After one half week in Russia, I have now been-
Choose one of the following:
a. Told in a language I don't understand that I bought a different piece of pizza, and not the one I wanted. b. Mistaken for a local.
c. Harassed by dunks.
d. Locked out of my apartment.
e. Stared at by everyone on the bus.
You lose. The answer is all of the above. Believe it or not, the past several days have been a whirlwind of events. It has been so much fun and really, quite entertaining. The days have had their challenges, no doubt about that, but it comes with the job- so to speak. It's interesting what lessons can be learned when in a foreign country.
Remember those times when you are talking to an immigrant from Mexico, and they keep speaking to you in Spanish? Better yet, an immigrant speaking Chinese? You start getting a little flustered at best, because you have no idea what they're rambling on about. For whatever reason, one of our first responses in this situation is to raise the volume of our voice. Somehow we assume that perhaps they simply can't hear the words we just explained to them five times over.
When I was ordering Sbarro pizza at the airport (trust me, they had NO other options) I found myself in this exact situation. Only I was the foreigner who didn't understand anything a competent human would understand. I know where the poor cashier was coming from. My co-worker and I had assumed we had gotten a clear message across, as did the cashier from her end. We continued to in a language that made zero sense to her, that we didn't want this pizza, but that, while she continued to point out that we payed for this one and not that one. Eventually things got worked out. I payed for my pizza, and the other piece we inadvertently purchased was donated to another co-worker of mine. I couldn't help but smile afterward.
While I have had enough experience to know shouting doesn't help, I had never seen the other side of this circumstance so clearly before. Which is when I made this realization. Often, when people are dealing with something that is foreign (o ho ho...) or unknown to them, they react without thinking. If they had rather taken a step back for a moment, and placed themselves in the other's shoes, they likely would have made a more productive (or more civil) approach in the first place. Who'd have guessed. Life is full of the obvious that we tend to overlook in the busyness of everyday life.
I really like this country. I think I'll stay here for a few more months.
