An interesting day, for sure. My first meeting wasn't scheduled until 4 today and so I slept in until about 12.00, attempting in vain to try to catch up on sleep. My body still isn't adjusted to this dramatically different time zone, and I have a nasty habit of waking up at 5 am then not being able to wake up again until about noon. Got a call about 13.45 saying that it would be better if we could meet at 15.00 so I got dressed and headed out. Traffic was horrendous and the trip ended up taking almost an hour. Her son, Сергей (Sergey, 11), met me at the metro exit and we walked the 1/2 mile or so to their home. We have a slightly different arrangement with Katya's family, and I didn't just help Серёжа (Siryozha, the name Sergey prefers to go by) with his English; he helped me with my Russian vocabulary as well. Katya came home just to prepare lunch, which was fantastic especially considering she made it in less than 10 minutes. She advised me that Tuesdays anbd Thursdays are always horrible for traffic, and although she doesn't know why either, she always has to leave early on those days to get anywhere on time. She then rushed out the door to get to work.
After about 2 hours or so I looked at my watch and realized I had another appointment in about 20 minutes. The meeting was only 1 station away, and there's no way to rush an 11 year old, and so we played soccer with a piece of wood on the way back to the station while we chatted about our families and thei professions. Very smart kid, and I had a great time! We were kicking the piece of wood so far that a few older women made some comments that I don't think I want to know how to translate, but they just need to calm down. Lots of people smiled as we ran down the sidewalk playing, probably assuming he was my son or something, and it more than made up for the cranky old ladies.
Got to Коньково (Konkova) station right about the time I was supposed to meet Лёша and I texted him to let him know I was running a few minutes behind. Ended up being only about 5 minutes late, so no biggie. We discussed music, and after having heard only a small sampling of Russian music, mostly consisting of pop that kind of induced my gag reflex I was happy to learn that there is in fact good Russian music. Granted the musical selection included Gorky Park and tATu, so there was lots of hair involved, but after hearing so many complaints from so many people that there's no good Russian music, it was still a relief.
We had tea, and again I looked down at my watch and realized I had about 3 minutes to get down to the station again to meet Ksana. Лёша came with me because he was headed to the market next to the station anyways, and as we got there I got a text saying she was running behind too. Waited about 20 minutes and so I got to watch a good number of couples climbing on and off trains groping each other. Also noticed a lot of people wearing shirts in English and learned that that doesn't mean that they have any idea what their clothing says... more often than not they just thought it looked cool, the same way white girls get tattoos in Chinese lettering and find out later that they have a giant tattoo running up their side that says "PICNIC TABLE" while some Chinese guy in a tattoo parlor counts his cash and laughs himself to sleep. It's weird to think that English writing looks strange and exotic to people in other countries, and it gives you kind of an interesting perspective on things.
We headed a few stations up the line to a Japanese restaurant near where her father works (used to work? not positive) and the food was fantastic, if perhaps a bit pricy. But then again, Japanese food in all countries runs pretty high I guess, doesn't it? Strange that it costs so much more to NOT cook it. I requested a Kirin Ichiban, and the waitress advised that they don't carry that beer, but recommended another that she said was similar. The beer was awful and I had serious doubts she had ever tasted Kirin or this beer or was in fact Japanese at all. It tasted like bitter, watered down ... well, we'll just say that the meal would have tasted perfect if I hadn't had to wash it down with that swill. I got a crab soup which was like nothing I'd ever tasted and was phenomenal, and a roll that while having only a subtle taste to it, was mildly spicy and tasted excellent. More flavor, less punch.
I'm learning from repeated experiences why people from Russia complain about American food now. Like everything else America does, we like lots of bravado. American is the new kid on the block that always looks forward to show and tell. American food tends to be just as loud as the people are, with big bold flavors born specifically to win the State Fair Taste Competition. The foods here as a general rule are more subtle, but always tasty. I've learned the word вкусна (vkoosna: tasty/delicious) from the constant need to use it at every meal.
We made our way back to the train about 21.00 and I got back to Принц Плаза (Prince Plaza, a mall near the south-west edge of the city) just before sundown to catch the 433 back to Troitsk (Троицк, by the way). As usual, I tried to find a seat near the back ... less people hear you when you talk English and start staring. In Moscow, people will tend to glance at you if you speak English because it's not incredibly common, but most don't take heed for long. It's not totally unheard of to encounter people speaking English in such a huge city. But when you head outside of the city ... in Troitsk it's rare. Most English speakers stay inside the city limits apparently. When I get on the bus, people take notice that there's an English speaker in their little city and find it strange.
So it was tonight, that I was sitting about 3 rows from the back of the transport and someone heard my music. Again, it's not unheard of to hear people listening to American music, but it caught one gentleman's attention long enough to glance over my shoulder and see my texting in English. Before long I had 4 guys sitting over my shoulder looking at my texts. They got out their phones and starting texting eachother, I assume since they didn't know whether I spoke Russian or not. It was altogether awkward and for the first time I had to actually keep my texts vague so I didn't have them showing up tomorrow following me around. That might sound paranoid, but paranoia can save you in Russia. It's always better to let others know no more than is necessary about you, especially where you live.
When they got off they kind of followed at a distance, and so I decided to take the long way around to get home and went into the grocery. I picked up some yogurt, eggs, and salmon. Yogurt because it looked tasty, eggs because we actually needed them, and salmon because the girls last night introduced me to putting thin slices on a particular type of bread they brought and I fell in love. When I checked out the woman asked me a question I didn't understand, and I told her I didn't speak Russian well, at which point she apparently forgot she was Russian and started laughing like she had just heard the commercial telling people that Police aren't bad anymore because they have a different name now (totally hilarious, more on that later). I understand enough Russian to know she asked me what I was doing in Russia if I didn't know Russian, and then she turned to another cashier and the security guard to attempt to incite them to laughter. However, they didn't forget they were Russian and they just stared at her like she had gone completely mad. I really wished I knew enough Russian to tell her she was incredibly rude, but whatever.. no big deal.
Regarding the Police, they were until about a month ago called Милиция (Militia). There's a story behind why they're called Militia and not Police, because they actually did used to be called Police. I'll get into that at a later date. Regardless, the Militia is infamous for not doing anything they're supposed to, and doing lots of stuff that they're not supposed to. There's a huge separation between people that work for the government and people that don't, and the two sects of society don't interact... ever. As you've probably discerned from my previous posts, the Militia is the type of organization you hear about in horror stories. If you get mugged, don't call the Militia. They'll catch the crooks, take the money that was stolen, then pocket it and tell you nothing happened and you were never robbed. They'll stop you in the streets for a document check, take your documents, take your money, and walk off. At least they typically leave you enough money for cab fare to get home.
There was literally a story on the news this morning wherein a guy managed to acquire a Militia uniform and was using it to rob people. But because that's what the real Militia does anyways, no one questioned the authenticity of him taking their money. Even if they did, what can they do? Nothing. This is Russia, remember? Anywayyyysssssss, the government recently decided that they didn't like the negative reputation that the Militia had acquired and spent several million rubles to repaint all the cars from 'Милиция" to "Полиция" (Police) and have gone to great lengths to convince people that the group is somehow different since they have a different name now. Yeah ... nice try, but no one is biting.
All in all, I'd have to say I'm finally getting the hang of the city, which is awesome. Petr and Katya, as well as some others, have expressed that in their opinion I'm not a tourist at all, and they consider me family already. They said that I'm fitting in great, certainly better than anyone ever expected an American to be able to. It's a pretty awesome feeling, and I wouldn't trade this time for anything. Time to finally hit the sack... I'm about to pass out and I at least need to get to the bed before it happens. Hope everyone has as awesome of a day as I did! Take care))))
After about 2 hours or so I looked at my watch and realized I had another appointment in about 20 minutes. The meeting was only 1 station away, and there's no way to rush an 11 year old, and so we played soccer with a piece of wood on the way back to the station while we chatted about our families and thei professions. Very smart kid, and I had a great time! We were kicking the piece of wood so far that a few older women made some comments that I don't think I want to know how to translate, but they just need to calm down. Lots of people smiled as we ran down the sidewalk playing, probably assuming he was my son or something, and it more than made up for the cranky old ladies.
Got to Коньково (Konkova) station right about the time I was supposed to meet Лёша and I texted him to let him know I was running a few minutes behind. Ended up being only about 5 minutes late, so no biggie. We discussed music, and after having heard only a small sampling of Russian music, mostly consisting of pop that kind of induced my gag reflex I was happy to learn that there is in fact good Russian music. Granted the musical selection included Gorky Park and tATu, so there was lots of hair involved, but after hearing so many complaints from so many people that there's no good Russian music, it was still a relief.
We had tea, and again I looked down at my watch and realized I had about 3 minutes to get down to the station again to meet Ksana. Лёша came with me because he was headed to the market next to the station anyways, and as we got there I got a text saying she was running behind too. Waited about 20 minutes and so I got to watch a good number of couples climbing on and off trains groping each other. Also noticed a lot of people wearing shirts in English and learned that that doesn't mean that they have any idea what their clothing says... more often than not they just thought it looked cool, the same way white girls get tattoos in Chinese lettering and find out later that they have a giant tattoo running up their side that says "PICNIC TABLE" while some Chinese guy in a tattoo parlor counts his cash and laughs himself to sleep. It's weird to think that English writing looks strange and exotic to people in other countries, and it gives you kind of an interesting perspective on things.
We headed a few stations up the line to a Japanese restaurant near where her father works (used to work? not positive) and the food was fantastic, if perhaps a bit pricy. But then again, Japanese food in all countries runs pretty high I guess, doesn't it? Strange that it costs so much more to NOT cook it. I requested a Kirin Ichiban, and the waitress advised that they don't carry that beer, but recommended another that she said was similar. The beer was awful and I had serious doubts she had ever tasted Kirin or this beer or was in fact Japanese at all. It tasted like bitter, watered down ... well, we'll just say that the meal would have tasted perfect if I hadn't had to wash it down with that swill. I got a crab soup which was like nothing I'd ever tasted and was phenomenal, and a roll that while having only a subtle taste to it, was mildly spicy and tasted excellent. More flavor, less punch.
I'm learning from repeated experiences why people from Russia complain about American food now. Like everything else America does, we like lots of bravado. American is the new kid on the block that always looks forward to show and tell. American food tends to be just as loud as the people are, with big bold flavors born specifically to win the State Fair Taste Competition. The foods here as a general rule are more subtle, but always tasty. I've learned the word вкусна (vkoosna: tasty/delicious) from the constant need to use it at every meal.
We made our way back to the train about 21.00 and I got back to Принц Плаза (Prince Plaza, a mall near the south-west edge of the city) just before sundown to catch the 433 back to Troitsk (Троицк, by the way). As usual, I tried to find a seat near the back ... less people hear you when you talk English and start staring. In Moscow, people will tend to glance at you if you speak English because it's not incredibly common, but most don't take heed for long. It's not totally unheard of to encounter people speaking English in such a huge city. But when you head outside of the city ... in Troitsk it's rare. Most English speakers stay inside the city limits apparently. When I get on the bus, people take notice that there's an English speaker in their little city and find it strange.
So it was tonight, that I was sitting about 3 rows from the back of the transport and someone heard my music. Again, it's not unheard of to hear people listening to American music, but it caught one gentleman's attention long enough to glance over my shoulder and see my texting in English. Before long I had 4 guys sitting over my shoulder looking at my texts. They got out their phones and starting texting eachother, I assume since they didn't know whether I spoke Russian or not. It was altogether awkward and for the first time I had to actually keep my texts vague so I didn't have them showing up tomorrow following me around. That might sound paranoid, but paranoia can save you in Russia. It's always better to let others know no more than is necessary about you, especially where you live.
When they got off they kind of followed at a distance, and so I decided to take the long way around to get home and went into the grocery. I picked up some yogurt, eggs, and salmon. Yogurt because it looked tasty, eggs because we actually needed them, and salmon because the girls last night introduced me to putting thin slices on a particular type of bread they brought and I fell in love. When I checked out the woman asked me a question I didn't understand, and I told her I didn't speak Russian well, at which point she apparently forgot she was Russian and started laughing like she had just heard the commercial telling people that Police aren't bad anymore because they have a different name now (totally hilarious, more on that later). I understand enough Russian to know she asked me what I was doing in Russia if I didn't know Russian, and then she turned to another cashier and the security guard to attempt to incite them to laughter. However, they didn't forget they were Russian and they just stared at her like she had gone completely mad. I really wished I knew enough Russian to tell her she was incredibly rude, but whatever.. no big deal.
Regarding the Police, they were until about a month ago called Милиция (Militia). There's a story behind why they're called Militia and not Police, because they actually did used to be called Police. I'll get into that at a later date. Regardless, the Militia is infamous for not doing anything they're supposed to, and doing lots of stuff that they're not supposed to. There's a huge separation between people that work for the government and people that don't, and the two sects of society don't interact... ever. As you've probably discerned from my previous posts, the Militia is the type of organization you hear about in horror stories. If you get mugged, don't call the Militia. They'll catch the crooks, take the money that was stolen, then pocket it and tell you nothing happened and you were never robbed. They'll stop you in the streets for a document check, take your documents, take your money, and walk off. At least they typically leave you enough money for cab fare to get home.
There was literally a story on the news this morning wherein a guy managed to acquire a Militia uniform and was using it to rob people. But because that's what the real Militia does anyways, no one questioned the authenticity of him taking their money. Even if they did, what can they do? Nothing. This is Russia, remember? Anywayyyysssssss, the government recently decided that they didn't like the negative reputation that the Militia had acquired and spent several million rubles to repaint all the cars from 'Милиция" to "Полиция" (Police) and have gone to great lengths to convince people that the group is somehow different since they have a different name now. Yeah ... nice try, but no one is biting.
All in all, I'd have to say I'm finally getting the hang of the city, which is awesome. Petr and Katya, as well as some others, have expressed that in their opinion I'm not a tourist at all, and they consider me family already. They said that I'm fitting in great, certainly better than anyone ever expected an American to be able to. It's a pretty awesome feeling, and I wouldn't trade this time for anything. Time to finally hit the sack... I'm about to pass out and I at least need to get to the bed before it happens. Hope everyone has as awesome of a day as I did! Take care))))
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