Trip to Moscow: September 13-21, 1996

I really enjoyed the trip to Moscow. It is a fantastic city. Upon arriving, my first impression was that the setting was a very large and industrial one. There were large gray buildings, and I didn't see any single family houses -- only really big apartment buildings. But the beauty is in being able to walk and investigate and find some of the very old monuments or religious icons or structures, and other things commemorating their hundreds of years of history. We happened to be there just after the celebration of City Day in Moscow was ending, in which the Russians celebrate the anniversary of their city. They're really gearing up for 1997, when they will celebrate the 850 year establishment of the city of Moscow. Each year, they celebrate with big fireworks and parades. That's really a neat experience.

The reason we went on this particular trip was to finish negotiations with the Russians to allow our flight equipment taken to the Mir Space Station. In other words, the Russians have to look at and actually watch us turn on the equipment. We have to prove to them that the equipment works and give them data showing that the equipment is safe and doesn't contain any hazardous chemicals. If it does we have to show that we've adequately contained them. So that's usually a two-step process. The first step started in the summer in Houston, during the month of July, and the second step was completed in Moscow during this recent trip.

The meetings occurred in a building that's actually part of a university for civil engineers. The Russian organizations we worked with had rented it out. Unfortunately, we were there during a cold front. The Russians usually don't turn on any heating until the same time every year, usually in November or December. Then, the heat is left on, regardless of the temperature, until it is turned off sometime in March. Since we were there so early in the season, the Russians had not turned on any heat, and the rooms were very cold. We tended to huddle together in the little offices that were available to us. But overall, it was a very successful week.

The Negotiating Process

The negotiating process seems to involve days of no progress and butting heads. Then, when the final day of the meetings comes, and you're ready to sit down and start writing formal protocol outlining all your grievances, that's when all of the final compromises are reached.

It's frustrating because you go day-to-day, not really knowing if you're making any progress and then you reach the end of the week and "Boom!" they're ready to talk and compromise, and you're ready to get to where you want to be. The Russian people tend to be business-oriented. They see an end result they want to get to, but they're not willing to make incremental agreements or come to any incremental decisions. We kind of go around in one big circle before we actually get to a completion.

It seems like you have to get the Russians off-line and talk about what the problem really is. In a meeting, they will tend to take official positions on things, and try to save face by not compromising. So, most of it is developing a relationship prior to the meeting, and continuing during the meeting and saying, "I know you're really worried about this happening. We agree that we're going to do more testing in a certain area. This helps satisfy your concerns. So will you agree that we won't have to do some other things that will create problems for us?" So that seemed to be the key, as well as showing some firmness and willingness to stand up and tell them "no." That's one area that I'm finding that I actually should be improving. I'm not very good at being very firm on certain things, such as saying "no" to the Russians. The person I was traveling with was very good at that, so we made a good team. So a lot of times, success seems to be making sure that you understand yourself, your skills, and be willing to admit where your deficiencies are, and making sure that you've got somebody there who can complement and supplement you.

The Social Aspect

As far as the social aspect, such as doing things after work, I had a really neat opportunity to go to the Bolshoi Ballet and saw Romeo and Juliet. It was the first ballet I had ever been to. It was really exciting. We got the tickets through the hotel. The face value of the tickets was the equivalent of fifteen dollars, yet they sold them to us for sixty five dollars. We were told that if we were Russian citizens, they would have sold them to us for the face price. But as soon as they know that they're selling to foreigners of any kind, they are going to charge the marked-up value. Even at sixty five bucks, we ended up with seats in the sixth row on the floor, almost sitting in the orchestra pit. To go to a ballet or any fine arts performance in San Francisco and have those seats would probably be double the price. So, it was great.

Overall, the trip was successful. Another nice thing was that the lead of the Russian delegation hosted a lunch for us in the little cafeteria within the building. They took great pride in cooking up vegetables that they had grown in their dachas, or summer houses. Even though we were still in the middle of butting heads during the week and everybody was stern-faced, when we all sat down at the table, the Russians were really friendly and took care to make sure that we had everything we needed for lunch, and took great pride in having cooked it themselves. We had boiled potatoes and some other vegetables. They're very much into cultivating food in their own dachas. Deep-down, the Russians are really very caring people, and really take care of their visitors.