Transsiberian encounters

On Tuesday, June 6, I took the train from Moscow to Vladimir, less than two hours away. My train stops were planned, my hostels booked. I imagined that I would meet various other international travellers along the way, who I could spend time with in the places I was to discover. Little did I know that I would need my Russian skills a whole lot more than I had expected…

The Russians and me

That’s right, I met mainly Russians along the way so far. My first stop, Suzdal, was the only exception. I chatted with a Chinese girl in the tiny hostel there, and met a 66-year old German who was happy to tell me everything about his cycling adventure (all the way from Germany to Asia).

But then, my Russian skills were firmly tested when I took the train from Vladimir to Nizhny Novgorod. The babushka (grandma) sitting in front of me, didn’t speak any English. Neither did the four young army boys next to us, who she’d involve in our conversation. Somehow, I managed to explain where I come from, where I was travelling to, even what my job back home consisted of. And when the internet network was available, the boys launched a conversation over google translate with me. After being offered some ‘sushki’ (a Russian snack) by the lady, the boys gave me a souvenir of their own when I left the train: a badge with the Russian flag. So sweet!

 On the night train from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan, I was lucky to meet Natalia, who had studied English. With her, I could engage in a long and interesting conversation, which was really nice.

The next morning I arrived in Kazan. I expected to meet some fellow tourists there, since it’s a bigger place than Suzdal. But the hostel was less than crowded and my encounters were limited to the Russians working or living there. I spent the day exploring Kazan on my own. Just when I thought I would have the quietest of all evenings, I met Elena, a Russian girl who happened to work in Brussels! She turned out to be really fun, and moments later we were both invited by one of the hostel girls to join her at a gig in a nearby bar. So there I was, surrounded by Russians, watching live music with a cuba libre in my hand, trying to realize in which unlikely place in the world I actually was.

The next evening I shared a train compartment with Anja. She could speak only Russian. I had basic conversations with her before going to sleep, but I was kind of disappointed in myself that I hadn’t acquired more vocabulary yet. I really needed to speed up my learning process…

Arriving in Yekaterinburg, I didn’t know if I should still be hopeful to find another tourist to spend my day with. Upon entering the hostel, I knew I wouldn’t. My 6-bed dorm was empty. I decided to engage in a conversation with the guy that was in the kitchen. Sergey, a Russian from Volgograd, didn’t speak much more English than his compatriots, yet after a while, he suggested I would join him to the opera that night. I accepted and after enduring hours and hours of Russian opera (I’d say it was an interesting experience), we strolled around the city, practicing our English and Russian respectively while enjoying the sunset. Later that night, he offered to cook for me and the following day, he carried my big backpack to the station for me. Again: so sweet!

He had just only finished waving goodbye to me from the platform, when I met the super nice Jelena in my train compartment. I chatted and laughed with her all evening… in Russian. Still, a lot to improve on my vocabulary, but hey, I’ve gotten this far already!

My conclusion at this point: Russians might seem a bit reserved at first, but when that layer comes off, they are incredibly friendly, helpful and sweet.

“Well, you’ve been lucky then, that’s not my experience,” said the English guy whom I told this to in Yekaterinburg.

I don’t know. A big smile and speaking some Russian have worked very fine for me so far.