Snow, Snow, and culture!

So it's snowed a lot here these days, about another 3-4 inches and counting right now! It's pretty nice out there, but cold! Ah well, I'll make it!

Got a fun bit of culture the other day that really made me think. In preparing to go off base soon, I need to go to a few places around base. They have locals drive big shuttle vans around here which is pretty fun. Most of them speak decent english, but this gentleman I had the other day didn't really speak english besides hello, how are you, and thank you....Made for an interesting conversation.

After a few minutes of silence, he reached over to the seat next to him as I'm seated in the back and pulled out a handful of candy (it was sealed, no "strangers with candy" thing or anything here!). It was in Russian and I plan on bringing some back. I asked if he was Kyrgyz and he said he was Russian. Without prompting him, he taught me how to say hello, thank you, and you're welcome, in Russian, correcting my pronunciation along the way. It was quite fun and I now have learned those phrases in two different languages while here (Russian and Kyrgyz). I definitely plan on teaching that to the kids back home! Get ready guys!! ;)

Now to some of you, this may seem pretty trivial, but if you think of the implications of this, it's quite amazing. Here I am, an American, in military uniform, having a fun, insightful conversation with a man who's country I was grown up to know that they were the "bad guys". My dad, flew planes that tracked Russian Subs, his dad was in Korea and a stint in Vietnam. All of this against communism which was a part of this very diverse way of life growing up.

It was just simply amazing to me that politics, world views, and wars can all be looked past and here are two simple guys, having a great conversation, learning about each other's language and a little about each other's culture and customs. Regardless of anything that happens here, I'll have that moment in my head for quite sometime as an example of how people can get along, no matter what. I hope I helped you all get an insight about the implications of what the US being over here truly means.

I miss you all and truly can't wait to come home, but I am trying to learn and "soak up" all of the culture I can while over here! Thanks and have a great New Years!! See you all very soon!