Ultra Slavonic

« europe, at last | Main | copyright riddle; I'll have a Chekhov with fries, to go »

June 22, 2005

notable quotables

Thanks to my mother for pointing out five spelling mistakes in my blog. Only one was a bona fide typo; the other four were cases of me forgetting how to spell English words. How embarrassing. I've fixed them all now, but I guess I need to start running a spellcheker on what I write.

On Croatian vs. Russian girls, I have to admit that I've never met Russian girls in exactly the same circumstance. I imagine Russians might have acted a bit differently if I had met them in similar circumstances.

A few notable quotations I've collected during this trip, either from first-hand observation or from other Fulbrighters who observed them:

#1: At Sheremetyevo-2 airport, two North American businessmen were sitting at a bar, getting drunk while waiting for their flight to leave. They didn't speak Russian, or at least didn't understand it at all when drunk. So they asked the woman behind the counter for "TWO VODKAS" in very well-articulated but loud English. She just glared back at them and said, "Закрыт." [We're closed.] "She must not have understood. Two vodkas," one said again, gesturing with two fingers. This stand-off went on for a while, and she finally gave in and just gave them two vodkas.

#2: We Fulbrighters have been introduced to a number of Bush appointees visiting Moscow for various reasons. None of us have been impressed with any of them. (One even began introducing himself by saying he was appointed by President Bush. That just set the stage.) I was asked to show around one visiting official the Saturday before I left for my trip, but I was busy trying to finish my poster. So I passed off the job to another Fulbrighter.

He took this official to the Old Arbat. The man took an interest in a street performer with a snake and asked in very loud, well-articulated English, while pointing at the snake, "IS IT SAFE?" The street performer stared back at him, either not understanding or not sure whether the question warranted an answer. The official asked the same question again, and my fellow Fulbrighter decided to translate: "He wants to know if it's safe." The street performer answered to the official in Russian, "Not any more than your government." The Fulbrighter burst out laughing and didn't bother translating the response. Apparently the official didn't take enough interest to ask for a translation.

#3: On the differences between Croats and Serbs: "Our church is in Rome. Theirs is ... somewhere else."

Know thy enemy ...

Lots of our discussions involved the history of Croatia and surrounding countries. In the archive we visited during the conference, there was a room with a memorial exhibit attacks on the city in the '90s.

#4: Overheard from a North American in the Tower of London: "I saw an exit sign!"

Posted by kshawkin at June 22, 2005 10:38 AM

Comments

Posted by: gzombie at June 23, 2005 02:44 AM

Posted by: Kevin at June 24, 2005 04:25 PM