{"id":775,"date":"2020-03-12T09:43:24","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T09:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=775"},"modified":"2021-03-20T04:22:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T04:22:24","slug":"russian-hospitality-kaliningrad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/russian-hospitality-kaliningrad\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Hospitality Kaliningrad"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Kaliningrad 20 Years Ago (or Russian Hospitality part 2)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

28 December 2000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew\u2019s and Ina\u2019s flat was located in a newer and higher apartment block than the one we had just left. It was situated on an estate of high-rise flats, access to each building being controlled by intercom. This was a more than satisfactory security measure as there was little chance of breaching the heavy metal outer door without the lock being triggered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous article: Kaliningrad 20 Years Ago (or Russian Hospitality part 1)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up three or\nfour flights of steps we went until we reached the door to their flat. We rang\nthe bell. There was the sound of a dog barking, the sound of a dog being told\nto stop barking, the sound of a dog ignoring what it had been told and the door\nopened. Standing there was Andrew, whom we had met briefly a few hours ago, and\nhis wife, Ina. \u201cHello! Welcome!\u201d she intoned, welcoming us literally with open\narms. Andrew looked on, smiling amiably; the disobedient dog barked and barked\nand barked and, whilst Olga and Ina launched into excited conversation, Joss\nand I honed our skills in the art of the one-legged boot hop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian Hospitality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It did not\ntake me long to realise that if Andrew and Ina had been a double act, Andrew would\nhave been the silent partner and Ina the live wire. Ebullient, expansive  ~ both in speech and body language ~ Ina was\na dynamo of questions, curiosity and inquisitiveness. She was also a natural\norganiser, a multitasker before the word acquired cult status, delegating\nroles, assembling guests and playing the role of the perfect host as if she had\nbeen born to it, which I had no doubt she had. Her social skills and\nextroverted flair enabled her to introduce the other people present: her\nfriends Helen (whom I had met in Svetlogorsk) and husband Valordia and her,\nIna\u2019s, son, whilst transacting other important hostess functions, such as seat\nplacements, finishing touches to the table arrangements and the all-important\nconsideration of who wanted what to drink. I did not know at that particular\ntime that at parties and social gatherings, Ina was often called upon to fill\nthe role of master of ceremonies, which she did comfortably and with\nconfidence, but had I have been made aware of this fact it certainly would not\nhave surprised me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of Helen I\nhave already written, but what of her husband Valordia?  Like Andrew, he was another big man. Tall and\nbroad, with a receding hairline and big, thick, black moustache, he reminded me\nof more muscular version of John Cleese and, as he had less English language at\nhis disposal than Andrew, who only spoke the odd word or two, but did so to\nhumorous effect, by relying on facial expression as his principal means of\ncommunication Valordia\u2019s John Cleese attributes became finely tuned and\ncompounded as the night went on, or perhaps, as the vodka went down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One other person who was in our company that evening, whom I have not mentioned yet was Olga\u2019s daughter, Polina. She was a tall, slim, 16-year-old, so I was not at all surprised when we took our seats at the table that brother Joss was occupying the chair next to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out came\nthe vodka and before you could say \u2018Bugger, that\u2019s a big glass full!\u2019, the\nparty was underway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Russian
In between toasts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Food aplenty <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The table\nwas already groaning under the weight of several large platters of different\nsalad mixes, umpteen bowls of pickles, large salvers of meats and fish, plates\nof bread of various types and colour, bowls of spuds and other vegetables, and\nit just kept on coming. I cast a rueful glance across the battlefield, hoping\nthat the aggregate diners were supporting an appetite equal to the gargantuan\nvolumes, and would have been quite content with my little plate of salad to\nwhich Olga, urged on by Ina, kept adding. One thing I could rely on and that\nwas Joss: his first plate runneth over, and he was having no difficulty in whapping\nback the vodka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversation around the table was competing with the rattle of knives and forks on plates and with background music. Russian and English was spoken in sporadic bursts. Ina was keen to know ~ that is, keen to know everything about the British way of life: our customs, traditions, what we valued, how we socialised, our political views. There was no end to her curiosity, and whenever she could not think of the English word she wanted, she would briefly revert to Russian, as she asked Olga or Helen for clarification. All three ~ my wife, Ina and Helen are English language teachers ~ and as this was one of the few occasions when Helen and Ina would get to converse with native English speakers, amongst their other questions were ones which were language related: did we say it this way, was this word correct in this context, and what other idioms did we know? Andrew, who could understand a little English and also speak a few words, would throw in the odd phrase here and there, with humorous intent, whilst Valordia would breathe in with surprise, shake his head wisely, purse his lips when comments got saucy and chuckle whenever appropriate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Joss
Soviet helmet? ~ no, that’s my brother<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kaliningrad Russian Hospitality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was in\nthe midst of such frivolity, just as I completed my second course, that \u2018the\nboys\u2019 jumped up, the lights went down, the background rock music found a new\nhigh level and within seconds everyone had stopped eating and were leaping\naround the room. This impromptu dancing spell lasted all of five minutes, after\nwhich \u2018the boys\u2019 and some of \u2018the girls\u2019 made their way to the large covered\nbalcony for a smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before and after this eating interlude, many toasts, some very long and meaningful, soulful and sincere had been made, necessitating the quick downing of a large glass of vodka followed by an immediate refill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smoking over and it was back to the grub. I was just deluding myself into believing that I was doing rather well, when out on a huge plate came Ina\u2019s pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance ~ a monolithic cabbage pie baked entirely with me in mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all\nfor you,\u201d Olga beamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England expects every man to do his duty and I tried, believe me, I tried. But although I had three helpings, and must admit that it was rather good, my blighted guts had by now reached saturation point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boys\nwere up on their feet again; the rock music was blaring; the floor of the flat\nwas shaking ~ as was the pendant ceiling light ~ as those who had the energy,\nnot to mention the inclination, strutted their stuff on the \u2018dance floor\u2019. And\nthen it was off to the balcony for yet another smoke. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evening\ncontinued much in this same manner until no more food, no more dancing, no more\nsmokes and no more energy was left ~ only the vodka remained, and that we kept\non drinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Russian
Improving his looks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Relics of the Soviet era<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Between times, we somehow made space to consider some nostalgic relics from the Soviet era. A visor cap was produced, of police origin complete with badge; two pairs of shoulder boards ~ one army and the other marine; and, Joss\u2019s favourite, which he could not resist but wear, a rubber gas mask with a long respirator pipe. I mention this last item specifically, since having included the photograph I would not want you to get the wrong idea about what sort of occasion our evening had been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Joss and I came away from this evening well fed and watered. Our hosts could not have looked after us better. We had experienced our first taste of Russian hospitality and in the process had learnt something of each other\u2019s culture on a personal level, beyond the headlines and stereotypical dross bandied around by the media. Years later I came to understand the true significance of this first encounter with real Russian people. It was the first step in the direction my life would take me. I had no knowledge then that the adventure had already begun, but the good and open nature of the people I had met, the glimpse into a cultural world that I never knew existed, and the first faint, barely noticeable but deeply perceived singularity of this strangely magnetic city and region, so structurally imperfect but spiritually complete, had already begun to pull me in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9 2018-2021 Mick Hart. All rights reserved.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaliningrad 20 Years Ago (or Russian Hospitality part 2) 28 December 2000 Andrew\u2019s and Ina\u2019s flat was located in a newer and higher apartment block than the one we had just left. It was situated on an estate of high-rise flats, access to each building being controlled by intercom. This was a more than satisfactory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[193,190,194,138,191,192],"class_list":["post-775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary-2000","category-kaliningrad-mick-harts-diary","tag-kaliningrad-2000","tag-kaliningrad-hospitality","tag-mick-hart-russia","tag-russian-hospitality","tag-russian-toast","tag-soviet-gas-mask"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":143,"url":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/christmas-in-gdansk\/","url_meta":{"origin":775,"position":0},"title":"Christmas in Gdansk","author":"Captain Codpiece","date":"11 \u0444\u0435\u0432\u0440\u0430\u043b\u044f, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Christmas in Gdansk Updated: 11 February 2022 | First published: 5 October 2019 ~ Christmas in Gdansk Christmas in Gdansk\u00a0is the fourth article in a series of posts that recount my first visit to Kaliningrad in 2000, and my first impressions of the land, the people and its culture. 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