Deja vu, sometimes I have this feeling what I have experienced in the past, 34 years ago when I studied in one border city near the Soviet Union. Somehow the world was ahead of me and there did not seem to be any limits. In fact I did go to Leningrad where I stayed three weeks to study Russian. I met many Soviets there, but after returning back to this border city I completed my course work for my Master of Science degree just in less than three years. I was traveling to America which I did indeed in August 1989 when I was just 21 years old. Deja vu. The world has changed and it brought me back to my little town here near the Russian border. We have many Ukrainian refugees here, but I can not understand their language which seems so similar to Russian. I have seen some news from Ukraine and I understand how difficult it has been for these refugees, but the world is changing. Deja vu. I got my new passport over three years ago when I wanted to travel to Russia and visit especially Saint Petersburg, but now my thoughts are different and I want to just stay here where I am now. Deja vu. When I was young we belonged to the Soviet-Finland association which is why we often visited the Soviet Union, but now the times are different. I am not reading any longer the publications of the greatest achievements of the USSR. Those times have passed. Deja vu.
Those were different times. For a student it was fantastic. I went to the USSR the first time in March 1987 when I traveled to Moscow. My mother had prepared two big suitcases for me to take to my sister and these suitcases were full of clothes such as jeans and they were sold in Moscow. When I arrived at the airport of Moscow the officer asked whose these suitcases were and I said mine. In the reality they were for my sister who sold them in Moscow. During this trip I met one Olga and I remember walking on the Red Square with Olga and other people. Two years passed and I went to the USSR again. It was fantastic to exchange Finnish marks to Soviet rubles and then spend all this money in hotels, restaurants and elsewhere in Leningrad. This was in March 1989. Those were the good times for a business student from Finland. I never forget those times. But it all ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. I was in America then. Deja vu and the world is changing. Now I am just watching some YouTube videos how Russia has changed. Deja vu.
I’ve never been to Russia and never will.
It’s not my cup of tea.
But I’m glad you enjoyed your travels in the past.
It’s time to make some new memories!
I think that it is good to travel when you are young. See different places and meet different people. In 1991 I was in Brussels and I met two persons, one from Israel and one from California. I discussed various topics with them. Just some memories. I have many memories left from my stay in the States. A divorce I went through in America was quite interesting, it just showed how greedy people can be. Well, our lives just continue no matter what happens in the world. It is my coffee time, I have had four kg of coffee in this month, well I like coffee.
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