Oscar Memories

With the Oscars on tonight (no I don't watch them) it reminded me of the presentation I gave called "The Oscars" at an International University Competition in Yaroslavl. I got third place in the Foreign Language Division despite my presentation being in English (not my foreign language) and I know I only got that so I could be paraded up the stairs in front of the Russian students from different universities, get my picture taken with the University President and so prove that the Competition was "International." Before I was entered it was called the "All-Region Competition."

I miss the days of being treated like a king. Even though Yaroslavl is only 4 hours north of Moscow most people there (at least when I was there) had never met an American and so I would get randomly stopped in the street or on the trolleybus from students from MESI or MUBNT and invited to go to their apartment so I could get introduced to their friends and family. Most of the time they didn’t speak English (and until my last time living in Yaroslavl I didn’t speak Russian fluently) but I would go and even being an unexpected, last minute guest I would get a several course meal and showered with presents for hours.

It wasn’t just students, but officials (both government and private) that dropped everything when they learned I was American. My last year studying there I spent a month going to a different organization, school or government office to practice my Russian and learn more about everyday life. The place I would go every day was decided at the spur of the moment and so nothing was set up and no appointments made, but that was never an issue and I got to meet someone at: the main City Wedding Palace, a woman’s shelter, an institute for the disabled, a high school, a university, a police station, a political office headquarters, the City Museum, the Public Works Department, a charity, a church, a synagogue, a kindergarten, an animal shelter, a bank, etc. once they learned that I was American and could speak Russian they dropped everything and gave me a grand tour, a mini-reception and answered all my questions. I was even interviewed by both the local radio station and twice for the TV and  had an article written about me in the local newspaper. Of course all of that changed when I went to Moscow or came back to the States.