Day 5: Russian Commentation and a Bus Breakdown

Another day, another cup of tea, and a transfer to Tartu.

I seem to be spending much more money on tea and coffee than usual. This morning I met with the ever present Tallin girl and her friend from Denmark (not Norway...which for some reason I thought for the first few times we met.) The led to another random conversation about plots and movies and British television. Just a casual interlude of odd topics.

What we didn't consider was who was overhearing our conversation.

When we were about to leave, a older lady came up to us: gray hair, glasses, a white Nevada - Las Vegas shirt on. She said something along the lines of "Excuse me for interrupting. I just overheard you, and I was wondering if you were from America." I said I was, and my friends said their respective nationalities. The lady's eyes lit up and she said, "Oh, I just needed to say how beautiful your English is, especially your American English. It is a beautiful how you use it." And she continued on this line, saying how the British only believe in the Queen's English and believe American English is dirty and how she was Russian and had a son in Florida. She was smiling the whole way through and commending us all the whole way how wonderful our English was spoken ("Specially your American English" she insisted).

That's not something I would have expected to encounter, especially from someone from Russia. Sure, she had a background from the US but really I've never really would have expected to have anyone say how significant my English was. As the cliches go, one would think more Europeans would frown upon American English, as the lady said. Her perspective really makes me wonder about the way I use the language, and the way that American English is viewed by others. Perhaps this is one of those situations coming to Europe is all about.

The transfer to Tartu was uneventful...except for the bus breaking down. The funny part was how casual everyone took this event. The way everyone reacted, it just felt like a little pit stop at a mysterious run down building in between yellow bloomed fields (and on that note, graffiti content is the same everywhere). The bus stopped, and we just waited for the other to pick us up. Simple as that. We are getting infected by the European way of patience.

We finally got to Tartu and had dinner at somewhere that might have been a Mexican place. I got "Chicken Kiev stuffed with butter." Yep, it was Rather Tasty. It came with french fries...one of those foods I didn't think I would see until back in the States. I munched on them happily enough.

More on Tartu in the next entry.