Russians can be nice

I have never been prejudiced that I know of. I have always treated individuals with respect, regardless of what they looked like or what stereotype they fit into. At least I believe I have.



So when I heard the people on the boat next to ours speaking Russian, I was taken aback. It's not often one hears a slavic language spoken in Western Europe. There were three people aboard a yacht and I stopped by to hand them an Ocean Cruising Club brochure. I have adopted that practice recently and when a foreign flagged vessel comes through from somewhere distant, I make a point of introducing myself as the Rear Commodore of OCC and I hand them a brochure and a card.

So it was with Tania (Tatiana), Alex and Sergei. I had never met Russians before. They looked like nice people. I mean, they were cruising aboard a sailboat, right?  How bad could they be? I never hold the policies of a nation against its individuals just as I would hope no one would judge me by Trump.

They were floored when I said hello in Ukrainian and introduced myself. They had not heard a slavic language nor been able to read anything in months. They had a little French but no English. Alex met my Alex and we learned that he had just bought the boat and he and Tania were bringing it into the Med which they loved to sail and had chartered there often. Sergei was helping them do the delivery. It turned out that Tania's grandmother was Ukrainian and she still had some Ukrainian language recognition. Tania and Alex are married and they sail for a month or so at a time as work permits.

We had cocktails and dinner with them which was not great for Alex as they spoke absolutely no English. But somehow I managed to waddle through. They had lots of questions about cruising as a couple and crossing oceans. They gave us a bottle of Stolichnaya and we gave them a bottle of albarino. We parted in good company, we returning to Ireland they to Russia. It turned out to be a pleasant experience all around.

The staff at the marina were fascinated but concluded that Ukrainian and Russian must be like Galego and Potuguese, close enough to make oneself understood but not close enough to be considered the same language. Correct!

Of course, Alex then spent days thinking up plots for a new novel that involved Russians on a mission in the EU.... stay tuned.