The initial visits of polite negotiations are completed, the contracts are signed. Now it's about technical work, getting the job done. That's the fun part, at least for me.
I've had two full working days with our Russians partner in Murmansk, working hands on, by the computer, processing and analyzing geophysical data. Most of the time things flow nice and easy. But sometimes we get stuck in language problems. The guy I work with most of the time is technically very skilled, but he has a limited English vocabulary.
Sometimes he needs to call for another guy (or two) to help with the translation. And sometimes I get caught in a verbal crossfire, between two (or more) guys yelling at each other in Russian. It's kind of funny, and I'm just sitting there in the middle, smiling, and waiting for things to be sorted out.
Yesterday even the General Director came by. We shook hands and said hello, and nice to see you again. It's fun to meet him, because he looks just like Breczhnev, a living flashback from Soviet times.
Today I'm going back home. I checked out of the hotel this morning. I stayed in the Pi-room, room 3.14 (I'm a math fan, so I couldn't avoid noticing). The driver took me to the airport; the same route back, through the wilderness.
ABout 50 km (30 miles) before the border, we passed through the town of Nikel, first founded as a slave labor camp by Stalin.
It's probably the most polluted place on the planet.
The Kola Peninsula is very rich in minerals. There are mining settlements all over the place. In the 1930s, the worlds largest reserves of nickel were discovered, and the settlement was simply called Nikel. Today the population is about 15.000, and they all make a living form the nickel plant and the nearby mines.
The nickel plant releases huge amounts of nickel oxides and sulphur dioxide into the air. The population has big health problems, in particular respiratory deceases, and reduced life expectancy. The woods and the mountains are completely black and dead around the town. In the winter, the snow is black (the driver told me).
I can tell you, it looks really bad, like the backyard of Hell. The owner of the plant, Russian mining giant Norilsk, isn't doing much about it. Nikel is in the middle of nowhere and at the end of the world, so who cares?
I took this picture from the car when we passed by Nikel. We didn't stop, the driver didn't want to. The town is to the left and the nickel plant to the right in the picture.
So interesting to have to work interacting in common second languages--do you speak any Russian? I have an unnatural fascination with the country, and especially these oddities, like the polluted mining town--it's fascinating. I think there is an 'arrogance of plenty'--groups (in this case russians) who have a lot of something (space) can assume it will always be fine because there is lots more (out west in the US they can be like that environmentally--it is hard to see through so much nature than nature is in danger)
ReplyDeleteOh, how sad. Even sadder, I guess that no one cares because to most people it's in the middle of nowhere.
ReplyDeleteHart: I think your hypothesis about the "arrogance of plenty" is correct, in Russia, USA, Brazil, ... and on the oceans. I'm working with people in a common foreign language (i.e. English) every day. To me it's quite natural, and it's the only option we have. Unfortunately I don't speak Russian (but a few phrases, like goodbye, cheers, beer and thanks). I always wanted to read Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy in Russian, but I have realized that the language is way to complicated for me to learn.
ReplyDeleteDeniz: The people who live up north do care, but the big bosses who have the power to do something about it don't.
I guess people need to make a living, but who would want to live there and raise a family?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like Nikel is still a slave labor camp. Why in the world would anyone want to live and work there? Never mind bring children into the polluted equation. That town should be shuttered.
ReplyDeleteI think it's probably a good idea that you didn't make the stop. ;)
I suspect people don't choose to live there--they just grow up there and live the lives they're offered. It seems so sad that there is still such hopelessness in the world.
ReplyDeleteLanguage barriers are so interesting aren't they. We still joke about the misunderstandings that arise when speak English English in America.
And to think it was probably pretty countryside at one point.
ReplyDeleteAlex: Yes, that's why people are living there
ReplyDeleteJayne: There are two reasons why people live in Nikel: (1) Salaries are relatively high in the mines and the nickel plant, (2) people can't afford to move because it's difficult to sell a house or an apartment in Nikel to get money to buy a new one in a different place.
Sheila: It's interesting that even British vs American English leads to misunderstandings. No wonder we have some language challenges when all of us are second-language English speakers >:)
Liz: Northern Russia is so huge and coarsely populated, so it's no problem to find remote and wild nature. The pollution is often local, but spreading with air and water is a problem.
it seems many places have a problem with putting profits before people. :(
ReplyDeleteid: Yes, that's the problem; profits are put before both people and nature.
ReplyDeleteThe picture almost looks like a watercolor, blurred by the smog...
ReplyDeleteI would never voluntarily land my foot in a place that boasts black snow. Why risk it?