Nikolai and Yuliya

by Joshua Kent Bookman (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown Russia

Привет 25 June 2019 ‘Привет, ты готов?’ she asked. ‘always ready,’ I said. The screen flashed from black to color, and there was Yuliya. ‘Привет,’ I said. Hello. ‘Привет,’ Yuliya said. ‘Так ты говоришь по русски,’ she said. ‘Mm,’ I said. ‘Do you know any Russian words?’ she said. ‘Нет’ I said. No. ‘And the alphabet?’ she said. ‘Just half the letters,’ I said. ‘Maybe three-quarters?’ ‘Okay not a problem. Let’s do the alphabet,’ Yuliya said. д г е т ‘Где ты ?’ she asked. ‘in Boston,’ I said. В ‘В Бостоне’ she wrote. ‘В Бостоне’ I said. ‘В Италии’ she said. ‘Italy,’ I said. ‘Sì,’ she said. ‘You speak Italian, yes?’ ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Perfetto,’ she said. Море ‘Can you pronounce?’ she said. ‘Mare,’ I said. ‘What do you think it means?’ she said. ‘It’s like the Italian.’ ‘Mare,’ I said, in an Italian accent. ‘Sea.’ ‘Хорошо,’ she said. Этаж ‘How to pronou— ‘Etage,’ I said, flicking French. Nikolai taught me, on the blankets. ‘Хорошо,’ she said. ‘And what does it mean?’ she said. ‘Um, um, lev- ‘Piano,’ she said, Italian accent. Level. ‘Хорошо,’ she said. ‘спасибо,’ I said. Thank you. ‘We continue?’ I said. ‘I go on vacation, but— ‘No worries,’ Yuliya said. ‘I can schedule— ‘No worries,’ Yuliya said. ‘Ciao ciao.’ Море 29 June 2019 ‘Привет, are you ready?’ Yuliya asked. ‘Готов, Готов,’ I said. ‘Do you remember any words?’ she asked. ‘Книга,’ she said. ‘Kniga,’ I said. ‘You’re smiling,’ she said. ‘It makes me think of pirogi,’ I said. ‘I don’t know why!’ ‘Well, we do have that word,’ she said. ‘But it’s plural!’ ‘Пироги’ ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Пирог,’ she typed. ‘And that’s the singular. You see?’ ‘What’s this?’ she asked. She pointed to her coffee. ‘Кофе!’ I shout. Nikolai taught me. On the sofa, I pretended. ‘Nikolai, coffee or tea?’ ‘Кофе!’ he said. ‘Now,’ she said. ‘Some important phrases for you.’ ‘Как сказать..?’ ‘Kak ska... ska…’ I stammer. Ska reminds me of ska in Swedish. Will. ‘Skazat,’ she said. ‘Как сказат tennis?’ I asked. I know, but I want to hear her voice. ‘Теннис,’ she said. Сколько стоит? ‘How much does it cost,’ she said. ‘Can it be metaphorical?’ I asked. ‘Yes, of course,’ she said. She laughed. ‘Сколько стоит?’ I said. How much will this cost. У меня есть ‘I have,’ she said. ‘Now practice. Do you have a pen?’ ‘У меня есть ручка’ I said. A pen. ‘Remember to write it out, practice, you will practice?’ Yuliya asked. ‘Yes I’ll ask Nikolai. He’ll pronounce for me!’ ‘He’s in Boston?’ she asked. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘He chose you.’ ‘Ah?’ she said. ‘Yes, he wanted me with the Moscow accent. Like him. Like you.’ ‘Ah ok,’ she said. She looked at me again. ‘But if you need help just ask me,’ she said. Как сказать..? Сколько стоит? У меня есть sent to Nikolai. he reads them. he leaves a voice message. ‘well hellooo,’ he lingers. ‘well, let’s see, I’ll say them all at once. ‘Как сказать..? Сколько стоит? У меня есть.’ ‘Can you record for me the pronunciation? I type. But he’s sent voice messages! ‘That’s your free lesson for the day,’ Nikolai said. ‘спасибо,’ I said. ‘And how was dinner with your family?’ he asked. Тоже 30 June 2019 ‘Где ты ?’ Yuliya asked. ‘В Бостоне’ I said. ‘But tomorrow London!’ I said. ‘Англия,’ she said. ‘then?’ I asked. ‘по-русски?’ ‘Потом’ she said. ‘потом Geneva,’ I said. ‘Швейцария,’ she said. ‘It’s a hard one.’ ‘потом Italy,’ I said. ‘чуть-чуть,’ she said. A little. Ch-choot. ‘It’s a cute word,’ I said. ‘Я чуть-чуть говорю по-русски,’ I text Nikolai. I speak a little Russian. ‘чуть-чуть кофе да,’ second text. A little coffee, yes. Ch-choot kofyeh. ‘all that in a short couple of days!’ he typed. ‘your Russian Иs are English Ns though.’ ‘У меня есть отлично teachers,’ I said. I have perfect teachers. ‘oh, you’re right. I’ll need to fix that.’ ‘ИИИ’ ‘And then л you can just write as ^ … nobody writes it like the typed version’ ‘nobody! not even poets?’ I said. ‘yes. have you packed yet?’ he asked.