Culture Clash, The Country Russian

Not to be overly stereotypical, but when I think of construction labor, I don't think Russians, I think Hispanic. Much was my surprise when I walked in on the gentlemen tiling our shower and heard them speaking Russian. (There is a large Ukrainian population in Tacoma) It was a father and his two sons. The eldest looked as though he was following in his father's footsteps and going into the family business. The younger, 18-20 years old, looked like he would rather have been at the skate park.

All through the day, I heard country music blaring as they meticulously attached tile after tile to the wall. By day's end, I could not help myself and had to inquire who was the country music lover. Vlad, short for Vladimir, was name of the father and the eldest son. Vlad Sr. spoke with a thick Russian accent while Vlad Jr. was likely American born as he spoke with no accent at all. I asked, "So, who likes Country?" Vlad Sr. looked at me with one eye crooked, then his eyebrows lifted in understanding, "You mean the music." (Imagine all his dialogue with a comically thick Russian accent like in a James Bond film.) "I do not hear music. Can be anything. Heavy metal, soul train, country - does not matter. I work. These kids no work, just listen to music." Then after a short pause, "My son spend time in South Carolina. He is like, how you say, red neck hick." After chuckling quite heartily, I informed Vlad Sr. that he had a good handle on the English vernacular. I almost offered him a shot of tequila to go with his ethnic diversity. Maybe next time.

Sorry, but no new photos this week. The paint and trim have all been complete. Lots of little things are happening like hardware on doors, door stops, cleaning, minor repair and touch ups. The carpet gets installed tomorrow and we'll take final photos after that. Looking forward to everything being complete and back to living a quiet life by the end of the week.

link anyway: http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.templin/RenovationsII#