Wednesday, 11 February 2009

  • I Was Lost in Translation - Moscow, Russia

    Guest post submitted by bleedingdirt_doll

    After 4 hours of bus ride, I had to alight at Lithuania to change to another bus to Moscow. The wind was blowing and I was wearing layers of clothing and I was freezing even after I pulled my parka hood over myself....I was feeling out of place as everyone was staring at me like I'm some alien from Ching Chong land.

    I was rubbing my hands to warm myself while being impatient that I had to wait 1.5 hrs for the bus to arrive.

    After 12 hours being the only Asian on board the bus among 20 other Russians and Latvians, we passed Latvia and finally arrived at the Latvian-Russian border. 

    The numerous documents I need to have to cross the Russian border.
    Invitation letter, Visa, Insurance...


    I spent my next hour and a 1/2 at the Russian Customs...being asked all sort of questions...in Russian. I was starting to panic, again. I know no Russian and no one speaks English and they were holding my passport, UVing it, calling the embassies to check on me, and I'm alone in a place no one wants to go to. And they were giving me the stare, you know like I'm a spy sent to infiltrate them. Okay, I watched too much Hollywood spy movies.

    So in the end, the bus attendant came and helped me out by conversing with the Russians and translating back for me. The Latvian-Russian border has yet to see a Singaporean Passport so far and given my age, they didn't know how to deal with me as they thought it was kind of suspicious. But in the end, I convinced them that I was just backpacking and flying home from Moscow, and they let me go.

    And the passengers who waited for me on the bus looked like they were about to shoot that Asian girl (me) with their Kalashnikov AK.



    Cornelia finally got to Russia!! Aren't I glad? I'm the 2nd in my family to have set foot in Russia.

    Moscow - can you say, Caviar, Vodka, beautiful fur coats and HOT HOT HOT RUSSIAN GUYS.

    But 1st, I had to get things sorted out. Rubles, maps, visa registration, etc... before I could head out to town to get some eye candy (guys).

    I came prepared, knowing that there would not be a single English sign in Moscow, but was crossing my fingers, hoping that there just might be English signs in the metro. Instead, I spent 40 minutes lugging my 20kg backpack around looking for the metro station. When I finally did, the destination signs on the platforms looked like this:

    Enough to scare the crap out of any primarily English speaker's pants.


    Not forgetting the rainbow lines on the system. Enough to drive any non-Russian crazy.


    But hey, after the days I spent in Moscow, the metro system was relatively easy for me to navigate. All I did was remember the colors and count my stops, like I did in Tokyo, except it's far more challenging than Tokyo. Maybe I'm just smart or maybe I've been on too many Metros that it all came natural to me.

    And the Moscow metro must be one of the most efficient underground systems in the world, with a train approaching every 2 minutes, and they are fast, even though these trains have aged back to the Soviet era. The occasional blackouts in the underground made me shriek twice in the train and embarrassed me. I'm afraid of blackouts.


    Anyone who knows me knows how terrified I am of heights. And the escalators to the bowel of hell in Moscow metro stations scared me so much that I was gripping on to the side so hard, and couldn't help envisioning myself tripping over my own clumsy foot and tumbling 9 stories down to my own death. It was only 1/2 way down on the escalator in the picture. It takes 3-4 minutes just to get down/up.



    Outside of Red Square





    St. Basil Cathedral 



    Lenin's tomb on the upper left side of the picture.
     


    And I was off to visit Lenin in his Mausoleum. That was one of the things to do on my "100 things Cornelia must do before she dies". No cameras or phones were allowed in there. It was a quick affair.

    I called my dad to tell him about my whereabouts and also to annoy him.

    "Dad, I'm about to enter Lenin's tomb, can you believe it?? And I bought him flowers."
    "Lenin's a murderer."
    "No, he's a great revolutionist"

    Have you ran into hard times in another country and the language barriers made it tougher? Where?

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Comments (10)

  • eat_napa@xanga

    ooo russia. i want to go there, but it's hard to find someone else who also does, haha. it looks like it was pretty tough traveling alone there. did you encounter any other major problems in russia (besides the language barrier)?
  • niez_cho@xanga

    I don't think I'm brave enough to go to a place without knowing the language, whether alone or with someone.

    Kudos to you!
  • black_lie@xanga

    wow russia is so beautiful! i would have picked up at least the cyrillic alphabet so i would be able to recognize cognates =P but it's cool that you managed anyhow
  • anne

    I'd LOVE to visit Russia some day!
  • taliasecrets@xanga

    hey, I'm russian! Last time I went was two years ago though...
  • ghettotwix@xanga

    "Have you ran into hard times in another country and the language barriers made it tougher? Where?"


    OMFG yes, losing my wallet in Istanbul and my mom had to wire me money, took me forever to figure out, and not many bank employees spoke English...
  • Abigailigator@xanga

    ive gone places with a language barrier before, but never solo, that would frighten me...
  • anne

    @ghettotwix@xanga - Oh! That's horrible what happened to you! Good thing you figured out how to get money wired to you!
  • mayanao@xanga

    It's always good to know a bit of their language before going to the country.
  • Paul

    Hi! I visited Moscow for a holiday in mid October 2008 by myself...though with help from a new friend I met in Cuba last spring from Moscow. It was only after returning from Cuba and keeping in touch with on-line translators, that I knew if I was ever going to travel to Moscow, it would have to be soon and  I was going to need to find ways of overcoming the language barrier, as the alcohol, drawing in the sand worked well in Cuba, but October month in Moscow....not likely! As when I travel to any foreign destination, I like to know at least how to be polite to answer in the native tongue....you know like, ``Good (morning, afternoon, evening, night ...), Please thank you... and so on if you get the picture. This I was ble to do with on-line programs available on the internet at no charge, and it will even speak the words. But, I also knew that even with a friend who knew little English, just finding basic commuication at times could be very difficult.... so, the search was on to find something that would help over come this language barrier for my trip. After some research on the inernet, I decided to purchase a combination device with GPS, and Windows Mobile Operating System incorpoorated in a Pocket PC. This allowed me to download language translation software programs  that I purchased online and then upload programs to my pocket PC. The language translation software programs and personal devices that are available are many to choose from. I chose a Mio 550 GPS unit with Wi-Fi and bluetooth connections built-in, and a Windows Mobile Pocket PC operating sytem and 4 GB of memory. It is a little bigger in size than a Blackberry Mobile phone, but still fits into the palm of your hand, and of course a pocket, so it`s not bulky. This unit also came with a base mounting bracket when used as an automobile GPS unit (I did not take wth me), as well as nesessary adapter cables to connect to USB ports in computer, recharger cables and a 12V power receptacle and recharger for your car. This device is also, touch screen, so a stylis is attached when making selections on the screen. Anyway, to make a long story short this device cost me around $350.00 CDN and performed exceptionally well while in Moscow. I purchased a Russian to English translation program through Pocket Prompt.This provided everything to type messages that were translated on the fly, and to translate in the opposite direction quickly. As I learned through researching the internet, we all say things in our speach patterns a little differently that can disrupt a proper translation by some devices sometimes, and probably create wierd looks from people for a comletely different meaning, I decied to stick with typed text messages to make sure I was typing exactly what I wanted to be understood, and that the translation was correct, rather than take for granted a machine that would spit some incorrect meaning out that heard and mis-translated my voice incorrectly. To cut through the chase, it performed perfectly. You do not need to write long messages and sentences when communicating with this device, as I found that simple words with question mark did the trick....like`, `toilet?.....bank?....retaurant?.... and so on. These simple one liners are enough for most people to know what you are searching for without having to sit and write a book to them :) .....but if you do find that it is nesessary to write a book, it will translate what you type....so, what if your spelling is bad?....either use another word you can spell :) , or you can use the spell checker with Microsoft Office for Windows PC if installed, as remember mis-spelled words can also be misinterpeted by the device, or you will notice any word that will not translate in the opposing translation window as it does not recognize the word. So, as far as translation, it did everything I wanted it to do, and I was able to share with those to get an appropriate answer when stuck! But there were other features that were good to use with this Pocket PC. I was also, able to install Google Earth Maps (including Satilite images), and when ever I was in a Wi-Fi hotspot, I was able to connect to the internet, check my maps to review my itinerary and planned routes. Moscow is all satilited so all images were clear, and in fact, because of this program, I was actuallly able to study the areas I wanted to go before I went, and when getting in taxis, where the drivers` needed to check on maps, I was actually able to pin point my places of destination on the maps, and watched as I followed the routes I had already become familiar with in my mind.....somewhat anyway... but I was always correct! :)


    Now, it would be unfair for me to not tell you this, but this is not a telephone....however, with a Skype account purchased and installed on this Pocket PC, I was able to connect with family and friends with good reception in any Wi-Fi hotspot location at minimal costs with good reception, just like a telephone. The account I purchased Skype account on-line for a minimum charge of $ 14.00 CDN, and after placing several phone calls from Moscow, I returned home with over $11.00 still in my account.... and most of these calls lasted well over 10 minutes, so as my Bell Mobility Cell service does not work in Russia, this Pocket PC device has opened many doors when I was travelling for that week in Moscow!!!


    I did not mean to monopolize this form, but rather add some insight to things you can do to help yourself.  as I can know load any translation software language onto this device.....even Hebrew, so the world is now a little smaller again, and this Pocket PC has become my number one travelling companion where ever I go!!!!


    For those planning on someday going to Moscow, or other parts of Russia, enjoy your trip as I saw and learned so much!!! I had a great trip....and even got to kick down a door to an apartment while there, but then that`s another story..... :) Have fun...I SURE DID!!!!!

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