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Published: October 18th 2006
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Yesterday was an interesting day.
It started out fairly normally. I went to lunch with everyone at the cafeteria and it was about the same as usual. As usual the "Coat Nazi" yelled at all of us who tried to sneak our coats into the cafeteria and made us go out of the cafeteria and hang out coats in the coat room. She always patrols around the cafeteria on the look out for coats. She seems to consider it the main duty of her job. And, as usual, the cafeteria ladies put sour cream in the borsch. I didn't tell them fast enough that I wanted to have borsch without sour cream. Russians think it is very strange whenever people ask for soup without sour cream. My previous host mom always used to lecture me about it, saying that sour cream is good for me.
After eating lunch we went to the adjoining coffee room to do our homework. There were two Russian guys seated in the table next to us listening to very loud techno music, drinking, and dancing. It was really hilarious so we talked about them in English, thinking they wouldn't understand us. But it turned out
that one of them speaks very good English and understood everything that we said. I think that they acted crazy mainly because they found it amusing to listen to us talk about them. After about ten minutes, the English speaking guy called to me saying, "Devotchka! Devotchka (Girl! Girl!)" I turned around and he asked (in English), "Are you American?" I said yes. Then he said, "I was in America once. I have an uncle who lives around Las Vegas. I like America but we have better and cheaper drugs in Russia". I told him that I don't take drugs. He looked like he didn't believe me and started talking talking about how it is easy to get ecstacy in clubs in Russia. I told him I don't like to go to clubs. Then, finally understanding that talking about drugs was going to be a dead end with me, he tried to bring the conversation to other topics. He asked about where I am from and told me that he is from a small city called Kazan and he is a mix of Russian and Tatar. We talked a bit more and then I left with the rest of my
group.
It is a pity that he's into drugs. He's the only cute Russian guy I've met who speaks decent English. But I wouldn't even consider dating him considering that he obviously is into drugs a lot.
I have met very few Russian people. The girls in my university generally only seem interested in getting to know the guys in my group. And the guys who were interested in getting to know me obviously were looking for more than a friend. And I don't want to date someone who can't speak English.
Really the only Russian I spend much time with is my host mom. But I spend a lot of time with my host mom. I try to return home no later than 9pm because I don't want to be walking home in the dark by myself.
Before, with my previous family, I used to spend a lot of time reading in my room. But my new host mom loves to talk. I think she was very lonely before I moved in. Her husband died ten years ago and her children all have their own appartments.
We talk for hours every night.
She has strong opinions about just about
everything. Her favorite topics are chemicals, communism, and america vs.Russia.
Every time she offers me something to eat she makes a point of telling me that it has no chemicals, unlike in the U.S. Russian produce is grown without pesticide so it doesn't have the chemicals that our food has. Galina thinks that American food is unhealthy because of the chemicals. Galina cares a lot about having healthy food. She grows most of her food herself at her dacha. Her refrigerator is now stuffed to the brim with produce she has canned for the winter. She says that in the winter she never buys food, she stores enough during the summer and fall that she never has to buy food in the winter. She has a garden five times the size of her appartment at her dacha and spends most of her summer there.
Galina also loves to talk about how life was better when Russia had communism. She says that the government gave her the appartment and dacha for free. Education was free and better. The elderly had better stipends (their stipends shrunk drastically with the collapse of the USSR. Now the stipends aren't enough to provide elderly even
with enough food).
She also loves to talk about how she thinks Russia is better than America. She thinks Russia is better (or at least used to be better) in every concievable way. Some things I agree with her-primary education is far better in Russia. Russian children grow up knowning the names of the leaders of all European and Asian countries. I can't say that I know the names of all of them myself. Russian kids also learn much more math than American kids.
Galina's main problem with America is that we interefere in a lot of other countries. All Russians that I have talked to think it is horrible that we went into Afghanistan and Iraq. They think that we invaded those countries for the oil. They say we are a greedy nation and forcibly keep other nations in poverty by stealing their natural resources.
Sometimes I try to argue with Galina but she very strongly holds to her views. I told her that a lot of Americans don't agree with Bush. She didn't seem to believe me.
It is really interesting to talk with her. Last night we talked for three hours.
I'm running out of time so
I can't write about more today but I will at some point. So I'll say goodbye for now.
On Friday I'm going to Ukraine I'm so excited! I'm going to be there for a week.
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Estonian
non-member comment
I've tried to argue to russians as well, but basically they are too full of propaganda, so it's pointless. There are nations who are happy that the USSR collapsed - Baltics forexample, and you couldn't prove anyone here, that life was better back then... (except old russian people). Have fun!