5 ms·

I rode a motorcycle across Russia and several of the former Soviet republics eight years ago. You can't help but learn many useful hacks along the way. Here's

by davidst 16y ago

I rode a motorcycle across Russia and several of the former Soviet republics eight years ago. You can't help but learn many useful hacks along the way. Here's one: How to deal with the police. Their work is boring and it's not unusual for them to go long stretches of time without being paid. They see you coming up the road-- They're curious and you look interesting. They motion for you to pull over and unless you've managed to get so close that you can plausibly claim you didn't see the baton waving you'd better obey them. The hack: For goodness sake don't sit their dumbly and wait for them to speak up! If you do they'll have to justify pulling you over. "Document!", and you're screwed. The next thirty minutes are spent going through your papers and your belongings while they look for any pretense to hit you up for a fine/bribe. Yes, it's corrupt, but understand that is the only way of life for them. Empathy and understanding will get you much further than casting judgment. Be the first to speak. Raise your helmet visor, smile and ask for help of some kind. Even something as simple as, "Skolka kilometer Volgograd?" will do. When they answer, nod, smile, shake their hand and say, "Speciba." There's a 75% chance you're done and you can go on your way. The remaining 25% involves a longer conversation with limited English (and compliment them on their English no matter what) and pointing out your route on a map and where you're going. They may offer you a drink or to share a meal. Feel free to do so if you have time. I never once paid a bribe which must be some kind of record.

xentronium 16y ago
Awesome. I wonder if this works for foreigners only.
- TheSOB88 16y ago
  Probably not - the trick is to get them to think of you as a person. You want to connect on a personal level. Asking for help is one of the most effective ways of 'personalizing' yourself, from what I've read (I've seen American blogs telling people to do the same thing with cops).
amadiver 16y ago
What does '"Skolka kilometer Volgograd?" will do. When they answer, nod, smile, shake their hand and say, "Speciba."' mean? I'm having no luck with online translators.
- cowpewter 16y ago
  From context, I'm guessing, "How many kilometers to Volgograd?" and "Thanks"
  - daliusd 16y ago
    That's correct guess.
  - Natsu 16y ago
    I'm betting you did more than mere guessing, because you can reason the whole thing out from the context. If you did what I did, you first assumed that kilometer was the same in both languages, then that Volgograd was a proper noun (due to being capitalized) and used the context of 'pointing to a map' to infer that it was a place of some kind. That means that Skolka is a question word due to the question mark at the end of the sentence. From there, it's hardly a stretch to assume that Skolka means something like 'how many', because there aren't many questions involving distance and a place that it would make sense to ask. The context of smiling and shaking their hand means that "Speciba" is a word expressing appreciation, so you can confidently translate it as something like "thanks."
- gruseom 16y ago
  The probable reason online translators failed is interesting: davidst used nonstandard, but phonetic, transliteration. "Skolka" is closer to how it sounds but the normal way of spelling it in English is "skolko". Similarly "speciba" instead of "spasibo". Either he got these out of a traveler's manual or learned how to say them and then spelled them the way they sound. By the way, people's tendency to misspell things the way they sound is what allows philologists to figure out how proununciation worked in past centuries.
  - 16y ago
TooSmugToFail 16y ago
I did the similar thing at Heathrow Airport. I took the underground from London to Heathrow, but I only had Zones 1 & 2 travel card, while Heathrow is in Zone 4. When I went out the train, I've put my worried face and I walked hurriedly to the guy on the exit gates (there's always a guy manually opening the door). When I got fairly near, I flashed my travel card asking in a worried voice "What's the quickest way to Terminal A?" Worked like a charm.
kareemm 16y ago
Reminds me of a friend's story. He had just moved to New York from a Texas border town in the 70s. Being a starving grad student, he was a white guy living in Spanish Harlem, a pretty sketchy neighborhood at the time. When walking home at night, he'd avoid the sidewalks and walk in the street so that he was less of a target and could see people coming. One night he was walking home and saw three tough looking guys notice him and veer off the sidewalk to follow him. They were walking behind him and gaining fast. Instead of running, he turned, and, in flawless Spanish (learned from his days growing up on the US-Mexico border) greeted them, told them he was lost, and asked them for help finding his way. He said the guys looked slightly confused before one offered help, and the three guys ended up walking him to his door to make sure he got home safely.
- GFischer 16y ago
  And that reminds me of a relative's story: It was his first time at NY, and he didn't know which neighbourhoods were safe, so he went driving his rental car through some shady neighbourhood - and of course some shady looking individuals approached him. He quickly asked in Spanish for directions, and the guys told him not to come back, as this was an "unsafe neighbourhood" and "their territory".

by davidst 16y ago

xentronium 16y ago

Awesome. I wonder if this works for foreigners only.

TheSOB88 16y ago
Probably not - the trick is to get them to think of you as a person. You want to connect on a personal level. Asking for help is one of the most effective ways of 'personalizing' yourself, from what I've read (I've seen American blogs telling people to do the same thing with cops).

amadiver 16y ago

What does '"Skolka kilometer Volgograd?" will do. When they answer, nod, smile, shake their hand and say, "Speciba."' mean? I'm having no luck with online translators.

cowpewter 16y ago
From context, I'm guessing, "How many kilometers to Volgograd?" and "Thanks"
- daliusd 16y ago
  That's correct guess.
- Natsu 16y ago
  I'm betting you did more than mere guessing, because you can reason the whole thing out from the context. If you did what I did, you first assumed that kilometer was the same in both languages, then that Volgograd was a proper noun (due to being capitalized) and used the context of 'pointing to a map' to infer that it was a place of some kind. That means that Skolka is a question word due to the question mark at the end of the sentence. From there, it's hardly a stretch to assume that Skolka means something like 'how many', because there aren't many questions involving distance and a place that it would make sense to ask. The context of smiling and shaking their hand means that "Speciba" is a word expressing appreciation, so you can confidently translate it as something like "thanks."
gruseom 16y ago
The probable reason online translators failed is interesting: davidst used nonstandard, but phonetic, transliteration. "Skolka" is closer to how it sounds but the normal way of spelling it in English is "skolko". Similarly "speciba" instead of "spasibo". Either he got these out of a traveler's manual or learned how to say them and then spelled them the way they sound. By the way, people's tendency to misspell things the way they sound is what allows philologists to figure out how proununciation worked in past centuries.
- 16y ago

TooSmugToFail 16y ago

I did the similar thing at Heathrow Airport. I took the underground from London to Heathrow, but I only had Zones 1 & 2 travel card, while Heathrow is in Zone 4. When I went out the train, I've put my worried face and I walked hurriedly to the guy on the exit gates (there's always a guy manually opening the door). When I got fairly near, I flashed my travel card asking in a worried voice "What's the quickest way to Terminal A?" Worked like a charm.

kareemm 16y ago

Reminds me of a friend's story. He had just moved to New York from a Texas border town in the 70s. Being a starving grad student, he was a white guy living in Spanish Harlem, a pretty sketchy neighborhood at the time. When walking home at night, he'd avoid the sidewalks and walk in the street so that he was less of a target and could see people coming. One night he was walking home and saw three tough looking guys notice him and veer off the sidewalk to follow him. They were walking behind him and gaining fast. Instead of running, he turned, and, in flawless Spanish (learned from his days growing up on the US-Mexico border) greeted them, told them he was lost, and asked them for help finding his way. He said the guys looked slightly confused before one offered help, and the three guys ended up walking him to his door to make sure he got home safely.

GFischer 16y ago
And that reminds me of a relative's story: It was his first time at NY, and he didn't know which neighbourhoods were safe, so he went driving his rental car through some shady neighbourhood - and of course some shady looking individuals approached him. He quickly asked in Spanish for directions, and the guys told him not to come back, as this was an "unsafe neighbourhood" and "their territory".