Communication breakdown

So, one of the biggest issues I've come up with in preparing for my trip to Sochi is dealing with the media staff in Russia. The problem lies in the communication. The easiest way to communicate is obviously via e-mail, but it's obvious that English is not the first language of the people working in the media relations (as it shouldn't be). So trying to figure out just what everything means when getting e-mails can be a challenge.

The latest e-mail from Sochi came to me with the message that I owed money. I've made a trio of payments via wire transfer. Two were for my accommodations and the other was for my internet and phone packages while I am in Russia. The accommodations payments were sent in US dollars and were sent months ago, but the e-mail came through saying I owed money. I went online as directed and found that for some reason, each of the payments I had sent to secure my housing for the two weeks was docked five dollars (guessing for a bank fee), so I owed $10.

Thanks to the hard work of Ben at TD Bank in Wolfeboro, I was able to get everything worked out (hopefully) and sent another payment on to Russia. As we get down to about 80 days to go, the trip is becoming more of a reality.

Welcome to my Olympic blog... I am new to the whole blogging thing, but thought it might be a good way to report regularly on my trip to cover the Olympics in Sochi, Russia. I will be posting full stories on our company's web site at www.NewHampshireLakesandMountains.com but I am hoping this will provide a chance to get more daily updates on the numerous local athletes from New Hampshire competing in Sochi. Hopefully this works the way I want it to... Looking forward to a great experience in Russia.