This also meant less profit: the students themselves received up to 70% of the entrance fee, which we thought was a very fair deal. The rest went to the sound engineers and other support staff. In general, the concerts we put on were very professional. Of course, not everything went perfectly, but we often even had a shortage of places. We gave an average of about 100 concerts per year, the non-profit organization did very well! I'm still proud of it. I was very happy that I had Charles and Colin around me and that they supported me, because not everyone in the local entourage was equally happy to see me walking around.
Some people thought that I should not be responsible for programming because I knew so little about jazz.Others didn't like me because they had something against gays. Some musicians who came to play made it clear that they didn't want to hear from me, but some of the staff also made that very clear. The bartender's wife, for example: she made it very clear at our first meeting that I was not her type of person. She didn't want to know anything about me. She has always kept her distance from me very coolly.
Foert, I thought about all those things because I had the support of Charles and Colin. It wasn't the first (or the last) time I went through, my orientation was condemned. You get used to it and you learn to worry about it as little as possible. The class lectures and discussions that I gave at secondary schools also helped me in this.
The end of 2001 was approaching and that meant: on to Moscow! The day of my departure I called Ivanhov.
“We'll pick you up at the airport!” he said.
I was already looking forward to it. The outward journey went very smoothly and the group was indeed waiting for me when I arrived. According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, we should first celebrate New Year and then Christmas. That was interesting!
We all boarded the metro, heading to the first viewings of my trip. Everyone, absolutely everyone, was wearing thick black clothes. I had also provided thick clothing, but - I was wearing a sporty winter coat, which was bright yellow. Everyone stared at me.
“Now everyone knows immediately that you are a tourist,” laughed Ivanhov.
I stayed with Ivanhov's parents' parents, together with her. They received me very warmly. I was allowed to sleep in the best room in the apartment. I tried to reject this - if I had known how hard they would adapt to me, I would have rented a hostel.
None of that, they were proud of their foreign guest and he would be well taken care of.
The food was delicious. That was extra nice, with the cold outside.
They turned on the TV and I expected Russian state propaganda TV. That's how it had been in East Germany when I chatted with that good cameraman years before. The TV came on but no, there were commercial channels. So some things had seriously changed since Gorbachev and Yeltsin. We had a very pleasant evening together.
An important task that Ivanhov's girlfriend and I still had to accomplish, was to arrange my residence papers. We could do that at the town hall. She would go along as an interpreter in case any difficulties arose.
We entered the town hall – but all the counters were closed. Right between New Year and Christmas. You couldn't arrange anything here.
That was a very big problem. What now? I could be arrested at practically any moment. They didn't laugh about it in Russia. Ivanhov's love helped find a solution. She continued to walk, towards a police station that was also in this building, to see if we could be helped. I waited for her. She was gone for a very long time and I really had to pee urgently. I couldn't find any toilets in here. I walked outside – I had to! I walked to a tree next to the street. What a relief. A Lada drove past, with 4 people in it. They aggressively shook their clenched fists at me.
Say, what's the problem? I thought. If you have to, you have to.
I raised my middle finger.
I quickly went back to the place where I was waiting for Ivanhov's love. She still wasn't there. After a long while, she appeared.
“Luc, you have to come with me to the police,” she said.
Nice!
“Ah, good. They can arrange the papers then?” I asked.
39.
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