my wife who still outright refuses to adopt
this method.
And this brings us to the great British tap
mystery. Why do we have two separate taps
for hot and cold water? Well, I know the
answer, but I wont bore that with you here,
that’s what Google is for. For the record
though I agree, it is ridiculous.
But then there are the bigger things. When
I met my wife I was surprised to hear the
way in which she talked about her teachers
at university. To me it all seemed very formal.
When she spoke about Mikhail Nicholaevich
and Tatiana Ivanovna I spoke about Richard
and Ruth and John. When I was at university
our tutors were our friends. We went to the
pub with them after class. We were equals.
When I arrived in Moscow this didn’t seem
to be the same at for the students I spoke to,
and this separation between the people and
authority seemed to run deeper through
society.
The mayor of London rides to work on a
bike. Most politicians take public transport
to work. In the UK I can discuss local and
national legislation with my local MP
(Member of Parliament) on Facebook. In
fact if I really wanted to I could probably go
and knock on his door. This never seemed
possible to me in Moscow.
It is not for me to discuss the merits or
perils of either culture, but this does bring
me to my final point. Whether it is within
institutions or cities, countries or continents,
it is easy to focus on our differences. What
is far more important to remember is how
similar we a