I�m John James and on the 10th of August 1977 � I�m a Leo � I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. My mum is English and my father was Scottish. Then for the next fifteen years I lived in Livingston, a New-Town a few kilometers outside the capital. It was a nice place to grow up in. There was a small population of about 50,000, many fields and forests, a river running through the town center, a view to the Pentland Hills and over the horizon to the north the not terribly far mountains. Sadly I can�t speak Scottish but I do love Scottish Culture, poetry (such as by Robert Burns) and the dramatic, lonely beauty of the Scottish Highlands. From Whisky, which I rarely drink, I enjoy Glenffiduch and from the cuisine I recommend Haggis! I am pro-European and also a supporter of the SNP (Scottish National Party) and am in favor of Scottish Independence.
As for school, I was a student at ICHS (Inveralmond Community High School) from 1989-1993 where I studied many subjects including French and German. In 1992 I went to the continent for the first time on a school exchange to Freinohl, Germany and then again in 1993 to Poitiers, France.
In 1993 my life also changed course rather dramatically; I had entered into a competition for a Scholarship to study in Wales and surprisingly I won it. From 1993-1995 I studied at the UWC of the Atlantic (United World College of the Atlantic), a 6th form college located just outside Cardiff and overlooking the Bristol Channel. Later, in 1997 I also then did a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Language) course at the Edinburgh Tutorial College.
This was mainly out of interest but also to give me the chance to finally travel to Russia. In 1998 I then managed to get a teaching job in St. Petersburg. This was originally for 3 months but, one thing led to another, including the Financial Crisis of 1998, and I�ve been here ever since!
Now its 2002 and it really doesn�t feel like it�s been 4 years! St. Petersburg is a fantastic and beautiful city; the White Nights are wonderful when the sun hardly sets, the architecture beautiful and the people can also be very warm and friendly. Places of interest include the famous Hermitage and the Russian Museum. Now I�m living live in a flat in the city center with Xusha my cat and in my free time (not that there is too much of it) I enjoy many different things. From clubs I like Hollywood Nights, Neo, London and sometimes Metro (amongst others). From cafes I love the coffee and cakes in Idealnaya Chashka and Sladkoezhka as well as the food in Laima and Kolobok. Bars, I also go to, Xleb I Sol on Bolshaya Konusehanya Street is nice as is Trum, Mollies and The Idiot. On a slightly higher cultural level ;-) I also go to Russian Theater one or twice a month. Some recent spectacles I�ve enjoyed have been the fascinating �Suicide In Progression� by Derevo, �Fro�, �V Madrid, V Madrid� and the chilling �Zavodnoi Apelsin� (A Clockwork Orange) by Vitchuk. In addition to all this I go diving once a week and dream of later this year to subaqua in the Medditerranean or the Red Sea.
As for the future? Who knows! This summer I�m going to realise a long held dream by going on the Transiberian to China and Mongolia. I also want to eventually open my own firm and think that an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics and Finance or from the Open University would be very useful � although frighteningly expensive! I hope to begin this later this year or in early 2002. Teaching can be interesting and rewarding and this year I also hope to gain the Diploma in TEFL by distance learning. Travel is of great interest and in future I would like to see Lhasa in Tibet, Terra Del Fuego in Argentina, The Blue Lagoon of Iceland, Madagascar, Antarctica and The Easter Islands!
Wednesday 11 July 2002