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Once upon a time in Russia...
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Oleg Dmitriev's column
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09 September, 2009, 20:25 Not far from Moscow: One flew over the “Cuckoo’s Nest”
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Warm days are fading away. And all you want is to get the last portion of it in full swing. I know such a place where you can really get lost in the past and enjoy nature. But you’ll derive pleasure from it only if you love history and like trains. So go to the “Cuckoo Museum” near the city of Pereslavl.
Cuckoo (in Russian – Kukushka) is a small steam locomotive used in narrow-gauge industrial railway. Its whistle sounds like a bird, so that’s why they called it that. There – in the forests and swamps of Mother Russia - people worked really hard collecting turf. It was widely used in Russia as fuel for electric power plants as well as fertilizer on collective farms. And the Cuckoo train was the only kind of transport to bring the turf out. Later on it was reloaded onto larger trains.
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This narrow-gauge rail blossomed until the end of the 1980s when the planned economy went down the drain. The place immediately became almost empty. Nothing was happening there until a group of young entrepreneurs decided to buy the site from the bankrupt company. So they started to bring all the Cuckoo trains here from various locations to set up an open-air museum. They even brought one train from the South of Russia. I still can’t believe how it was possible to place the steamer on the huge truck and drive it for 2,000 miles!!!
The first thing you see when you come to the museum is a small railway station in the 1930’s style. You immediately become mesmerized, seeing all these old-fashioned radios, uniforms of railway workers, all the important accessories to keep all these Cuckoos going. You have a chance to explore these locomotives and railway cars. Half an hour – and then you feel that the sense of reality is being transformed into some fairy tale in the middle of the Russian forest where your job is to be the boss of all these trains. There is even a sedan on railway wheels for the bosses.
But the moment of ultimate pleasure comes when you go along the rails yourself to the turf sites using a handcar. Fifteen minutes on the rails in the forest and you seem to appreciate the hard work these people were doing to heat the country in 1930s.
There are other exhibits of the past – trucks and motorcycles that add up to a feeling of time travel. So when in Russia – don’t forget to say “hello” to Cuckoo trains to get a better idea of the country. Just ask your Russian friends to help you with directions at www.kukushka.ru (unfortunately, it’s only in Russian) and make this unforgettable journey. This is what I keep doing every summer!!!
14 August, 2009, 19:38 In the mountains of Caucasus: lost and found
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Summertime…and you try to make your life as easy as possible. Some Russians flock to the seaside. And where do people who live close to the sea go? For most of them the best choice is way up high in the mountains (if they can afford a holiday in the peak of the tourist season, of course).
I know some families near the Black Sea Resort of Sochi that practice “the highest” type of getaway. Five years ago they built a couple of huts in the meadows, close to the highest of the Caucasus’ peaks. Every summer they spend about a month there, doing lots of walking and horseback riding in the mountains.
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So how do they get there? They have friends who fly helicopters. The airlift to the mountain lasts about 10 minutes. It costs you the equivalent of 40 bucks. The pilots also tie a huge net with the luggage to the bottom of the helicopter.
On a bright August morning, a guy by the name of Artur put his wife Karina and their three kids into the helicopter. He decided to join them later, as he had some business to attend to. So he said “good-bye” to them and went away.
He had no chance to start the work that day. 15 minutes after the takeoff, Karina called Artur from the mountains. Her voice was depressed. She had seen her rucksack fall out of the helicopter’s net – with all her personal belongings and clothes for the three children. So she pleaded Artur to do something about it.
I learned about this story as I was waiting for the helicopter to take me up to this mountain for the day. Artur came to ask the pilots if they had seen anything fall out of the helicopter’s net. One of them saw an object falling to the ground 200 meters from here. We were all sure that the chances to find something in the middle of the mountainous forest were “close to zero”. But since I had a couple of hours to kill before the “lift”, I joined Artur in his “quest”.
We drove for about half an hour over the mountainous path until we noticed something strange on a pine at the edge of the forest. We came closer and saw the tree decorated with all sorts of boots, coats, T-shirts and underwear! And on the very top there was the torn rucksack – hanging like a crown!
It took us another half an hour to shake all the things down from the tree. Later I took them to Karina at the top. She was overwhelmed with what had happened. And later on – when I was relaxing in the mountains – I thought that it’s great when such small luck comes to you. Not a bad thing in everyday life.
15 June, 2009, 18:09 A town in Russia with the most brutal service industry
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I’m glad that the country has opened up and that we all showed that Russians are not a bunch of bears walking along the sidewalks of big cities. We have a cultural heritage to be proud of. Our grandfathers showed outmost bravery during the Great Patriotic war. I like all these things about my country – but there’s one question that drives me crazy. Why do Russians – one of the most hospitable nations in the world – insult their fellow citizens when they work in the service industry? Even though things are getting better – the shop-assistants get more polite as the new chain of stores spread all over the country – there are some “brutal” examples of people yelling at you in the stores, cafes, taxis and railway stations.
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Last weekend – in a small town not far from Moscow – I became a victim of such “brutality” “When I came to a café the first thing I heard – instead of “Hello”- was “Why have you come to us? Wanna have lunch and drinks? Don’t you see that all our tables are reserved?” When I heard this, I started to smile – nobody has ever talked to me in such a way before.
But that was just the beginning. The next morning I went into another café to have breakfast. When I asked for a menu the old lady frowned: “Why the hell are you asking? Things have been all the same here for a decade. So don’t ask any more questions – I’ll bring your breakfast shortly!” And the day rolled on – the shop assistant in the souvenir store wouldn’t sell me a magnet because she would have to give me the last one and without it the shop window would not look so nice. And when I was asking the way some of the people constantly told me: “Why the hell are you asking?”
I have the only explanation for this phenomenon – at all began in the 19th century when local merchants wanted to protect their wealth and influence by giving bribes for…not building the roads and rail tracks through their cities! That’s why the notion that all the guests are aliens still prevails.
But suddenly – at the end my stay – on the way to the train station I took a taxi. And then I had an unforgettable chat with a local driver, who seemed enthusiastic about life. He spoke English, he was about to start a job at a car manufacturing plant which had been built nearby and his hobby is – believe it or not – linguistics! He even helped me to carry my luggage to the station. So this is how the young taxi driver saved the face of the whole city!
I strongly hope there will be a lot more people like this in every town of Russia. They will definitely say: “No more bad service!”
Show comments (6)
About author
Oleg Dmitriev is a Training Director with RT and a Professor at Moscow State Linguistic University. Prior to RT he has done a great number of projects with Russian journalists in the regions – from Kaliningrad in the west to Vladivostok in the Far East. He shares the unforgettable moments of his trips with RT readers.
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01 August, 2009, 00:16
Michael,
Maybe it was you who was rude. Too be very honest you seem like some arrogant jerk on these boards. I was in the UK a very few short year as my ex is English. I found them to be very polite and there service industry very nice. Now Canadians, that is another story. I guess you are a reflection of Canadian insecurity of having no real place in this world. After all. what it Canada know for? Pretty much nothing because you do nothing, make nothing, other than noise. Come to thank of it, Canada is so insignificant no one even knows the President's name. Anyway, UK is a great place. Funny, I bet you are French Canadian, poor thing you.
23 July, 2009, 01:06
Oleg, an interesting story on some bad service in Russia. I was wondering if you have ever spent some time in the UK? I grew up there in the 70s and 80s and to be honest this is one place with a "brutal" record of customer service. I can remember cries of "yoo wot" (translates as "what is it you are saying to me") coming from a waitress when I pointed out my food was cold. I can remember "so what do ya want me tado abat it then?" being said on numerous occasions when something was not up to "standard" Rudeness was common and to be expected combined with third rate language skills..
I left the UK in 1991 and visit only occasionally. What I have seen is some improvement as the high street has since adopted many North American "ways" of doing things. Indeed it is hard to identify anything quintissentially English anymore with the 30 year homogenization of the UK by corporate America. Sad but true. Find me a good old fashioned pub.....you will have a hard time. Old was out decades ago and now the theme pub is king with everything arranged for bums-on-seats bean counting philosophies that have nothing to do with a real traditional pub and community values..
I digress a little but let me end with this. My wife's colleagues working in Prospect Mira, Moscow were going on a business trip to London. The 5 colleagues had been to France and Egypt and were really looking forward to seeing London. What they saw shocked them. People were rude, there was no sign of the "England" they expected from what they had seen on Russian TV. What is more the service was poor. The week after their trip this is all they talked about and none of them ever want to return to London anytime soon. The point here is bad service happens all over the World and a travelling Russian will probably be more shocked than most because they have been fed "the grass is greener" myth for years; "in my country...this would never happen....." I think that is how the conversations usually go.The fact is the World has become a giant box store where a customer is simply a number and an irritation and the only recourse we have is to call a calling centre in India for some attention and hopefully, satisfaction.
22 July, 2009, 19:50
The people in Russia are slightely harsher than in western Europe, but its considered normal for the locals. Its considered normal within the country and nobody thinks of it otherwise.
Whats wrong with the fact that the shop assistant didnt want to sell you the last item? They would have probably done the same in the UK too.
Because people dont say thank you and sorry every step of the way doesnt mean they are rude, its just how its historically been.
I would have called it culture shock - remember "Lost in translation" about Japan? Well, its sort of similar in Russia
07 July, 2009, 02:17
I enjoyed the piece Oleg! I thought I was always getting yelled at in Russia because I was foreign. I'm sort of 'glad' that it didn't only happen to me. : ) It's when things happen like at the end of your story that you realize it's all worth it. I hope you're doing well! (Will sent me the link to your blog.)
Marianna
21 June, 2009, 07:34
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to see Russians shouting or yelling at each other as if about to start a fight. To my mind, the explanation is that through the course of the Russian history life has treated them most unkindly which has led to the harshness of their character. Being angry with life means being angry with everyone else.
16 June, 2009, 19:17
I dont believe this is the case. I believe its more of a: youre one of them thinking, so they dont have to make themselves behave nicely. They work because they work, not because they have to be better than in other shops or whereever you were. At least this is how I view it here. Im not from Russia, but not too far, as well :)