Siberia, Russia Part 3 – Communist Planes and Defining “Fluent” Written by Rick Chapo
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Our flight consisted of about 100 people. Of these, 90 percent were Russians. Grae and I counted as two and remaining five or so people were religious volunteers going to convert godless masses. They appeared to be having no luck on plane, but Grae and I were able to strike up a few conversations. I must say that Russians on plane were extremely nice and very honest. While honesty is generally a good thing, their frankness made me a bit uncomfortable. First, there was a clear consensus that we were out of our mind for agreeing to go to Chita. “You are going WHERE?!” was followed by a lot of whispering between Russians and bulging eyes. Since I doubted pilot would be willing to turn plane around, this wasn’t particularly comforting. Our conversations raised an additional problem regarding definition of “fluent”. In my mind, being fluent in a language meant that one could get directions, tell boring stories, etc., in language in question. It quickly became clear that Grae’s definition of “fluent” was something less. This was verified when he turned to me and said, “Man, I’ve forgotten a lot.” Great. Khabarovsk was only a few hours a way. But that’s a story to be told in Part 4 of this series…
Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers of small, compact travel journals, hiking journals, rock climbing journals, fly fishing journals, bird watching journals and more. This story series is being created from journals entries in a Nomad Travel Journal. Visit Siberian Intercultural Bridges at http://www.siberian-bridges.org to find out more about teaching in Siberia.
| | Siberia, Russia Part 2 – Where Are We and What Day Is It?Written by Rick Chapo
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he speaks fluent Russian. This is a big relief as I had spent a lot of previous evening contemplating my Russian skills. That is to say, I had none. I couldn’t even pronounce name of city we would land in, Khabarovsk. I nearly had a panic attack during night when I bolted up in bed upon realization that I would have no way of knowing how to get to train or when to get off. You see, Russian language is based on Cyrillic alphabet. There is no way to wing Cyrillic alphabet. For example, letter “y” is pronounced “ch” as in Charlie. I was in definite trouble. Would rest of my life be spent riding around aimlessly on trains? The continued grinning of Tom Dickinson didn’t make me feel any better. Our flight from Seattle to Anchorage was uneventful. Yes, we flew Alaska Airlines. While waiting for our connection in Anchorage, two thoughts kept running though my head. First, isn’t Aeroflot airline with all crashes? Second, how did a man from Kentucky become fluent in Russian? I mean, what about his accent? I was feeling less confident about my translator and decided to investigate. I started rubbing my temples when he told me that he had never been to Russia. Alas, there was no turning back. Trust me, I tried. But that’s a story to be told in Part 3 of this nomad adventure travel series…
Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers of small, compact travel journals, hiking journals, rock climbing journals, fly fishing journals, bird watching journals and more. This story series is being created from journals entries in a Nomad Travel Journal. Visit Siberian Intercultural Bridges at http://www.siberian-bridges.org to find out more about teaching in Siberia.
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