From

1 GOT half way
through this colunin
and then gave it up.

It was so depressing to
ty spirit, # wasn’t worth
leaving myself open to all the
agitation, But { hate feeling
like a piker, and the subject
lingered, taunting me for fet-
ting memories get the better
of me.

It was recalling Russia,
you see, bringing back those
days in Moscow, on my own,
no one to help me put it in
perspective. A story in the
daily newspaper had brought
it all back, all the apprehen-
sion, all the frustration, The
story was about a chap from
Halifax, who had read about
western businessmen going
to Russia and hiring them-
selves out to various firms in
order to teach the rudiments
of small business and make
their own living at the same
time.

Sounds great. A real
leaming experience and a
shot of foreign culture to
boot.

So he went, and put a
bunch of money into a bar
that he called The
Moosehead, and which was a
roaring success, but which
cost him dear. Thirty thou-
sand dollars to begin with,
and his life on the line if he
tried to get it back.

Well, nobody threatened
my life during my truncated
sojourn in Moscow, but [
was, in the end, thoroughly
frightened and unsure of
being allowed to leave the
country. We had no Embassy
there in those days.

What on earth was I doing
there, you ask yourself. Weil,
from this vantage point, 20
years later, I really wonder
too, except that I recail hav-
ing this strong urge to bring
the message of Canada to
Russian people —— work hard
(they already believe that),
and help and trust one anoth-
er. From what I read I felt the
latter message needed under-
lining, and who better to
carry the word than Eleanor,
bless her pointed little head.

It was in the years when |
was my husband's office
manager, those years when
our annual holidays, apart
from Christmas week, had to
be taken singly. There had
been signs from Moscow of

Ada Leung
Pharmacist

CAPSULE

COMMENTS

H Mind and body do work tugether.

f| Proof of this fact is che use of
placebo pills (those with no active

H ingredient). The idca of believing
that something will work, may
indeed make it work, even if there
is nothing in it. When studies are
done on new drugs, the new drug
is compared to placebos. Those
receiving the placebo often report
improvement in their condition.
Even side effects are experienced.
At Davies Pharmacy, we dispense
more than medication, We dis-
pense information, We know
you'll like our style of pharmacy.

DAVIES
PHARMACY

1401 St. Georges 985-8771

Eleanor

’ the
: vintage years

relaxation in some areas, of
softening of strictures.
enough to make us (read
“me") think it was time for
overtures,

1 would go to them and
tell them about our ways and
maybe persuade them to my
views.

Can you beat it? When |
write it down here, I can
scarcely credit my naivete,

but aff went to New York ta
bourd the Russian passenger
ship Lermontov, having per-
stiided myself that the 10
days at sea would help me
prepare for the differences in
culture and more, ft did, in
same degree,

We dived “Russian-style”
heard the Janguige and went
10 classes, ate the country's
foud, learned to drink (or not
to drinky vodka (at about ten
cents a shot),

And we were introduced
to the Russian reliance on
their ranks of hirge unsmiling
immutable atatrons who
seem to run the Russian
machine.

had prepared to some
extent by studying the
Russian language for most of
a year — the writing of itis
almost us entertaining as the
speaking of it, which is like
enjoying a mouthful of

S nee
SERVIC

wo

jujubes, We had same ditic-
ing, toa, aboard, and a glori-
ous storm in oud-Adantic.
We attended lectures and felt
properly introduced by the
time we entered Leningrad
harbor.

We saw some of
Leningrad’s vlories, and took
the basic train to the capital
shortly.

My hotel was described at
the ime of making reserva-
tions as the hest in town,
Maybe it was, but there were
no plugs for the bathtubs, 1
stuffed mine with some item
of underwear when nced
arose.

The dining-room was
vast, but the waiters were
surly, breakfast to dinner
time.

I walked out one day,
iritent on some famaus build-
ing | wanted to see, and |
walked the wrong way. I

MAN GER

1

Sunday, March 3, 1996 ~ North Shore News — 47

Russia with memories

walked aud walked but the
city began to lie mostly
behind toe. and Thoew Pwas
onthe wrong track but who
toask?

Pedestrians were few and
so were shops, but ahead
there was a bus, standing
with the door open, an indi-
cation of perhaps the turn-
wound point.

The driver showed up as |
stood there, ctnd | was able to
describe my problem. He
invited me in and said he
would take me buck to the
hotel.

He did just that — he
paid no attention to bodies
wailing at bus stops, just
drove along and around, and
took me to the door, where |
thanked him most positively,
1 hoped, in Russian, and
offered him one of the
Canadian silver dollars | had
carried with me as wampum.

* 4 CYLINDER §
ENGINES

* 5&6 CYL
ENGINES

We were having some sort
of commenioration that year,
and the Mounted Police were
celebrated on this coin. | had
a hard tine persuading hiny
to take it, but he vot such a
sick outof my Russian he
finally broke down iaughing
and coulda’ t resist furthet,

AH this fable tells you is
that my poor judgment got
me ina fix. (sot the willies
and decided to change my
plans and go home, so |
Ielegraphed my husband, or
thought I did, to alert him
that I'd fly to England and so
home.

The telegram he got only
served to confuse him, which
caused him to worry.

But it did come about, |
did get out, and in time was
back in a world I could
understand more easily.

‘Trying to connect in these
days is much simpler, but
there are still hazards to con-
tend with. [ no fonger suffer
from a need to change the
world, thank goodness.

Cscation

seat acta