Questions and answers

I know how to ask certain questions- for instance "gde voksal?" is how I asked where the train station is. But understanding the answer is another thing altogether. So far, Russians I have had 'conversations' with all tend to react the same way when they discover I can't speak or understand Russian- they just keep talking more, adding more words to explain what I clearly did not understand. It's well intended, but fruitless. And sometimes funny. But the kindness behind the effort is very clear, and helps to ease any sense of confusion or panic.

I did eventually find the train station, and got my ticket to Irkutsk, supposedly a window seat on the lake side of the train- I looked up the words ahead of time, wrote them down, and repeated them three different times- the clerk seemed to understand, and, true to form, said a lot more words back at me. I wanted to laugh when, after sliding my ticket to me through the window slot, she took the time to point out the different items on the ticket and explained them to me- in Russian. I thanked her multiple times for her kindness, and went away completely mystified. Fortunately, there are web sites that explain the tickets.