St. Petersburg

2010/09/10, I was in St. Petersburg, Russia.

My Russian trip began with a series of frustration of language barrier.

After a long air trip, including the long passage of waiting in New York airport and flustered transferring in Moscow airport (The domestic terminal is ridiculously far from international terminal and the shuttle bus schedule is completely a joke.), I arrived YH with an exhausted body. Any word I saw was Russian, which caused huge hardness in everything. However, fortunately, the staffs of YH were extremely friendly.

During the days I stayed, the sky was cloudy, sometimes it rained. I didn’t visit all famous places. I just wandered in the old city, on the streets surrounded by ancient buildings. I walked across some arch bridges above canals, stood still in the square center, then sat and nodded on stair aside the square. I visited some gorgeous Orthodox churches, took some pictures as a ordinary tourist, and last, I took subway back to hostel, with dampened jacket, maybe also with a sandwich, bought from the kiosk outside the metro station. I used funny gestures for this mission, but still didn’t make the vendors laugh.

I had no idea I was walking inside a world heritage, until I was back to Taiwan, surfed the website.

09/13/2010

The sky was still gloomy, and I still had no certain plan. I was looking for post office to deliver postcards to my friends. But I was lost in the city immediately.

I saw two people with arm-bands in front of Moscow train station (It’s a terminal station named after the destination). One was a blond hair young male and the other was a brown hair female. Both wore a jacket with words “Do You Need Help?” I guessed they were volunteers of some organization.

I walked to the girl to inquire where the post office was. The young boy seemed to be helping other somewhere. I cannot speak Russian, so English was the only language I could use now. The girl was not very tall and felt little shy when I asked her. She replied me: “sorry for my poor English” with a blush.

I wanted to say “please don’t say sorry, it’s just a language and my English is poor, too”. But I didn’t.

She made some phone calls, and leafed through her books simultaneously. I wasn’t sure she did this for me until she showed me the location on the book, and guided me the way, with few words but lots of body language and friendly smiles. I cast a glance at her open bag at her foot. It looked some reference books for helping visitors.

Then we had a short talk. I appreciated her kindly help. However I still wasn’t sure was it a charge service. So I inquired her about this. I thought even if it really was, it’s quite fair to pay. The girl replied me an unbelievable number, with her bashful smile.

I was confused. I asked her again to confirm: “You mean you help me and then I have to pay you such a lot of cash?” “Are you sure?” The girl was nodding but her face was little puzzled as well. And then I said “It’s ridiculous!” “It’s just a small favor and is never supposed cost so much”. I was very angry, and left nothing for her. I didn’t look at her afterward but I knew she seemed upset.

The way she guided me was wrong. I found the post office on my own. A kindly female clerk led me through some rooms in the 3rd story maze-like ancient building to a small room, look like a store to deliver mails. The “post office” I found was only to receive mails.

After I sent my cards to friends in Taiwan, China, and Japan, my anger had ebbed gradually and then I started to wonder…..I didn’t think they really intended to earn money from me….

I walked back to the vicinity of station. After a short hesitation, I decided to ask her again. I didn’t want to leave this city with such a bad feeling.

The other young male was standing there now. He greeted me with a friendly smile. His English was good, and I explained the puzzles in my mind. The girl replied me in big astonishment. “No! How possible!” The young man added “That’s our salary per day!” We all laughed. I said “I am so sorry!” “I apologize for my misunderstanding!” She grinned and said sorry again because she didn’t catch on my words.

No, I was so rude. I felt shame on myself. I misunderstood the people who helped me, I almost shouted to them. How foolish I was? I looked like an arrogant foreigner yelling in English she didn’t understand to blame her and this country for the greed because of my wrong awareness due to my language frustration. Maybe I am the person with ridiculous bias without any consciousness. I had many lessons to learn.

However, on the other hand, I was happy I walked back to figure out the truth. I gave myself a chance to save the bad impression, to save my poor mind.