The National Identity and my Russian Language
It’s a nice day today:
But the news from the other side of the world bother me. I didn’t believe but it happened and Crimea is annexed. Major consequences of this event are ahead. My position here is solid and unshakable :) based on the Budapest Memorandum violated by the Russian Federation.
The question of my national background is becoming interesting to my friends as they would like to see how much this Anschluss touches me and my family personally. And this is not a simple question. During last decade I was interviewed on the nationality subject only by custom officers at international borders. And the answer to this question is printed in my only valid passport which is Canadian. Officially for the officials I am Canadian and socially for my friends, employers, partners and contractors I am Canadian too, and I can add, Canadian cleared to work in defense and military sensitive areas. But I am Russian as I was born in Siberia from the descendants of Ural and Volga Cossacks in exile. And I am Ukrainian as I graduated from Poltava secondary school #10 and my parents and sister’s family are living in Ukraine now. And I am Crimean as my grandfather lived there his last 35 years and where he is buried in Goncharnoe, the village not far from Sebastopol. Therefore I have a ground to think on what is happening there much. And my thoughts for today are as follows:
Russian kleptocratic elite is struggling for their life trying to avoid Yanukovich’s fate and keep their “golden loaves”. Having absolute information power and Goebbels propaganda they disorient their people like a gang of ruffians, or (to say it softer) a flock of sheep, showing them the enemy, Ukrainians. And the sheep are going this direction forgetting about small drawbacks of their poor life like bribes for everything, decoying health and education systems, absence of roads and so on. They have the GOAL now, they are collecting Russian Lands back, and they are celebrating their first win, Crimea.
But there is a hope. Even now, during this celebration, people use Aesop language like these two guys in Samara (©seleste-rusa):
The slogan says: “Samara Zoo is for Historical Justice” what is equivalent to “You are sheep” addressed to this meeting crowd.
It’s still difficult for me to write this journal in Russian. But I am working on the problem. These two guys from the previous photo give me a hope. As you see I switched from Ukrainian to English today and maybe will return to the original style of narration soon.
Together with Barry, my partner, we had a lunch in Flying Beaver today. This is a view from terrace:
Otter is splashing down:
Then I had my short walk to think the thoughts and clicked several times with my camera. 767 on tarmac:
Q300 arrived from Nanaimo:
Paper Navajo taxis to Orca hangar:
Guys are looking for appropriate piece of water surface for bush landing:
The Sun is crossing the Equator and the spring season is officially here:
But the news from the other side of the world bother me. I didn’t believe but it happened and Crimea is annexed. Major consequences of this event are ahead. My position here is solid and unshakable :) based on the Budapest Memorandum violated by the Russian Federation.
The question of my national background is becoming interesting to my friends as they would like to see how much this Anschluss touches me and my family personally. And this is not a simple question. During last decade I was interviewed on the nationality subject only by custom officers at international borders. And the answer to this question is printed in my only valid passport which is Canadian. Officially for the officials I am Canadian and socially for my friends, employers, partners and contractors I am Canadian too, and I can add, Canadian cleared to work in defense and military sensitive areas. But I am Russian as I was born in Siberia from the descendants of Ural and Volga Cossacks in exile. And I am Ukrainian as I graduated from Poltava secondary school #10 and my parents and sister’s family are living in Ukraine now. And I am Crimean as my grandfather lived there his last 35 years and where he is buried in Goncharnoe, the village not far from Sebastopol. Therefore I have a ground to think on what is happening there much. And my thoughts for today are as follows:
Russian kleptocratic elite is struggling for their life trying to avoid Yanukovich’s fate and keep their “golden loaves”. Having absolute information power and Goebbels propaganda they disorient their people like a gang of ruffians, or (to say it softer) a flock of sheep, showing them the enemy, Ukrainians. And the sheep are going this direction forgetting about small drawbacks of their poor life like bribes for everything, decoying health and education systems, absence of roads and so on. They have the GOAL now, they are collecting Russian Lands back, and they are celebrating their first win, Crimea.
But there is a hope. Even now, during this celebration, people use Aesop language like these two guys in Samara (©seleste-rusa):
The slogan says: “Samara Zoo is for Historical Justice” what is equivalent to “You are sheep” addressed to this meeting crowd.
It’s still difficult for me to write this journal in Russian. But I am working on the problem. These two guys from the previous photo give me a hope. As you see I switched from Ukrainian to English today and maybe will return to the original style of narration soon.
Together with Barry, my partner, we had a lunch in Flying Beaver today. This is a view from terrace:
Otter is splashing down:
Then I had my short walk to think the thoughts and clicked several times with my camera. 767 on tarmac:
Q300 arrived from Nanaimo:
Paper Navajo taxis to Orca hangar:
Guys are looking for appropriate piece of water surface for bush landing:
The Sun is crossing the Equator and the spring season is officially here: