Barbara Heinze, Senior Student, Ulm

A German-Russian seminar in Kursk

After a ten-hour bus ride we arrive in Kursk at midnight. It is dark, there is almost no lighting in the streets, it is cold. Stiff, after the long drive, we get from the bus. Outside, a group of 15 people, who have waited in the middle of the night for us and who are going to be our hosts, are welcoming us.

We are tired to death and in that moment not too excited about how our stay is going to be. Having the name of my host-family at the ready, my host Vera finds me promptly and is welcoming me heartily. Immediately, we notice, that our communication is going to be difficult, due to my poor Russian and her patchy German.

Together with 2 others, we drove to a suburb area of Kursk. The streets are getting increasingly worse; we pass prefabricated buildings and finally come to a stop in front of a row of four stories houses with meagre front gardens. Vera and I are entering the house, the front door does not close properly, the stairs with broken steps have an ugly green coating. But when we enter the flat, I am relieved: clean, comfy, and well-kept.

Only after some days after our arrival in Kursk, Vera and I get to know each other better. I have prepared a little photo album with pictures of Ulm, my family and my hobbies. This proved to be a direct hit: we don’t have to search through our dictionaries that often anymore, the pictures are self-explanatory. Furthermore, the pictures have opened a pathway to Vera’s heart: I have shown my most personal things to her and she replies by rummaging around for her own photo albums so that I can finally learn more about Vera. Her husband died two years ago, she has two daughters and two grandsons. It turns out that Vera understands German a lot better than she speaks it (only I was not able to improve my Russian…). Vera’s photo albums show that she was a real beauty in her days. I discover similarities with Sophia Loren and thus start to greet her with “dobre utra, Sophia”, the next mornings which always makes her laugh.

The following Sunday, Russian Easter Sunday, which one usually spends with one’s family. Vera and I decided that we would neither watch the midnight-service in Moskau on TV nor go to the service in Kursk, but would simply have a lie-in. On Sunday, there was a lot of excitement at Vera’s. Lots of preparations were made: Bliny and Piroschki were baked, the Easter cake was finished, various salads were prepared. And then, the guests arrived: both daughters with their husbands and both grandchildren (8 years and 6 months old) came by for a visit and were curious to meet the German „grandma“.

Later that evening, Vera and I went to an orchestra concert with five solo-instruments. We had already heard the same orchestra two days ago, but on this evening, I noticed a special intensity in their play, the selection of the works and the reaction of the audience. Luckily, a German tourist who speaks Russian sat behind me and filled me in that we were listening to one of the most famous Russian orchestras. In the break, I bought a CD, even though I usually am not too fond of this particular combination of instruments (banjo, mandolin, guitar, percussion), because I was so fascinated by their musicality. After the concerts Vera, ignoring my protests, brings me onto the podium where I meet the musicians, take a group picture and get my CD signed. The musicians obviously don’t mind and are happy about my curiosity. Afterwards, I find out that the occasion for the concert is the orchestra’s 15^th anniversary. Unfortunately I could not find out whether Vera knows some of the musicians personally or if it is a general tradition to go onto the stage and introduce oneself. In the end, I was not quite sure who felt more honoured – me or the musicians? I thus did not experience a traditional Easter celebration, but I am very fond of the memory of this glimpse of “normal” Russian.

Before we took the trip, we had been warned that we would leave Kursk with tears of goodbye – and this actually happened. Vera and I embraced and started to cry, even though Vera is a rather shy, quiet and modest person.

Hopefully, a return visit in Ulm will take place – they are certainly welcome at my place any time, Vera and also Danilo, her grandson. Seeing him, the Russian future does not look bad at all.