Dear friends, this will probably be the longest article in the entire existence of my blog. I have important reasons for this:
- July 2023 was absolutely incredible for me
- Majority of my friends willing to learn more about the reality show on MuzTV
- the Summit and Economic Forum of Russia-Africa that I had a chance to attend. However many of you still don’t know what happened to me after the TV casting. I understood that it’s better to write once than to tell 100 times so here I am writing the longest article ever (on my blog).
Prepare your popcorn or celery (whatever you prefer), turn off your mobile phones and welcome to my world of dreams and fantasies, reality and possibilities. I will tell you not only about the events that have happened, but also I will open my soul to you, I will share my innermost thoughts.
Reality TV casting on Muz-TV
I’ll start with the background of the story. I have been subscribed to Tatiana Solo on Instagram since 2020 (since the pandemic). Tatiana is an energy couch, the founder of the school of magic, a very interesting and controversial Russian woman. That’s her:
One day in June, 2023 she posted a story on Instagram that she would be the host and co-producer of the reality show called “Startupers” on MuzTV and began to agitate her subscribers (mainly those who had business ideas) to take part in the show, inviting them to stop sitting back and act. Perhaps this was our chance to present ourselves and our project to the world. We (her audience) would be able to get support from investors and make our dreams come true.
Since I had been told many times that it’s time to move on, to start my own school, I thought that I probably had a startup. But I understood that it was just a scratch and I myself did not quite understand what exactly I wanted. Thus I kinda forgot about her Instagram story. I thought that I didn’t need it, I would not submit anything and fill it out. But Tatiana, as a real blogger, reminded that it was time to fill out the questionnaire, again and again, she advertised this show and the opportunities it could give every day on her Instagram. Finally she said that someone would take and not miss their chance while others would refuse this opportunity and regret it afterwards. Then I decided that I should fill out a questionnaire, because I wanted to be among those who use opportunities, and not miss them (I felt that her words were sent directly to me). I decided and began to fill out the questionnaire.
I filled in the form (as I call it) with my “left heel”. It means that I did it anyhow not caring at all. That is, I didn’t really believe that I could get into the show and didn’t try hard (so that I wouldn’t feel sorry for the time spent), but it would also be sad to pass by without trying my luck. I thought that way: since this information came to me, I remembered the film with Jim Carrey “YES Man” (although, honestly, I hardly remember what the film is about, but the title is vivid, catchy and important!) and, in addition to that, I constantly got on Tatiana’s story, who encouraged very actively to participate. It’s like she told me that personally. And, as they say, if you want to achieve something, but you can’t go directly to the dream, then at least lie in the direction of your dream. Here, I compare my filled questionnaire with lying in the direction of the goal. Moreover, there was no specific goal. Many people talked, asked, encouraged me to have my own English language school, to expand, to have a business project. But I am not sure it’s my cup of tea (at least not yet). And, filling out the questionnaire, I realized how poor my project was. I’ll provide you with some examples. The column in the questionnaire: “link to your site” – there is no site, but some kind of link needed to be inserted. I inserted a link to a blog (where I just wrote about my teaching method). “How much money have you already invested in your business project” – 0 rubles (although, in fact, it’s a lot of money: studying and living in England, working and traveling around the world, volunteering and so on. But I wrote “0 rubles” there, meaning that I did not invest money in advertising, the purchase of any special equipment, and so on. I invested money and time only in myself). There was something about a business plan and some other moments, and I answered almost everything that way as if I knew that I had no chance of passing the first qualifying round according to the questionnaires. Everything was too unclear and uncertain from my side. Basically I had a huge number of questions and no answers. The most revealing moment of my utter indifference was that when I had to send a link to a video presentation of myself and my project, I thought I didn’t know how to do it and decided not to. I understood perfectly well that it was a TV show and it was very important how I looked, the way I spoked, what diction I had, what impression I could make, and how I would look on the TV screen. At the same time, I was so far from technology that the only option that came to my mind was to create a YouTube channel, film smth and upload a video there and send a link to Youtube. But I didn’t know how it worked, what I needed in order to create an account. If I could just send them a video, it would be one thing, but the link was already difficult for me, and after all, I understood that it was possible to figure it out, ask for help from one of my male–friends. But I preferred to do it without the video. Frankly speaking I had a meeting that day, I was in a hurry and I was not up to it. And since the site did not allow me to send the questionnaire without a link to the video presentation, I again inserted my instagram or blog (I don’t remember exactly. I inserted some kind of link, just so that my questionnaire was accepted). I understood at that moment and now that that was not a perfectionist person. That was the behavior of a person who didn’t care at all. It is very surprising to me that I could be like that, but I accept myself any ways. And I don’t have an answer why I did it that way. Was I really so unsure of myself, or, more precisely, sure that I would not pass? Then I have another question: why did I spend time filling out the questionnaire? I don’t know. Maybe I wanted to put a check mark, a tick that, at least, I did something. As a result, on the same day, the producer of the show wrote to me that they had my questionnaire, but they needed a video presentation from me. Fortunately, she sent me an email. Thus, I already had no problems with sending the video there. I recorded a presentation for 2 minutes and sent it to her by email (there was no need for a link there, I just attached the video to the letter). Surprisingly, I (a sociable person who normally doesn’t speak briefly) recorded a presentation for 2 minutes, and, as it turned out later, some of the participants sent a presentation for 10-20 minutes length. It seems that I know how to be brief when it’s really needed.
Some time later I saw Tatiana Solo on Instagram and knew that she went to Moscow to film smth and I decided that I had not been selected for sure, but, as it turned out later, Tatiana did something different in the capital. Kristina (the producer of the show or the person responsible for the contestants) wrote to me and asked if I could attend the casting offline on July 7. I agreed even though she asked me 5 days in advance (on the 2d of July). But the correspondence with her really bothered me. There were a lot of questions (I had) and no answers, or I had to wait for the answers for a long time (I don’t like to wait, especially when there is so little time left).
I was advised to make a presentation about my startup (it seems that the last time I used Power Point and made a presentation was in March 2020, when I was working at Easy Travel, and normally if I don’t do something for a long time, then this also causes some difficulties for me). At one point, I even slightly threatened Kristina (the producer or…I am still not sure about her job position there), saying that if they didn’t send me a sample or detailed information on the presentation, I wouldn’t have time to prepare and I would have to refuse to participate in the casting. Since she told me in correspondence that I had a very cool idea, I hoped that she was interested in my participation in the project. As a result, as I learnt later, there was no sample and, in fact, I made the presentation as I wanted. By the way, looking ahead, I want to say that Kristina is a wonderful girl who works hard and she definitely enjoys what she does. I am saying it just to explain that even though I am kind of complaning here I actually liked her when I met her in person.
Wednesday night (from July 5 to July 6) I went to Moscow, and I finished doing my presentation on Wednesday evening, a couple of hours before the train and I wrote that if something was wrong, then I would not be able to redo it. But they told me that it was a cool presentation, everything was super. So I was happy and relaxed, not for a long time though as the filming was comming my way.
On Thursday, July 6, I was worried all day, I think I had a rapid pulse all day, I couldn’t gather my thoughts, it was hard and scary for me and I was constantly mentally telling myself: “why can’t you sit on your ass straight, live like most people do, why do you need this all? such stress, such fear. Now I could have been in St. Petersburg. No, you need to go to the show, you need to make life bright and unusual. What kind of person are you, Natasha!” Then I moved to the other side of this point of view and told myself what an interesting person I was. But, in general, my feelings were bad. I had no idea how I would survive Friday. I wanted to stay under the blanket and say that I’m inside my house and put a sign “please don’t touch me”.
In the evening I went to a beauty salon so that I would have some styling hair the following day early in the morning. I didn’t sleep half the night, I was worried and nervous. I don’t wish such feelings to anyone that tormented me the day before.
And myself as a positive optimist, I still did not believe that all this was happening and thought that maybe it was some kind of setup and, just in case, I told one friend of mine the address of the place where I was going to. You never know what can happen. There was no information about this show and casting anywhere on the Internet (they later explained to us why and how such TV shows work in general). Now I am aware and if I had known this information earlier, I would have been much calmer. But the case was different.
07 07 2023 (almost as James Bond 007).
The gathering of participants was at 08:30 in the place called LovelyLoft. I arrived at 8 a.m. and was far from the first, but also far from the last. As I found out later, there were about a hundred applications, questionnaires. 50 of them were chosen for the casting and 16 of the 50 participants had to be chosen for the show. Kristina said that several people wrote to her that they were scared and they would not come to participate in the casting. They informed her on the night from Thursday to Friday, just before the filming. They couldn’t overcome their fear. Listening to this, I realized that, therefore, my fear was not so big. Or I was simply stronger than my fear. I didn’t refuse the offer and opportunity, I did come. I had already praised myself for that. I think if I had a psychologist, she would say that it is a good sign to praise and thank yourself for even small achievements, not to devalue yourself. But I don’t have a psychologist (fortunately or unfortunately, but this is a fact).
The first girl (from the participants) I met was Victoria Medichi (she changed her last name herself). She came from Volgodonsk city with some kind of architecture-design project (looking ahead, I’ll say that she was successful at the casting and made it to the show). I was surprised, but very happy for her. Look at this beautiful lady by the way:
Talking about Victoria, she was delighted to meet me and said: “Hooray, I found a good English teacher for myself! Hooray.” I was also happy about it (although I don’t have a shortage of students and I’m not looking for them) and explained to her that she would have to speak with me in advance and that if it turns out that I won’t be able to teach her the language, then I can recommend how to learn the language on her own. Another option that I always offer to the people is studying with my beautiful and very professional friends-teachers.
We signed a document on non-disclosure of information about the casting and the show, and our phone cameras were covered with a tape for the whole day. They said that if someone would start filming, this person would immediately be asked to leave without explanation. There were cameras everywhere.
There were sliced apples, pears, bananas, apricots, sweets and cookies on the set tables. I took something from there time from time. The proper food was brought to us only at 15:00 and I must add that I was far from the first to eat, and I also didn’t have breakfast that day. Therefore, I was already starving to death and I asked to be fed. The instinct of self-preservation (or rather the desire to eat) kills modesty and shyness in me.
Tatiana Solo was the first to present and welcome us. There was a small speech from her and she offered us to ask any questions. It was all filmed with the cameras. One of the participants Yaroslav (he was 35-38 years old) stood out from the crowd. As I remember, he was a math tutor and, as they said, he brought an interesting project from Voronezh. But I haven’t heard about his project. He was one of the first to raise his hand and asked if he could dance Gangham style. He surprised everyone very much. He was allowed, he got on stage and when he realized that no one had music and no one would turn it on, he began to sing this song in Korean and dance very actively. When he finished the first verse, he immediately began to sing the second and kept dancing. Throughout the day, he never ceased to amaze everyone. He also somehow sat down to get acquainted with me and gave me a business card in case someone needed to tighten up mathematics. And when he was not taken (the jury refused him), he told the camera that he did not agree with their decision and would appeal and was waiting for a new review of his project. He was sitting until the evening, waiting for the jury to change their minds. He was told that the decision had already been made, he was free, but he did not believe and waited for a miracle. I think it’s not worth commenting on this situation, but, in general, it seems to me that sometimes such quality, persistence, purposefulness help to achieve what you want. You don’t give up, you go to the end.
I did this myself if you remember the story of presenting my artwork to the creative director of the Olympics and Paralympics Opening ceremony in London back to 2012. It’s one of my favourite stories.
Afterwards Tatiana said that she was going to speak all of us one by one, meaning take a small interview with all the participants. She asked those who were ready to raise their hands. I was one of the first, I immediately raised my hand. But I was probably the third or fourth person she interviewed. We were standing up (we were not sitting during the interviews), and almost all the participants were behind the cameras and listening to her questions and my answers. In fact, I also listened to other candidates and when she asked someone to name 3 interesting facts about himself, I imagined what I would tell about myself getting such a question: 30 countries visited, a letter to the Queen Elizabeth written and sent, a letter from David Cameron received, a very cool art competition won in Russia and America, the opening ceremony of the Paralympics in London where I danced, about 10 professions that I had, my cooperation with the 1st TV channel in Russia, a few languages learnt, my paintings for Cirque du Soleil, Garou, northern lights in Lapland seen… God, I was standing there and couldn’t understand how I could single out 3 facts in such a bright life as mine. And when the participant answered the question with “I am kind” in one of the facts, I thought to myself: “how boring his life is if he takes the whole fact telling that he is kind.” It was corrected by Tatiana right after, because it was a description of the quality, his personality, but not an interesting fact from his life. I want to mention here that I did not think with condemnation about the participant and his answer, but simply drew parallels with how I would have answered. And I also want to say that this does not mean that you need to live like I do and in no other way. I understand perfectly well that there are people who are happy at home and they do not want to travel around the world, change professions and so on. We are all completely different and live the way we want to. It’s ok.
In any case, I was not asked that question. But, I thought that in such a situation it is necessary to choose something most basic from my life and be ready for such a question. Either by mood, it will always be 3 different facts about me.
So let’s talk about my interview. First of all I introduced myself as my traditional “Natasha from Russia” and said to Tatiana something like this:
“firstly, I want to say that you look great, and you are glowing! Secondly, I have been willing to meet with you personally for so long. You live in St. Petersburg and so do I. I look at your Instagram quite often and see familiar streets and think: “well, we missed each other again” and so constantly and I realized that one day we would meet and I am very glad that I am here with you right now. If I don’t make the casting, then I’m already very happy that I’m here and met you in person. And I would like to add that I also had a consultation with Eugene, your husband.”
I think she was pleased to hear that. But, on the other hand, she is constantly being told this. Maybe it’s already boring for her. I don’t know. But I didn’t care how she felt. It was important to me that I felt great and spoke absolutely sincerely. I shared my emotions and my soul. I felt the warmth, love and harmony inside.
Then she asked why I came to the casting and I joked something like: “as I said earlier – to see you. Oh, there must be some other reason? Right?” everyone seemed to appreciate my jokes. But, to tell the truth, standing there, in front of Tatiana and, most importantly, in front of several cameras and a the microphones, I was so nervous that my cheeks were shaking, my whole face was shaking. But those who were 4 meters away from me said that I looked very natural and confident. They couldn’t believe what I was going through.
I told that I was worried and nervous. In fact, Tatiana was there as an energy coach and she helped us to calm down, conducted breathing practice and supported. Therefore, she asked very important questions about our energy, feelings and so on. She asked me why I was nervous (it was all an interview and my answers were filmed). I said that I was afraid to say something wrong, look stupid, I was afraid of the cameras. Then she asked what would happen if I said something wrong…I realized that I was sweating and I felt much better and calmer after talking to her. She has a gift, after all, to help people. I do think she’s in her place.
Missis Solo helped everyone so much. Actually, I’m grateful to her because without her, I probably wouldn’t have been at that casting. She was also the co-producer of the show. Again, it sounds like I’ve created an idol for myself. No, nothing like that. There are things that repel me about her, I don’t like. But I’m just talking about what pleases me, delights me, and not about the opposite. You can find a great side in any person. I usually prefer to see the beauty in people and what I would like to have myself, to be able to do. Sometimes it seems to me that I love every person on this planet and I can see something magical and good in everyone. Many people ask me to take off my rose-colored glasses, but, as my relative told me, my rose-colored glasses had already grown to my brain, had become part of my body.
It’s interesting but I understood that I didn’t want to stay in Moscow (despite the fact that the TV channel seemed to provide accommodation). It would be very difficult to combine shooting with teaching at the same time and I had quite a few students every single day. I wanted to come back to St. Petersburg and, most importantly, I understood that it would be a difficult reality-show. The main prize were investors and their money. Obviously everyone wanted to get it, to win, and I would not want to participate in such a race. To be honest I just don’t like this format. It’s one thing to watch it on TV, it’s quite another to be in the epicenter of events. I also understood that I was a person far from business, I knew too little, and I could very much embarrass myself in front of the audience. I think that God saved me from participating in such an event. I got exactly as much as I wanted. Even a lot more (which I am about to tell you)! By the way, I suppose I could have been wrong about the money games in the show and the competitions and maybe all the guys were very nice, but I will say one thing for sure: fighting for money is not my cup of tea. It’s against my nature.
Then why did I go to this casting? My request was to get out of the comfort zone, I was very afraid, and I believe that when we go into fear, we grow. I also wanted to meet new people and make new connections. I had a wish to present myself in front of the TV camera. And, I knew that I could understand what I was missing in terms of business after the casting. In fact, I got much more. I’ll talk about this a little bit later.
If you are interested in other startups here they are: there were brother and sister, who presented a neural network that can write essays on Bulgakov, for example, can convert video content into text (I thought how cool it was to perform with a brother! It’s such a support nearby. I would be immensely happy to perform with my brother somewhere or have something like a common event in our life with him), a woman from Vladivostok flew in with eco-friendly pads, diapers and tampons (she was refused, they said she had a ready-made business, that was not a startup. She was very upset). There was a pretty young blogger. He already had about 60,000 followers on Instagram. He was filming there a lot. I must say that he was very active, pleasant and witty. Blogging is undoubtedly his thing. He was allowed to shoot on go-pro, with the condition that he would post it only after the show would be released. He filmed everything and everyone and even the jury and his own performance. He was denied his idea (the idea was blogging), but he took a lot of content for his site which I guess was very cool. He wasn’t upset. I subscribed to him and I saw that he was still present at the filming of the program, despite the fact that his startup was rejected.
There was a 19-year-old guy (they called him “kid”, as I heard). He was a pastry chef, who wanted to lead cooking courses, mentoring. He brought a mixer and made some simple dessert ice cream mousse in a few minutes and treated the judges. He was told YES. He made it to the show. I didn’t really understand what the point was and why he went further. But I trust the jury and the universe. And I was also very happy for the guy. I think it’s such a great start to a career, right on TV at the age of 19! What else can dream a young businessman about! Well done! Perhaps later I will be proud that I competed with him (although it is unlikely, because there are already too many reasons for pride in my life).
There was a lady from Samara with a clothing brand (they refused her), a magician (they refused him, he was very offended and immediately left us), there was another pastry chef. She brought two edible coffee cups (from cookies, chocolate inside and a little icing sugar). The girl wanted to take care of the environment – to sell coffee and tea in edible cups. The jury made a remark to her that such sweet cups were bad for the body shape and health, but she was told YES and she went ahead (although there were already some companies that did this, but they didn’t seem to be very well known, according to our participant). The girl was very nice, by the way (although, to be honest, I liked everyone).
There were two representatives with cosmetics. I spoke with one of them quite a lot and am still in touch with her. I am sure that we will meet again in the future (and not only once). Sergeeva Valentina Sergeevna. She arrived there with her son (who decided to support his lovely mom) and he was very tired, he did not know where to put himself and Valentina waited from 8 am to 4pm and, as a result, she was tired and she felt sorry for her son. Therefore, she decided not to present the startup and just left. However she told me that she probably came to the casting to get to know me which was so sweet and kind of her to say that. Valentina has already invested quite a lot in her cosmetics brand. And besides that, she also teaches English. That’s her:
I was once again convinced how important the communication skill was in the modern world. I was quite active and talked loudly about myself. Everyone listened with a big interest about my English lessons and I kept hearing: “Oh, cool! So, I want you to be my teacher!”. Moreover, when I mentioned the price of my lessons that I recently raised and that are normally considered very expensive for Russians, some said: “Oh, so it’s not expensive at all!” (Moscow citizens said so). There was a lady that didn’t really speak with me but then she came up and said that she just heard about myself and my teaching method and that she would like to learn more about it. By the way, she passed the casting and got into a reality show. Her name is Antonina Balitsay (owner of a marketing agency, expert in promoting long-term online projects, author of a three-stage system).
I really believed in Antonina after talking with her. It seems to me that such a person can easily win in this show. She is very confident, knows what she wants, aims to win. It was nice that such a person was interested in my method of teaching the language. On the other hand, it happenes quite often with me as I have lots of demand from successful people who have little free time for their studies.
I told someone about myself and said that, in fact, my project was weak, damp, not finalized and I could easily lose against the background of others. But if we talked about reality shows and TV and about me as a person, then I was very interesting and inspiring, and when I shared a story of my life, a person seriously asked: “what have you forgotten here? You have life itself as a show, why would you go to the TV?!” Maybe he was right. In general, I felt that my personal brand was stronger than my startup. But it was a show not only and not so much about people, but about their ideas and entrepreneurial streak which for surely wasn’t about me.
There was also a girl Zlata with her music label, I think she said “Turquoise Records” or something like that. It was very uncomfortable and funny talking with her, because she used a Russian pronoun “YOU” but in a manner that we use for older people or those who we respect. To be honest I don’t like it and I constantly made a remark to her that we sort of agreed on You (the one we use for friends and people of our age). Then I asked her how old she was and, finding out that she was 19, I thought that, probably, at her age, I would also call 30+ people as “YOU” with some kind of respect. Ehhhh… where is my young age? I was just surprised that she felt that I was much older. I am always told that I look very young. And this girl also made her presentation very well and she said that when she was asked in an interview which project she remembered the most from 50 or 40+ projects, she replied that English for 15 minutes a day was the most outstanding one. It was very nice to hear that.
As I wrote earlier, we were fed late. I ate a small portion of chicken soup (not very good, like from a canteen, in plastic dishes). I also had some vegetables, pasta with fish. Anyway I was so much hungry so I was very happy about that food. I thanked the organizers.
There was another startup that I remember well. It was a fitness center in Moscow, for mothers after the childbirth. It is believed that physical activity is not good for a woman after giving birth and I am not very sure if she needs to wait for 2 or more months but the girl Sasha had developed a recovery program and she herself had been recovering so recently after giving a birth. I had a good chat with her, too, we somehow spent some time together there. But she presented her project quite early and immediately left. She didn’t make it to the show though. Her idea was refused.
And the last but not the least I want to mention Elena Shapovalova here:
To begin with, I really liked Lena for her energy: she was sincere, warm, natural, positive and as if very similar to me or I to her. In general, there was something very close to my soul in her. I’ll say more. I have already managed to take one session from her after the show. Lena is a business psychologist. And she also has a successful floral business in Rostov-on-Don and, in fact, she presented it at the casting. Though she was not taken to the show.
In fact, I communicated with many participants there. But I told only about some of them here.
All this time, the information was confidential and I couldn’t share much about the casting before the 27th of July when the first episode was shown on the TV.
I performed at about 9 pm, there were 5 people after me. As you can understand I was almost the last one to talk with the jury. Our make-up artist frantically finished my makeup, touched up, made a little brighter what I had done myself in the early morning of that day. They had already attached a microphone with a buttonhole (the guy had to unzip me from behind and attach it to my underwear, there was no other option, since I was in a dress and it would not have been possible to fix the equipment on me from behind). A low, bass voice said loudly a couple of times: “Natalia Barantseva is being called. Natalia Barantseva is called” with emphasis on the first syllable which was a wrong pronunciation of my surname. But who cares.
And I went into the building, leaving the makeup artist and all the guys. It was much cooler during the day: it was light, there were more cameras, when you were called, all the guys waved, clapped, wished good luck. There was no such thing at 9pm. Some had already left the filming set. Everyone was tired, half asleep. Some people were in their thoughts waiting for the results. The jury needed to choose 16 people only and about 14 people had already heard the long-awaited YES by 9 o’clock in the evening. In addition to that there were 10-14 people waiting for the results because they were told “maybe”. By saying this I mean they were not told neither no nor yes, and so they were sitting all day, waiting and hoping that they would be told Yes. And there were fewer and fewer vacancies. Thus, the later you presented, the less chance you had to go further.
It was all about like in the show “The Voice”, only without an audience. I went into the room, there’s like a dressing room (roughly speaking). The TV presenter was waiting for me there, the door to the judges was closed. The host asked me how I felt. I said that, to be honest, I was already tired. He asked if I had passed similar auditions or if this was my first time. I said about the dance casting in London and the Paralympics in 2012. He was very interested, asked what my winner’s dance was, if I could show him and that he would dance with me. I started to show off with some latin dancing that I used to do for 8 years in my childhood. He did not succeed much in repeating it. I also made a wave with my body at the end. I wanted this to get into the show, but a miracle didn’t happen this time too. Anyway, it was really cool for me. I was energized by the dance, and I already felt more cheerful and happier. Therefore, I went to the judges in a dark room with a very elated state of mind. Again, I understood that my chances of passing the casting were negligible. I didn’t have a business plan, I didn’t know how much money I wanted, where I would invest it and what profit I would bring. Something was floating in my head, but it was all very abstract. To tell the truth, I hoped that if I went to the show, they would teach me all the necessary things, tell me, show me and count for me. During the day, when I heard how much money my competitors wanted from the investors, I thought I would ask for the same amount. Then I heard another number and thought that I would ask that number. It means that I changed my mind all the time (the figures ranged from 3 to 20 million rubles). I figured that I needed a recruiter, I needed teachers (who would need a salary), perhaps some kind of room, phones and headphones for everyone to work, money for targeted advertising, for an SMM specialist, perhaps some kind of training for teachers, a business trip for everyone. I thought I would ask for 5 million, then I decided that 10 million would be better. I was completely lost and had no idea about money and all that stuff. And when the guys (competitors) told me: “Natasha, what are you doing? You have a lot of time, sit down, make a plan, you will have more chances to go ahead, it’s not difficult!” I understood that I liked to do what brings me joy and pleasure and I absolutely did not want to count, think about business, imagine anything. Maybe that’s why I don’t really strive to implement my own school. I really like my life and work at the moment and I’m getting lots of happiness from the teaching process. Maybe subconsciously I felt that I didn’t want to be in this show and also didn’t plan to take any other actions to increase my chances of success. But I want to note here that some of the participants even offered their help in writing a business plan to me. Well, what wonderful people surround me! Thank you, Universe, from the bottom of my heart!
When I came out to the jury, I clearly did everything according to the instructions. This, by the way, is fun (about instructions). One of the crew of cameramen took us to the studio early in the morning and explained which way we would go on the stage, where we needed to stand, where to go during the presentation and come back later. He clearly showed us the way, indicated that there was a mark on the floor where we would need to stand. It was very dark there and the light was clearly exposed so that the speaker’s face could be seen. Accordingly, if a person standed at the wrong point, then he was not visible. And they explained it to us 10 times, no less. And then one participant asked: “So, let’s check it again. I’m coming in. I stand in a triangle, then I move to the right…” everyone had fun. The operator couldn’t stand it at the end and said: “guys, explain where to stay and where to get the clicker. I can’t take it anymore.”
When I danced at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, there were 600 of us there and it was necessary to clearly take my own position to the millimeter. It was really hard there, but we had just a small spot at that filming set in Moscow. Maybe people were so worried that they could not simply stand in a triangle and remember where to get the clicker. On the other hand, I always think that we are all different. For example, it can be funny for someone that I can’t prepare a business plan properly. We all have our weaknesses and strengths, and in no way do I want to offend someone who couldn’t figure out where to stand. But, at the same time, I wanted to share these stories here.
Ok, let’s come back to the stage. It was more than 9pm when I finally stood there. I believe you don’t know the judges as they were Russian celebrities but I’ll mention them with their names anyway. Anita Tsoi (a singer) asked me to introduce myself. I did it in my traditional way (Natasha from Russia) and started my speech. I was told that they would give me 4 minutes for a presentation, but they gave me only 3 minutes (everyone had that amount of time and many were confused and kind of lost, because someone had a presentation for 10 minutes and therefore they couldn’t finish their speech and present the project prorerly), so I didn’t have time to tell everything I wanted. First of all I told about myself very briefly, and then about my method. Mrs. Tsoi started knocking me down. She told me: “We have ideas for startups here. What is there new about your project? There are several schools that have been using this method in their education system for a long time.” I was ready for such a question and answered her with words from my presentation. Then she asked: “Okay, what do you want? You are just a tutor, what is your goal and what do you want from us?” I said that I wanted to make this method of teaching widespread, popular, and probably to apply it in general education institutions. I also wanted to hire teachers…
Anita Tsoi: “How many students do you want to get in the first month of work with your plans?”
I had no idea how many and did not expect such a question. Although, almost any question regarding the numbers (even the question I was expecting) – I had no idea how to answer, what to say. I knew my weaknesses, but, as I said earlier, I didn’t want to count something and prepare properly. I replied that I would expect about a hundred students (I took the figure out of nowhere, the first thing that came to mind).
And Ksenia Gufranova (a business lady) asked the price of my classes. I said that I had raised recently and the cost varies, and mentioned my last price (at that time) which was 5000 rubles per week (that is, for 1.5 hours of my time). It’s quite expensive in Russia though it would be nothing in Europe especially considering the value of the ruble nowadays.
Anita Tsoi said that they wished me all the best, but this was not a startup, they had to refuse me and I could prepare better and come up with a different idea next time. In fact, I had a dialogue mainly with Anita and she was my critic. And even before that, I talked to the guys and said that I didn’t really like her. I think a person somehow feels how others treat him or her, and I treated her so-so. Let me explain: I have nothing against her, absolutely (and I wish her all the best), I’m just not interested in her at all as a person. This could also play a pivotal role, probably. But after listening to her criticizing other participants, I realized that she talked to me quite gently and sweetly. I was grateful to her and I still have pleasant emotions from communication and performance. Well, the fact that I was not going for a victory, but for participation, of course, helped me a lot. Some startupers came out darker than a cloud and it was clear from the person what result he got. One lady (40 years old) came out with tears in her eyes. She was vacationing in Turkey at that moment and flew to Moscow, just for the casting and she immediately said that if she didn’t pass, she would cry and that she almost didn’t see any competitors for herself, she was very confident in her project. So she did as she said: she came out and started crying. Honestly, I was sad for her. I wished her victory (like everyone, probably). And I came out of there with a smile on my face, happy (it was already the 10th hour of the evening) and all the guys started saying that, apparently, the judges said YES to me. And I replied them happily: “as I expected, I didn’t pass!” no one could understand what I was so happy about. But I showed them that it could be different, you can rejoice in defeat. Honestly I think that the answer “NO” is defeat for a narrow–minded person. It was getting out of my comfort zone, performing in front of cameras, communicating with Tatiana Solo, a bunch of new interesting acquaintances, a new experience (a new story for a future book or a performance somewhere else), potential student-clients, free advertising on MuzTV. There were so many advantages of this casting for me. Perhaps there will be some investors, a cool new student, a future husband, and who knows who will notice me even after a year or more… or they will invite me as an interpreter to a super-cool event. Maybe someone from MuzTV will notice me. I understand that this project may still bring me great opportunities in a year or two. The result obtained today is not final and no one knows where this participation will lead me in the future. And most people think very narrowly, not seeing how many interesting things can be, if you just admit this thought. They limit themselves. I also understand perfectly well that I could have screwed up very badly or said something wrong while acting in this show, I could have shown my lack of education, ignorance of something and like this, on TV, for the whole country. I don’t think I should have participated in the show itself. I was definitely happy with my “bad” result in the casting.
I am about to tell you the most interesting and incredible thing that happened to me there. I’ve hardly told anyone about this.
The filming process was on Friday. The organizer of the show called me (I’m not sure how to correctly identify her job position though) on Saturday (the following day after the casting) and said that one of the jury members asked her personal assistant to find out my contact number. I was asked if I would mind giving my number. And then, of course, I was immensely happy! I’m not sure if I should name a specific jury member here, so I’ll keep this information to myself. Believe me, this is not so important, because this person definitely does not need my advertising, and here I am talking about incredible events concerning myself, and not someone else. Right after that I watched videos with that celebrity and how pleased I was that Mrs. X spotted me and asked for my phone number. And this show hasn’t been on TV yet. And then I really thanked myself that I created my own life and usually, if I see an opportunity, I take it, do not pass by, not be lazy and act. And, again, it’s great that I didn’t abandon Instagram, but use it with VPN (how much could I lose if I didn’t have it). After all, I get and take a lot from there, and make my life even brighter. I was just flipping through the stories on Instagram and found out about the casting, decided to participate and so everything started spinning, spinning and coming to my way.
By the way, it’s interesting that one of my students asked me if I won for around 10 times, if I passed the casting, not even knowing what it’s all about. The very fact of victory was important to him. And then I thought how interesting it was, the thoughts of most people. If a person has not passed the casting, it is a collapse, failure, defeat. But it’s so primitive in my opinion. After all, who knows what will happen on the show and what will happen to me, without this show. Nobody knows. And for me, participating in such an event is already a victory! And I also think about the other participants. One of them was crying, she was very upset. And who knows what awaits them without this show. Maybe their path is completely different and more interesting! I actually (and not for the sake of a nice word) believe that everything happenes for a good reason!
Let’s go back to the moment that Mrs. X asked for my contact. Her personal assistant assigned me a Zoom conference and, it seems, we spoke on the 12th of July. The event had a pleasant name: “Zoom with Natasha from Russia”. I even made a print screen:
We talked for 10 minutes. The person on the other end of the line, or rather right in front of me, on the screen of my phone told me that she had a desire to help me with the implementation of my project and she asked: “Natasha, please tell me honestly, would you like to make a large project out of your idea, earn millions and become successful?” I will never forget my emotions at that moment. I was over the moon! My whole life flashed through my head and memories in the 2 seconds between her question and my answer. I felt that, probably, that was not really for me, BUT I thought that I would have to be a complete fool to refuse such an offer. I felt like I had drawn a lucky ticket, a kind of Jackpot. Of course, I said “Yes” and at that moment I believed in my answer. I started imagining successful success, millions and dreams coming true, and at the same time a huge number of people whom I helped with English and their lives had changed beyond recognition. I was very warmed by this thought. Then “my angel” asked me questions like how many students I had at the moment of our call, how much they paid and how much I earned per month. Then she asked me how much I wanted to do in the first month of working with her (talking about money). I mentioned the amount, and I was told to get 10 more new students in a following month and increase the price for all my current students (it would be by exactly 2 times for some of them). She also asked me for my Instagram link in order to see how I was doing it. Have you seen my Instagram? I normally take a photo with a beautiful puddle or 5 pigeons near the store called “Five”, aahaha. I mean it’s quite far from English language. I can say that my Instagram is my daily life, my field to practice my sense of humor and imagination. I talk about my lessons, share reviews and comments of the students time from time, but I do not make my account professional at all. Mrs. X said that from now on we were going to have a zoom call once a week and I would report on the work done and send her the number of sales and the amount of money received every single day. And then she would help me to recruit a team of teachers and help me with marketing.
I’ll tell you what happened after. I was in euphoria and I still could not believe that I just got to the right Instangram story of Tatiana Solo, filled out the questionnaire with my “left heel” and a very successful lady spotted me from a large number of talented people and their startups. This is despite the fact that I was one of the last to speak, the jury was already very tired (it seemed to me so). I can even say that I increased my self-esteem after what happened, but only for a certain period)))
However, my euphoria was soon replaced by sadness. The fact was that if some students didn’t care how much my lessons cost (they were very wealthy people and still are), then there were those for whom even a slight price increase could bring pain and worries. And since every student was almost like a relative to me, I was very worried that I was the cause of their pain. In addition, I explained them the situation that I kind of did it against my will, saying that I had a business mentor from show business. I think I am quite good at psychology (as it seems to me) and I understood perfectly well that by telling them the truth, I absolve myself of responsibility, as if saying “it’s not me who’s so bad, I’m a true angel!” and I was disgusted by my behavior. I’ve been digging a lot into myself, my feelings. But, in fact, I was not captured, I was not tortured, I followed the instructions of my own will. Then I imagined how I would teach +10 more new students. I think that burnout would have occurred a week after such an intensive work. And, most importantly, I would not want to make English my life. I am a very versatile person and I want to express myself in design, dance, other languages, inspire people, communicate and continue to live life very vividly, without only working and earning (my previous very hard jobs were enough for me). And there was something else, another very important point: I sincerely loved my students and I remembered almost everything they said (where they spent their holidays, what they liked, what was the age of their kids and what their names were, etc). I’m not sure if I had 10 more students, I would also give 100% energy to every student. I was worried very much by the issue of raising the price of my lessons, the experiences of students (who couldn’t afford it) and the fact that I would have to say goodbye to my free time and hobbies. Then I finally realized that I loved people more than money. Emotional relationships were important to me and I didn’t want to see students as a bag of money and think about it all the time. As a result, I refused the mentor, thanking her. In fact, I think I will be grateful to her all my life and will follow the news related to her. Firstly, thanks to her, I understood myself better, made certain conclusions. Secondly, I was very grateful for such faith and that I was chosen from a large number of contestants. And I realized once again that sometimes a seemingly loss can turn into a win. Perhaps, having passed the casting, I would not have received such a tempting offer, a personal contact of a famous person, her attention and such self-confidence. So, believe me, sometimes participation is really more important than winning. I think I have proved this by my example.
I know that many of my friends will say that I’m crazy to miss such a chance when the lady offered me to earn millions and become successful. But on the other hand, I did not change myself and listened to my soul and heart, not my mind. And I feel absolutely happy. I don’t have a lot of money in the bank account, but I am happy! And this is more important to me.
I could share the link of the show here (I shared the link in the Russian version of this article) but I don’t think there is a point since it’s in Russian language and there is no way to translate it. I was waiting for the first episode so much and was upset because I was staying in the background there, and my performance was not shown in the best light. Before my part, they said something like “Not everyone has prepared their presentation well” and a part with me was followed this phrase, ahahaha. And, in fact, they only showed 2-3 phrases that I said and how they refused me. 15 seconds of shame about 15 minutes of English ))) BUT, as we were taught at the Faculty of PR in London: “Any advertising, even bad, is still advertising. You’ve been mentioned and that’s already a good thing.” And considering the prices for advertising on the federal channel, I can say that I won. I think I’m like in that joke when a pot of poo was put under the bed for an optimist for his birthday and when he saw the present in the morning he was delighted, saying: “Aww, there was a horse that visited me at night!” That’s the way I am. I’m even glad that I wasn’t shown so well in the show. Considering the fact that I danced there, and gave interviews 3 times, and did everything I could in order to present myself and my skills in the best possible way and nothing was shown. But then I analyzed: I think there were 7-8 hours of filming, and the duration of the release was only 23 minutes, and I noticed that a lot of participants were not shown at all. There wasn’t even a second of their presentation. The show-makers used only the most interesting moments. Therefore, I can be quite glad that I got into this episode and I am already grateful for that. Otherwise, I would not have proved later where I got these 15 pages of the article on my blog))))
Summit and Economic Forum: Russia and Africa, 2023
So, I go to the next story. I told you that July was incredible for me. I didn’t know what was waiting for me next. And it’s again about Instagram. I was just sitting, flipping through stories, and then I got to one of the public accounts of St. Petersburg. I saw a photo of Putin and information that there was going to be a Summit and an Economic Forum in our city on the Neva. My first thought was something like: “I’m not there yet. Why?” I immediately closed Instagram and started searching how I could find a volunteer position or something similar there. I was at Roscongress website some minutes later (I think it was that site). Just to explain you the dates: the deadline for submitting applications for volunteering was July 3d, not later. It was July 17th when I decided to apply for something (2 weeks later after the deadline), and there were only 10 days left before the event. I think many would have closed the site and sadly moved on. I thought: “well, if they refuse, it won’t hurt me. At least I can try”. I sent them an email saying that I was aware about the deadline but I was this and that (mentioned all the qualities, skills and experience I had) and asked them to make an exception for me.
I almost immediately got a reply that I needed to create a personal account on the site, attach scans of my documents and study a manual consisting of 36 pages. 36, OMG!! And they gave me one day for that. It seems that I didn’t have enough stress at the casting, I decided to add more stress to my life. And since that event was held together with Africa, I understood that my very poor French would be quite useful there. To be honest I really wanted to remember (study, repeat) the language, but I had to study those 36 pages. It was very difficult. The information was completely different: about the first Summit 2019 in Sochi, about food, transport, security measures, the program of the event, various contact numbers, different badges, rules of conduct and much more. As it turned out later, many people submitted their applications in advance (more precisely in spring) and even wrote exams to get to this event. What’s more not everyone was accepted! I felt special again, because I applied 10 days before the event and was taken there! I thought I had good experience and skills for such volunteering, but I was not prepared well. There wasn’t much time. Nevertheless, I was still trying to somehow remember French (because I didn’t even remember all the pronouns. It’s terrible, isn’t it? So, I heartily recommend that if you have learned a language and invested your time and money in it, you should definitely practice it. So as not to regret it later). I was on a call with a beautiful girl Ekaterina (HR manager) when I was asked to tell briefly about what I had read, but in English. It was very difficult, because brevity, as you know, is not my strong skill. I am not a woman of a few words. And besides, all 36 pages were in Russian, and I had to present it all in English somehow quickly. But, apparently, I coped well with my task, because I was asked where exactly I wanted to work and even offered a paid job right after 5 minutes since the interview started. But I was not particularly satisfied with the working conditions and the salary therefore I kindly asked to be given a volunteer position. We agreed that I would have a place where I would communicate a lot, and I really wanted to work somewhere in a hotel. For various reasons.
We had a training session where they showed us the Summit and Forum area, told us the main points, but I still had a complete mess in my head and topographic criticism. As a result, I was placed at the access point control. Moreover, there were several of these points. I was put on the one where the elite passed (not the most important ones. That is, presidents, heads of state passed through the neighboring point). We also had delegations accompanying presidents, governors, and so on. Not everyone had access to our entrance and exit. We did not let many of them in and asked them to use another entrance. It was just like at the airport: there was a metal frame, a tape with a scanner, where bags, phones and other personal belongings were checked. This was handled by police officers. We just met people at the entrance and frame, asked them to place a badge on the reader (in Russian, English and French depending on the language of the guest), and also asked them to take off their watches, put bags and phones with watches on the tape for scanning. That was my badge which I wasn’t allow to show but I guess now I can since the event is over:
Sometimes it was difficult and not very pleasant when the guests were very unhappy that they did not have an entrance or exit from our place. They had to have a special badge. For example, they were in a hurry, and we didn’t let them in. We also didn’t let some of the people because they didn’t have a PCR test and we had it displayed on the monitor. In general, it was interesting, because we were one of the first people a particular guest saw and it was nice to meet them with a smile, cordiality and friendliness, to help if necessary. In addition, there was language practice (at least about the badge and personal items they had. We couldn’t walk around much, but sometimes the guests had questions or had problems and then we could practice French or English (those who could speak, not everyone). But sometimes we were very bored, sad, no one came to us, we stood there, and it was incredibly hard to stand on our feet all day, how painful it was! I can’t put it into words. But, fortunately, I was surrounded by very nice volunteers there. There were about 7 people and myself. It seems so. Those were only volunteers, not counting the police and representatives of the FSO. The security system was at the highest level, as for me. And it seems like everything went smoothly, very well.
I talked the most with a girl from Krasnodar (Julia). She is a history teacher at a public school (in Krasnodar)
By the way, I will clarify once again that the event was held on July 27 and 28, 2023 (Thursday and Friday, accordingly). On Friday, I stood in my place all day (except the time I was resting in the volunteer room and lunch, dinner in the dining room. The food, by the way, was very, very good: every time there were 2 salads to choose from, 2 soups to choose from, 2 hot dishes and 2 side dishes to choose from + dessert and tea, coffee, juice. And all this was provided for free. I gained 2 extra kilos in 2 days of work there. I usually don’t eat that much anyway). But on Thursday (the first day) I had a gift of fate again. I was standing at my workplace (the day had just begun) when Ekaterina (HR manager) came to me and asked what I was doing there, how I (the one who speaks a few languages) could be placed on such a position. And I thought she gave me that work. It was funny. Anyway, she took me somewhere and said she would give me another assignment. On the way, I mumbled something about the fact that I would like to practice languages, but at the same time I had a mess in my head and I wanted to have a colleague to stay beside me, otherwise I would get confused and let everyone down. I was told that no one could work with me as we didn’t have that many people on Thursday morning, alas, and that I needed to open the map, the book, all the information on the phone and look there and, if anything happened, I needed to write to Ekaterina herself. It was very scary. I imagined this kind of conversation: “Natalia, how do we go to the toilet?” – “I’ll look at the map now.” “Natalia, where is the conference at 12 o’clock?” – “I’ll look at the map now.” And so I would answer almost every question that way. Well, it’s really embarrassing, honestly. But I walked and said to myself: “The universe is with you, the world is with you, you are protected. They’ll help you. Don’t worry. You are, as always, in the right place and at the right moment. Everything will be fine!” And I was brought to a nice person. I don’t even know if I should mention her name on my blog. It is unlikely that it would tell you anything, but I googled her and understood that she was quite an important person in St. Petersburg, very respected and successful, I would say. She was in charge of a delegation consisting of the best judges from African countries. If I am not mistaken, there were 24 people (like 22 men and 2 women). In addition to that, my lady had other assistants-employees (Russian ones). It seems to me now that I was hired more or less as a interpreter. My inner child felt on top of the world! I cannot convey the joy that I felt from that activity. And although it was very exciting and scary, I still did not remember French at the proper level and even used Google time from time. And the whole group of men and a couple of women listened attentively to what the girl from Omsk (myself) was saying to them (although I have left Omsk many years ago, this was still my Homeland and will always be so. By the way, there was written “Natalia Barantseva, 33 years old, St. Petersburg” on the TV show by MuzTv and it was so unusual to see this particular city next to my name. Although, probably, if they wrote Omsk, I would be even more surprised).
Coming back to the story I spent several hours helping to organize the group, not to lose its members, translated from Russian into English and French and in the opposite direction, solved some issues, advised something and entertained them. They were the best judges of their countries who had experienced successful success. Interestingly, I do not strive for status and money (as practice has shown), but life always brings me such people (including my former boss and even just tourists in Italy, my students and other people). I want to mention that “my judges” were dressed to the nines: expensive suits, shoes, watches and an intriguing perfume. This is how I spent my Thursday (thanks to Instagram for showing me a photo with information about the upcoming Summit, otherwise I stayed in my own world as I don’t really watch the news). It was very funny when I spoke French and everyone listened to me attentively, I tried to figure out if I was speaking the right language. The problem was that I had been practicing Italian more in recent years, completely forgetting about French. And so, I seemed to be speaking in French, but I thought to myself: “so, they are smiling, they seem to understand. If it’s an Italian word, they would probably ask again.” The Africans were very nice guys, they flattered me several times, saying that I had very good French. Sometimes they suggested French words to use, because I was confused or did not pronounce this or that word properly. Somewhere they joked with me, teased each other and me, including. It was so sweet. Fortunately, I didn’t know who these people were. Although, even if I did, I usually treat high-ranking people very calmly. I have communicated with billionaires quite a lot in the past years and I always did this in a relaxed, homely atmosphere and behaved naturally with them. They are people like everyone else, just achieved a little more than the rest. In general, I was just doing my job and getting very satisfied from the process. I think the main thing is that I simply love people regardless of their nationality and position in society. People feel it and respond to me in return.
I was very grateful to the team of Russian employees who were responsible for the delegation of lawyers and to whom, in fact, I was sent as an assistant. Finally, when I finished my work they told me: “Natasha, you are so cool!”
Then I remembered the day when I just suddenly decided that I wanted to learn French. I had this aim simply because I really liked the language. And majority of my friends said: “Why do you need this language? Of course, a lot of people speak it. But it’s better to study Spanish or Chinese!” Most people live by reason, they follow their logic. I often rely on my heart and soul and I learn the language not because it will be useful, but because I love it. And so, after so many years, French brought me a wonderful experience and, who knows what will follow this experience. The next day (on Friday), an important person from “my delegation” wrote to me and said that their management had decided to reward me. They were very grateful to me for my work. And God only knows what will be my next adventure.
And since we worked for free, we were also given cool gifts: a branded Summit backpack, a branded diary with the Summit logo, a thermos bottle, a powerbank for charging the phone. And I didn’t expect any gifts at all. Well, there was also a costume (uniform) that we kept.
As well as an incredible experience, I also got interesting acquaintances and connections. There were many questions about my teaching method and comments about how unusual it was. And there was also a very pleasant moment. A young man from Ghana (Constant) volunteered with me in the same position. French was his first language, English was his second (almost like his native language) and he had a very high level in Russian ( he was studying economics in St. Petersburg, in Russian language). I was sure I had a very distinct and strong Russian accent in English when I talked, and he said that he distinguished accents very well and that my English didn’t sound as Russian and it was closer to British one. Then I told him: “I liked you from the first sight! What a lovely person you are!” We had a laugh, but then he assured me that it was not sweet lie and that I really spoke English very well (although he hardly convinced me, but it was still nice of him). And he said that my French pronunciation was also good and I definitely didn’t have a Russian accent. I don’t know which one.
I would also like to tell you about some security issues and interesting situations that arose at our event. But, as it seems to me, this is all confidential and it is not necessary to disclose any such information (even if my blog is not read by millions, I will still keep it a secret. And I’ll forget myself).
I went to the Summit first of all because I had been looking for some kind of volunteering for a long time and events of this kind interested me very much (not related to politics, but related to language practice and the meeting of overseas guests at the highest level). Secondly, that was again a way out of the comfort zone, I met new lovely people, I presented myself, but perhaps the most important thing was helping people. And, anticipating your question – no, I did not see the heads of state there. Although, maybe they could have passed by, and I just didn’t know, since I don’t know African presidents that much. I was only told when the governor of the Leningrad Region was passing by.
Once again, I want to draw your attention to the fact that I am absolutely not a politically minded person. It was like that, and it remains like that.
If someone writes to me “Super! You’re so good! You supported your country, presented it at the best level. You are a patriot!” or “How can you? People are dying, your government is to blame for everything, and you’re still working for them for free! You disappointed me, Natasha!” – I ask you to keep both those and other comments to yourself. Because I alone know the motives and impulses of my soul to be where I was. And as I really like to quote Erich Maria Remarque: “Everything you see in me is not mine, it’s yours. Everything I see in you is not yours, it’s mine.” Therefore, I hope that you will see something bright and good in my stories and sincerely rejoice for me, discarding what is unpleasant to you.
And I really wanted to share these July stories to once again show that we create our own destiny. I am not the daughter of millionaires, and even if I have serious connections, I do not use them (and I hope I will never need it). But I don’t like to live the same day as the previous one and I like to fill my life with unusual, interesting events, get out of my comfort zone, go into the unknown, get to know myself from different sides and other people too. And I just, if I see an opportunity, try to take advantage of it. And who knows what awaits me around the corner, where I will find myself in a month.
I will tell you honestly that I am sad because of the imminent end of summer. I really like being in St. Petersburg and enjoying the summer. But I planned to leave the city again in the fall. I was offered an interesting job position in China. I was thinking about how wonderful it would be to live in winter somewhere warm, exotic (Indonesia, Thailand, Egypt, India, Cuba, Argentina… yes, even there). And at the same time, I can’t delay with my teeth and I need to continue my treatment. And I planned to continue it in Sochi (in the south of Russia) and at the same time live there, rent an apartment for the winter, for example. I would also have to change my international passport, and I had some problems with this in the city on the Neva. Therefore, I am considering coming to Omsk for a month. But for some reason I don’t really want to. I would like to see my family and continue on my journey. So I’m still thinking. By the way, what am I talking about. To the fact that I was sad. Well, how can I stay and live without my beloved Petersburg (when I’m far from the city even for a month, I’m already missing it so much.I can’t get enough of this fantastic city). BUT then I remembered what my July 2023 (this year) was like and realized that I still had to see what August would bring me. So much can happen in a month. Life knows better I guess and I will be where I need to be.
On this note, with bright thoughts about the future, I finish this long story. And I hope that you will be inspired by my stories and do something meaningful and interesting for yourself too. I am sure that opportunities are waiting for you at the doorstep. It is only necessary to open it.
Thank you for your attention and you are a hero, a heroine, if you have read to the very end. I hug you! And I wish you all the very very best!
P.S. I apologize for any mistakes I have made here. It took me quite a while to write this article so I didn’t pay as much attention to the grammar as needed.
История Современной Золушки из Вестминстера. Westminster's Cinderella. 