Monday, 18 June 2012

my private translator

Today is my last morning in Kharkiv. train to Donetsk and then a flight home to Zurich via Munich.

while in Ukraine, I saw that many foreign visitors hire a personal translator. and for some, the translators looked like a fashion model.

I did not hire a personal translator.

but I got one by chance.

in the train to Donetsk one day to see France vs England, I met a Vietnamese boy who has been living in Ukraine for 16 years. He speaks perfectly russian and ukranian. and of course Vietnamese.


He told me there is a large Vietnamese community in Ukraine, about 6,000 persons.

He is crazy about soccer but this is his first tournament. It is not easy for him to visit other countries with
a Vietnamese passport.

He offered to help me with any translation. In return, I helped him getting tickets for his friends.

Minh is nice and polite.

the only negative thing about Minh is he called me 'chu'

In Vietnam culture, one has to address another person not just with the name but also the ranking.

I am used to be called 'anh', meaning older brother.

'chu' means uncle

I am getting old!!!

Sebastian

PS: the second photo is for my Swiss friends. I met this famous TV Swiss sports reporter
outside the stadium before Holland-Portugal.

What a fun tournament so far. I think only one  penalty and still no 0-0 game.

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