Comments on: Simeon Varlamov: Stranger in a Strange Land

By: Wilbur

Wilbur — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:17:27 +0000

pucksandbooks:
Does our young Mr. Varlamov strike you as being as quiet and introverted as Alex Semin? I noticed that Simeon made a beeline for one of the linesmen at intermission during yesterday’s scrimmage and started talking. The linesman clearly knew Russian and they were so engrossed that it delayed the Zamboni driver from resurfacing the ice. While I would be shocked to see his English take off the way that Ovie’s has, I have to say that I am very impressed so far with his desire to play with the Caps. I suspect that Dave Prior and the Caps staff will do everything possible to make this happen by supporting him both on and off the ice.
wilbur

By: odessa steps magazin

odessa steps magazin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:02:39 +0000

Are there any other Russian players scheduled to be on the Bears this season?
If not, would the Caps/Bears take a roster spot by signing someone who could both languages and act as an transition helper for Simeon?

By: Development Camp Day 4 photos « the red skate

Development Camp Day 4 photos « the red skate — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:31:33 +0000

By: Dezlboy

Dezlboy — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:28:54 +0000

@ SovSport – I love borscht! My grandparents were from Russia/Lavatia.

By: SovSport

SovSport — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:03:52 +0000

I remember the first time I came to the States and went to a supermarket trying to buy “beetroots.” No one could help me because they didn’t know what a “beetroot” was. They’re called “beets” in America. I know it now.
P.S. I needed them for borscht (…talk about food).

By: hockeymomVA

hockeymomVA — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:54:31 +0000

I feel really bad for the guy! English is a hard language to learn, especially when some of the slang that’s so frequently incorporated into the vocabularies of younger people seems to change by the week. Hopefully, he’ll get assistance from the team…

By: Bailey

Bailey — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:48:41 +0000

I can completely relate to what Varlamov is/has been going through so far. I had to go to Japan on a work trip for a few weeks, and I basically felt what it must be like to be completely illiterate and mute at the same time. It’s one thing to go to Europe w/o knowing any language there, as the alphabet is the same, so you can make out a word or two every so often. However, in places like Japan, Russia, China, etc. where even the letters/characters are unrecognizable, you feel even more lost.
Luckily for us, a great deal of the world speaks a little bit of English so it’s a bit easier, but hardly anybody who is a native English speaker knows a language like Russian.
So yeah, excellent point, pucks. We do sometimes overlook the “little” things like language in the wake of contracts, the future of the team, and the promise of a young player.

By: dcrock

dcrock — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:41:37 +0000

I have this awful image of something as basic as the poor kid trying to order some lunch from the Ballston Food Court. What the heck does he do?

By: Megan

Megan — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:35:47 +0000

I wish I spoke Russian because I was certainly try to help this guy out while he’s in Hershey.
I know there are some people who speak a little Russian. If he hooks up with them, he won’t be isolated.
English is the hardest language to learn. Throw American English into that equation and it’s even tougher.
He does need to immerse himself in the language and culture in order to make any headway though. All languages are like that.

By: fauxrumors

fauxrumors — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:30:08 +0000

1) Pucks: ‘Jingoistic, backwater, and less than inclusive’? Are you kidding??? We didn’t say the kid should get the hell out of the country and go back where he came from. Geez!
2) What we DID say was that if he knew he was going to live and work here that he should have taken some initiative himself to TRY to learn the native language. That would go for anyone from here who intended to live abroad for an extended period of time.
3) To simply write it off as jingoistic’ to have that perspective perhaps shows that it is YOU who are a bit back water and non inclusive?