that are particular to them, some unique pecularities (I understand that they might be offended that every single foreigner calls them "Russians" not seeing any difference whatsoever). If you respect these you will be very welcome in Ukraine:
1. The capital of Ukraine is Kiev and it is very different from Moscow, much older and thus has a lot of historical heritage, especially from religious point of view. That's where our orthodoxy comes from. The famous Sofia Kievskaya cathedral is one of the most important and sacred monuments in orthodox relegion.
2. The Ukrainians have their own language - Ukrainian. And though it is very similar to Russian, it has some pecularities in vocabulary and spelling.
3. The famous Russian borsch (soup) actually originates from Ukraine and Ukrainians are very proud of that. And these guys do like to eat good food and a lot. And they like people who eat a lot. So if you happen to visit a Ukrainian home you will be "fed to death" in a good sense. This is the famous Ukrainian hospitality.
4. As Kent is the garden of England, Ukraine was the garden of the USSR and it still has the best wheet, vegetables and fruit due to its southern location relative to Russia. Great wine too: the Crimea produces one of the best wines I ever tasted.

And when I say that Ukraine is very similar to Russia I by no means want to say that if you saw Russia you saw it all. Definitely go to Ukraine! There are so many spectacular places there: Kiev, Lviv, the Carpathian mountains, the Crimea and so much more! Just see the photos I posted!

For more information on Ukraine you can visit www.ukraine.org This site is really good because it gives you not only information on Ukraine you can get in Ukraine but Ukraine-related links in your country!

International Business resource

2006-10-11T12:48:00.000-05:00

Here is a new International Busines resource where you can find a lot of useful information on various countries from maps to real estate to local newspapers to businesses etc.: http://www.internationalist.com/welcome.php3
It is good for country intelligence as well as just for being up-to-date with world's current affairs. It also has some interesting links that regular international busienss websites usually don't have, such as: international book store, translations, travel advisories, etc.
Definitely worth exploring!

Budapest Crisis, September 2006

2006-09-28T04:35:00.000-05:00

All Europe and probably the whole world was following the violent events in Budapest this September. I too was watching daily news with great attention because Budapest was my home for 2 years. I have great memories about Budapest - beautiful, full of sunshine - you can read my story about THAT Budapest in the archives of my Blog. Now I cannot stop wondering: what if this had happened when I was there? Would I have ever been able to finish my studies or would I have run away from this nightmare?...

I don't want to discuss the political side of these events, who is right or wrong but in my previous story I mentioned that Hungarians made an impression of a sad nation on me and also some of them told me that Hungary had the highst rate of suicides in Europe - there should have been a reason for that. So the government should have noticed that they lived next to a dormant volcano bound to errupt sooner or later.

Mostly I would like to dwell on the possible consequences of what had happened. First of all, in the recent years Budapest managed to establish itself as a great educational center of Easter Europe. Central European University attracted hundreds of students from all over the region every year. Will they choose Budapest as a place to study next year? Personally, I will think twice before recommending CEU to anyone due to these events.

Secondly, tourism industry will also suffer greatly, which accounts for a substancial share of the country's budget. Eventually, people naturally forget and they will travel to Hungary again but it depends when. A couple of months without tourists won't hurt too bad but, say, a year will. No one knows if this was the end of violence or there will be repetition of events in the near future...

Finally, investors. Will you invest your money in the country with high political risk? The answer is obvious.

It is so sad that those people who started this nightmare because, allegedly, the current government didn't do anything for the development of Hungarian economy in the recent years , actually themselves underminded the country's economy even more by this sequence of unfortunate events.

I wish to see Budapest in its former beauty and glory - will it ever happen again?...

POLAND

2006-09-15T23:27:00.000-05:00

Poland for me is not about places but more about people. Probably it’s because I didn’t see much of it and I wouldn’t speculate about things I haven’t seen and Warsaw where I visited didn’t really make an impression on me at all. This city like Bucharest was badly destroyed during WWII so there isn’t much left there of its original beauty and the communist era buildings are far from being the masterpieces of architecture.

Poland is definitely about people. Pope John Paul II immediately comes to mind to most of the people but my story is about amazing famous polish women.

I would like to start with Marie Sklodowska-Curie. She was one of the greatest scientists in the history of mankind. Her main contribution was the discovery of polonium and radium, which laid the foundation of radiology. She won 2 Nobel prizes for her work and I am especially admire that woman because she made the breakthrough in science at the end of 19th – beginning of the 20th century when women had hardly any rights but she fought her way through to the men’s world and proved to be the best.

Another polish woman I admire is a contemporary writer, Ioanna Hmelevskaya. Her ironic detective stories (novels) are famous all over Eastern Europe. They are captivating, hilariously funny and smart. My favorite one is called “What the Dead Man Said”. Unfortunately, her novels have been only translated into Czech, Slovak, Russian and Swedish. According to the author the recent translations into English, German and Italian were very bad and people didn’t get the humor. So I challenge anyone to try to come up with a great translation because these books are really worth sharing with the world!

Finally, my favorite is the polish actress Barbara Brylska. She is especially dear to a Russian heart because she played a leading role of Nadya in a New Year’s Eve romantic comedy “The Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath!”. The film was produced in 1975 and since then it became a classic, one of the most popular movies in Russia of all times. It has the same symbolic importance to the Russians as, say, “White Christmas” for Americans. One has to see it every New Year’s Eve, this is a tradition without which it won’t be a proper holiday. But why I liked this particular actress is because for me she is the symbol of an ideal woman: intelligent, beautiful, elegant – a role model. I watch this movie every year for about 25 years now and I never get bored or stop laughing.

So to sum up, Poland for me is a country of outstanding women. If you know any other great women from this country, please, share your story with us!

PS for more information on Poland you can visit www.poland.gov.pl

Photos of Romania

2006-09-07T00:03:00.000-05:00

I deliberately do not include the photos of Bucharest because I don't really like the city as I mentioned in my story about Romania, but the rest of the country is beautiful (see above: the Danube, Bran castle, the mountains, the seaside and more).
More goregeous pictures of Romania at: http://www.aboutromania.com/photos.html

ROMANIA

2006-09-06T22:40:00.000-05:00

Today I would like to tell you about Romania. I didn't know much abou the country as a child (they didn't import anything eatable to USSR as far as I remember :-) but much later I used to travel to Romania quite often, both on business and for pleasure.

Some importnat political information: Romania boarders Hungary on the North-West and these two countries have centuries' long ethnic conflict going on with regards Transylvania region (now part of Romania). Both Romanians and Hungarians were inhabitants of this land and it was under Hungarian and Romanian rule at different time. Both countries claim the right for Transylvania and it looks like the conflict will never be resolved. If you want to avoid overheated discussion then you'd rather not mention this subject especially if there are representatives of the both countries in the room. Also a person born and raised in Transivania, with a Romanian passport but having some Hungarian roots will always consider himself Hugarian and would refuse to speak Romanian to you though he'll be perfectly bilingual. So beware - VERY sensitive issue!

In my mind Romania is associated with the word "romantic" because it is indeed a romantic country. It could have been the "France" of Eastern Europe if the years of communist reign and the struggle for survival after it hadn't scarred the country as much as they did. This country has it all: the mighty mountins, the Carpathians, the beautiful seaside; the wonderful Danube Delta, which is a part of UNESCO world heritage; amazing medeival towns and castles and welcoming people. Romania, like France, also has great wines, especially the sweet varieties, the most famous one is the semi-sweet white "Cotnari". But the infrustructure necessary to connect it all is much to be desired...

Bucharest, the capital, is not a bright spot on the country's map either, through no fault of its own, though: it was badly damaged during WWII and what was left of old Bucharest was completely destroyed in the earthquake of 1977... So the post-war communist-style architecture that you see there now is an ugly reminder of the difficult times the country went through.

One thing Romania is most famous for (or I'd rather say Transyvania) is Count Dracula: his real-life prototype, Prince Vlad Tepes had his residence there in the Bran castle. In fact the legend is so famous all over the world that Romanians decided to capitulize on it: in 2001 they announced building a theme park, Dracula Land, which they hope will attract thousands of tourists from around the globe. It's a controversial project since Romanian church opposes it (another thing why Romania is close to a Russian heart is because among all European countries only Romania and Greece as well as Russia have orthodox church vs catholic church in the rest of Europe), but if Dracula means money, the country is in desperate need of it! So keep on look-out for the news of the grand opening!

Good inormational websites about Romania are:
http://www.romania.org/
http://www.romaniatourism.com/

How to get information on busiess in Central and Eastern Europe

2006-09-01T15:12:00.000-05:00

I have not very good news for people doing or planning to do business in CEE: they have been deprived of one important information resource. Central Eastern Europe Business Information Center (which was a part of US Trade Administration and provided excellent info and help with regards market data, trends, advice, etc.) is now closed for good... It is still listed in all CEE directories but it doesn't provide any services as of end 2005...

On its original website they provide names of organizations that now perform parts of its former duties, please, visit: http://www.mac.doc.gov/ceebic/ceebicswebchange.htm
However this is not complete suite of services in one place as it was before, not as efficient and conveniet.

We at EMAdvice also try to cover for many of the Center's services, especially with regards of market research, trends analysis, etc. Please, visit us at www.emadvice.com

In this blog we are commited to providing resources related to business, culture, tourism, etc. not only in CEE but globally. Please, visit us regularly for more useful information.

BUDAPEST

2006-08-30T13:41:00.000-05:00

An addition to my previous story: some pictures of Budapest from the useful country website: http://www.fsz.bme.hu/hungary/homepage.html and from the Thermal Baths website that I mention in my story below (if you haven't read it yet - it is worth reading!)

HUNGARY

2006-08-30T12:29:00.000-05:00

Today I would like to continue my series of stories about Eastern European countries and this one is about Hungary. Hungary is very close to my heart because I lived and studied there for 2 years.

When I was a little child I believed that Hungary was a place where my Grandma had her garden because the majority of products that were exported from Hungary to USSR in those days were fruits and vegetables, the canned ones in particular, for instance tomatos in their own juice, plum and cherry compot, pickles, peppers (paprika). This was heaven on Earth especially in winter!

When I went to Hungary to study I had a feeling of going back to my childhood. For one, paprika was everywhere, they add it to everything, for the exception of, may be, ice-cream :-) The climate in Hungary is such that allows to grow all these fruits and vegetables and I actually had an impression that Budapest had about 300 sunny days in a year! This same climate is fantastic for grapes and that is why Hungary is famous for its sweet desert wine - Tokaj. It can actually be so sweet (if it has 6 stars) that it has a honey-like texture and extreme sweetness.

With all this sweetness around, however, Hungary made a different impression on me than Czech Rep. It felt like it was a more sad country, people smiled less as if they were constantly depressed by something... There was no sign of that bubbling evergy and the only place where there were bubbles were the famous Hungarian thermal baths/spas.

This is indeed a unique experience: it is kind of a big water park but there are no slides, only pools, plenty of them, with different water temperatures, outdoors and indoors, just with water or with some salts and herbs added, steam rooms and saunas. Hungarians claim these will treat any of your diseases. That's one thing you MUST experience in Budapest. For more information, please, see the link: http://thermalbath-budapest.heliospanzio.hu/

I also would like to say a couple of words with an educatioal institution I was associated with: CEU- Central European University. I think what is unique about it is diversity: it attracts students from all over Central Europe, including all those tiny countries most people have never heard of. This is a great place to learn about the region.

Another thing that is unique about CEU is the Department of Gender Studies. I never heard about anything like this anywhere I went, may be you have? Up to this day I am puzzled about the essence of this program. I was doing my MBA at that time and didn't have an opportunity to go into details about that department but it felt like they were studying differences between men and women and also feminism. For one, the absolute majority of the class were ladies and only 1 or 2 men. Well, this is still an unsloved mystery for me and I invite you to try to "solve" it, if nothing else, it would be a great learning experience: http://www.gend.ceu.hu/

The last thing I would like to mention about my Hungarian experience is the fireworks. I was lucky to see tremendous fireworks in 1999 in Budapest, which celebrated, if I am not mistaken (and let the Hungarians forgive me) 1000 years of the foundation of Hungarian State. I have never ever in my life seen anything like this before in its length, might and beauty! And I have seen a number of good ones, like Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee fireworks in London, several Independence Day fireworks in USA, 300-th anniversary of the Russian Navy fireworks - all really good but Hungarians made it an excellent unforgetable show! If you are lucky enought to live till the 1500's anniversary of the Hungarian State or even better - 2000's :-)))) make sure you are in Budpest at the end of august - I promise you an experience of a lifetime!

Getting started in International Trade

2006-08-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

Today I would like to introduce a very usful link for those who are thinking about getting invloved in INTERNATIONAL TRADE. Please, visit the website: http://www.sitpro.org.uk/trade/getstarted.html
The article is very useful for beginners. Also check out Incoterms guide on the left-hand column navigation.

One great tip for beginners: do A LOT OF market research. Even if in the end you decide not to developm export-import relationship with that particular country your market research will surve you good - it means it preveted you from loosing a lot of money in the venture that was not worth it.

Always start with a humble attitude "I don't know anything" rather than "I know everything - let's just go and do it!" that I often hear from my clients in Chicago in my day-to-day activities. KNOWLEDGE/INFORMATION IS POWER! This is my favourite proverb.

PRAGUE

2006-08-28T17:19:00.000-05:00

As promissed here are some photos of Prague borrowed from Prague Information Service:
www.pis.cz (very useful site and much more photos there!):

Eastern European Stories: Czeck Republic.

2006-08-28T16:21:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers!
Today I would like to start a series of stories that will uncover some myths about Eastern Europe that exist. And the greatest myth of all is the following: it is believed in many countries outside Eastern Europe that countries, which are located in that region are very simillar and many people won't be able to tell the difference between, say, Poland and Hungary. I would like to correct that. Each country in the region is unique and proud of its individual character, though many of them share some history.

I plan to write a little story about some of the countries in the region (mainly the ones I visited, so that I speak from my own experience and not someone's words), provide some useful links and pictures and hopefully it will bring people aronud the world closer to understanding of the importance and heritage of each individual nation.

If you have any stories of your own about these countries, please, write a coment! In this way we can truely enrich this site.

CZECH REPUBLIC

I would like to start with this country because for me it represents the sweetest and the most exciting of memeories form my childhood: firstly, the tastiest cake I ever tried in my life is a Russian cake called "Praha" (Prague). Second of all, it's a distant memory of a the most important festivities where champaign has to be poured in Bohemian Crystal glasses (still one of the most famous products produced in Czech Rep.) So for me it was a fairy tale country, which was all about fun and celebration.

I went to Czech Republic in 2000s and somehow that was exactly the way I found this facinating country: very welcoming and cheerful people, great food and BEER (one of the best in the world!) and generally I felt a lot of energy and enthusiasm form my colleagues there and just people in the streets. I think it's not by accident that this nation was the homeland of the world-known writer - Jaroslav Gashek who created the famous hilariously funny novel "The Good Soldier Svejk". (definitely worth reading!!!)

Another thing Czechs are famous for is sports: those who are at least a little bit interested in soccer and ice hockey will understand what I am talking about (those who are not interested in these games but want to do business in Czech Rep. here is a tip: get interested! Especially in ice hockey. Czechs are historycally outstanding in it - great ice breaker! And if you mention their life-long rivalry with Russia in this sport they will love you for taking the time to understand and appreciate at least one thing that is very important ot their hearts). And don't forget Martina Navratilova - this is for tennis lovers.

Of course, no story about Czech Republic will be complete without mentioning Prague. One cannot really talk about this city, one has to see it. It is wonderfully beautiful and I really don't want to spend much time elaborating on this, just see the photos for yourself (I will be placing them in my next post because otherwise they mess up the text)

I great resource about all aspects regarding Czech Republic (political, historical, cultural, tourism, etc.) is: http://www.czech.cz I love their "Did you know...?" section on the right-hand side navigation: even if you think you know it all it will present you with a surprise!

An interesting comment from my blog's visitor

2006-08-28T16:14:00.000-05:00

For those who missed my friend's comment regarding my August 26 post, here is an interesting link he left: http://www.autopenhosting.org/futuresoptions/Jim-Rogers-Russia.html
It is an educational discussion between a Harvard Business School professor and a Russian student: it is entertaining in its format but also it gives a lot of useful information about Russian economy, growth potential, immigration, etc.

Brunei blog and VISA to Russia

2006-08-27T12:37:00.000-05:00

It's fantastic that this blog is starting to get feeds from all of the world! The recent comment from Seemon from Brunei is very valuable. (BTW if you didn't find the address of his blog about Brunei, here it is : http://bruneid.blogspot.com/ )
I knew where Brunei was (geography is one of the important subjects that are taught in Russian schools) but for many it is a mysterios place somewhere on the other side of the world, so there you go - take a glance.

As for the the VISA to Russia question, it was always quite simple for African and Asian nations to get visa to Russia - these were our friends in the time of USSR. Loads of students from these countries studied in the best Universities of Moscow and other major cities. When I travelled to Mauritius (and I will be publishing a story about this facinating land soon) I had to go to a doctor. He spoke perfect Russian because used to study in Moscow Medical University for several years!
There might be less foreign student in Moscow now (a lot of them are going to USA these days) but I guess we are still good friends with Africa and Asia for the most part. So it's worth checking with the Embassy: the visa process might be easier and shorter for countries of these regions.

Doing business in Russia

2006-08-26T19:37:00.000-05:00

Just to add to what I said in my "3 Myths" story about Russia: the country is great to visit as a tourist but to do business there is one big headache for a foreigner (unless you know the right people and you have an insider, i.e. Russian helping you). My friend sent me this link the other day:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5685238
This is an audio story of an American who opened his business in Moscow - quite educational!

What Russians think about Americans

2006-08-26T19:10:00.000-05:00

Hello there!
First of all, I am glad my blog is of interest to people - this is the goal of having it. So, please, spread the word about it! I plan to up-date it on a regular basis with interesting stories, articles, experiences.
Now about the question that Mrs. B. Roth wrote: there are several perceptions Russians have about Americans: first of all, we admire you being very goal-oriented, organized, and great entrepreneurs. However general population in Russia think Americans are not open-hearted. In terms of being not really smart, well, it is believed that as individuals Americans are very interesting people, very often well-educated and intelligent but somehow as a crowd they don't make the same impression.
Please, don't get offended, as I said, these are just general perceptions of an average Russian.

3 myths about Russia

2006-08-25T21:48:00.000-05:00

People all around the world usually ask me 3 main questions that are based on their image of Russia and today I want to give answers to them for everyone to know:
1.Russia is cold? Russia is NOT cold, it has 4 different climates from subtropical to tundra. It is cold in the north but hot in the south. In Moscow summer temperature is around + 25 C (77 F) but it can also reach midle 30s C (middle 80s) in July and August.
2. Russians and vodka go together? Russians prefer beer! The results of the consumer research performed in 2002 showed that beer comes first in most answers (accept for men between 36 and 50, but the difference is negligeable). Wine comes as a close 3d and if you put beer and wine preferences together the figure will be nearly twice as big as vodka preferences. For detailed report, please, see the following link: http://bd.english.fom.ru/report/cat/humdrum/health/alkohol/ed020734
3. Russia is danagerous? Russia is not dangerous! Moscow and St.Petersburg are not more dangerous than Chicago, London or Paris. The only problem tourists might encounter is when they would like to ask directions: not all people in the street will speak a foreign language.
As for the business it is a different story: you need an insider to expand your busienss into Russia. It is about who you know, not what you know and connections are everything. But here where we can help! visit us at http://www.emadvice.com

Rarely seen pictures of Russia

2006-08-25T11:30:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody!
As promissed I am publishing some rare pictures of Russia. I will be bring more whenever I travel back home, please, keep coming back!

2006-08-24T23:44:00.000-05:00

Wellcome to my Blog!
I would like to start with introducing the country where I come from - RUSSIA.
Good place to learn news about Russia is from "Russia Today": http://www.einnews.com/russia/
Travel information can be found at Lonely Planet:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/europe/russia
Please, visit later for pictures! I plan to show not the standard Moscow - St. Petersburg photos but something you cannot find in regular travel guides: smaller towns, local beauty