Crimea, Russia with TranslatorsCafe.com

Find interpreters in Crimea:

Toronto—Crimea. Thinking Out Loud about Cultural Differences.

A month ago I returned from a short vacation, which I spent in Crimea. I went there despite the Canadian Government travel advisory, which does not recommend to go there. Despite the fact that it happened one and a half year ago, for the umpteenth time, they tell about armed groups supported by Russian military forces who took control of government buildings, airports and other locations in the Crimean peninsula and about its occupation and annexation.

This video is my thoughts dictated to my cell phone during ten-hour flight from Moscow to Toronto. They are my observations about different cultures. When moving from one culture to another, many things become clear.

For many Canadians and Westerners in general it is an occupied and annexed territory. For some, who are less affected by the local propaganda it is the opposite — a territory freed from the occupation. Why? Watch the video to find an answer.

Music from the YouTube Audio Library by Silent Partner, Kevin MacLeod, Doug Maxwell/Media Right Productions, Topher Mohr and Alex Elena, Huma-Huma, Kevin MacLeod

Keywords: vacation, Canadian Government travel advisory, occupation, annexation, Google knows everything, Simferopol Ukrainian Boarding School, Ukrainian language, Russian language, enemies, English, French, Germans, Crimean War Memorial in London, Crimea is occupied by Germans, 1954, 1991, 2014, 2015, independent Ukraine, Welland Canal, factory "Morye" in Feodosia, hydrofoil “Voskhod”, Kyiv, Kiev, Stephen Harper, Vladimir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi, Moscow, graffiti, Domodedovo Airport, Vnukovo Airport, Aeroexpress, Moscow International Business Center, Paveletskaya station, Simferopol, Chatyr-Dag mountain, TU-134, Boeing-747, Southern Coast of Crimea, Simferopol Train Station, bridge across Kerch Strait, Toronto, squirrels, cats, dogs, racoons, Ottawa Parliament Cats, girls in high heels, Cathedral of the Three Saints, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, OT-34 flame thrower tank, moonshine, Yalta, Yalta Conference, Livadia Palace, Livadiya Palace, Southern Coast of Crimea, Toronto, GAZ-21 "Volga", Black Sea, Yalta Promenade, Swallow’s Nest, Ai-Todor, Gaspra, Livadiya Palace, Russian Tsars, Oreanda, Tsar’s Path, Greater Yalta, 1927 Crimean Earthquake, barn owl, GPS, Sunny Path, Putin and Berlusconi motorcade, sheltopusik, squirrel, different culture, Alushta highway, shawarma, Kyoto, Osaka, Japan, Paris, France, Neil Martin, cheating in Russia, cheating in Canada, tattle, reporting, New York City, San Francisco,

Learn technical English with our videos.

[Greenenergytoday-ls]

In 1783, Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire under Empress Catherine the Great after a series of military campaigns. This marked the beginning of Crimea’s integration into the Russian state, though its population remained largely ethnically Tatar and Muslim at that time.

[Greenenergytoday-ls]

One of the darkest chapters in Crimea’s Soviet history occurred in 1944, when the Soviet government under Joseph Stalin deported the entire Crimean Tatar population, accusing them of collaborating with Nazi Germany during World War II. The deportation caused immense suffering and loss of life, and the Crimean Tatars were only allowed to return to Crimea in the late 1980s after the policies of de-Stalinization.

[Greenenergytoday-ls]

1959: your mother is a teacher (maybe Russian teacher?) at the Ukrainian boarding school, which suppresses Russian language.
Meanwhile Ukraine in 1959: ruled and strongly controlled by Soviet Union. Despite the thaw in cultural policies, Soviet authorities still viewed Ukrainian nationalism as a serious threat. Any hint of separatism or overt nationalist sentiment was met with harsh repression. Russian was the official language of government, education, and media across the entire Soviet Union, and it was used extensively in inter-republic communication. As part of the broader Soviet policy of “Russification, ” Russian was promoted in schools, universities, and the workplace in Ukrainian cities and towns. Ukrainian nationalist (among which intellectuals, writers and scientists are being murdered.

P.s.: I’m a Russian speaker myself, but this is such a silly point to contribute on my opinion

[Greenenergytoday-ls]

Crimean TRANSFER (≠annexation) occured in 1954, under the rule of Khrushchev, originally Ukrainian, known for his policy of de-Stalinization, which aimed to move away from the totalitarian rule of Stalin, allowing for more openness in certain areas, within the framework of Soviet socialism.

[sapyor]

Похожая история с навязыванием национальных языков была мною услышана от одного из уроженцев Молдавии, хотя там другая ситуация и Молдавия была территорией не России, как Крым, а Румынии. Так вот, в 90-тых годах при поддержке США в Молдавии начался жесткий национализм, под видом строительства национального государства. И начали врать, что русские унижали молдаван и заставляли учить русский. В то же время молдавскому языку не уделялось так много внимания. Это была пропаганда и ложь. Все было наоборот. Во-первых молдаван как правило гораздо проще брали на высокие руководящие должности, что касается науки то в ней конечно лидирующие роли занимали русские и евреи, так как очень много специалистов в разрушенную Молдову приехало извне. Никакого притеснения молдавского языка тоже не было. Все учебники в школах печатались на двух языках, и если выдавали учебник на русском можно было пойти и взять учебник на молдавском. Кроме того, чтобы облегчить молдаванам обучение создавались и отдельные молдавские школы куда любой мог пойти, и уровень преподавания там был не ниже чем в русских. И что интересно, многие молдаване специально шли именно в русские школы. В каждой школе был предмет: Молдавский Язык и его на полном серьезе учили и даже сдавали экзамены. Притеснение молдаван в Советские годы это ложь и русофобская пропаганда, результатом которой стали войны и отток высоко квалифицированных кадров из Молдовы и возврат страны к аграрному статусу после развала Союза. Такая же анти русская пропаганда велась тут в Украине, но она буксовала так как процент русскоязычных в Украине не меньше половины, а сейчас русофобия достигла истерии и шизофрении так как страна находиться под оккупацией Соединенных Штатов.

[chn]

I can't believe what a stupid line of thinking. The western part of Ukraine and Belarus belonged to Poland before World War II. Many Poles live there. Should they take back these lands then?

[aidenledbetter]

*Crimea, Ukraine. Russia doesn't get to illegally annex Ukrainian land.

[itswilliam]

okay, because everyone here is speaking russian, I guess Crimea deserved to be annexed by Russia

[yevhenladiukov]

прикольна пропаганда, всі плакати на російському, і там ніколи не робили зауваження