Russian Women Discussion
RWD Discussion Groups => Trip Reports => Topic started by: The Natural on August 23, 2018, 03:36:48 PM
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Visa in hand, tickets bought and soon off to Rostov-on-Don. Not much time there, but anyone here been in the city and care to share what they experienced? Any "must see" venues?
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Starocherkassk, which is about an hour away. It is the town of the Don Cossacks, and is an open air museum. You can take a boat cruise there -
http://u-veter.com/uslugi-kompani/kruiz-v-starocherkask.html (http://u-veter.com/uslugi-kompani/kruiz-v-starocherkask.html)
Rostov-on-Don is known for its fish and crayfish, usually eaten dried with beer.
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Starocherkassk, which is about an hour away. It is the town of the Don Cossacks, and is an open air museum. You can take a boat cruise there -
http://u-veter.com/uslugi-kompani/kruiz-v-starocherkask.html (http://u-veter.com/uslugi-kompani/kruiz-v-starocherkask.html)
Rostov-on-Don is known for its fish and crayfish, usually eaten dried with beer.
Thanks. The link won't open for me.
Unfortunately I will be there only for a day and I don't like Fish or beer, but surely they have vodka, haha. Anything Nice to see in the centre? Some People there talk English?
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I personally wasn't that impressed with Starocherkassk, it's very small and mediocre. If you have time, I'd recommend spending a day or two in Taganrog. It's a nice little town on the sea.
Many statues and monuments as well as restaurants as you stroll along the Don. You'll find plenty to do.
http://tinyurl.com/ydf75skj
Tachanka is the most impressive.
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Rostov Na Danu
you can spend hours and hours walking along the Don and see all kinds of interesting things
you're right at the tail-end of the tourist season, choicest cafes, etc still crowded
if crowds are an issue, Mondays are better
if you're staying in an apartment, doing your own cooking, then you HAVE to go to central market and buy your groceries - you will NOT be disappointed
because I'm a collector/hoarder it's also a good place to buy "stuff"
some unique local culinary items, like the huge smoked fish
around Rostov some good Soviet era places, I liked Proletarsk, very photogenic
not a bad place to spend a few days
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While not very active here, you might want to contact Sparky114. I believe he owns a home near or in Rostov on Don.
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While not very active here, you might want to contact Sparky114. I believe he owns a home near or in Rostov on Don.
His Wife's family are from TAGANROG on the coast of the Azov Sea, 30 mins drive away - but he flies in and out of Rostov and - of course will know it.
I have been there twice - by train - There's a UK Visa centre, there ..
I was struck by the accent - they say Havorit - not gavorit - they pronounce the H sound - like Ukrainians
It had a make over - as it was a host city for the World Cup
If you are there when FC Rostov play - worth a visit
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Rostov Na Danu
you can spend hours and hours walking along the Don and see all kinds of interesting things
you're right at the tail-end of the tourist season, choicest cafes, etc still crowded
if crowds are an issue, Mondays are better
Yes, an evening stroll along the Don might be nice. I will only be in Rostov for a day and arrive there after a 24 hour travel.
Won't have time to do much else. My hotel is near the river.
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While not very active here, you might want to contact Sparky114. I believe he owns a home near or in Rostov on Don.
If he's there and a good guy, we might have a drink ;D
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" I will only be in Rostov for a day and arrive there after a 24 hour travel."
you're a much better man than me!
after 24 hour travel, I probably wouldn't be able to leave the hotel bed
a shame you don't have more time!
I assume a layover...
walking along the Don is a must...
much more visual than most Russian cities, less gray, more colorful
I don't know how much Russian travel you have under your belt, but if you've never seen one of these big Russian markets before
then definitely check out central market!!!
what else to see would be based on your interests, architecture, museums, etc
there's a lot there!!!
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" I will only be in Rostov for a day and arrive there after a 24 hour travel."
you're a much better man than me!
after 24 hour travel, I probably wouldn't be able to leave the hotel bed
a shame you don't have more time!
I assume a layover...
walking along the Don is a must...
much more visual than most Russian cities, less gray, more colorful
I don't know how much Russian travel you have under your belt, but if you've never seen one of these big Russian markets before
then definitely check out central market!!!
what else to see would be based on your interests, architecture, museums, etc
there's a lot there!!!
Well, it remains to be seen IF I too have any energy left or if I pass out in my hotel bed, haha.
Anyway, will be interesting to see a little of the city before moving on.
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Some photos taken from there, today .. A good friend of mine - from Sochi was there - asked them to take photos.
They described the architecture as 'eclectic'..?!;))
(http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1817/29305762317_cca1808dbd_c.jpg)
(http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1854/44241419291_274524b0f0_c.jpg)
(http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1819/29305761747_761aa9448b_c.jpg)
(http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1862/44241419391_5745ac3fd5_c.jpg)
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very eclectic!
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Some photos taken from there, today .. A good friend of mine - from Sochi was there - asked them to take photos.
They described the architecture as 'eclectic'..?!;))
Thanks for the photos...nice. I'll take some when I come to Rostov. Might post if I remember how to (it's been years) :D
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Well, I am here right now, in Rostov-na-Donu :D
Have met up with some extremely nice people from Donetsk that are staying in the same hotel as I am for a couple of days.
We strolled along the Don today and had a wonderful meal at the Italian restaurant. Later we went to the shopping centre and bought a present for their soon-to-be 5-year old Princess.
Day of knowledge if I understood Google correctly, which apparently meant no sale of alcohol in the supermarked, closed, haha.
Met a young Russian outside the hotel from Moscow who knows english. He works for a pharmacy company and are in town on business with some french people.
Today was not as hot as before. A refreshing but very mild breeze which suits an Arctic person such as myself just fine.
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Where to, next ? Biz or pleasure ?
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Where to, next ? Biz or pleasure ?
Next, tomorrow, will be Moskva. My friends did not like the idea of me being alone for several days, so they suggested I go to some friends of theirs in Moscow :)
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Next, tomorrow, will be Moskva. My friends did not like the idea of me being alone for several days, so they suggested I go to some friends of theirs in Moscow :)
Have a wonderful trip, R. With the young one in tow, these are years you will remember.
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Have a wonderful trip, R. With the young one in tow, these are years you will remember.
Thank you, Jone. But I'm alone on this trip. If this weren't such an anti-Russian forum, I'd be happy to explain.
I tried to link, even one photo, but it's apparently too large and I have no time to Fu.. around with that, haha.
And yes, it will indeed be eventful, exciting, wonderful and days that I will remember for the rest of my life. I've bonded with people that don't speak either Norwegian nor English and I have only a few Russian words in my arsenal. It does not matter in our case as we understood each other very well despite the language barrier, and we will be friends forever. We have brightened up each others existence in a wonderful adventure and I will miss them very much but hope to see them next year.
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'Anti-Russian'?
Hmm
Think some folks get confused with Putin and think all Russians voted for him ;)
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Thank you, Jone. But I'm alone on this trip. If this weren't such an anti-Russian forum, I'd be happy to explain.
I tried to link, even one photo, but it's apparently too large and I have no time to Fu.. around with that, haha.
And yes, it will indeed be eventful, exciting, wonderful and days that I will remember for the rest of my life. I've bonded with people that don't speak either Norwegian nor English and I have only a few Russian words in my arsenal. It does not matter in our case as we understood each other very well despite the language barrier, and we will be friends forever. We have brightened up each others existence in a wonderful adventure and I will miss them very much but hope to see them next year.
:o In a discussion site titled: RUSSIANwomen Discussion forum?!?
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:o In a discussion site titled: RUSSIANwomen Discussion forum?!?
Yes, it's ironic, isn't it?
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Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad to read you had a fantastic time regardless!
My in-laws were telling us they were also having some uncustomary hotter weather where they were, too ( due south of Moscow).
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:o In a discussion site titled: RUSSIANwomen Discussion forum?!?
Is that what it is still called??? I guess by name only......
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Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad to read you had a fantastic time regardless!
My in-laws were telling us they were also having some uncustomary hotter weather where they were, too ( due south of Moscow).
Thanks a lot. I am now with new friends in Moscow, staying in their apartment. It's a couple aged 24-25 years. Wonderful people that speak English pretty well.
Landed in Sheremetyevo at 2000 yesterday and it was 20 degrees celcius. Today it is sunny and the forecast is around 25 degrees. Perfect.
We will now go downtown Moscow.
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Be sure to give us your impression of Moscow
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Damn,
I wrote lenghty report of my experiences here in Russia and it all disappeared when I pressed Preview.....
Are there ANY cons to this site anymore???
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Hmm, pressing preview doesn't lose what I've written .. but I do not doubt you...
Something must have gone wrong with your connection or your session on here timed out . Increase that when you login in or tick stay logged in ;)
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Natural,
always best to open a text editor and do lengthy posts there, then copy and paste what you wrote into the post here. Have had several long posts wiped due to a glitch...
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Natural,
always best to open a text editor and do lengthy posts there, then copy and paste what you wrote into the post here. Have had several long posts wiped due to a glitch...
Yes. I have had that happening before, but I just forgot about the risk this time. It makes no difference if writing something short, but is very disappointing when you have applied yourself and spent a long time writing something that you hoped would be of some value to someone, just to lose it all in the great void :-(
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Any report in how you enjoyed moscow’s 871st B-day? I heard they had a great celebration with fireworks and such.
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Any report in how you enjoyed moscow’s 871st B-day? I heard they had a great celebration with fireworks and such.
Yeah, in the days leading up to the birthday of Moscow, as well as the local election, a lot of construction and preparations were going on, parts of the Kremlin were sealed off, but we went there too.
A little background info, as I’m now back home in Norway again after a fantastic 12-day adventure. I’m so happy I did it and accepted the invitation of some friends I over the course of several months developed great trust and friendship with.
The initial goal was to meet the couple from Donbass in Rostov-on-Don and then cross the border into Donbass. (Now; I write this and IF my travel thread is polluted and degraded by certain individuals and their nasty propaganda, it’ll be the last one I ever make on here. I know there are decent folks here, like GQBlues, for example, and this is for them.)
They met me at my hotel in Rostov. They don’t speak English and I don’t speak Russian, but surprisingly, Google Translation works pretty decent most of the time. So we met and hugged and off we went in their car. We came to the border. First the Russian border. (I will try to make this short as I wrote it up for hours the other day, in vain).
There was a lot of waiting and they checked all the cars, all the suitcases and all the papers. My presence there caught their interest and, let’s call her Wonderwoman, and me were guided into an office and interrogated by two rather young officials. One of them reminded me very much of the character from the movie King Kong (the one who played an actor) and I noticed he was observing me while Wonderwoman explained things to them in Russian.
Finally we were let go and proceeded to the Donbass checkpoint, but only after doing some shopping at the small Duty Free shop. I have never seen prices for booze and cigarettes this low, haha.
Then we stopped at the DPR checkpoint and had to go into an office where a guy in military outfit questioned, them, not me, as he could not speak English. It was lengthy and on a couple of occasions I was handed a phone and talked to a man on the other hand in English.
At the end he told me I could not enter the Donbass. We were all surprised. The reason given was because of the political situation. Wonderwoman was devastated and embarrassed but then she told me about the news she got on her phone, at the exact time we were on the border, the bomb went off in a café in Donetsk which killed the President, Zackarchenko. The borders were closed. Went drove back into Russian territory and took into a hotel near the border and drove to Rostov the following day.
They had to go back to Donbass the next day, but they were not happy about leaving me in Rostov on my own. I told them I’ll be fine and the following day they came back and I rented a hotel room for them, across the hall of my room and we spend a couple of wonderful days as tourists in the city, for them a much appreciated break from the war and suffering they see daily in Donbass and for all of us a chance to get to know each other on a personal level.
They are great people. He, like many Russians of course, like a drink or two and we made many trips outside for a smoke and actually managed to communicate surprisingly much, considering the language barrier. But, I noticed on more than one occasion that the Russian who says he/she does not speak English, surprised me many times of the words they really knew and how quickly, given practice, they improved.But the two days passed and I still had several days left of my trip….. to be continued.
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Hey, R,
You should know that we can't read your posts (unless we use a microscope). You may have the same problem GQBlues had with Chrome.
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Hey, R,
You should know that we can't read your posts (unless we use a microscope). You may have the same problem GQBlues had with Chrome.
Huh, what's up with that? Use Chrome yes, but it is so much more stable than Explorer in other ways.... well, I will just have to spend more time here, trying to improve things, haha
Thank you for letting me know about the problem, I had no idea.
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Yeah, in the days leading up to the birthday of Moscow, as well as the local election, a lot of construction and preparations were going on, parts of the Kremlin were sealed off, but we went there too.
A little background info, as I’m now back home in Norway again after a fantastic 12-day adventure. I’m so happy I did it and accepted the invitation of some friends I over the course of several months developed great trust and friendship with.
The initial goal was to meet the couple from Donbass in Rostov-on-Don and then cross the border into Donbass. (Now; I write this and IF my travel thread is polluted and degraded by certain individuals and their nasty propaganda, it’ll be the last one I ever make on here. I know there are decent folks here, like GQBlues, for example, and this is for them.)
They met me at my hotel in Rostov. They don’t speak English and I don’t speak Russian, but surprisingly, Google Translation works pretty decent most of the time.
So we met and hugged and off we went in their car. We came to the border. First the Russian border. (I will try to make this short as I wrote it up for hours the other day, in vain).
There was a lot of waiting and they checked all the cars, all the suitcases and all the papers. My presence there caught their interest and, let’s call her Wonderwoman, and me were guided into an office and interrogated by two rather young officials. One of them reminded me very much of the character from the movie King Kong (the one who played an actor) and I noticed he was observing me while Wonderwoman explained things to them in Russian.
Finally we were let go and proceeded to the Donbass checkpoint, but only after doing some shopping at the small Duty Free shop. I have never seen prices for booze and cigarettes this low, haha.
Then we stopped at the DPR checkpoint and had to go into an office where a guy in military outfit questioned, them, not me, as he could not speak English. It was lengthy and on a couple of occasions I was handed a phone and talked to a man on the other hand in English.
At the end he told me I could not enter the Donbass. We were all surprised. The reason given was because of the political situation.
Wonderwoman was devastated and embarrassed but then she told me about the news she got on her phone, at the exact time we were on the border, the bomb went off in a café in Donetsk which killed the President, Zackarchenko. The borders were closed.
So we drove back into Russian territory and took into a hotel near the border and drove to Rostov the following day.
They had to go back to Donbass the next day, but they were not happy about leaving me in Rostov on my own. Wonderwoman had a couple of months earlier personally invited me to come visit them and she felt a deep responsibility for my security and well-being. It was very moving. I could see it in her face. She again and again promised to come back to me. For me it's no problem being alone in a strange Place for a night or two, but I appreciate her concern for me extremely much. I told them I’ll be fine and the following day they came back and I rented a hotel room for them, across the hall of my room and we spend a couple of wonderful days as tourists in the city, for them a much appreciated break from the war and suffering they see daily in Donbass, and for all of us a chance to get to know each other on a personal level.
They are great people. He, like many Russians of course, like a drink or two and we made many trips outside for a smoke and actually managed to communicate surprisingly much, considering the language barrier. But, I noticed on more than one occasion that the Russian who says he/she does not speak English, surprised me many times of the words they really knew and how quickly, given practice, they improved.
But the two days passed and I still had several days left of my trip….. to be continued.
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Huh, what's up with that? Use Chrome yes, but it is so much more stable than Explorer in other ways.... well, I will just have to spend more time here, trying to improve things, haha
I don't think Microsoft is supporting Internet Explorer anymore. I lost the ability to see posters YouTube videos on Explorer so I switched to Chrome for awhile but unfortunately some of my posts went tiny and I had to go back and edit posts to make the words larger. Got tired of that.
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Thanks for sharing, I'd be interested in more detail as I'm curious how locals get in and out of Donbass region (as well as foreigners). Do they stamp passports?
I am consideirng visiting a (male) friend in Crimea but that is totally different to Donbass.
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Thanks for sharing, I'd be interested in more detail as I'm curious how locals get in and out of Donbass region (as well as foreigners). Do they stamp passports?
I am consideirng visiting a (male) friend in Crimea but that is totally different to Donbass.
Locals do cross the border alright, but the lines in wait might be hours, so take that into consideration.
In the early days, foreigners (non-Donbass and Russian) could go in and out, but nowadays it seems at a minimum you need to be escorted by Donbass residents if crossing the border. My case was exceptional, (always happens strange Things when I make big trips.)
To be even more safe to enter, sign up with a group that has connections to the authorities. At the border they're not mean or overly suspicious. I Guess it is as they say, a very delicate political situation and they don't need a western tourist being harmed by shelling, for example. I can understand that.
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Oh, test photo. I thought I had to reduce the size and all :-)
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Interesting report/travel. I can't help but wonder if you had some itch to 'live on the edge' considering the volatility in the region so far. Sans the hotel bit. If you don't mind me asking - I know it was a trip to meet the people you knew - but what was the actual impetus of going there? Humanitarian reasons, business or just a calling?
I can only hope sooner than later that things will normalize in the region for the benefit of all.
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Interesting report/travel. I can't help but wonder if you had some itch to 'live on the edge' considering the volatility in the region so far. Sans the hotel bit. If you don't mind me asking - I know it was a trip to meet the people you knew - but what was the actual impetus of going there? Humanitarian reasons, business or just a calling?
I can only hope sooner than later that things will normalize in the region for the benefit of all.
For a number of months I have sent money to 2-3 families in the area, for food and medicines mostly, but even a bicycle for a 9-year old boy that dreamed of a bike. The couple that invited me work for a humanitarian organisation locally based, we developed trust and caring between us and they would like to invite me to see the situation up close, meet a bunch of different people. So yes, one might call it a private humanitarian trip.
Lately the situation in the Donetsk area have been quiet given there's a war going on. The front is x kilometres away.
I know of westerners visiting front areas like Gorlovka and Zaitsevo, but I did not plan to do that. I have a 5-year old son to think about. But the idea of crossing the border and visiting them in the quiet (except bomb blast in the cafe) Donetsk area, did not make me nervous. It's a pity it didn't work out. But instead I got to see more of Rostov-on-Don and Moscow.
More to come when time allows.....
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For a number of months I have sent money to 2-3 families in the area, for food and medicines mostly, but even a bicycle for a 9-year old boy that dreamed of a bike. The couple that invited me work for a humanitarian organisation locally based, we developed trust and caring between us and they would like to invite me to see the situation up close, meet a bunch of different people. So yes, one might call it a private humanitarian trip.
Lately the situation in the Donetsk area have been quiet given there's a war going on. The front is x kilometres away.
I know of westerners visiting front areas like Gorlovka and Zaitsevo, but I did not plan to do that. I have a 5-year old son to think about. But the idea of crossing the border and visiting them in the quiet (except bomb blast in the cafe) Donetsk area, did not make me nervous. It's a pity it didn't work out. But instead I got to see more of Rostov-on-Don and Moscow.
More to come when time allows.....
I thought so. :clapping:
Keep the report coming!
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Anyhoo... Natural, good to see someone visit that neck of the woods and meet with the locals instead of all the agency BS. I've seen Rostov really grow but haven't been there recently. Remember trying to hunt down internet cafe's and now they have better internet at home than most of us westerners. Maybe next year. I work with folks that live near Donetsk and hope to visit them soon also.
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When I went off to Rostov, I packed two suitcases plus the carry-on. I packed some used, but perfectly fine clothes for children that our son has outgrown, as well as I bought a rather good quantity of clothes on sale, 50-70%, clothes for newborns up to teenagers. Gift wrapped present for members of the families I have helped out over the past several months. Bought two ASUS computers at a discount, they're only 32 GB capacity, but was assured by Wonderwoman in advance that it is still much better than the 10 year old computer she works with daily. She got one of them and a 28-year old single mother in hospital for months being treated for tubercolosis, got the other. I brought with me cash in Euros which I upon arrival exchanged for rubles, put in funds for the next couple of months for foods in envelopes to the families and gave to Wonderwoman that brought it when they drove back to Donetsk.
Now, I'm sure many think if that procedure can be trusted. And the answer in this case is a definetely yes, as she and the humanitarian organization she works for was ensured to me by a Russian woman living in Norway, to be totally legit. That, as well as my vast correspondance with Wonderwoman over several months and the fact that she is required to keep records of money in and out, receipts and photo evidence online, made me rest easy my help did arrive to the people I intended and not elsewhere.
If others want to help out people like that, I do however advise not being naive and do some research and make sure you trust the right people. There will always be scammers about anywhere, but also good, decent people that do a tremendous effort to help out their own people as much as they can. They need some help and attention too and the emotional scars they get from all the suffering they see on a daily basis cannot be overemphasized.
It is a good feeling to see photos of the people receiving bags of foods that will really help them out in a desperate situation where the typical 3000 rubles a month is impossible to live on.
More tomorrow...
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The trip down to Rostov-na-Donu was a long one. About 24 hours. I live well north of the Arctic Circle and I made the 2 ½ hour drive from home to the airport of Harstad/Evenes for the first of three legs of flight. Landed in Oslo/Gardermoen and had a few hours to wait there.
Unfortunately Aeroflot don’t have the electronic check-in and baggage drop, so I had to impatiently wait until they started checking in manually. At the line, where I had made a little room between myself and the person in front of me in the waiting line, I encountered the only somewhat rude behavior of my trip. Two rather elderly Russian women just passed me in the line and got in front of me, like it’s the most natural thing in the world to do. I didn’t say or do anything about it, not wanting to ruin my good mood.
Then the flight to Sheremetevo which departed at 21:05, took about 2 hours 20 minutes.
The signs to show where to go to reach your terminal is in my opinion not optimal here. I knew of course which terminal I was at and which to go to, but it was strange and a bit of a challenge to figure out. So by asking I was told by a guard to enter this doorway he was standing in. Through another door and then into a small hall with chairs and desks similar to a check-in. I was puzzled. Saw someone exit on the other side which led to a bigger hall. Wasn’t sure, so I turned back to ask the woman behind the counter, but she was busy and a guard and paramedics were busy attending to an old man who had dropped on the floor.
So I just exited and wandered further into the maze. Was approached by a couple of taxi drivers that wanted me to take advantage of their service but that I politely refused. At that point I kinda felt I was in the right direction as I climbed a flight of stairs. Then some more walking and downs some stairs and finally to the end where I saw the sign of my terminal and realized it was a train ride away. I had been told that to move between certain terminals it sometimes is necessary to use the free of charge train service, but I didn’t think it would apply this time, but it did.
I walked around looking at things and people before settling down at my exit gate, all alone. It was nighttime and at 4 am I really struggled with tiredness, but I kept awake and jumped on the early morning flight to Rostov.
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Brings back memories of SVO - DME challenges for me. And that's from the old SVO. I had a nightmare experience flying out of SVO during the weekend of the Beslan tragedy. I was honestly resigned I'd be stuck there for at least a couple of days.
But WOW! 3 connecting flights to get to Rostov! I hate those layovers myself...
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At the line, where I had made a little room between myself and the person in front of me in the waiting line, I encountered the only somewhat rude behavior of my trip. Two rather elderly Russian women just passed me in the line and got in front of me, like it’s the most natural thing in the world to do.
I've seen stuff like that too. If there's open space in line at the airport, it gets filled up quick.
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Not in front of me it wouldn't ... a tap on the shoulder and a thumb to the back ... followed by an 'overtake' if no response..
They were trying it on or .. (very unlikely) just a mistake
Back in 2007 - at DME- 'new Russian' - dressed all in black - walked straight to the front and tried to check-in or the same flight as me..
He was in business class and there was a longer queue - so thought he'd use mine...
I told him to wait - as had the check-in girl ...he stormed off back to the end of the biz class line and she thanked me asked me in perfect English - if I'd like a little fun and she upgraded me to Biz class and put me next to him .... on the flt to Volgograd ... he moved to another seat - behind me ..
Business class was cool as it was the first time I'd seen a monitor showing the pilot's view of take-off and landing
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I was in Egypt at all inclusive resort. For dinner line entrance, a Russian guy and gal (my woman advised me of their nationality) walked right to front of line. We were about 5 back. I loudly said: "There is a line here."
I think it startled the Russian guy so much, that he quickly moved to the back of the line.
He was actually bigger and younger than me . . . so really glad he didn't try to make an issue of it.
Another time on a plane that came from Moscow to JFK; the Russians jumped out of seats as soon as the plane touched down. I loudly yelled out: "Sit down . . . you aren't in Russian anymore."
Again, somewhat to my surprise, they all sat back down. The Flight Attendant nearest to me, came by and said: "WOW, that never works when I say it."
But then they never yell as loud as I did.
Later, while waiting for luggage, a couple of the RM came by me and said: Here is Mr Tough Guy. But they moved on and I never saw them again.
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Mr Tough Guy.
I think that mustache of yours intimidates people. Don't shave it off. Have you ever sung the song YMCA?
My wife was so proud when she got her American citizenship. I educated her on the benefits. I told her she can go to the front of the line at international airports, hold up her American passport and say "It's okay everybody! I'm an American!" I told her it's an American right to be an asshole.
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Whoosh .... that irony just took off over our BillyB's head... :popcorn:
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Moby
Its why so many of us are assholes. Ok honey you are one too now. Bet that would go over real well with my wife.
:cluebat:
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Rostov airport. January minus 20 celsius outside, midnight. After 12 hour delay finally boarded bus to plane, got off and bus drove away. Were not allowed to board. Waiting for first class passengers to arrive. I yelled in my rusty Russian “I’m Not Russian. I’m Italian and very cold!!
The crowd laughed and they let us all board.
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Moby
Its why so many of us are assholes.
:cluebat:
It is that some here are much bigger than others....
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LA,
Reminds me of when the wall fell. Story goes that the East Germans were amazed by rolls of kitchen paper towels that in the East was unheard of. Many wondered what size assholes westerners had that would require such large toilet paper.
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I landed at the Rostov airport, Platov, and everything went smoothly, picked up my bags and went out to the reception hall. When I ordered my hotel room, I also ordered and paid in advance for transportation to the hotel. There, as the doors opened I saw a young woman holding a sign with my name on it. I quickly approached her, as I always do with young women, haha. She was full of energy, talkative and knew English very well. As we walked towards the exit, she expressed her regrets of learning I had plans to stay in Rostov for only one night. That’s often the case she lamented, but that Rostov had so much to offer beyond that.
She guided me perfectly to the taxi lane and hailed my specific one. There was no waiting around and we got the bags inside the taxi which were driven by a woman in her 40’s. I sat in the front seat. It was a drive of around one hour to the hotel, but the driver did not speak English. Nevertheless, I could not stay silent all the way, so I said that there is a lot of traffic. She made me speak into her phone and her response: No, it’s not a lot of traffic, haha. Well, for me, not being used to so many cars it was a lot. For her, a lot of traffic probably meant a gridlock.
Everybody who has ever been to Russia and has also been to the west, would agree that the driving in Russia, in heavy congested traffic, is reckless. I saw it in Crimea and I saw the result of it on our way to the hotel, a car crash and that was by no means the last I saw of that in Russia on this trip. I live in a small place, so a car crash is a major happening around here. Our female taxi driver however, just made a swing past it all without raising her eyebrow one bit.
She stopped outside the hotel and we got out all the baggage. I wanted to give her a little tip, but she resisted, typing on her phone that it was pre-paid. Of course I knew it, I pre-paid 2100 rubles for the ride but I wanted to give her a little in person and managed to do so, with great resistance. She had made an extra effort, so why not, I figured.
At the hotel I was met at the reception and before I could put my bags down she asked for my papers. Ohh, hold your horses, one moment, haha. I gave it to her and she told me she had to hang on to my Passport for a couple of hours. Nothing unexpected about that. Not since my first trip to Russia, to St. Petersburg in 1997, did I find that unexpected, haha.
Went to my room and put things in order AND then, even after a 24 hour journey, yes, I did make a walk of the surrounding area. Made a walk of about an hour and came back. The receptionist thought it was brief, but then I told her I've been on the move for 24 hours. She and I later became great friends of sorts.
The main street in Rostov is very close to my hotel and I walked over the bridge. Could see down on the walkway by the river below me. There were a couple of elevators to the street below, but they didn’t work. The weather was wonderful, always the strong breeze but with 28 degrees it was never chilly. On the walkway on the bridge, not many people, mostly families, children walking by… quiet and safe. Wonderful.
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After the walk I went to my room and rested a bit, got my things in order. But later on I went down to check out the surroundings, see things. Being rather informal in personality, I tried to chat up to the receptionist. I learned her name is Alla and she was actually very proficient in English. After the famous ice was broken, we talked at length. I asked how she know English so well and she told me a few years earlier she had been working in tourism and during the course of a 6-month period all she ever did was attend to American tourists. Ah, that explained things. Even though many learn English these days, the problem is that it gradually fades away for lack of practice. I see this with some Russians that claim not to talk English, when they are forced to it, listen to it for a couple of days, some of it comes back to them.
It’s different in Scandinavia. Most places, most times, we don’t encounter English speaking tourists, but we hear English all the time on TV. Nothing is dubbed, unlike in Russia or indeed in many countries in western Europe too, for that matter, like in Spain, which I spent a lot of time in the late 80’s. Very few could speak English, at least then. The result is confusion when they first hear the language.
Alla is great. Look her up if you go to the Hotel Hermitage in Rostov. We talked about her family, my family, life experiences…just a normal pleasant talk. If anybody say the Russians are cold or things like that, they don’t know what they’re talking about.
The others at the hotel knew some or no English. But they were all very polite to me as a guest at the hotel.
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...Everybody who has ever been to Russia and has also been to the west, would agree that the driving in Russia, in heavy congested traffic, is reckless. I saw it in Crimea and I saw the result of it on our way to the hotel, a car crash and that was by no means the last I saw of that in Russia on this trip. I live in a small place, so a car crash is a major happening around here. Our female taxi driver however, just made a swing past it all without raising her eyebrow one bit...
Oh yeah! Although those 8 car-wide congestion over a 4-lane road is much like all the other 3rd world streets (like Quiapo, Manila where I grew up in), what was an eye-popping experience for me the first time I saw it was how people drove over the curb and speed up through the sidewalks to cut traffic. That was unnerving.
...I asked how she know English so well and she told me a few years earlier she had been working in tourism and during the course of a 6-month period all she ever did was attend to American tourists. Ah, that explained things. Even though many learn English these days, the problem is that it gradually fades away for lack of practice. I see this with some Russians that claim not to talk English, when they are forced to it, listen to it for a couple of days, some of it comes back to them....
When we first met and got married, my wife's language progression was outright impressive. She had very little Russian language exposure. As time went on, especially when messenger/Skype/facetime came about - coupled with her starting to befriend Russians in LA, she started 'losing' her proficiency and seem to struggle with pronunciation again. For someone who's only been here a relative short period of time, she's doing great. But just passed midway through that period, the rate of her progression diminished quite a bit when she's more engaged in speaking Russians with friends and family.
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When we first met and got married, my wife's language progression was outright impressive. She had very little Russian language exposure. As time went on, especially when messenger/Skype/facetime came about - coupled with her starting to befriend Russians in LA, she started 'losing' her proficiency and seem to struggle with pronunciation again. For someone who's only been here a relative short period of time, she's doing great. But just passed midway through that period, the rate of her progression diminished quite a bit when she's more engaged in speaking Russians with friends and family.
Had a very similar experience with my wife. She learned English very quickly when we first met. As time went by and she came to Norway and learned Norwegian, she now say she has forgotten her English, haha. Prefer to watch English speaking movies with subtitles in Norwegian.
So if I decide to learn Russian, will I forget English? Or does that only apply to Russians, haha.
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...So if I decide to learn Russian, will I forget English? Or does that only apply to Russians, haha.
What 'language' is spoken in your dreams, English or Norwegian?
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What 'language' is spoken in your dreams, English or Norwegian?
In my dreams; the language of sex, haha. No, seriously, I guess Norwegian. Never given that any thought. But I suppose that if an English speaking person was part of my dream, it would be in English. What about you?
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I don't remember when the transition took place, but it's definitely in English now. Prior to arriving here, and of course before learning English, it was Tagalog jumbled with two other dialects I spoke before.
I posed the same question to my wife a couple of years back, she paused, smiled and said she guess it's in English now. So I prodded even more and asked her if she at least maintained her accent.
:)
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After the walk I went to my room and rested a bit, got my things in order. But later on I went down to check out the surroundings, see things. Being rather informal in personality, I tried to chat up to the receptionist. I learned her name is Alla and she was actually very proficient in English. After the famous ice was broken, we talked at length. I asked how she know English so well and she told me a few years earlier she had been working in tourism and during the course of a 6-month period all she ever did was attend to American tourists. Ah, that explained things. Even though many learn English these days, the problem is that it gradually fades away for lack of practice. I see this with some Russians that claim not to talk English, when they are forced to it, listen to it for a couple of days, some of it comes back to them.
It’s different in Scandinavia. Most places, most times, we don’t encounter English speaking tourists, but we hear English all the time on TV. Nothing is dubbed, unlike in Russia or indeed in many countries in western Europe too, for that matter, like in Spain, which I spent a lot of time in the late 80’s. Very few could speak English, at least then. The result is confusion when they first hear the language.
Alla is great. Look her up if you go to the Hotel Hermitage in Rostov. We talked about her family, my family, life experiences…just a normal pleasant talk. If anybody say the Russians are cold or things like that, they don’t know what they’re talking about.
The others at the hotel knew some or no English. But they were all very polite to me as a guest at the hotel.
You're right about the lack of English comprehension in Russia. In the bigger hotels in Moscow and St. Pete there'll be employees on duty who understand and communicate in English. In the smaller hotels, probably not.
One of my complaints about Russia is that the various levels of government have done nothing over the last 15 years about increasing the teaching of English in schools and universities. Like it or not the lingua franca of the business world and world in general is English, not Russian, not Chinese but English and is likely to be English for quite a few decades.
In Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe most people under 40 speak some English, under 30 and it's almost guaranteed that in a large city they can carry on at least a simple conversation in English.
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You're right about the lack of English comprehension in Russia.
One of my complaints about Russia is that the various levels of government have done nothing over the last 15 years about increasing the teaching of English in schools and universities.
Sorry, DaveNY - but once AGAIN you are proving you don't don't know....
Perhaps it's because I spend so much time in Sochi
1/ Buses and trains in Russian and English
2/ Street signs - Russian and English
3/ Have you been to any RU schools ? I've been a guest speaker at THREE and believe me - those kids know English REALLY well
While not up there with Benelux nations - I'd say not far behind Germany
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While I am speaking of Ukraine, English is spoken also by some civil servants.
I can say my son 13 years old speaks very good English, as well as German. And I understand his Chinese is not very shabby. I think the funniest moment was being stopped in Kiev by a German couple seeking directions. Nicolas stepped up in fine German and explained the route. They were for a moment speechless.
If Russia or Ukraine wanted to advance English fluency they would drop from English programming overdubbing English in Russian/Ukraine.
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Sorry, DaveNY - but once AGAIN you are proving you don't don't know....
Perhaps it's because I spend so much time in Sochi
1/ Buses and trains in Russian and English
2/ Street signs - Russian and English
3/ Have you been to any RU schools ? I've been a guest speaker at THREE and believe me - those kids know English REALLY well
While not up there with Benelux nations - I'd say not far behind Germany
Just because there are signs in English doesn't mean the locals understand English. There are English language signs everywhere in the large cities in Japan, the locals there are far from proficient in English. There are English language signs everywhere in major cities in Thailand, again locals are far from proficient in English.
Yes I've been in schools in Moscow. As I've mentioned before my wife was a school teacher in Moscow. When I first arrived in Moscow I had lots of spare time so sometimes I helped the English teachers at her school. I tutored students and helped design and mark English lessons. None of the English teachers spoke English without a noticeable accent. My wife spoke better English than most of the English language teachers I met. My wife taught math. There were no ELT assistants from the US, UK, etc. I also helped graduating students fill out applications for universities in the US and UK. Some even wanted to go to Australia and NZ.
I did 5 or 6 demos after school of what a math or physics lecture given in an American university would be like. My lectures were usually about 30-45 minutes as opposed to the usual 2 hour lectures as is typical. Usually did a Q&A after the lecture.
Some of the students who had wealthy parents took private English language lessons and spoke very good English, good enough to study at a university in the US or UK. Their parents understood the need for an enhanced understanding of English to succeed in the international community. However the vast majority of the graduating students could not have carried on a simple conversation in English for more than a few minutes if that.
If you've read my posts and you really should they're very informative, I've ranted several times about what I and others who've worked in Moscow consider the sorry lack of leadership in expanding English language resources for Russian students.
As for Russian high school students having English language skills equal to German high school students, no, not even close. My wife and I have been to Germany a number of times. She worked in Germany in the 90s and speaks German. Walk in to a McDonald's in a major German city and it's very likely some young person at the counter is able to take your order in English. Same in many stores and tourist sites. Try that in Moscow and you're going to be disappointed most of the time.
Maybe Sochi is different. We were only there once and my wife did most of the talking so we didn't have to worry about finding a person who understood English.
Of course this is just my opinion. Maybe you live in a different reality.
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While I am speaking of Ukraine, English is spoken also by some civil servants.
I can say my son 13 years old speaks very good English, as well as German. And I understand his Chinese is not very shabby. I think the funniest moment was being stopped in Kiev by a German couple seeking directions. Nicolas stepped up in fine German and explained the route. They were for a moment speechless.
If Russia or Ukraine wanted to advance English fluency they would drop from English programming overdubbing English in Russian/Ukraine.
Don't they do the same in Germany, I have not spent any significant amount in time in the country so I have no idea about Movies and such, but everything on TV seems to be dubbed.
but I do agree, here we have never used that, everything is subtitled so we are always subjected to listening to English. Even my 82 year old mom can carry short conversations in English and she has never studied it and never really been much of a traveler. So what she knows, she has picked up from hearing it.
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Just because there are signs in English doesn't mean the locals understand English.
The under thirties- particularly do
Yes I've been in schools in Moscow. As I've mentioned before my wife was a school teacher in Moscow. When I first arrived in Moscow I had lots of spare time so sometimes I helped the English teachers at her school. I tutored students and helped design and mark English lessons. None of the English teachers spoke English without a noticeable accent. My wife spoke better English than most of the English language teachers I met. My wife taught math. There were no ELT assistants from the US, UK, etc. I also helped graduating students fill out applications for universities in the US and UK. Some even wanted to go to Australia and NZ.
Many English teachers have never LEFT the FSU - amazingly - hence they ADORE to speak / hear a natural speaker ... PLUS tourism - other than from former CIS nations - isn't exactly booming - other than the World Cup blip ..So OF COURSE accents are strong - but the knowledge is there.... When WERE you last in Russia?
Of course this is just my opinion. Maybe you live in a different reality.
YOU posted an 'assertion' re Piter and Moscow - my experience - of mainly Sochi - but I travel widely in Russia - is counter to yours and I'll wager more current
Once again - you lived in the UK and told us the BBC is 'state run' - so you'll forgive my doubting some of your 'validations' ..
It is not just my opinion - I share it with Russian Professor of Language methodology - now a resident of the US ;)
It will be great if they can be bothered to join / post - rather than observe - PROD ... ;)
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The under thirties- particularly do
Many English teachers have never LEFT the FSU - amazingly - hence they ADORE to speak / hear a natural speaker ... PLUS tourism - other than from former CIS nations - isn't exactly booming - other than the World Cup blip ..So OF COURSE accents are strong - but the knowledge is there.... When WERE you last in Russia?
YOU posted an 'assertion' re Piter and Moscow - my experience - of mainly Sochi - but I travel widely in Russia - is counter to yours and I'll wager more current
Once again - you lived in the UK and told us the BBC is 'state run' - so you'll forgive my doubting some of your 'validations' ..
It is not just my opinion - I share it with Russian Professor of Language methodology - now a resident of the US ;)
It will be great if they can be bothered to join / post - rather than observe - PROD ... ;)
I can only say after 3-4 years talking to numerous amounts of Russian women (35+) your experience on the ground in that case, does not look the same on the Internet and in the women who sign up on the datingsites. (same experience as I had with almost all FSU-countries)
Finding someone there who can speak and understand even a word of English is 1/10 maybe.
For some reason the (few) women I approach from Azerbaijan spoke it very well, but the selection was quite small I have to admit.
Since I haven't been to Russia in any significant amount of time, I can't say how it is there. But my personal experience is that Russia/Ukraine/Belarus was about the same, finding someone who can understand and speak English is rare. Even in heavily tourist populated areas.
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Nightwish,
my dating experience extends to a now even older grouping and I chose the 30 years and under grouping re much improved English knowledge
I work on a day to day basis ( in the present ) with Russian folks in this particular age group - they are not the elite - more the norm - in my opinion
My own t'other half spoke VERY poor English when we met and would agree that the next generation in her ( regional ) city make her feel inadequate in this regard ;)
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The under thirties- particularly do
Understanding a sign that says 'toilet' or 'sale' or a McDonald's menu does not mean a person can carry on a conversation in English.
Many English teachers have never LEFT the FSU - amazingly - hence they ADORE to speak / hear a natural speaker ... PLUS tourism - other than from former CIS nations - isn't exactly booming - other than the World Cup blip ..So OF COURSE accents are strong - but the knowledge is there.... When WERE you last in Russia?
Back when I was teaching English in 2000 almost no Russian English language teacher I knew had left Russia. Those that had usually went for a vacation to Turkey or had worked in Europe. None had gone to earn a degree in the west.
As for Russian English language teachers adoring speaking with a native English speaker again we'll have to disagree. Even today many Russian English language teachers who have graduate degrees and were educated solely in Russia do NOT want to converse with native English speakers. They certainly don't want to be corrected by them. They truly believe that their masters or Phd degree means they know more about the English language than a native speaker does. In some cases that's true. In many other cases it's not.
I lived in Russia from 2000-2005 and returned yearly until 2016. What's the longest period of time you've spent in Russia without leaving?
YOU posted an 'assertion' re Piter and Moscow - my experience - of mainly Sochi - but I travel widely in Russia - is counter to yours and I'll wager more current
Since I literally lived in Russia for about 6 years and visit often I'll wager I have far more in country time than you.
Once again - you lived in the UK and told us the BBC is 'state run' - so you'll forgive my doubting some of your 'validations' ..
You claim to have lived in the UK and don't understand that the BBC is 'state run' you'll forgive me for doubting your conclusions.
It is not just my opinion - I share it with Russian Professor of Language methodology - now a resident of the US ;)
It will be great if they can be bothered to join / post - rather than observe - PROD ... ;)
While what I say is my opinion it is an opinion shared by a number of Russian teachers of English who have graduate degrees and many Russians who live in Russia and the US.
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In my dreams; the language of sex, haha. No, seriously, I guess Norwegian. Never given that any thought. But I suppose that if an English speaking person was part of my dream, it would be in English. What about you?
Natural-
I forgot to share this with you before relating to language and well 'sex', though maybe not on the same context you implied here (hahah).
When I was with my then Czech GF in Banska Brystica, we were in a bar along with many of her friends having some drinks and a lot of good times, when at one time nature called for me to relieve my bladder. I asked Zora where the restroom was, and she obliged and pointed where it was. I excused myself and walked towards the room she said it was in. I walked in through the hallway and was faced with dual doors. I presumed the words written on the doors differentiated gender designation.
So I stood there and thought to myself, "OK, I remember the time when I asked my then prior Slovak ex what the equivalent of saying 'Mr & Mrs' in Slovak language for a card I wanted to send ther parents. She said to use 'Pan a Pani'. I looked at the doors and one door had 'Pani' and the other said "Dami'. Process of elimination right? I walked in the 'Dami' door. Walked right at the time Martina was just pulling her blue laced panties up in front of the mirror. Nice legs, too.!"
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Understanding a sign that says 'toilet' or 'sale' or a McDonald's menu does not mean a person can carry on a conversation in English.
Yes, you already tried that one - but having the buses / trains / announcements in TWO languages is a form of teaching... You told us regional RU cities don't have the English skills penetration and I've just brought 'MY' regional city as one exception to your generalisation
Back when I was teaching English in 2000 almost no Russian English language teacher I knew had left Russia. Those that had usually went for a vacation to Turkey or had worked in Europe. None had gone to earn a degree in the west.
Some had earnt degrees in their fraternal neighbours and not a few Russians spoke German - ironic - fluently ..English has taken over
As for Russian English language teachers adoring speaking with a native English speaker again we'll have to disagree.
Then I'm going to quote you - leaving off your ID and place you've posted it - on a group I'm in - made up of teachers and students - let's get the opinion from the horses mouth - I will not need to 'lead' - i can guarantee the response ...
Even today many Russian English language teachers who have graduate degrees and were educated solely in Russia do NOT want to converse with native English speakers.
:ROFL:
They certainly don't want to be corrected by them. They truly believe that their masters or Phd degree means they know more about the English language than a native speaker does. In some cases that's true. In many other cases it's not.
UTTER bollox - you seem to know some v.silly Russians
I lived in Russia from 2000-2005 and returned yearly until 2016. What's the longest period of time you've spent in Russia without leaving?
I've lived there ( Russia ) for 179 days each year since 2014 and spend time in other former CIS nations - UA, BY and lived with three Russian ladies who taught in both Soviet and 'modern' Russia - as I said - one was a professor of Language methodology .. one taught kids and t'other Music ( but spoke passable English )
Since I literally lived in Russia for about 6 years and visit often I'll wager I have far more in country time than you.
I've been going since 2002 - to Russia / Ukraine and RU speaking parts of the Baltic States and lived / worked WITH Russian speakers since the same time...
You claim to have lived in the UK and don't understand that the BBC is 'state run' you'll forgive me for doubting your conclusions.
Repeating your folly - you've already had this spoon-fed .. The govt charges a TV licence fee - but the BBC is NOT run by the govt - either you never lived in the UK or you demonstrate a level of incredible ignorance / observation skills - I have already asked to to check out the BBC Charter, reminded you how the BBC has brought down a PM - proving his B over the Iraq 'WMD' and Mrs May is hardly getting an easy ride re her assertiveness over he Chequers Red Line on 'Brexit'
While what I say is my opinion it is an opinion shared by a number of Russian teachers of English who have graduate degrees and many Russians who live in Russia and the US.
Will will see the response when I ask the question to such folk ..
Let's agree the format ... How about " Do you like to hear native speakers of English " Do you get upset - if you are quietly - not publicly, corrected ?
I will not post the Q - until you agree - and I promise will not mention it to ANYONE - other than here and will not draw anyone's attention to the source - which I guess can be verified from mods..
Sorry, but we do - indeed - live in parallel universes - or you've been in LOUSY schools
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So I stood there and thought to myself, "OK, I remember the time when I asked my then prior Slovak ex what the equivalent of saying 'Mr & Mrs' in Slovak language for a card I wanted to send ther parents. She said to use 'Pan a Pani'. I looked at the doors and one door had 'Pani' and the other said "Dami'. Process of elimination right? I walked in the 'Dami' door. Walked right at the time Martina was just pulling her blue laced panties up in front of the mirror. Nice legs, too.!"
I was a young 17 year old during my first US Navy cruise that included Japan.
Went into the toilet at bar and was whizzing at the long trough when I hear female voices beside me.
Looked over, and two Japanese women were combing their hair at sinks and mirror, and talking a mile a minute. They paid no attention to me.
As I really had to complete, and being fully crocked, I was able to just continue.
My introduction to toilet practices that were quite different than in my Midwest upbringing.
Some weeks later during another port stay, I had a more or less steady GF and we went on trip to a lake with two other Japanese couples.
We were standing on pier waiting on a boat when I heard sound of pee going into the water.
Looked over, and the two men were peeing.
My gal saw me looking and said, You had better pee now too.
Women didn't seem to have to pee.
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Insults and politics should be deleted from trip reports since things will get out of hand. This is the third time I'm saying this. The other two times I said it, my posts were deleted. Some people need a daily reminder.
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'Some' people try to drive off decent mods - so perhaps you should be careful what you wish for ... ?
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The following morning I got a call and it was the reception that wanted me to know that my friends had arrived. They were early as I figured they would have to spend several hours at the border, especially considering what just happened a couple of days earlier. My first time meeting the couple are covered in the beginning here, so this time they came back after first returning to Donetsk for the night. And they brought with them a very special person. Their beautiful, almost 5 year old daughter. I came down to the lobby and greeted them and said hello to the little girl. She was a little shy at first, but that lasted only about 30 seconds and then she was like all children are supposed to be like; happy and full of energy and life.
I was happy to see them again and the feeling was mutual, indeed. I asked them to stay with me at the hotel for as long as possible. They could stay here for two nights, then they had to go back to tend to their work. I happily arranged for them to get a room, just across from my room and then we went out and had a walk by the river Don.
It was so quiet and safe. There were people along the riverbank, but not crowded. I could see that my new friends enjoyed the scene and the tranquility, a short break from the harsh realities of war in Donbass.
We went to a restaurant by the river and had foods and drinks. The small girl had really taken a like to me and could not get enough of silly playing with me at the table. For her, me not knowing Russian was no problem. She came to me, hugged and kissed me many times, it was very hearthwarming.
The following day we also went there. We took a ride with a boat and it was wonderful. Slowly sailing along the river looking at the sights. It was 25-28 degrees celcius and a warm breeze, like all the days in Rostov. We had some snacks and drinks on the boat and a guy took a photo of the little girl. That was to be as a magnet photo and gift for me.
We went back to the same restaurant and had a great meal. The husband teased her wife for always eating so much, much more than he could muster. I paid attention and found it so, haha. It is amazing because she is not at all with extra padding, but a beautiful, feminine figure that complements her pretty face and that at 45. This family are not as poor as many are in the Donbass area. They have jobs, even though the pay isn’t great, the extended family have a farm so they have meat and vegetables and fruit to sustain them. Not everybody is as fortunate as that, unfortunately.
Later on we all got into a taxi and drove off to a shopping centre. I could not believe the price of that drive and it was a pretty long drive, at least half an hour and it cost only somewhere over 200 rubles. Wonderwoman was also surprised and said it cost more in Donetsk. I got the feeling many things are a bit more expensive in Donbass than in Russia, maybe because of a mix of transportation costs and the effects of war. Gasoline cost 10% more, so they were careful to tank up before entering the border when they went into Russia. I paid attention to the gas prices in Russia and they were in the 45-47 ruble range for 1 litre of 95 octane.
So we went into the shopping mall. Yet again me and her husband, as we sat down at a bench while she and her daughter went into a shop, found common male ground in our feeling of boredom spending a long time in shops. It is really fantastic to see how much one can communicate by just a few common words and a lot of body language
We had a wonderful two whole days together and it will stay as a fond memory for me as long as I live. They are a great family and are now like part of my own family. The feeling is mutual, I could sense it as well as they told me. Wonderwoman thanked me for helping them have such a great little holiday, away from all the stress at home. At one time when we were in the restaurant I asked her what their family thought about them spending time in Rostov-on-Don and she replied, “They think we are lucky”.
The next morning it was off to Platov airport to drop me there and for them to drive back to Donbass before dark….
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So I stood there and thought to myself, "OK, I remember the time when I asked my then prior Slovak ex what the equivalent of saying 'Mr & Mrs' in Slovak language for a card I wanted to send ther parents. She said to use 'Pan a Pani'. I looked at the doors and one door had 'Pani' and the other said "Dami'. Process of elimination right? I walked in the 'Dami' door. Walked right at the time Martina was just pulling her blue laced panties up in front of the mirror. Nice legs, too.!"
Haha, if in a situation like that, I think I would have chosen more wisely as "Dami" sonds pretty Close to the Norwegian Word for a lady, "Dame". So I would have chosen the other option, especially nowadays With the MeeToo thing so popular, haha.
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A few photos of Rostov-on-Don. The first photo is of the border crossing, back to Russia:
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Sorry about all the posts, but it's not easy to reduce the size of these photos, especially when it needs to be even smaller than explained here as max. size...
anyway...here's the shopping mall in Rostov-on-Don
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...We had a wonderful two whole days together and it will stay as a fond memory for me as long as I live. They are a great family and are now like part of my own family. The feeling is mutual, I could sense it as well as they told me. Wonderwoman thanked me for helping them have such a great little holiday, away from all the stress at home. At one time when we were in the restaurant I asked her what their family thought about them spending time in Rostov-on-Don and she replied, “They think we are lucky”.
The next morning it was off to Platov airport to drop me there and for them to drive back to Donbass before dark….
That jumped right out for me. Indeed, not only because of the respite, but more in getting to know, and spending time with, someone like you!
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That jumped right out for me. Indeed, not only because of the respite, but more in getting to know, and spending time with, someone like you!
Thank you man, that warms my heart to hear. You get me and my story and we might have more in common as both my sisters-in-Law speaks Tagalog :-)
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There were a discussion earlier on in this thread about Language and about what the Level is in Russia right now.
I'm no expert and I'd say an expat living for years in Russia is a valuable asset to listen to.
But speaking for myself and my brief ins and outs of Russia; the Level of English proficiency is overall pretty low. As a pro-Russian, I'd like it to be better, but it is what it is. Ocassionally I came across someone With a very good knowledge of English and I was always thrilled, because it's so rare and it was also an opportunity to really understand Russia and Russians. At least somewhat and according to the individual I was talking With.
But I also got the feeling that the Russians I talked With really WANT to talk English, be be understood and carry on a conversation. That they had learned English at School to some extent, but that it fell away as time went by and of lack of practise.
I think that a lot more effort should be made to teach Russian children English and in one way or another, to have a way that they can maintain and practise what they have learned. I think that the saying applies here; use it or lose it.
Wonderwoman said she'd like to learn Norwegian. I was Charmed, but told her it would be a better use of her time to learn English as it is spoken by hundreds of millions of People, whereas Norwegian is spoken by just 5.3 million and most Swedes and Danes don't understand us even though we understand them, haha. . After Our time together, she said she had decided to enroll her little girl into preliminary English classes and sent me a video of the princess saying a greeting to me in English :-)
My own 5-year old boy who is still in Kindergarten and very much into LEGO, watching LEGO programmes on Youtube, often American, out of the blue talks to us in English. A very charming accent, but it is indeed English :-)
I have no doubt my boy will learn English very well, at School and from me, but I'd wish his mother would be more interested in him Learning Russian. Everybody here knows English, but Russian...now, that's rare.
And Russian is also spoken by hundreds of millions.
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Thank you man, that warms my heart to hear. You get me and my story and we might have more in common as both my sisters-in-Law speaks Tagalog :-)
You're welcome. Tell your SILs Mahal Kita, they'll love you forever. Then ask for chicken adobo..;-P
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You're welcome. Tell your SILs Mahal Kita, they'll love you forever. Then ask for chicken adobo..;-P
Will try that one online, haha. These two women, just about the most caring and wonderful person anyone can know. Great Cooks too. One of them had her father come up here in the North. His first flight ever. He had a great time and she showed him around everywhere on Our island, he was smiling, happy and a great man of well over 70. I'm happy for him, her and us. Family is everything, right?
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As we were in the lobby and checked out of the hotel, I noticed two guys in uniforms and guns. They were filling up the ATM. No big deal for many nationals, but for me it is different. Even the people who do that work are not armed in Norway.
It took about 50 minutes to drive to the airport. We said our goodbyes, or rather Au Revoir, and I went into the terminal building. The Platov airport is new, it opened in December 2017 and have a capacity of 5 million per year. It is not big, but new, nice and modern.
They have security checks at the entrance. As I emptied my pockets, the security man wondered what that black box are. I made a movement towards my mouth saying nicotine. It’s snuff, if that’s the correct translation in English. He was okay with that info and let me go on.
Had to stand in line at the Aeroflot office as I had to pay extra for changing the date on my ticket to Moscow. Was a little over 5000 rubles extra. Then went down and checked in electronically and got the boarding pass. But there were no baggage drop, so I did that manually. Walked around a little there on the ground floor. But eventually decided to go through the security check-point. Good idea, more to see there. I had several hours to kill, so sat down, watched the ground crew work on the tarmac. They had these bean bags lying around by the windows and I jumped in one of these. Very comfortable and a great idea for an airport.
But I couldn’t just sit all the time so I went for a walkabout. Had a 5-minute massage in a massage chair. Very good. Cost 50 rubles. Then I went to a bar/restaurant and ordered some vodka and Coke. One of the two young girls working there, knew some English. Pretty, petite girls and I couldn’t resist, as I were leaving, telling one of the as I pointed to her and her collegue, “Krasiva”. She smiled and said Spasiba
The flight was fine and we landed in Sheremetyevo at around 2100 local time.
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WOW... ROV has changed a lot.. thanks for the pics!!
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WOW... ROV has changed a lot.. thanks for the pics!!
I'm glad you liked it, but you might want to take another look at the photos, as they were mirrored and I have now corrected them.
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yes, even nicer! LOL
the first still seems reversed... I was thinking UK the way the cars and vans were wrongly pointing :)
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yes, even nicer! LOL
the first still seems reversed... I was thinking UK the way the cars and vans were wrongly pointing :)
You are observant and...correct. Didn't bother to correct the first photo as it wasn't sooo different, like the others, haha. Might do it anyway.
Done. Now they should all reflect the reality, haha.
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...
As we were in the lobby and checked out of the hotel, I noticed two guys in uniforms and guns. They were filling up the ATM. No big deal for many nationals, but for me it is different. Even the people who do that work are not armed in Norway....
I never laid witness to re-filling 'isolated' ATMs in the US (as most are located within a bank structure), but methinks it'll be no different than the protocol involving armored trucks and armed security personnel making receipt retrievals.
There's something wrong with you Norwegians :P
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I never laid witness to re-filling 'isolated' ATMs in the US (as most are located within a bank structure), but methinks it'll be no different than the protocol involving armored trucks and armed security personnel making receipt retrievals.
There's something wrong with you Norwegians :P
Yeah, we're well know for being too trusting and naive, haha
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Yeah, we're well know for being too trusting and naive, haha
don't worry, we are the same here.. :p
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I never laid witness to re-filling 'isolated' ATMs in the US (as most are located within a bank structure), but methinks it'll be no different than the protocol involving armored trucks and armed security personnel making receipt retrievals.
There's something wrong with you Norwegians :P
.. and Brits.. Security guards carrying firearms ...? Gawd help us ...
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Aww c'mon now...
It isn't just us. It can't be...Canada have the same thing...
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-gardaworld-a-private-candadian-security-firm-armoured-truck-and-two-125592193.html (http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-gardaworld-a-private-candadian-security-firm-armoured-truck-and-two-125592193.html)
...and Australia...
http://privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com/2018/02/melbourne-armored-truck-security-robbed.html (http://privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com/2018/02/melbourne-armored-truck-security-robbed.html)
Brinks services a lot of countries, even the UK ;)
Nightwish-
Maybe you guys should, too?
http://www.thelocal.se/20150522/armed-robbers-attack-stockholm-money-truck
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Robberies of those filling the ATM's have happened several times over the years. It is a continious public debate wether to permanently arm the police and other staff, or not. Our societies aren't as safe as they used to be, with mafia-like groups coming in from certain areas and countries.
Here in the countryside we are aware of vans driving around with plates from the Baltics or Poland. They drive around and look for houses to break into and steal.