ах да, самая главная пожалуй радость и в то же время печаль, его письмо в это время в ответ на мое поздравление с Рождеством. Пожалуй эта традиция главнее всего в это время года. Твое письмо, такое родное и такое далекое в то же время:

Good to hear from you. A big Merry Christmas to you too! Hope it is a pleasant one with friends, family and lots of gifts.

What is new on your end? This year was kind of a sad one for me. Gina passed away last October. She was a great friend and companion, and helped me psychologically through tough times. Life goes on, but I will always carry her memory with me.

Unfortunately, there is not too much else new on my end. Sometimes you end up getting stuck in a daily life routine. I am still working at the same place. It is hard to believe I've been there 15 years, although I've switched departments a couple of times. My mom is doing okay but has a lot of memory problems. She lives a quiet life in a senior's home not too far from where I live. When I am not at work I spend time with my two boys. They are quite a handful and are starting to fight with each other over the sharing of toys, especially electronic ones. I usually have to act as a referee.

We recently received a lot of snow ourselves in Montreal, but now it is too much. It is also cold (around -12 C). If you want, I will trade you our snow for some of that German rain :-)

How is your family (mom, Sasha, Igor)? Are you very fluent in German now? Do you go back to Russia a lot? I still have memories about our trips there from time to time. I notice that Google Streetview now has Moscow on it. I've walked through a couple of the streets I remembered (such as Ulitsa Arbat, the shopping street). Red Square is on it too. Unfortunately, .... is not registered yet. Hopefully they'll put it in the future.

Thanks for remembering me during this time of year. All the best to you in snowy Deutschland...

Poka for now...