Thoughts Archives - Chasing the adventure

Hygge in American with a Russian accent

It seems winter has come. It’s not about the calendar, but about the temperature. Now I leave the house earlier to warm up the car and keep a shovel in the car in case of an unexpected snowfall.

I want to watch “Home Alone” and “Die Hard”. But I dress up as cabbage and go to work.

It’s good that the Scandinavians came up with Hygge.

Lately we can hear this word quite often.

And just recently, someone donated the book The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking to our library.

The author says that learning to pronounce Hygge is easier than explaining what it is*.

I haven’t finished the book yet, but I’ve already learned a few interesting things.

For example, Denmark and Norway were once (before 1814) one kingdom. I probably didn’t study history well at school, or maybe I didn’t see anything useful in memorizing this information and quickly forgot. And yet, the author claims that the expression “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing” is Danish. Whereas I translated it to Dan as Russian. Most likely, in every country with a specific climate there is an expression that sounds about the same in English.

December 7, wedding anniversary.

Another December 7th, another anniversary.

Normally I would write about how good I am: what I have learned and achieved over the years. I would be proud of myself.

But not today…maybe I just got used to my new = not new life or became wise, or maybe it was just the rainy weather that affected my mood.

Back then it was not easy to organize a wedding during the festive season. But Daniel did it. I couldn’t help him at all. But time flies by imperceptibly. It’s been 9 years, wow, a whole 9 years. Now I feel more confident in some subjects. Now we can discuss everything and make decisions together.

Thanks to my full-time job, I was able to take a day off today. Daniel took half of the day off. We planned to go downtown and have dinner at a local restaurant.

We planned, and other people planned too. The local restaurant held an event, not our anniversary. Another restaurant also was unavailable to the public. The third one took us into its warm and tasty-smelling establishment.

Carmines at Candleworks is the name of the place that saved our anniversary. The food was good, a little expensive, like everything else now, the service – good too.

We returned home well-fed and with containers with leftovers. Crackle was happy to see us, as if he hadn’t seen us forever. We fed him, treated him to a cookie.

So, mission accomplished – officially our family is 9 years old now.

November is everywhere

Yesterday I wrote a post in Russian.

Just simple “about us”.

Here I will be talking about Tomsk, a little bit about Russia, and about us too.

November 20th – the 270th day of war.

The life of Tomsk goes on as usual… or almost as usual.

-Positive daytime temperatures (above 32°F) prevailed in Tomsk until mid-November, the Tom River has not frozen yet. The cold snap began on Thursday, on Friday morning it was – 20°C (-4°F) in the city.

Cloudy weather with clarifications, gusty winds and -11-13°C are expected in Tomsk on Saturday, light snow is possible.

It’s November there now. The falling snow will no longer melt, but will accumulate until April.

Filming in New Bedford

On Wednesday, November 2, my street was blocked.

I was driving to work at 8:30 in the morning, not thrilled with the detour but thinking it’s ok. Things happen. Most likely, the street will be open on my way home.

I was wrong.

My street was blocked off again. All the streets around were either blocked or crowded with parked cars.

I finally got home, but I wasn’t happy.

October, 2022

…8 months since the beginning of the war

The war has been going on for more than 8 months. It does not let me enjoy life, the weather, the sun.

By the way, snow has fallen in Tomsk. It will most likely melt. But in a week it will fall again and for the whole winter at that time.

I try to occupy my brain with something pleasant… projects in the library, projects at home, socializing with friends, hobbies. This helps for a short period, but the anxiety does not let go. Daniel said to plan the next vacation, but I can’t get into the planning mode.

I continue to watch YouTube (on various topics) and read telegram channels. And of course I learn Tomsk news from riatomsk.ru. By the way, there is an English version of the site. But it seems to have less information in it.

At the beginning of the war, someone came up with the expression that Putin cured everyone of COVID.

Vacation in Washington, DC

The longer I don’t write, the harder it is to start a new post.

Worrying about how good or bad (sad) a topic of the post is, I forget that my blog is about me and my life in immigration. Technically, I can write anything. Realistically, I may lose my 23 subscribers.

But I will take a risk.

Here we go…

How was your vacation?- people.

Wonderful! I couldn’t wait to get home – I.

Both statements are true.

In the last week of September my husband and I went on vacation to Washington, DC. For the whole 5 days (minus 2 on the road) away from New Bedford, our jobs, our dog and routine.

Mobilization in Russia/Different opinion

A small room with a king-size bed, red wine in disposable cups. We’re on vacation. My husband and I are talking. I am lucky that my husband is really interested in my opinion. Especially when I’m shocked. Shocking news catches you even on vacation. Sometimes you’re not ready to get it, understand it or absorb it.

My old acquaintance Sergey*(a Russian man about my age) shared his opinion.

I was appalled by learning it, but … this is a different opinion, and it has a right to exist.

Mobilization in Russia

The first Russian word I taught my husband was the word “жопа”=ass.

One day he came home from work and said that his boss was “жопа” (ass). I corrected him: ass is the situation, and his boss is a козел=goat*.

When my friends and relatives (actually Daniel’s relatives) ask me about my sons, the best way to answer would be the word “ass”.

If you read me you know what I think about Putin’s war.

My main concern was mobilization. Many Russians thought they were not interested in politics, the government was doing what must be done to take care of its citizens.

And now politics has come to almost everyone’s home. And mobilization has become not only my concern.

On September 21, president Putin announced a partial mobilization. Where the word “partial” means nothing.

Who is primarily subject to mobilization?

Altai Republic and Altai Krai

RIA Tomsk reported that the Maldives entered the top of popular tourist destinations among Tomsk residents in the summer of 2022*.

It is clear that not all Tomichi can afford this type of vacation. Many of them choose some local destinations.

“Altai” – you can hear that name quite often. But in Russia there are two Altais that are very different.

Altai Republic and Altai Krai.

September – extended summer

The capital of Mississippi is facing numerous water problems — there’s been too much on the ground after heavy rainfall in the past week, and not enough clean water coming through the pipes for people to use.

And there is not even a Tomskvodokanal* there.

Since the pipelines are very old and worn out, pipe breaks occur constantly. In the summer, Tomskvodokanal is trying to perform at least some repairs. Therefore, the water in Tomsk is turned off often and for a long time and not always in accordance with the shutdown schedule. Tomskvodokanal publishes information about where and when cold water will be turned off.