Yesterday I had my first experience with a real Russian home and family. Jeff, one of the Americans, is in a home stay here and we went over to his house after dinner yesterday to meet up with them.
When we got there, Jeff's host mother Ludmila welcomed us in with typical Russian hospitality. She made us tea, shared some cake, offered us socks, and plopped us down on the couch. Jeff's family has six boys, and it was the youngest's birthday. We got a tour of the house, which was very kid-friendly and quite charming. All of the rooms had cartoon characters painted on the walls - Monster's Inc, spiderman, and some other little Russian cartoons I didn't recognize. After the tour, we started talking about the boys' hobbies. Ludmila got out tapes of her son's dance recital and one played guitar for us. It was the sweetest.
I felt a little bit uncomfortable since Jeff and Jordan speak much better Russian than I do and I didn't always understand the conversations. I understood most of what was said, but even then I didn't really feel like I could formulate my thoughts well enough to contribute wisely to them. I mostly smiled a lot and nodded and enjoyed my tea. But it was quite charming having these Russians welcome us so warmly into their home.
This brings me to something we discussed in our RFE class the other day. That weeks' visiting lecturer was an American who's lived in Vladivostok for twenty-ish years. He mentioned that in his opinion there are two versions of Russians: the Street Russians and the Home Russians. The Street Russians are curt and sometimes pushy. They're not really concerned with anyone other than themselves. Home Russians, however, are the exact opposite. They're welcoming, concerned with your health, your hungriness, your comfort... everything. Although I think our professor may have been exaggerating a little, but after going to Jeff's house I see a grain of truth in this. It really warmed my heart hanging out with this cute little Russian family who truly seemed to enjoy having us (or at least Jordan and Jeff, who could contribute to intelligent conversation) there.
My experiences with Russian people thus far have been some of my favorite parts of being here. They're always excited to meet Americans and they love to talk about Russia, America... basically everything. They always seem to be having a good time. They can be bossy, overbearing, and difficult sometimes but somehow I find that a little bit endearing too. Maybe it's the anthropology student in me, but I love hanging out with Russians for all the weird things they say and do. Seeing the family side of Russian life for the first time gave me a new love of these people and their crazy, sometimes confusing, but overall good-hearted ways.
When we got there, Jeff's host mother Ludmila welcomed us in with typical Russian hospitality. She made us tea, shared some cake, offered us socks, and plopped us down on the couch. Jeff's family has six boys, and it was the youngest's birthday. We got a tour of the house, which was very kid-friendly and quite charming. All of the rooms had cartoon characters painted on the walls - Monster's Inc, spiderman, and some other little Russian cartoons I didn't recognize. After the tour, we started talking about the boys' hobbies. Ludmila got out tapes of her son's dance recital and one played guitar for us. It was the sweetest.
I felt a little bit uncomfortable since Jeff and Jordan speak much better Russian than I do and I didn't always understand the conversations. I understood most of what was said, but even then I didn't really feel like I could formulate my thoughts well enough to contribute wisely to them. I mostly smiled a lot and nodded and enjoyed my tea. But it was quite charming having these Russians welcome us so warmly into their home.
This brings me to something we discussed in our RFE class the other day. That weeks' visiting lecturer was an American who's lived in Vladivostok for twenty-ish years. He mentioned that in his opinion there are two versions of Russians: the Street Russians and the Home Russians. The Street Russians are curt and sometimes pushy. They're not really concerned with anyone other than themselves. Home Russians, however, are the exact opposite. They're welcoming, concerned with your health, your hungriness, your comfort... everything. Although I think our professor may have been exaggerating a little, but after going to Jeff's house I see a grain of truth in this. It really warmed my heart hanging out with this cute little Russian family who truly seemed to enjoy having us (or at least Jordan and Jeff, who could contribute to intelligent conversation) there.
My experiences with Russian people thus far have been some of my favorite parts of being here. They're always excited to meet Americans and they love to talk about Russia, America... basically everything. They always seem to be having a good time. They can be bossy, overbearing, and difficult sometimes but somehow I find that a little bit endearing too. Maybe it's the anthropology student in me, but I love hanging out with Russians for all the weird things they say and do. Seeing the family side of Russian life for the first time gave me a new love of these people and their crazy, sometimes confusing, but overall good-hearted ways.
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