Becks in Siberia: Smile :-)

This past week we had a pleasant experience. We had just bought us a couple of ice cream treats and were walking down the sidewalk in the center of Berdsk. We looked up the sidewalk and a lady made eye contact with us and came directly to us and the first words she spoke were, “Where are you from” spoken in English. Well, we had a very pleasant talk with her for quite a while on the sidewalk. During the course of our conversation we asked her how she knew that we weren’t from here. She told us that she saw us in a store and we looked at her and smiled. She also mentioned that a while ago several of the young missionaries passed her on the street and said “good evening” to her, in Russian of course. She told us that those two things are not real common in public. Well, we shared phone numbers and decided that we would meet again and talk. What a very, very pleasant person she is. We have since been in contact with each other; she and her husband are coming to our apartment for a visit on Wednesday. We are looking forward to our visit. We have met so many Russian people that are extremely pleasant towards us.

We also had the opportunity last week to take to lunch a person that we have become close friends with. He was able to bring his sweet mother with him to lunch; she told us stories about survival during the hard times of the world war and after. She was raised in Kazakhstan and later moved to Russia. She is a tiny lady and is one of the sweetest you will ever meet. Oh, how we love the Russian people!

Russia has many celebrations, small and large. They are definitely a people of culture and they are proud of it. This past Saturday it was a cultural celebration in Berdsk with lots of singing and dancing, both young and old. We were invited to attend a performance with a young couple that we met at one of our English classes that we have helped with. She was performing in a couple of singing groups. Everyone here seems to take their singing and dancing quite serious. We have enjoyed watching several performances in Novosibirsk and here in Berdsk, quite a bit more culture than we have experienced in years :-)

Last week was a week of missing home a little. We love the 4th of July celebrations in Utah. We sure missed being with our family and our dear hometown of Mt. Pleasant with all of the activities for the 4th. We heard the fireworks were very good this year. However, we have not missed out on fireworks while here. They are setting off fireworks on a very regular basis. There are a couple of places near our apartment that hold wedding receptions, one right on the lake and one across the street. Fireworks seem to be a regular thing with weddings along with fireworks for the other Russian celebrations.

To finish the week, on Sunday we had a special treat. The family of our young friend that we met on the train when we first arrived came to our apartment to visit. Not only did they come to visit, they brought a nice meal for us to BBQ. So we were able to enjoy a Russian Shashlik again. It worked out perfectly, because we just happened to have another set of Elders from Novosibirsk visiting us in Berdsk for Sunday. We all enjoyed the Shashlik, and we had a great visit with this dear family. Though this is only the second visit we have had with them, they feel like family. We have stayed in close contact with their daughter that left us and went to Texas to work for the summer on a program called, “Work and Travel”. She was so helpful to us while she was here and we were with her many times before she left. We call her our “Russian Daughter” :-)

Here in Berdsk it has rained a lot this spring and summer. Now, on warm days when it’s not raining it kind of looks like it is snowing outside, because of all the cotton from the cottonwood trees. They are loaded with cotton and it blows around in the air everywhere. It is even floating around inside the train as we travel to Novosibirsk. At least it is a warm type of snow, but it’s not as fun getting in your mouth!