Memories from USSR
I was 6 yo, and looking forward to start studying in a school. In summer 1987, my parents and I went to visit relatives who lived by a sea. A Caspian sea. To a small and quite town called Sumgait. It was called by many "the most polluted beach in the Soviet Union" but my parents and I did not care. We went swimming daily, went to Baku for sightseeing (there was nothing to fancy in Sumgait).
Once when our hosts were away, my parents decided to stay at home and told me: "Go play with kids in a back yard ("поиграй с детьми во дворе"). So I went. Back then I did not have any problems getting along with other children. But there it was different. In my hometown there were two groups - boys and girls. Some games were played together. In Azerbaijan I noticed there were three small groups of kids of my age. They were playing as usual. They spoke Russian, adding some words I did not understand. I thought they must be playing different games, so they split.
I went to one group and tried to join, but I was quietly but firmly rejected. Same with others. I realized that what kept me away from a game was a fact that I cannot answer a first question children asked me: "Who are you?". I tried many answers: "Sasha", "boy", "patsan", "schoolboy", but none was right.
The right answer would have been: "I am Russian." Then one of the children's groups (which as you may have guessed were Azeri, Armenian and Russian) would let me in to play.
That was the only case in my life so far when ppl around me were so concerned about my ethnic origin. I grown up in part of Russia which was very diverse, and most ppl around were bi-lingual, but usually nobody cared. Not in Sumgait. Few months passed, and it went really bad...
Once when our hosts were away, my parents decided to stay at home and told me: "Go play with kids in a back yard ("поиграй с детьми во дворе"). So I went. Back then I did not have any problems getting along with other children. But there it was different. In my hometown there were two groups - boys and girls. Some games were played together. In Azerbaijan I noticed there were three small groups of kids of my age. They were playing as usual. They spoke Russian, adding some words I did not understand. I thought they must be playing different games, so they split.
I went to one group and tried to join, but I was quietly but firmly rejected. Same with others. I realized that what kept me away from a game was a fact that I cannot answer a first question children asked me: "Who are you?". I tried many answers: "Sasha", "boy", "patsan", "schoolboy", but none was right.
The right answer would have been: "I am Russian." Then one of the children's groups (which as you may have guessed were Azeri, Armenian and Russian) would let me in to play.
That was the only case in my life so far when ppl around me were so concerned about my ethnic origin. I grown up in part of Russia which was very diverse, and most ppl around were bi-lingual, but usually nobody cared. Not in Sumgait. Few months passed, and it went really bad...