October 6th | 6 октября

9.44 a.m. - Hostel

Breakfast in the kitchen. Young girls in dancing outfit and the supervisor come and go. Something might be happening. I don't manage to talk to one of them to ask.
Looking at a cyber arena website. I saw an advert about it, in the street. I thought it might be a fun place to meet friends. On the website they talk about the amount of comment they have on 2GIS. 2GIS is a map application. (R1)

11.05 a.m. -

11.45 a.m. - Library in front of Lenin Square.

There are three tables with food. A dude with a blue hat and teeshirt. He represents a food company. It's probably a marketing food presentation. People eat the products, and the guy talks about it.

12.15 p.m. - =

A man and a woman are setting up a little video recording right next to me. The man is holding the smartphone and ask questions to the woman. It's an interview about the products. The woman says "telegram". They probably advert on this app.

2.17 p.m. - =

2.22 p.m. - Lenin Boulevard

While passing the building hosting the Confucius Institute, I see a few Chinese speaking people on the sidewalk. One of them walks in front of me, in the same directions as I do. He enters a building a few meters away. I notice a paper on the door. It's written in Chinese and Russian. (R3)

2.44 p.m. - Free Time fast food on Lenin Boulevard.

Through the window I regularly see young people with uniforms. I do not know what they correspond to. They are sometimes green, black, blue... And a big round and flat hat, ceremonial army style.

3.41 p.m. - =

A guy in a military outfit and a white and blue stripped teeshirt gets out of his truck. He limps. Around fifty years old. I should talk with one of them.

4.44 p.m. - Walking in Blago, toward the north.

I'm going to get the bike. But I have time so I try to find a chapka in the Mega mall. I try one of them and immediately feel the dumb tourist spirit get inside me. I ain't buying.
While going to the rendez-vous, I wonder around, and take pictures.

Evening - Hostel

I bought a bike with 8 defaults. I'll fix as much as I can. It's fun to repair a bike. And it will allow me to make contact, asking for tools, for example.

Dima accepts to let me park the bike in the hostel garage, since I do not have a lock yet.

9.11 p.m. - =

00.00 - =

On VKontact (Russian facebook). Russia24, a TV channel, broadcasted a video of the Russo-Chinese event I attended. We see Olga, German, Egor... Almost the whole group! (R4)

R1: If the gaming arena talk about the amount of comments they have on 2GIS, it might mean that this application is more in use then Yandex Maps. It also makes me think about the map application that the english speaking Chinese guy took out when we talked about some place. So, Russian and Chinese apparently do not use the same maps applications. The Chinese apps show nothing (businesses) on the Russian side of the river and so do the Russian apps on the Chinese side. It's all blacked out. It's obvious that some work has to be done here. Developing a local map application or integration at least for border businesses on each maps application would be beneficial for both sides. These map barriers are probably a tangible symptom of a problem in the attempt of Chinese and Russians to collaborate with confidence.
R2: This daily posting takes quite a big part in the work of the day. While writing, things are happening outside. It's a problem. Especially when critical feedback on published texts do not come (yet, I hope).
R3: I suspect this building to ba a student dormitory. In front of it, on the other sidewalk, there is a University. And at the corner there is the Video Game Arena. It's a cliché but maybe It's an opportunity to connect with Chinese guys there. Maybe they speak more english than Russians.
R4: Watching this feels so funny compared to what I lived with the group. The whole "show" is striking. I don't know if it was national or local tv.

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