Sunday, March 15, 2009

Really RED tape

Next Friday I hope to fly to Moscow. One of the nice things about my "job" is visiting schools, especially International Schools. A few years ago I was invited to the International School in Kenya. Apparently a lot of author/illustrators are wary of traveling to distant countries to speak to school children, but I love it.

Many years ago, my flight to London from Tokyo stopped in Moscow to refuel. It took a whole day to fly over the Soviet Union, and from the air it looked like a beautiful country: forests, lakes and dachas. Being a fan of Russian literature, I have always wanted to visit, and now here, I think, is my chance.

It took weeks to organise the invitation. (I loved seeing my name written in Cyrillic.) Now I have to go to Paris a few days early to convince the Russian Consulate into giving me a visa.

The Soviet Union might be relegated to the dustbin of history, but seems to me that the Russian tape couldn't be redder.

1 comment:

M said...

How exciting. I will keep my fingers that the red tape is all dealt with efficiently.