(no subject)
omg you guys.
so here I am in Alaska.
first glimpse, flying over grey mountains covered with snow, glaciars slithering between them. honestly amazing. then we landed in Anchorage, and I saw those mountains (by now there were no glaciars, lots of forrest) at proper human perspective. it's practically overwhelming. then I had to get on this smaller plane for Kodiak Island, so small they don't require you to go through security check to get on it. it's not big enough for terrorists to care about. and I knew I was setting off on the right proverbial foot as our one flight attendant, Tanya, was clearly Russian. I said "spasibo" to her on the way off the plane. now, once you get to Kodiak, it's even more stunning than Anchorage. and the sun hardly sets, as it's summertime. there are a couple of roosters over somewhere to the left, and they don't shut up. maybe because it's so light all the time? I don't know.
anyway, today the Russianness began.
it's really sad, actually. I don't know the precise details but basically some nasty group in NJ was enticing Russians to come here and work in a fish cannery. it's very difficult to earn enough money in Russia, so in some families the husband or maybe the wife might go to the US to work and send money back home. so that's tough enough, right? well the poor Russians barely speak any English if any, and they're forced to work 14 or 16 hours a day, and get paid for only one of those hours. evidently the people back in NJ were demanding $1,500 per worker "finder's fee". it's essentially slave labor, and obviously highly illegal, not to mention downright wrong. however, there are a couple former lawyers who gave it all up to be "born again" (Christians) in Alaska. horribly nutty of course, but they are nice and they didn't try to convert me. hehe. anyway, they're important because since they know law, they're helping shut this nasty operation down and get the Russians their rights. they also run this rehab upstairs/food thing downstairs place in town. the Russians eat lunch there every day, of course before lunch there's a short bible study kind of thing. since they don't really understand English fluently, they need an interpreter. this week my host happens to be interpreting, so my granny and I went along with her. lots of Jesus loves you and such but it was all bilingual so it's excellently educational for me. anyway, it was much better after we had lunch and I got to sit and talk to the Russians. they were really nice (of course) and between my broken Russian and their broken English, we had some good conversation. and, a point of pride, they were quite impressed with how well I could speak Russian for one who's only studied 2 years.
heh, but one who's only been studying English for 4 months is pretty much just as good as I am at Russian. but that's how it goes with immersion + determination. he's been in jail here, he said, so he's had to learn English.
well I told them I'd come back tomorrow. I can suffer through more Jesus talk for the sake of bonding with Russians.
so here I am in Alaska.
first glimpse, flying over grey mountains covered with snow, glaciars slithering between them. honestly amazing. then we landed in Anchorage, and I saw those mountains (by now there were no glaciars, lots of forrest) at proper human perspective. it's practically overwhelming. then I had to get on this smaller plane for Kodiak Island, so small they don't require you to go through security check to get on it. it's not big enough for terrorists to care about. and I knew I was setting off on the right proverbial foot as our one flight attendant, Tanya, was clearly Russian. I said "spasibo" to her on the way off the plane. now, once you get to Kodiak, it's even more stunning than Anchorage. and the sun hardly sets, as it's summertime. there are a couple of roosters over somewhere to the left, and they don't shut up. maybe because it's so light all the time? I don't know.
anyway, today the Russianness began.
it's really sad, actually. I don't know the precise details but basically some nasty group in NJ was enticing Russians to come here and work in a fish cannery. it's very difficult to earn enough money in Russia, so in some families the husband or maybe the wife might go to the US to work and send money back home. so that's tough enough, right? well the poor Russians barely speak any English if any, and they're forced to work 14 or 16 hours a day, and get paid for only one of those hours. evidently the people back in NJ were demanding $1,500 per worker "finder's fee". it's essentially slave labor, and obviously highly illegal, not to mention downright wrong. however, there are a couple former lawyers who gave it all up to be "born again" (Christians) in Alaska. horribly nutty of course, but they are nice and they didn't try to convert me. hehe. anyway, they're important because since they know law, they're helping shut this nasty operation down and get the Russians their rights. they also run this rehab upstairs/food thing downstairs place in town. the Russians eat lunch there every day, of course before lunch there's a short bible study kind of thing. since they don't really understand English fluently, they need an interpreter. this week my host happens to be interpreting, so my granny and I went along with her. lots of Jesus loves you and such but it was all bilingual so it's excellently educational for me. anyway, it was much better after we had lunch and I got to sit and talk to the Russians. they were really nice (of course) and between my broken Russian and their broken English, we had some good conversation. and, a point of pride, they were quite impressed with how well I could speak Russian for one who's only studied 2 years.
heh, but one who's only been studying English for 4 months is pretty much just as good as I am at Russian. but that's how it goes with immersion + determination. he's been in jail here, he said, so he's had to learn English.
well I told them I'd come back tomorrow. I can suffer through more Jesus talk for the sake of bonding with Russians.