S01 - E12 - Svetlana and life in Siberia
Hey guys, welcome back! In this exciting episode, I speak with my student Svetlana about what life is like there and we discuss some interesting cultural differences.
S01 - E12 - Svetlana and life in Siberia
Full intermediate level ESL podcast transcript
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Rich: Hey Svetlana.
Svetlana: He...hello.
Rich: That was a good start, you almost forgot how to say hello. How are you?
Svetlana: I'm fine, and you?
Rich: I'm very good too. So, welcome to the podcast. It's great to have you here as a guest today.
Svetlana: Yeah, me too.
Rich: Perfect. So today we're going to talk about life in Siberia, which is a place that not that many people have been to, I think. I haven't been there. I don't know anyone who has, so I think it's a really fascinating place. We're going to have a great discussion about this. So, please tell me a bit about yourself for the listeners so they can know what you're doing now and what life was like when you were in Siberia.
Svetlana: Yeah. Okay. Now I'm living in London, but I was born in Siberia. It's a central part of Siberia cause Siberia is really big, in Tomsk it is my hometown. And I grew up in Siberia, but I think that seven years ago, I moved to st. Petersburg. And after that I moved to London. So, yeah.
Tomsk in Siberia
Rich: And what was your motivation to move to London? Why London?
Svetlana: Because my husband found a job here in London, and this is why we moved.
Rich: Okay. Perfect. So actually, I'm gonna talk to you more about London in another episode, I think, cause that would be really interesting to hear about your journey and what you think of the city. So, let's talk about Siberia and some of the more interesting facts about the place, right?
So Siberia, as far as I'm aware, covers something like 77% of Russia. So, it's a really big place, right?
Svetlana: Actually, it was funny because, I heard about 77% of Russia for the first time. I didn't know about this before. And yeah Siberia is really big and we have a West part of Siberia, a central part of Siberia and an East part of Siberia. But, I looked on the map and, and the students??? 3.23. that also, we call it far East. Yeah, far East of Russia, but since it is also a part of Siberia. Yeah.
Rich: Right.
Svetlana: I didn’t know about this before. Yeah..
Rich: Are the regions very different. So, is it very different in East Siberia to the West or the far East? I don't know. Is it? Is there a big difference between these regions?
Svetlana: It's difficult to say that it's big, but yes, we have some differences, so we have different weather, we have different types of forest. And what else? Maybe we have some different traditions, but not a lot, like maybe in some specific cases.
Rich: Okay. That's interesting. I guess the thing is though, is it's so big that it's probably very hard to go to the other side to find out what it's like. Right. It's so far, that it’s probably...you guys don't...do you travel much? Do people from the East go to the West of Siberia, or is that not something that happens?
Svetlana: Actually not.
Rich: No okay.
Svetlana: No actually, in Siberia we have a pretty huge Lake Baikal and, it's a really interesting direction for a trip and a lot of people go to this Lake. But, I haven't been on this Lake. I just... I saw photos and I knew about this place, but I haven't been there.
Rich: Just one quick, one quick correction. Sorry.
Svetlana: Yeah..
Rich: So, I haven't been to the Lake, not on the Lake. So if it was on, it would be physically on.
Svetlana: Okay, thank you.
Rich: Yeah.. So, to the Lake or at...maybe at, is the preposition for locations.
Svetlana: Yeah.
Rich: Sorry. Did you have another point?
Svetlana: Yes, and also for central Siberia it’s pretty common to go to the mountains. It is all type of mountains and yeah, I have been in Alto 5.51 ??? mountains once, and this is a really beautiful place. Also, there are lots of lakes and beautiful pictures to view, and so on.
Rich: Sounds lovely. Just thinking about how big Siberia is again. And I think the interesting thing is for me as a British person, I think everything is big right? Cause we live on a very small Island here. So, Siberia is 50 times bigger than the UK or more than 50 times, but it only has a population of about half. So, the population density, which is how many people there are per square mile is quite low. So, for a square mile, there are actually less than eight people. So that's a very low population density. What is it like living in a place with so few people? Do you go crazy?
Svetlana: Actually no, but there is one interesting fact that is for example, in the city where I was born, Tomsk is the closest city...I think you need to, to drive a car nearby three or five hours between this time, because it depends on your speed.
Rich: Wow. Yeah. That's a long way.
Svetlana: Yes
Rich: What's that like with families then? So, do you say, okay, we're going to see the grandparents on Saturday, pack your bags for four days because we're going to drive across Siberia. How does that work? Is it very difficult to maintain and to keep relationships?
Svetlana: Yes. Yes, actually. It's exactly like you described it.
Rich: Okay.
Svetlana: You just spend a lot of time in the road.
Rich: On the road
Svetlana: Oh, on the road. Yeah. You don't do it a lot of times. So, it's a really rare case. I think if you live in a different town, so yeah. But we have a pretty funny case because in Tomsk you can't meet Ikea and this is a really popular shop for Russians.
Rich: Yeah..
Svetlana: And sometimes people go to the closest ??? 8. 30 in other city is Ikea, to shop in the Ikea and buy some furniture for your home. So, it was a funny trip.
Above: Ikea - a popular furniture shop.
Rich: Yeah, that seems like a very long way just to go to Ikea, for the listeners who can probably tell I've been moving, my neighbours are drilling and I just wanted to go somewhere a bit quiet.
So, that explains maybe some of the noises you guys just heard. Okay. So, the next thing I wanna talk about, which I'm sure people will want to know, particularly my students and listeners from hot countries like Brazil is...What is it like to live in a place that is really, really cold? So, I've heard that the average January temperature in some cities is as low as minus 40 degrees. That's very, very cold. What is it like dealing with these temperatures?
Svetlana: Yeah, actually in Tomsk it could be minus 40 degrees in the wintertime, but I think that the coldest city is maybe Yakusk ?? 9.53 and it can be 55 degrees minus in the winter time. So, but in Tomsk, you couldn't meet it in Tomsk a temperature like this, cause I think the coldest temperature is minus 40 that I have met in Tomsk so yes.
Rich: That you have experienced, did you say meets...that I have met.
Svetlana: I met...met...met.
Rich: Yeah. So the coldest you have experienced because you experience cold temperatures.
Svetlana: Hmmm… yes but, I think it's general for every winter. You can meet temperatures like this, and...
Rich: You can experience temperatures.
Svetlana: Experience…
Rich: Yeah.
Svetlana: Actually the winter in Siberia starts in October and the last snow will disappear or maybe in May. So, it's a pretty long time with the snow.
Rich: Yeah.
Svetlana: But, I think, and yes, for example, now that we have November, my mom says that they have a minus 20, so it's pretty cold. Pretty cold.
Rich: So how do you...how do you deal with something like going outside to buy bread? How does that work when it’s minus 40.
Svetlana: It's actually okay to go to the shop to buy some products or something else, but I think we don't have a long walk on the street or outside, in the wintertime. Of course, sometimes, for example, we can have a minus eight and this is really, we think that this is a really good day for a ski or for a snowboard and for us…
Rich: For skiing… for snowboarding...
Svetlana: Oh, okay. And you can spend a lot of time on the outside, but it's actually not a common case for winter and when it is cold, you just need to be fast on the street and we use buses or taxis or cars to go for a walk, for example. It’s pretty usual.
Rich: Perfect. So, I've got actually, just two more questions for you today... for today's episode. The first question I'm really interested to know about is what are the traditional foods and drinks. So, what do you guys like to eat and drink in Siberia?
Svetlana: I thought a lot about this question because actually, I don't think that we have a lot of different foods from other Russians, but one thing I think it's pretty common for, my hometown and it's not usual for other areas in Siberia too. We like to eat ??? 13.23 It's like it's fish and we eat it frozen with salt and pepper. You just make small slices, put in the salt and then the pepper and after that, you eat it.
Above - A Siberian fish dish
Rich: So, hang on wait. So, wait I think we need to...I need to have more questions about this. So, it's frozen fish that you eat with paper, so it's like you eat it almost like an ice cream.
Svetlana: Yes.
Rich: Okay, that's very strange.
Svetlana: Yeah. But it's really tasty. I like it, and I miss about this dish.
Rich: You miss the dish.. I think that it would be quite hard to sell people in London… a fish ice cream. Okay. Fair enough. Is there anything else that is traditional?
Svetlana: I think, no. I think we have a lot of mushrooms, different mushrooms, different types of mushrooms. And also we have a pine nut, it’s really popular for Siberia. But I think you can’t meet it for example, in St. Petersburg area.
Rich: You can't find it in St. Petersburg.
Svetlana: Okay. I think, yeah, I think there's a... I think the words too meet must be quite different in Russian because I think you've used it a few times today in some strange places. So, I'll have to Google that later and find out, find out what's going on with that. Okay. So, my final question for today is. Despite the fact that Siberia and I guess Russia, in general, has changed a lot over the last few decades as most countries have. So, I'm interested to know how your life is different to your parents' life and your grandparents' life.
Svetlana: I actually, I don't think that we have some special new life. I think it's common for all Russia, Russian people in all areas because in the past we had the USSR country and now we have another type of country and this is really different. I think, in the past it was, it's really popular to have, for example, a country house with a garden and grew up vegetables and…
Rich: To grow vegetables…
Svetlana: To grow vegetables...and berries for food and to make some pickled, I don't know. It's correct…?
Rich: Pickled, or pickles. Yeah. I like pickles. Very good.
Vocab - to pickle: Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar.
Svetlana: Yeah, me too. I like pickles of my grandmothers’. Yes, but now it's not so popular and actually my grandparents still have their country house with a garden. But, they don’t grow a lot of vegetables just for them, just for because they get used to do like doing like this and living like this but it's not the usual. And do we don't need to do it for food. Yeah. But, actually and my parents, they don't have a country house, for example.
Rich: Okay. So yeah, maybe more people in cities using more modern things like supermarkets instead of making food at home and things. Okay. Well, it's been fascinating speaking to you about Siberia, Svetlana, and I hope to see you again soon. So, in the next episode together, we are planning to talk about your life in London. And I really look forward to this next episode with you.
Svetlana: Okay, thank you very much.
Rich: All right. Thank you so much. You take care now.
Phrase - You take care now: You can say ' Take care ' when saying goodbye to someone.
Svetlana: Bye.
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