Originally from: Yaroslavl, Russia
Graduate Program:
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April 7, 2008
In my previous entry I let you know what can be done and seen within walking/biking distance from the Institute. In this entry I will focus on places you can visit which are located within driving distance from the Monterey Institute. First I will start with the places south of Monterey, gradually moving to the west and finally to the north.
South of Monterey: Hwy 1 is a major highway that goes along much of the whole coast of California. It passes right next to Monterey and provides a convenient way to get in and out of the city. If you drive south on Hwy 1 it will bring you to such places as Point Lobos State Reserve, Pfeiffer Park, Bixby Bridge, Big Sur, Hearst Castle and other interesting places. My wife and I have been to all of these places several times while in Monterey. Before you go for a trip make sure your vehicle has enough gas for driving both directions. If you run out of gas in the middle of your trip, you will have to fill up your car at remote gas stations that charges an arm and a leg for a gallon of gasoline. In addition, make sure to have an experienced driver, since the road is very curvy, and both sides of the road go very close to rocks on one side and cliffs on the other. Also, it might be useful to check whether Hwy 1 is open to traffic. After the heavy rain season that usually takes place in winter, Hwy 1 is subject to closure for a few days due to mud slides and land erosions.
Point Lobos and Pfeiffer Park are good places to hike and enjoy Californian nature and coast. While at Point Lobos you might be able to see a lot of various birds and marine animals such as sea otters, sea lions, and even whales. You can even touch the fur of a sea otter that the park has on display and purchase posters of spotted marine animals. Some of the trails go along the coast, and some go through the woods. In the forest you are likely to see deer. Make sure to stay on the trails and away from poison oak leaves. If you are not careful with this plant, you may end up in the emergency room having lots of shots, pain reliever pills, and skin with a burned-like surface. Pfeifer Park’s trails will take you through the woods on top of hills with amazing views of the endless Pacific Ocean, Central California coast, and winding road cutting through the coastline. Big Sur is also the home of several parks with big redwood trees. In some of the parks you can camp overnight and enjoy hiking for several days. If you are not comfortable sleeping in a tent and eating food cooked on a fire, Big Sur has a few local hotels and fine restaurants that will satisfy your needs.
Further south of Big Sur the road will take you to Hearst Castle. Previously it was a residence of the media magnate, William Hearst, who inherited a huge piece of Californian coast from his family. In the beginning of the 20th century he decided to build on top of the hill a complex consisting of several castle like mansions with a series of pools, gardens, a zoo and other attractions. Hearst furnished and decorated his Castle with expensive, one of kind statues, ancient carpets, old furniture, pictures, books, silverware, and other historical elements. After the death of William Hearst, his family handed over the residence with all its attributes to the government, which preserved it, made it into a State Historical Museum and opened it to the public. Every year millions of people from all over the world, including MIIS students, come to visit the Hearst Castle. My wife and I were there several times, however we were still not able to attend all of the tours offered at the Hearst Castle.
Even further South are such interesting cities as Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego. I have been only briefly to all of those places and would recommend visiting the San Diego Zoo and Sea World park located in San Diego.
West of Monterey are Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, Death Valley, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Yosemite and Sequoia are located 4-5 hours away from Monterey and it is better to visit them in the end of April/beginning of May when the snow begins to melt in the mountains forming very beautiful and very powerful waterfalls. However to see these waterfalls be prepared to hike a long way into the mountains. I have not had a chance to visit Death Valley yet, so I will skip describing it. However I suggest visiting the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. The Grand Canyon is located 11 hours away, however, it is worth driving all the way there, because it offers astonishing views of the canyon and demonstrates the real power and beauty of nature. Las Vegas on the other hand demonstrates the full power of the American entertainment industry. Besides numerous casinos and hotels located on the strip – the main street in Vegas, I would also suggest visiting Stratosphere – a huge tower located in the old part of Vegas. Stratosphere offers amazing views of Vegas from either its observation decks or from the restaurants, as well as three extreme rides located ~1,000 feet (~300 meters) up in the air. Be ready to lose your voice and have a huge dose of adrenaline after those rides! :)
For those who like big cities, north of Monterey offers you the megalopolis areas of San Francisco, San Jose, and the capital of California – Sacramento. However it also has some areas where you could relax and kick back away from big cities. These places are Napa and Sonoma valleys where you can try numerous kinds of locally grown wine, Lake Tahoe, located way in the mountains which you great ski resorts during winter time, and redwood forests located north-east of Santa Cruz and north of the city of San Francisco.
Here I would like to conclude my section of describing what can be done for leisure outside of Monterey. The list of those places is far from being exhausted and there are plenty of other places that I did not have space to mention. If you decide to come to the Monterey Institute, you can supplement my list of places with additional sites.
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March 29, 2008
Monterey Institute of International Studies is a serious graduate school where students devote most of their time studying for their classes and completing various projects and assignments. However, in this section of my entry I would like to tell you about where the students go outside the campus, and what they do in Monterey during their free time.
First, I will tell you what can be done and seen within walking/biking distance from the institute. Monterey is perfectly situated on the central coast of California. Though I would not recommend swimming in the Pacific Ocean due to the cold currents, there are a number of water activities that can be done with a help of a wet/dry suit, including: surfing, diving, kayaking, etc. In addition, Monterey and the surrounding area are famous for the beautiful beaches, where people can walk/run/bike along the ocean, and see many amazing marine animals - sea lions, sea otters, and water fowl, and watch stunning sunsets, etc. In addition, you can take boat tours to look for whales or fish for salmon and other local fish. Tickets for these activities are usually sold on the Fisherman's Wharf located 0.5 miles from the Institute.
Monterey is also famous for the Monterey Bay Aquarium with thousands of different fish: including beautiful jelly fish, huge tunas, dangerous sharks, hilarious sea otters and penguins, and other fishes, animals, and birds. The Aquarium is located on Cannery Row – a favorite tourist destination with a number of little shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, etc. If you need a small gift from Monterey or if you are hungry for steamy clam chowder, Cannery Row and the Fisherman's Wharf are two places to visit.
A little bit further from Monterey, however still in a biking distance, are located the cities of Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach and Carmel. The first place is famous for its Monarch butterflies. Once a year for a period of a few months thousands of butterflies travel 2,000 miles from Canada to a quiet grove of trees in Pacific Grove, where they spend their summer. Thousands of tourists come every year to see the trees in Pacific Grove full of these butterflies. The people of Pacific Grove are so proud to host these Monarch butterflies that they decorate their homes with man-made butterflies and hold a butterfly parade on an annual basis.
If you are a fan of golf, while in Monterey, you should visit the world-famous Pebble Beach golf course resorts where the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament is held in February of each year. If you can afford a round, you can even golf in Pebble beach where each game cost hundreds of dollars. If your budget is tight, you can simply walk/drive/bike on the 17-mile drive that through Pebble Beach resorts. Even if you are not a fan of golf, I still recommend the 17-mile drive to see beautifully preserved California coast line as well as the multi-million dollar mansions of the Pebble Beach community.
Just south, the next city after Pebble Beach is the well-known city of Carmel-by-the-Sea, or simply Carmel. It is also well-known for beautiful houses and mansions along with a number of expensive shops and restaurants located on Ocean Avenue and the adjacent streets. However, if I could recommend one single place to visit in Carmel – it has got to be the Carmel beach. It is hard to describe the full beauty of this place – I think it is the combination of the soft white sand, clear blue ocean, and the view of the Pebble Beach forest and golf courses that make this place simply amazing.
The next place on the map is Carmel Valley – another small, but attractive little town surrounded by the fields of grapes and wineries that make very good wine that is distinctive from the other wines of California. You can take a tour of the wineries, for a small fee of $5 and try many kinds of wine, and finally purchase a few bottles on the spot for yourself or as a gift for your friends and relatives. They can even mail the purchased bottle of wine throughout the country and possibly worldwide.
Here I would like to stop my description of the Monterey Bay area. In my next entry I would like to tell you about the places around Monterey, that are not in quite as close proximity, but rather within driving distance.
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March 15, 2008
Monterey Institute is the home to several research centers: the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS), Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP), Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies (CRES), and the Center for Globalization & Localization (GLOBE).
All of the research centers are very active in their fields, as they publish extensively, maintain and update different databases, conduct various seminars/events and invite distinctive speakers and visitors to campus. Since I work only in one of the research centers, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), I would like to tell you more about this organization and my experience with it, while not discriminating or diminishing the importance of the work of other centers.
In short, the main goal and objective of the CNS is to use the education and training of future nonproliferation specialists, as well as research and extensive publications, to help combat the spread of WMD throughout the world. The Center was established in 1989 by Dr. William Potter, the author of countless articles and books on various aspects of WMD and their delivery methods. Besides Dr. Potter, the center employs several dozen nonproliferation professors, specialists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate research assistants. In addition, through various programs and grants, the center invites visiting fellows from around the world who share their expertise with the Monterey Institute, as well as use the center’s human, technological and other resources to conduct substantial research projects in the areas of their interest.
When I first arrived at CNS, I remember what struck me the most was the level of diversity of the group of experts working together at the center – you can find specialists from Austria, Brazil, China, Georgia, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, South Africa, U.S.A., and other countries. Diversity is also expressed not only in where the experts are from, but also by the area of their regional expertise, level of expertise and experience in their subject matter. CNS is proud to employ specialists who graduated not only from top universities in the US and the world, including the Monterey Institute, but also who have experience working for the top government agencies, international organizations, think tanks and private organizations throughout the world. CNS employs specialists who previously worked at/with the UN, IAEA, OPCW, U.S. Department of State, U.S. National Laboratories, CSIS, worked as arms control negotiators, UNSCOM inspectors in Iraq, former diplomats, government officials, independent consultants, scientists, etc. These specialists are not only professors/lecturers who teach their subjects of expertise on a daily basis to the students at the Institute, but, in addition, maintain and update the well known Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and CNS websites, publish the Nonproliferation Review and International Export Control Observer periodicals, maintain Inventory of International Nonproliferation Organizations & Regimes, and WMD databases. Furthermore, on a regular basis CNS staff members write books and submit their articles and op-eds on various WMD issues to a number of U.S. and international magazines, newspapers, publications, including WMD Insights, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Arms Control Association, etc.
CNS hosts various events weekly and invites different speakers from all over the world to express their opinion on certain issues. While being at the Institute, I have attended seminars and presentations by a number of speakers, including but not limited to a talk by the Director General of the IAEA - Mohamed ElBaradei, an Australian diplomat and the Chairman of UNSCOM – Richard Butler, one of the architects of CTR program and NTI’s CEO – Senator Sam Nunn, a great writer of a number of books on nuclear weapons - Richard Rhodes, and other interesting guests and experts.
If you want to learn about WMD, my advice to you would be to get an IPS degree at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, try to get some experience working at CNS, and attend as many CNS events as possible. I was fortunate enough to work at the center first as a data collector and processor, where I worked mainly with various open sources on WMD in Russian/English language. Later I began to work as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Newly Independent States Nonproliferation Program (NISNP), where I had a chance to work on materials for nuclear trafficking, progress under START I treaty, cooperation of Russia and Iran, Russia and China in nuclear technology, and other materials.
I am very thankful to all the personnel of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies for all their help and encouragement to grow in my education and as a young professional in the field. Thank you!
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February 27, 2008
After coming back from the Netherlands at the end of my internship with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, I noticed that there were many students, faculty and staff who spoke Russian on campus. However, it seemed that no matter how many of these people I met, there were always more Russian speakers, who I had never met. As a result, I decided to create a club on campus that would unite Russian speakers at the Institute, and introduce others to Russian language and the culture of the people who speak it. Consequently, in the fall of 2007 the “We Speak Russian” Club was formed.
The Monterey Institute is typically viewed as a serious place where students spend a vast majority of their time studying and writing papers. Thus, the aim of the “We Speak Russian” Club is to give the club members an outlet to relax and have fun, and, specifically, to have fun while speaking Russian. The club activities have attracted even non-Russian speakers, and just 6 months after the creation of the club, it already had 80+ members.
The “We Speak Russian” club has enjoyed such activities as movie nights, with classic movies from the Soviet days; a bonfire at the beautiful Carmel beach; an evening of Azerbaijani shishliki (shish kabobs); a ‘discoteka’ party with music from Russian-speaking countries; a celebration of ‘stari novi god’ (old New Year’s), and a campus- wide Happy Hour, co-sponsored by the “We Speak Russian” Club. In addition to other activities this spring, the club plans to participate in the International Bazaar, a festival on campus with food, music, pictures, and fun activities from around the world, and the Follies event, a show put on by campus members with jokes, music and skits.
Besides having fun with Russian speakers on campus, I also enjoy organizing and coordinating the club’s events. I feel my role in leading the club ties into my specialization in the MBA program - global project management. I not only like socializing with the members of the club, but also enjoy working out the details of the events with the staff members and student council at the Monterey Institute.
I find that by creating and participating in clubs at the Monterey Institute, lasting memories of fun activities are created, and friendships are built between students of all the graduate schools at the Institute. People who may not have classes together can get to know each other at these social events and I would not be surprised if the ties created in the clubs last for a lifetime as we leave Monterey to follow our given career paths. With forty plus clubs on campus, everyone can find a club to join, or create their own club.
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February 5, 2008
After completing several core nonproliferation classes at the Institute, including the Chemical and Biological Weapons Survey course taught by a former UNSCOM inspector in Iraq, Professor Zilinskas, I started looking for ways to apply the theory and knowledge I gained in more practical ways. I applied for the International Professional Service Semester (IPSS), a special program available to International Policy students at the Monterey Institute. The aim of IPSS is to provide graduate students with practical opportunities working at various International Organizations. (Click for more information about IPSS). I was placed at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) located in The Hague, Netherlands, which is a watchdog agency responsible for the implementation of all provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention. I worked in the Assistance and Protection Branch (APB) of this organization.
For those who have never been to the Netherlands (otherwise called Holland), I highly recommend visiting this country – they have a lot of tulips, cheese, windmills, canals, bicycles, and coffee shops. Den Haag (The Hague), located 40-minutes away from Amsterdam by train, is famous for being the home to as many as 150 international organizations, which include the International Criminal Court, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (during my stay I met Monterey Institute alumni of the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation who work at both of these organizations), the International Court of Justice located in the Peace Palace, Europol, and numerous other organizations.
In the beginning of my term at OPCW, I worked as hard as I could to help my branch and management with their various tasks and responsibilities. As a result of my efforts I was able to attend various workshops and training sessions in the headquarters of the OPCW as well as outside of the Netherlands. During my 6-month period with this organization I was able to participate in workshops in Kiev (Ukraine) and Nairobi (Kenya), Chemical Weapons protection training in Spiez (Switzerland) and Kuopio (Finland). Each of these trips was invaluable, both in terms of professional networking and the experience I received while meeting participants from around the world.
I could tell you many stories from my trips, however I thought it would be fun to tell you one from the workshop in Kenya. During this workshop, I was scheduled to give the first presentation on assistance and protection against chemical weapons. I was to present in front of 40+ officials from the governments of 7 East African States. I was a little nervous about the whole event as well as my role in the workshop. On the day of the event I woke up a few hours early in order to finish and practice my presentation, however, after a short period of time I received a phone call from my colleague, asking me to bring down the projector from my room to the hotel’s conference hall. Knowing that my colleague usually set things up in advance, I, suspecting nothing, put on my t-shirt, sweat pants and slippers and went to the conference room to deliver the projector. While walking to the conference room I noticed that quite a few people were already inside the room, and I thought to myself, maybe it was typical to wake up early and spend time socializing at such an event. But the strange thing was that the attendees were already in suits with their briefcases, notepads, and many were sitting at the tables already. Suddenly, I realized that it was not an hour and 10 minutes before the beginning of the workshop (how I previously thought), but only 10 minutes! I had forgotten about the hour time difference between The Hague and Nairobi. I now had only 10 minutes to run to my room, finish my presentation, shave, brush my teeth, change my clothes, change into my dress clothes (good thing I ironed everything in advance!), run back to the hall and start my presentation. That was a moment when time stood still and I discovered new qualities that I did not previously know I had, such as fast sprinting, jumping up/down stairs and super multitasking abilities (e.g. finishing my PowerPoint while brushing teeth and putting on my shirt). I was probably a couple of minutes late to the hall. However, the workshop did not start on time, so I had the chance to catch my breath and calm down a little before my presentation. I was glad to remember the various techniques I had learned while taking a Public Speaking class at the Monterey Institute. In the end, the whole 30-min presentation went rather well and I received lots of complements from my colleagues from the OPCW, as well as from the workshop participants.
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January 24, 2008
Hi! My name is Pavel Tishakov. I am a graduate student at the Monterey Institute who was bold enough to take on not one, but two master’s degrees: one in International Policy and the other an international MBA.
I was born and raised in Yaroslavl, Russia. For those who do not know about my city (since most do not :)), Yaroslavl is a mid size city with a population of a little over 650,000 and located around 150 miles north-east of Moscow. Despite this relatively short distance and the fact that we live in the 21st century it still takes more than 4 hours to get to Yaroslavl from Moscow no matter if you drive or take a train. Yaroslavl is an ancient city, which was founded in 1010 (almost one thousand years ago!) and its symbol is a bear with an axe (see picture). Some say, when the city was founded, there were a lot of bears walking around on the streets with axes over there shoulders. Another theory suggests that 1000 years ago there were not any humans in the area and that the city was founded by the bears! Perhaps Yaroslavl and its symbol started the rumor that you can see bears walking around on the streets of Russia.
Growing up I had a pretty normal childhood, with the exception maybe the fall of the USSR and waiting in line for hours to get a loaf of bread and a bottle of milk. Jeans and chewing gum were an unreachable dream at the time! On the positive side, the Russian government provided me with free health care and education, for which I am very thankful. After high school I attended Yaroslavl State University where I finished a 6-year degree in Physics. When I enrolled in school, I would have never believed that after graduating, my destiny would bring me as far as California. Or that I would learn a foreign language and go back to school again! Who would have thought?!! J
While a student, I met a beautiful young girl from the US, more specifically from Wisconsin, who would one day become my wife. She was adventurous enough to do a full-time degree in Russian language and literature at a Russian University, Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University. In the 3 years that followed, I went to the US twice as an exchange student to work during my summer holidays, I got married to this lovely girl, I finally graduated from my university in Russia, and moved to the US. Next, my wife tells me she wants to attend graduate school at the Monterey Institute. So, I packed up the car and we drove across the US to Monterey with our Russian cat in the back seat.
While my wife went to school, I did not waste my time - I passed a few courses and engineering certifications, and got a job as an AutoCAD engineer in a local alarm company where I worked for almost two years designing fire alarm systems. Sometimes I came to the Monterey Institute, I must confess usually for happy hours with free food and drinks. The more I went to these events, the more I met people with interesting internationals backgrounds. The more I spoke to them about their courses and professors, the more I was hooked on the school. By the time my wife graduated, I was seriously thinking about quitting my job and going to school.
Fortunately, my wife found a good job at the Institute and I passed the TOEFL and GMAT, applied and was enrolled into the MBA program at the Institute. In addition, due to my technical nature, I was very interested in the courses related to weapons of mass destruction, more specifically to their nonproliferation. Initially, I began taking only a few nonproliferation classes, later I found I was very interested in this subject and ended up applying for the second degree in International Policy.
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