Russian Words I Think Are Beautiful 9: Barbarian
Russian Words I Think Are Beautiful 8: Selflessly
Russian Words I Think Are Beautiful 7: Beetle
Russian Words I Think Are Beautiful 6: Brightness
Russian Words I Think Are Beautiful 5: Hell
City Wolf
He said what are you and I said I am a man or maybe a wolf
lately I am not sure because I am weighing the advantages of both
man and wolf and it seems to be that maybe being a wolf is better
for wolves are wolves unbound by manthings. He asked what it meant
to be a wolf instead of a man and I repeated myself it meant not
being bound by manthings and he said what are those and I
said manthings are things like boxfood and paperwork and girlfriends
and saying a sunset is a sunset or a sun a sun. I continued saying
that manthings are anything that isn’t a nowthing like a pastthing
or a tomorrowthing. He said I don’t understand so I said you will
never be a wolf. It seems I also will never be a wolf.
Russian Words I Think Are Beautiful 4: The Floating of Ice (Ice Floe?)
Russian Words I Think Are Beautiful 3: Good/Well
Although this is super common, I feel there’s a beautiful balance to the way this word looks/sounds.
Russian Words I Think Are Beautiful 2: mold
chemical warfare, the board game
![I got out of the train, stepped out into the evening cold. I was in ‘Taiga’, the city named after the forest, or perhaps vice versa. This city connects Tomsk with the Trans-Siberian line. I had two hours. I walked up onto the overhead crossing in order to snap a few shots with my cameraphone as the sun was setting. A man asked me for a cigarette and I said no. He then said something else I didn’t understand, then smiled and laughed at me when I told him I didn’t understand him. Then he said, ‘don’t worry about it, you’re still young.’ I wonder what it was that he said that I wasn’t supposed to worry about.
[I like the way snow looks as the sun is going down.]
Inside the train station, I sat and read “The Crossing”by Cormac McCarthy. I had noticed that there was a gathering of people drinking lots of milk. The women were plainly dressed, all in long skirts and without makeup. I assumed they were conservative and religious. I was right. The youngest one came and sat next to me, brown hair, freckles, glasses, face like an anthropomorphic rodent, but in a good way, like the Whos in Dr. Seuss books.
‘Hello I’m from the dsf;kahsdoiaekjadhsfkjahweoiy‘I’m sorry I didn’t understand.‘I’m from afsd;jkahsdfhkj christian asdkljasd. We’ve traveling to Tomsk, how about you‘I’m going to Krasnoyarsk, for a conference.‘Are you a teacher?‘Yes, I’m an English teacher, in Tomsk.‘You’re not Russian?‘No, I’m American.
[The green of the trains became more intense under the light of the setting sun. Almost electric. They shine against the blue of the snow and the redorange of the sky.]
‘What is your religion?‘I’m an atheist.‘Really? Then what happens when you die? Do you go to heaven or hell.‘I think nothing happens. I think you die, and then there’s nothing.
[I had a desire to find the center of town, I had a few hours, I could make it there and back. Looking each way on top of the metal crossover bridge was disorienting. There wasn’t one way that looked as though it lead to the center. If I wanted to find it, I would have to ask. The sun had almost set. I didn’t want to ask, so I went into the train station instead.]
They tried to convert me right then and there, the whole lot of them. Told me they have so much fun when they sing and dance and praise god together. Asked me to play the guitar with them. There were so many. They frowned when I said that Jesus was just a regular guy who happened to be convinced that he was the son of god. I still think he made major changes to the morality of westerners. That answer wasn’t good enough cause he wasn’t the son of God to me.
‘Listen, it was nice meeting you, but I have to go‘You should give us your number.‘So that…..‘We can call you and invite you to our church in Tomsk.‘No. I have to go now. Goodbye.
They all waved goodbye. It was dark outside now. I crossed the crossover bridge in darkness to get onto my train. It was hot. Everyone was sleeping. I made my bed and put on my headphones and felt the gentle rocking and shifting of the train. I had left Taiga.
[If I ever go back to Taiga again, I swear I’ll find the center.]](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0gg4e69FQ1qzbilro1_500.jpg)
I got out of the train, stepped out into the evening cold. I was in ‘Taiga’, the city named after the forest, or perhaps vice versa. This city connects Tomsk with the Trans-Siberian line. I had two hours. I walked up onto the overhead crossing in order to snap a few shots with my cameraphone as the sun was setting. A man asked me for a cigarette and I said no. He then said something else I didn’t understand, then smiled and laughed at me when I told him I didn’t understand him. Then he said, ‘don’t worry about it, you’re still young.’ I wonder what it was that he said that I wasn’t supposed to worry about.
[I like the way snow looks as the sun is going down.]
Inside the train station, I sat and read “The Crossing”by Cormac McCarthy. I had noticed that there was a gathering of people drinking lots of milk. The women were plainly dressed, all in long skirts and without makeup. I assumed they were conservative and religious. I was right. The youngest one came and sat next to me, brown hair, freckles, glasses, face like an anthropomorphic rodent, but in a good way, like the Whos in Dr. Seuss books.
‘Hello I’m from the dsf;kahsdoiaekjadhsfkjahweoiy
‘I’m sorry I didn’t understand.
‘I’m from afsd;jkahsdfhkj christian asdkljasd. We’ve traveling to Tomsk, how about you
‘I’m going to Krasnoyarsk, for a conference.
‘Are you a teacher?
‘Yes, I’m an English teacher, in Tomsk.
‘You’re not Russian?
‘No, I’m American.
[The green of the trains became more intense under the light of the setting sun. Almost electric. They shine against the blue of the snow and the redorange of the sky.]
‘What is your religion?
‘I’m an atheist.
‘Really? Then what happens when you die? Do you go to heaven or hell.
‘I think nothing happens. I think you die, and then there’s nothing.
[I had a desire to find the center of town, I had a few hours, I could make it there and back. Looking each way on top of the metal crossover bridge was disorienting. There wasn’t one way that looked as though it lead to the center. If I wanted to find it, I would have to ask. The sun had almost set. I didn’t want to ask, so I went into the train station instead.]
They tried to convert me right then and there, the whole lot of them. Told me they have so much fun when they sing and dance and praise god together. Asked me to play the guitar with them. There were so many. They frowned when I said that Jesus was just a regular guy who happened to be convinced that he was the son of god. I still think he made major changes to the morality of westerners. That answer wasn’t good enough cause he wasn’t the son of God to me.
‘Listen, it was nice meeting you, but I have to go
‘You should give us your number.
‘So that…..
‘We can call you and invite you to our church in Tomsk.
‘No. I have to go now. Goodbye.
They all waved goodbye. It was dark outside now. I crossed the crossover bridge in darkness to get onto my train. It was hot. Everyone was sleeping. I made my bed and put on my headphones and felt the gentle rocking and shifting of the train. I had left Taiga.
[If I ever go back to Taiga again, I swear I’ll find the center.]
Video from the BBC in which a correspondent travels to Tomsk and sees the inside of one of the old wooden houses here.
from BBC show Russia: A Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby
Putin is so good at doing this whole outdoor adventurer thing. Click the picture for more
from the cartoon ‘Полёт на луну’ (fly to the moon)
