Category — People

Mohammed:

French-African from Marseilles. Speaks Russian, English and French. Has been in Peter for 2 months (and it shows in our hostel room). Says he works for the Alliance Francaise but he spends all day in his pj’s in bed and only goes out in the late evening sporting a smart suit.

Sergei:

Says he is Russian but we later find out he is in fact Ukrainian. Doesn’t speak much English but knows how to say “drink!”. Retires in the early hours of the morning and is not opposed to making calls from his bed in the middle of the night. Also quite happy to play mobile phone games with the sound up. Will go to the toilet to smoke however. Likes to share pictures of his home town that he keeps on his phone.

Unidentified Russian:

In the morning, around 9am, Sergei changes “shifts” in his bed with an unidentified young Russian man who is all hair gel and aftershave.

Alexi:

Doesn’t “live” in our room as such but makes a regular appearance. Speaks a little more English than Sergei, but the topic still revolves around “drink!”. He is a fireman by day and a boxer by night and consequently sports a black right eye.

Paul:

A 2 meter tall American from a small Seventh Day Adventist community in Washington State. He has been living in Moscow teaching English and giving bible study classes. Paul is suffering from culture shock, but not just of the “I am in another country” variety. In Russia, he experiences his first drunk person and is shocked by a couple making out in the middle of a skating rink. Paul is experiencing life outside of the “bubble”.

Marianne:

Marianne is from Canada, though lived the first 11 years of her life in Moscow. Like Paul, she is here to teach English in a scheme organised by her church. She is also here to discover her roots and is surprised to note that people in Moscow “look just like me!”.

Melanie:

When Melanie was 15, she discovered that she had a sister and was an auntie. Melanie is French Canadian though she speaks a little English. Her sister is English Canadian and has 2 children with a third on the way. Malanie’s father doesn’t speak English, so he has trouble communicating with his new found daughter.

Takayuki:

Is a Japanese history teacher in his mid-thirties.  He doesn’t say much but likes to eat Sergei’s submarine-flattened fish. He wakes up early in the morning and opens the window of our room onto the wind and snow of the courtyard before leaving for the day. We all wake up frozen in our beds.

We share our stories around the Formica table in the hostel kitchen and as we all fall asleep in our bunk-beds.