Another photo of Christ Church

Bryan, Nikita, and I at Noodlebar

This man with Bryan and I is Nikita. He is a marketing executive from Russia. He's unique among us because he is not here in order to get any degree. He graduated from an Indian College with an MBA degree in 1998. He has since worked for an advertising agency in Russia. He decided that he would take some law courses through the University of San Diego, because he felt that too often, people from countries with a common law system (us and England among others) had a hard time understanding, and therefore trusting, businessmen who operate in a civil law system (Russia).

So last year he took two classes in Florence, Italy, and this year he is taking the same products liability class that I am taking. He's a really smart guy. He is very able when it comes to interpreting cases, and drawing the law out of the American judges opinions, which is difficult for law students from civil law countries.

Bryan and I had dinner with him this evening. We went to an oriental restaurant called the "Noodlebar." It was good. He told us all about Russia and how in many ways, the poor in Russia live very much the same way people lived hundreds of years ago. Many people are subsistance farmers. The economy in Russia is still mostly agricultural. He asked what the American public perception of Russia is, whether Americans trusted the Russians. It was very interesting.

He said that to govern the Russian people, the government must use an iron fist. That the people respond to strength and strong rulers. I got an impression that the people were tough. He said that many times, if you buy one car, you must buy a big car. The little cars that you see in Europe are, "laides cars." Many times, a man will buy a jeep, then he will buy a smaller car for his wife. However, he will end up driving the smaller car, because it's more practical to find a place to park and it's easier to maneuver in city traffic. His wife will end up with the Jeep.