{"id":733,"date":"2010-04-25T17:00:40","date_gmt":"2010-04-25T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=733"},"modified":"2010-04-25T17:00:40","modified_gmt":"2010-04-25T17:00:40","slug":"on-the-border-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%b3%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b8%d1%86%d0%b5-%d0%b5%d0%b2%d1%80%d0%be%d0%bf%d1%8b-%d0%b0%d0%b7%d0%b8%d0%b8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/on-the-border-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%b3%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b8%d1%86%d0%b5-%d0%b5%d0%b2%d1%80%d0%be%d0%bf%d1%8b-%d0%b0%d0%b7%d0%b8%d0%b8\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Border: \u043d\u0430 \u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0435 \u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e\u043f\u044b-\u0410\u0437\u0438\u0438!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/em><\/strong>\u041c\u043e\u043d\u0443\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0442<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043d\u0430<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0446\u0435<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043f\u044b<\/em><\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>\u0410<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u0437\u0438\u0438<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [the (new) monument on the border between Europe and Asia] \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043d\u0430<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043c\u043e\u0441\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043a\u0442\u0435<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [on the highway to Moscow (from Siberia)].<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you ever dreamed of being in two places at one and the same time? \u00ab\u041d\u0430 \u0423\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [in the Ural Mountains] all your dreams can come true \u2013 including this one! Russia is great country in many, many ways; one way in which it is great is that it spans more than one continent<\/a>: \u00ab\u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u044f \u0440\u0430\u0441\u043f\u043e\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0430 \u0438 \u0432 \u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043f\u0435, \u0438 \u0432 \u0410<\/span>\u0437\u0438\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [Russia is located both in Europe and in Asia]. Everybody\u2019s favorite country has its historical core as well as most of its population (72%), economic activity and political institutions (such as its capital city \u00ab\u041c\u043e\u0441\u043a\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [Moscow])<\/em> in Europe, yet geographically<\/em> most of the territory (71%) is actually in Asia. Most people are aware of the fact that \u00ab\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0446\u0430 \u043c\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u0434\u0443 \u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043f\u043e\u0439 \u0438 \u0410<\/span>\u0437\u0438\u0435\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [the border between Europe and Asia] goes somewhere in the Ural Mountains. Very few know exactly where this \u00ab\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0446\u0430 \u043d\u0430\u0445\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0438\u0442\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [border is located]. Maybe no one actually knows. <\/a>It is \u2018generally accepted\u2019<\/em> that the border follows along the river \u00ab\u0423\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043b<\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> [Ural<\/a>] but not everywhere in the Urals is this general acceptance respected. Like for example in \u00ab\u0415\u043a\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043d\u0431\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0433\u00bb<\/strong> [Yekaterinburg], where I live. Our local historians have \u2013 according to what I have been told by them \u2013 decided that the border between Europe and Asia is located not far from Yekaterinburg, some 50 kilometers to the west, near the town of \u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u043e\u0443\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a<\/a><\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [Pervoural’sk<\/a>]. This is of course a very convenient decision. Already in Soviet times a big and flashy \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u043e\u043d\u0443\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0442<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [monument] was built on the site in honor of its prestigious location on the border, so that tourists could go visit it and take pictures of themselves with their legs \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u044b\u0445<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0447\u0430\u0441\u0442\u044f<\/span>\u0445<\/strong> <\/strong>\u043c\u0438<\/span>\u0440\u0430<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [in different parts of the world]. But with time it turned out that this monument had been built not in the \u2018right\u2019 <\/em>spot. Not that it wasn\u2019t \u2018officially\u2019<\/em> on the border, but that it was located by \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0440\u043e\u043c\u043e\u0441\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043a\u0442<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [the old highway to Moscow]. When the new highway to Moscow was finished this monument found itself more than a little bit off \u2013 adding to this that the old highway was in such a terrible shape that not even the most humble Russian would want to risk taking foreign tourists on it. The old highway is still in a terrible shape; yesterday when we drove back on it my professor repeated the good old Russian proverb \u00ab<\/strong>\u0443<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u0438<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0434\u0432\u0435<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0431\u0435\u0434\u044b<\/span><\/strong> \u2013 <\/strong>\u0434\u0443\u0440\u0430\u043a\u0438<\/span><\/strong> <\/strong>\u0438<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0434\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0433\u0438<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [Russia has two sorrows \u2013 fools and roads] twice. But this problem was easily solved: a new monument was built on the new highway. The new monument is not only \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u043a\u0440\u043e\u043c\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0435<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [more humble] than the old one but also more \u2018American\u2019<\/em> \u2013 it is complete with a gift shop and a snack bar and has plenty of places where one can pose for pictures as well as many of benches for \u00ab<\/strong>\u0442\u0443\u0440\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u044b<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [pl.<\/em> tourists] to have a rest on in the nearby wood. If the old monument was all about RUSSIA being on the border \u2013 it is \u00ab<\/strong>\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u0434\u043e<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [proudly] topped by the two-headed eagle \u2013 then the new one is more about FRIENDSHIP between countries over the same border. Take a look at the picture below from the site of the new monument:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The same beautiful and hopeful message written in three languages on one and the same pole: \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043d\u0430<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0430\u0437\u0438\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0435<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [on the Asian side] \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043d\u0430\u043f\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0430\u043d\u043e<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043f\u043e<\/em><\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>\u043a\u0438\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [it is written in Chinese], \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043d\u0430<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0435\u0432\u0440\u043e\u043f\u0435<\/span>\u0439\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0435<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [on the European side] \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043d\u0430\u043f\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0430\u043d\u043e<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043f\u043e<\/em><\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>\u0430\u043d\u0433\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb <\/em><\/strong>[it is written in English] and \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0432<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0441\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u0435<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [in the middle] \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043d\u0430\u043f\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0430\u043d\u043e<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043f\u043e<\/em><\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb <\/em><\/strong>[it is written in Russian].<\/em><\/p>\n

Even though the border between Europe and Asia is only a short car ride away from Yekaterinburg \u2013 where I have lived \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0430<\/span><\/strong>\u0432\u0433\u0443\u0441\u0442\u0430<\/strong> 2006 (<\/strong>\u0434\u0432\u0435<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0442\u044b<\/span>\u0441\u044f\u0447\u0438<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0448\u0435\u0441\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0433\u043e<\/strong>) <\/strong>\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0430<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [since August 2006] \u2013 I had not visited it until yesterday. Why? I don\u2019t know. Maybe it is because it is the one thing that all tourists visiting this city MUST do, but I\u2019ve never felt like I\u2019ve been a \u00ab<\/strong>\u0442\u0443\u0440\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u043a\u0430<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [fem.<\/em> tourist] here. Also I don\u2019t have a car \u2013 \u00ab\u0443 \u043c\u0435\u043d\u044f<\/span> \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0436\u0435 \u0432\u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0445 \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432 \u043d\u0435\u0442!\u00bb<\/strong> [I don’t even have a driver’s license!] \u2013 and this could have played a large role as to why I never went there for so many years. But I can highly recommend visiting it, even though it is just a place marked by some local historians and the \u2018real\u2019<\/em> border between Europe and Asia could just as well be somewhere entirely else. If you want to be really sure that you have had one foot both in Europe as well as in Asia at one and the same time, then you should visit \u00ab<\/strong>\u041e\u0440\u0435\u043d\u0431\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0433<\/a><\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [Orenburg<\/a>] in the Southern Urals which is a true \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u043e\u0434<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [boundary; frontier town]: it belongs to both Europe and Asia at one and the same time. It is also the town where Pushkin<\/a>\u2019s prose masterpiece \u00ab<\/strong>\u041a\u0430\u043f\u0438\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0434\u043e<\/span>\u0447\u043a\u0430<\/strong><\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> [\u201cThe Captain\u2019s Daughter<\/a>\u201d] is set \u2013 and now you have two solid reasons for why to go there! But no, I haven\u2019t been there either\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A snapshot of the \u2018old\u2019 monument taken from a European perspective.<\/em><\/p>\n

The locals here usually don\u2019t say the whole phrase \u00ab<\/strong>\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0446\u0430<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043f\u044b<\/strong>–<\/strong>\u0410<\/span><\/strong>\u0437\u0438\u0438<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [the border of Europe and Asia] but shorten it simply as \u00ab<\/strong>\u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043f\u0430<\/strong>–<\/strong>\u0410<\/span><\/strong>\u0437\u0438\u044f<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [Europe-Asia]. I guess that makes a lot of sense because that\u2019s just what it is. Russians here sometimes say things like:<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u043e\u0435<\/span>\u0445\u0430\u043b\u0438<\/strong> <\/strong>\u043d\u0430<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043f\u0443<\/strong>–<\/strong>\u0410<\/span><\/strong>\u0437\u0438\u044e<\/strong>!\u00bb<\/strong> [Let\u2019s go to (the border between)<\/em> Europe and Asia!]<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u041c\u044b<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0431\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u0438<\/strong> <\/strong>\u043d\u0430<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043f\u0435<\/strong>–<\/strong>\u0410<\/span><\/strong>\u0437\u0438\u0438<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [We were at (the border between) <\/em>Europe and Asia].<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here I am \u2013with one foot \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0432<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043f\u0435<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb <\/em><\/strong>[in Europe] and the other \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0432<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0410<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u0437\u0438\u0438<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [in Asia]. But all of me is still \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0432<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u0438<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb <\/em><\/strong>[in Russia]\u2026 Sometimes when I think of the fact that I\u2019ve lived in ASIA since February 2005 I get puzzled: is Russia really Asia? Yes and no. That it is IN Asia, well, that\u2019s a given \u2013 isn\u2019t it?<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you ever visited the border between Europe and Asia? If yes \u2013 where? If no \u2013 then maybe you\u2019ve been on two places at one and the same time somewhere else?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

\u00ab\u041c\u043e\u043d\u0443\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0442 \u043d\u0430 \u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0435 \u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e\u043f\u044b–\u0410\u0437\u0438\u0438\u00bb [the (new) monument on the border between Europe and Asia] \u00ab\u043d\u0430 \u043c\u043e\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c \u0442\u0440\u0430\u043a\u0442\u0435\u00bb [on the highway to Moscow (from Siberia)]. Have you ever dreamed of being in two places at one and the same time? \u00ab\u041d\u0430 \u0423\u0440\u0430\u043b\u0435\u00bb [in the Ural Mountains] all your dreams can come true \u2013 including this one!…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,178,7827,995,7826],"tags":[8465,8464,8462,1198,1211,8463,8459,8461,8460,8467,8466,1403,8456,8453,8454,1527,1811,8458,8457,1790,8455,1670,1768],"class_list":["post-733","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-history","category-russian-life","category-soviet-union","category-when-in-russia","tag-asia","tag-europe","tag-orenburg","tag-pushkin","tag-russia","tag-russian-geography","tag-the-border-between-europe-and-asia","tag-the-captains-daughter","tag-the-ural-mountians","tag-tourism-in-the-urals","tag-what-to-do-while-in-russia","tag-yekaterinburg","tag-8456","tag-8453","tag-8454","tag-1527","tag-1811","tag-8458","tag-8457","tag-1790","tag-8455","tag-1670","tag-1768"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":744,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions\/744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}