The Russia that I used to know

When people ask me what Russia's like, I've always given one anecdote from when I was living in Saratov in 2002. My watch battery died, so I asked my teacher what to do. She told me to find a watch repair shop. I recalled seeing some signs for this around town, so I headed off on a free afternoon. I handed my watch over, and the man asked me where the new battery was. I had assumed that he had new batteries there, but I had assumed wrong. So he pointed me in the direction of a shop that sells watch batteries, about 15 minutes away by foot. I got to the store, purchased the battery, and though I'd ask just to be safe: Can you put in the new battery? Of course not. So back I went to the watch repair shop. The man was still there, and switched out the batteries while I waited. He'd noticed my accent, asked me what I was doing there, and after proclaiming my undying love for the Russian language, he told me that there was no charge for me. And so this afternoon of running around town to get one small task accomplished has become symbolic of what Russia is like, what the Russian people are like, and what living here can be like. Nothing is ever as easy at it "should" be, but the people can be so, so kind as to make up for it.

For the past few years, I've been noticing some changes to the first part. My first big triumph came in 2009 when I convinced the lady selling train tickets to book me and my friends in the same car, but that we would pay separately, some by cash, some by credit cards, and it was up to her to keep track of which seats we were in. Two years ago, I discovered you can return train tickets, and they'll even credit your card back! Now, you still have to stand in an absurdly long, slow line to get this done, but I think the kiosks that print out e-reservations for the Russian Railway are about to get to a critical mass. But even aside from train tickets, things are just working the way they should. Here are a few things that have been observed this summer:

1. My hot water was turned off precisely according to the schedule as announced outside the building. And only 5 days instead of the usual two weeks. 
2. I've seen young-looking folks get carded for alcohol. 10 years ago the idea of a legal drinking age was scoffed at.
3. A new law regarding the sale of "strong" drinks (over 5% alcohol) after 11 pm has been universally enforced. Even certain beer won't be sold.
4. A friend fell into a situation where a car accident was rigged. The accident wasn't bad at all, but the police still got involved (mostly by the rigger's request). In the end, the police realized that it was rigged, and fined that guy for putting himself in a position where he was going to get into an accident.

Not to mention that for the past 3 years cars have been stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks, versus the days when you had to dash at a green light and felt like cars sped up when a pedestrian walked into the street. And asking for the bill at a restaurant is no longer a game of hide and seek with the waiter.

Sometimes I get nostalgic for the "good old days" when things were hard. And, I'll admit, that by 2001 when I made my first trip, things were already not that hard. But I did spend 6 months in 2002 shopping at the market (because there were NO supermarkets in Saratov!), washing my clothes by hand (not everyone had washing machines at that point), and dealing with nosy neighbors who inspected every single visitor through their peepholes. Now, I have a discount card to my favorite supermarket, where I usually pay by credit card. Not only is there a washing machine, but I have high speed wifi that costs little more than what I used to pay for very slow dial-up (and my old landlady asked that I hide the computer and cables if anyone ever came to the door lest I become a target for burglary). And I get the feeling that my neighbors couldn't really care less who lives in their building (although they've probably known about there being an American in apt. 35 for years).

Recently, however, I came face to face with a darker side of Russia. I met a young man who almost as soon as he'd said his name told me he was a Nationalist, essentially a neo-nazi. His first words to me were about how I felt about having a black president. Within the course of an hour, I'd told him that I think gays are just fine, Jews are people too, and the ancestors of most African Americans didn't really have much say in moving to America. I've been wondering why I would give someone like this the time a day, let alone engage in conversation. The truth is, I really want to be a cultural ambassador. I finally have the Russian skills to stick through most any discussion, and can use that ability to open my world to people who've never thought of much beyond their own borders. The last thing I want to do is to make this guy think that Americans are arrogant, or rude, and just feed into his preconceived notions. So we made plans to meet up, and I answered all his questions about America. He concluded for himself that really things aren't all that different: everyone is sort of struggling to get by, everyone wants to get ahead, everyone has obstacles to overcome. A lot of differences are somewhat superficial, and based on the different histories. And he finally admitted to me that he'd never really cared for foreigners, and always resented their presence. But after talking to me, he was a little more open-minded, and felt like he understood America a little more. Even if he was disappointed that the differences weren't so great.

So, Russia has changed a lot on its own. But I'm happy to give a little nudge here and there. And I don't think I'll stop coming, even if the most superficial differences disappear. Who knows, maybe as the living conditions become more like those in America, we'll really be able to understand the deeper cultural differences.