Liankacreations

  Faith, Memory, and the Small Habits We Carry Across Borders I never thought I would miss church. But somehow I got into the habit of going to church at Christmas—Catholic Christmas—and also to the Episcopal church, whatever that means. Churches here are different from Russian ones. Of course, they belong to different religions to begin with. But to me, God is one. And although I was never a religious person, there are moments when I feel the need to go to church. I was never religious because I couldn’t be. The Soviet government and the Communist Party were our ideology and our faith. There was no room for belief beyond that. After the fall of the Soviet Union, churches reopened. Happy citizens rushed inside to baptize their children, to marry, to celebrate Easter and Christmas, and so on. Suddenly, people found faith in God, and the churches filled with parishioners. Russian churches are not very humane. You can hardly find benches to sit on during the service— if nothing has ch...

  If you think it’s cold here, you’re wrong — it’s –35°C in Tomsk. More than 10 scheduled buses did not depart from Tomsk to Tolmachevo, Asino, Kozhevnikovo, Teguldet, and other settlements on Tuesday due to the extreme frost.   Earlier, it was reported that temperatures in the Tomsk region could drop from –30°C (–22°F) to –43°C (–45.5°F). Tomsk itself is in the southern part of the region, but it is still around –35°C there. It’s going to get warmer on Thursday, only -11°C (12.2° F ) -13°C (8.6° F). Mayor Dmitry Makhinya urged drivers to give rides to people waiting at bus stops during severe frosts and help take them to a warm place. In Russia, it’s generally normal to give rides to strangers (this is how I got married for the first time, LOL). I haven’t seen a similar practice here. Maybe it is just me.  One news caught my attention: On December 8, a group of Russians was deported from the United States for the third time. The third time? I didn’t hear anyone tal...

  Journaling 7* When you’ve worked in the same library branch long enough, you start recognizing patrons as soon as they walk in. Since I don’t see well from far away, I often recognize people by their figure, posture, or even their smell. You might not believe it—or maybe you would—but some people come in with a very strong smell of alcohol. There was one pair in particular, a mother and her son, who always carried that strong scent. I especially remember the son. He visited the library for several days in a row about a year ago . I remembered him because once he said, “Every time I get out of prison, I go to the library.” I couldn’t stop smiling that day; he just made my day. So here he was again, this time with his mother. She checked out a book, and then they left, leaving the strong smell of alcohol lingering in the building.