We had some interesting but tiresome meetings; BigOil (that’s us) on one
side of the table, HugeOil on the other. Words were flying back and forth, in
English and Russian, with simultaneous translation. Everything needs to be said
twice; first in English, then in Russian, or vice versa.
There were three translators in action, sharing the task. It’s
probably an exhausting job, being a bilingual echo of the conversation. Most of
the time, they do a great job. Occasionally, the translators mess up the science
terminology a bit.
The main topic was science, but in practice it becomes a
delicate soup spiced with business strategy, politics and the Law of the Sea Treaty.
It was sunny and warm, and in the evenings it was time to enjoy Moscow, with good
Russian food and drinks. I usually eat fish in Murmansk and meat in Moscow.
This time I made an exception, eating pike from the Russian rivers. I haven’t tasted this since I was a kid. It was better than my memories of childhood
pike-cakes.
The Russian beers are always good, much better than the
boring beers that you get all over the world, Heineken, Bud and stuff like
that. The Russians don’t seem to agree. They prefer the imports.
Russia is a proud country, huge in size, and with remarkable
historic sights. Stunning palaces and churches of the Tsar era, giant monuments
and buildings of the communist era, and events of great merits and sacrifices
in war. Neither Napoleon nor Hitler made it to Moscow.
Napoleon was stopped in the battle of Borodino, depicted in
literature by Tolstoy (War and Peace) and in music by Tchaikovsky (1812
overture). Hitler got as far as to IKEA. By the Leningradskoye
highway, there’s a impressive memorial where the German nazi-army was forced to retreat.
However, when it comes to consumer goods, everything made in
Russia is considered inferior; They prefer German cars, American electronics, Italian
fashion, and Dutch beers, even though the Russian ones are twice as good and
half as expensive.
It’s kind of strange, but there are things about Russia that
are not easy to understand
Wow, thank you. My heritage is Russian, and I don't know much about the country. So, this was really interesting. I liked that you captured the contradictions - interesting.
ReplyDeleteI liked hearing about your meeting - you gave me a clear picture of the chaos. :)
I know I've said this before, but I really like your writing style. It's deceptively simple, and very interesting to read.
Hope you're getting a chance to recuperate and relax now that you're back from your travels!
Rissia is incredibly interesting, for sure.
ReplyDeleteRegarding writing style, I'm not sure if I have one, but my vorbilder (to use a German word) are two of the masters of the English language: Ernest Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy. Anyway, thank you for you nice words.
On Friday I go on another trip, to the Arctic this time. I'll let you know if anything interesting happens >;)
I don't think, even if you tried really hard, you could go to the Artic and not have something interesting happen! Looking forward to hearing about it! :)
DeleteThat sounds like both a horrid (all those long meetings) and lovely (great food and a special event) time. I've never been to Russia, but my parents have many times.
ReplyDeleteTina @ Life is Good
Actually, the meetings are quite interesting, and the nights out in Moscow are great. I always get that special Cold-War feeling when walking across Red Square. It's like I still expect to see Brezhnev on top of the Lenin Mausoleum, and Red-Army missile parades.
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