Living in Sibera
March 11th 2009 13:51
Siberia, right now, is very cold. Numbers don't do it justice. To say very cold is like saying Stalin was very much a jerk. You know it is true, for a given value of true, but it doesn't give the entire picture of what it really means. As a Sydney boy, havig only seen snow about a handful of times, this is an exhilirating time and place to be in.
It is interesting to find out how foreigners feel. I don't speak much Russian (I know enough now to say that I don't speak ANY Russian), but I can understand a few basic bits and pieces and I know enough to get around a little (very, very little). As an ESL (English Second Language) Teacher I am always surrounded by people that need to learn the language that I grew up speaking, people that have come to a country where they might only barely speak the language, and try to find a school in a city they don't know. Until you've been this kind of foreigner, you really don't know what it is like. It's helped me understand and respect my father's parents a great deal more (they were immigrants from Germany and Poland that arrived here without a word of English).
I've also learned a lot about Russians in general. On the outside they are rude, sad people that look at you funny if you are smiling, say hello or wear a funny hat (in my case a red woollen hat with a pompom, and I do those over things too). But when you actually get to know them they are some of the warmest and nicest people you'll ever meet.
JoshZ
It is interesting to find out how foreigners feel. I don't speak much Russian (I know enough now to say that I don't speak ANY Russian), but I can understand a few basic bits and pieces and I know enough to get around a little (very, very little). As an ESL (English Second Language) Teacher I am always surrounded by people that need to learn the language that I grew up speaking, people that have come to a country where they might only barely speak the language, and try to find a school in a city they don't know. Until you've been this kind of foreigner, you really don't know what it is like. It's helped me understand and respect my father's parents a great deal more (they were immigrants from Germany and Poland that arrived here without a word of English).
I've also learned a lot about Russians in general. On the outside they are rude, sad people that look at you funny if you are smiling, say hello or wear a funny hat (in my case a red woollen hat with a pompom, and I do those over things too). But when you actually get to know them they are some of the warmest and nicest people you'll ever meet.
JoshZ
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