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benlehman at 05:38pm on 09/10/2005
benlehman at 05:38pm on 09/10/2005Sunday, October 8th, 2005
Helsinki -> Moscow 3 hours in
Just got done with dinner -- a passable hamburger steak and excellent vegetables in the restaurant car. I was invited to join a table of two Russians and a Finn headed on business, Alexander, Alisander, and Matti, respectively. The two Alexes are from Tomsk, a Siberian town that I'll be passing through, and Matti is from somewhere in Finland, I don't remember. The Russians could barely speak English, I can't speak Russian except for "da," "niet," and "spasiba," and only that barely, and the Finn didn't care to translate, but that didn't stop us from drinking vodka shots together, singing our national songs, and talking about our stages in life. Alexander is 30, and his wife Maria is 2 months pregnant. Alisander is 27, and he's waiting until he can afford a house to have a child with Anastasia, his wife. Matti is 57, and has two children. I'm 24, and not married, and this surprises them somehow.
Alisander is a manager for some sort of bathroom fixture company, which is produced in coastal Finland in a pretty little town which Matti describes as "like medieval."
To get for future train rides -- water bottles. Lots of water bottles. I will have such a hangover tomorrow after the four shots of vodka (courtesy Alexander) and the beer I ordered.
P.S. My roommate (a Russian / Finnish businessman -- lives in Helsinki, works in Moscow) has informed me that you can buy glasses of tea for 10 rubles (30 cents) each. This may yet save me from a hangover. We'll see.
P.P.S. It didn't.
Helsinki -> Moscow 3 hours in
Just got done with dinner -- a passable hamburger steak and excellent vegetables in the restaurant car. I was invited to join a table of two Russians and a Finn headed on business, Alexander, Alisander, and Matti, respectively. The two Alexes are from Tomsk, a Siberian town that I'll be passing through, and Matti is from somewhere in Finland, I don't remember. The Russians could barely speak English, I can't speak Russian except for "da," "niet," and "spasiba," and only that barely, and the Finn didn't care to translate, but that didn't stop us from drinking vodka shots together, singing our national songs, and talking about our stages in life. Alexander is 30, and his wife Maria is 2 months pregnant. Alisander is 27, and he's waiting until he can afford a house to have a child with Anastasia, his wife. Matti is 57, and has two children. I'm 24, and not married, and this surprises them somehow.
Alisander is a manager for some sort of bathroom fixture company, which is produced in coastal Finland in a pretty little town which Matti describes as "like medieval."
To get for future train rides -- water bottles. Lots of water bottles. I will have such a hangover tomorrow after the four shots of vodka (courtesy Alexander) and the beer I ordered.
P.S. My roommate (a Russian / Finnish businessman -- lives in Helsinki, works in Moscow) has informed me that you can buy glasses of tea for 10 rubles (30 cents) each. This may yet save me from a hangover. We'll see.
P.P.S. It didn't.
(no subject)