Sunday 31 October 2010

unexpected


Well that was a bit of a surprise. Been struggling a bit with my health these last few months, but then it was back to Moscow and suddenly wham-bam, acute appendicitis, rushed into hospital (well, we will get back to that 'rushed' thing) and here I am appendix-free, and with a new 2-inch long trophy scar.

State hospital with almost no English spoken anywhere but medical care has been very good, sometimes brusque but also often caring.  Deliveries of chicken soup etc. almost every day from my kind colleagues (and a fridge to put it in) as well as fellow patients pointing out the breakfast trolley when they think I am missing it.

 In fact the weirdest thing has been watching so much Russian daytime TV. I have managed to spend over a year in Moscow without watching the television at all; so now pinned to my bed, with nothing to do and capable of very little, I have literally been lying here with my mouth open watching one dire 'copy' of US or UK reality show after another. And I mean dire. A medical and health programme that spent twenty minutes on the fact that hats make your hair static. Interior design make-over shows which show how to make things (clay bowls, painted furniture) by presenters who clearly don't know how to actually make anything. A style programme where the women look worse in their new outfits.

Now I realise that most people living here already know this, but it really has been a considerable (additional) shock to the system.

3 comments:

  1. Get well soon!

    Once I had to spend a month in the hospital. Fortunately we hadn't got a TVset there. And I haven't got it at home. That's why your short review was particularly interesting for me))

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  2. Sorry to hear of your illness but glad you're doing better and had good care. After accompanying a friend to a Russian hospital once, I would hate to be a patient in one. Although I'm sure there are much nicer ones that I haven't seen.

    I totally agree about Russian TV. I watched it a bit because I thought it would be a good way to improve my language but the shows were so terrible that nothing held my interest. Although I watched quite a lot of the Olympics on there which was strange to see it in Russian and from a Russian POV but also interesting and learned a lot.

    If you want to watch Russian TV, maybe you could try some American or British shows that have been dubbed into Russian. Then at least you know you like the show and, if you've seen it before, can improve your Russian and observe how they translate things.

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  3. You aren't talking about Moda are you? I think it's called Moda. With a sort of courtroom layout? I love that show. And I reckon it's only about 50% of the time that they look worse in the new outfits, although I suspect it's the new haircuts that really make the difference.

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