Far away in Moscow

Chapter 215 The Journey of the Illiterate

When chatting with friends about several major countries in Europe on weekdays, Hu Yi can also talk nonsense in a decent manner.But in fact, Europe is relatively unfamiliar to him. Apart from the geography knowledge he learned from books and TV, he is familiar with Milan, Munich, Barcelona and other famous football cities. He knows little about tourism and human history.

So although he decided to go on a trip with Natasha with great interest, he couldn't tell the truth about the specific plan, so Natasha had to bear the burden of making the plan.

Natasha has been longing for a trip to Europe for a long time. She originally planned to go on a frugal solo trip. Now that she has a boyfriend who agrees to go with her, the budget is much more sufficient. Her confidence has also strengthened, and she began to consider expanding the route as much as possible. .

She ran to the bookstore to buy a stack of reference books and maps, and sat at the small table every day after dinner, writing and drawing.After several days of exhausting planning and preparation, I finally selected a relatively economical tourist route that can cover as many famous scenic spots as possible, and filled the notebook with various reference materials.

Natasha excitedly took the notebook and explained to Hu Yi item by item. Hu Yi could guess the more famous big cities among them based on the Russian pronunciation, but he was completely at a loss as to the names of those small towns and scenic spots. He kept nodding his head like a chicken pecking at rice.

After the plan was made, it was already late July when they got their visas and bought their air tickets.Hu Yi asked Fu Jiahui for a good vacation, exchanged for [-] euros to take with him, and everything was finally ready.

At this time, the entire continent of Europe was already in the midst of hot summer. The two of them came to the airport with shorts and vests, sunglasses and sandals, dragged their suitcases and held their wrists hand in hand, and started their first long-distance trip.

When young couples travel together, the romantic atmosphere is naturally accompanied along the way, and the laughter and laughter are mixed with infinite affection, which makes the two of them intoxicated in happiness all the time.

However, all kinds of small troubles soon came unexpectedly.The first stop of the trip was Cologne, Germany, and as soon as they stepped off the plane, they realized that they had made this trip too simple.Natasha's fluent Russian is useless here, and Hu Yi's English is not very good either.

Hu Yi grew up in an era when English education was just beginning to be popular in China. From the fifth grade of elementary school to the graduation of high school, English has always been the main subject in the school. Teachers and parents have repeatedly emphasized that English is the universal language of the world, and never mentioned other things that have nothing to do with teaching. foreign language.

With the popularization of English proficiency test, the increase of demand for going abroad, and the rise of various course materials and training institutions, English teaching has become a fashionable trend in the society.

Slogans such as "Learn English well and travel all over the world" quickly gained popularity, so that many people mistakenly believed that people all over the world should learn English.

After all, Hu Yi has stayed in Moscow for several years and has met many foreigners who do not speak English well. He does not have that kind of naive idea, but he takes it for granted that he can communicate freely in English in continental Europe.

Unexpectedly, when I came here, I found that, except for a few places such as the airport and hotels, it is difficult to see English signs on the street, and it is also very difficult to communicate with people in English.

On the one hand, this situation is due to the fact that most European countries do not learn English, and on the other hand, it is also because Hu Yi’s oral dialogue ability is really mediocre. Sometimes it is difficult to meet someone who understands English, and the other party speaks a little faster or with a little local Accent, comprehension will be a problem.

And he himself is full of Chinglish with a strong Russian flavor. Both sides of the conversation often think that they are speaking English, but they don't understand what the other party is saying.

After a few times of difficult communication, Hu Yi didn't bother to waste his time talking anymore. The two of them were like illiterates. When they asked for directions and went shopping, they could only compare and even guess.

Fortunately, Natasha bought a few travel foreign language handbooks before leaving, and wrote down most of the place names and common expressions in the notebooks, so she did not delay the important itinerary.

After stumbling and playing like this, the two joked endlessly due to the language barrier along the way, but it also relieved a lot of travel fatigue.

Natasha's itinerary is mainly to visit cultural buildings, most of which are churches all over Europe.From Cologne to Paris, from the Vatican to Florence, from Venice to Milan, every city can see a world-famous cathedral.

Hu Yi is always shocked by the magnificent appearance of these majestic buildings, but he is not interested in Natasha's vivid explanations. He often listens to his interest and doesn't understand why, but he can't bear to spoil her interest, so he has to cheer up Strong smile.

Ten days passed in a blink of an eye, and the last stop of the journey was Interlaken, Switzerland, a small town located between two lakes.When the two arrived at the hotel, it was raining lightly, and there were almost no people outside.

These days, they spend most of their time in the bustling big cities. Whether they are visiting various large buildings and museums, taking a gondola tour of the Venetian waterways, or taking a carriage to Neuschwanstein Castle, the surroundings are always bustling and full of people.

Now that he came to this elegant and quiet town, Hu Yi suddenly felt much better.He walked out of the hotel with Natasha, and walked hand in hand along the road in the town, passing through a low building, and suddenly opened up.

"Look!" Hu Yi stretched out his finger and pointed to the distance: "Snow Mountain! But... it seems that there is only a little snow on the top of the mountain."

"That's actually not bad, haven't you seen enough snow in Moscow?" Natasha smiled, "I like the grass in front of me better."

Hu Yi lowered his gaze, and saw a green pasture surrounded by a simple fence in front of him, which looked as big as a football field.Five or six cows are standing or lying, eating or sleeping in the middle of the grass, enjoying the undisturbed summer leisurely.

"Wow, the land is vast and the cows are rare, their place is really spacious!" Hu Yi put his hands around his mouth and shouted softly on a whim: "Hi! How are you! How are you doing?"

A cow turned around slowly and "mooed".Hu Yi was overjoyed, bouncing and pointing at the cow: "Look! It answered me! It said 'it's okay'!"

"What! You are really tough!" Natasha laughed and leaned back: "Anton, are you talking to the cow?"

"Yeah! There are no people in this place, they must be very boring." Hu Yi stared at the cows with a smirk on his face: "You can also say something, maybe they can understand."

"Really? Then I'll give it a try." Natasha finally stopped laughing, straightened up and imitated Hu Yi, put her hands together and shouted: "Dairy cow! Hello! Anton is a big fool! Do you agree? "

(End of this chapter)