Evening notes, 3

-You speak with an accent. Where are you from?- the visitor asked.

-From Europe – I replied, rolling my eyes (here we go again).

The visitor turned to the door, about to leave, but realized that he had not heard the answer and asked again: from which part of Europe?

-From the cold – was the answer.

He realized that he would not get an answer and left.

I told my husband at home. He said: “Well, you could say that you are from Sweden.”

I don’t want to and don’t like to lie unnecessarily.

But at the present time I don’t want to mention Russia.

Until February 24, I was proud of all Russian famous people and myself too.

At the Adult/Continuing Education (New Bedford High School Adult Learning Center), where I was practicing my English, I got 700 points out of 700 possible on the math test.* And I knew (unlike my American-born classmate) the word “mouse” in the plural in English. And I named several states through which the Tornado Alley passes in the USA (although I do not know the geography).

I really miss the time when being Russian was proud and not dangerous.

Here’s what I found on yahoo news:

Americans, outraged by Russia’s war in Ukraine, take out their anger on Russian companies, brands or anything that sounds Russian. And they don’t even think that business owners are denouncing the invasion of President Putin and supporting Ukraine (including financially), not to mention that some of them are even non-Russian.

-Olga Sagan, the owner of Russian bakery Piroshky Piroshky in Seattle, which has been offering handmade Russian pastries since 1992, told about a recent call from someone threatening a terrorist attack in her store.

But Sagan emigrated from Russia in 1999 and is an American citizen. Of her 60 employees, she is the only one from Russia; three more are from Ukraine.

In 2017, I was in Seattle and bought pies at Piroshki on 3rd. It seems it’s a different cafe.

-26-year-old Alan Aguichev (born in the USA) opened a restaurant in Manhattan two years ago with his mother Svetlana “Sveta” Savchitz, who was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. They named their restaurant Sveta and advertised it as an Eastern European and Russian eatery — a description that was supposed to help people easily sort out food, but now attracts unwanted attention.

Alan received threatening emails from people swearing at Russia and advising them to “go home.” The owners of the restaurant have removed references to Russia from the menu.

-In Canada, a Russian community center with no ties to the Russian government has been vandalized using the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

I have nothing against the colors of the Ukrainian flag, but  I am for common sense.

These are just a few examples, but it’s not pleasant and scary. 

Today is May 11th. It’s my birthday in a week. I don’t have any plans. I don’t even know if I will be in the mood to celebrate. 

I am glad that in America the birthday boy/girl does not need to worry about the cake and cook all night/day long to treat the guests. Friends/relatives/colleagues are trying to surprise the birthday person.

I am just looking forward to a vacation and hopefully good weather. 

Spring and peace to all!

* This was a funny story  – in several questions I didn’t even understand the meaning, because I didn’t know the translation of the words. But somehow I guessed the right answers.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/russian-businesses-us-face-backlash-war-ukraine-83502964

Anti-Russian hysteria in the US: Who does it serve?