The first person we met in Novosibirsk at the meeting point with our couchsurfer Andrey wasn't him but a good friend of him: Igor. They were waiting for us there since three hours because we mixed up Moscow and Novosibirsk time. But they weren't mad at all at us. Instead they were happy that we arrived safe and found them. So Igor showed us the way to a small cafeteria where Andrey was waiting with some other couchsurfing friends - Ludovic from France and Anna from Spain. Both are living and studying Russian right now in Novosibirsk. Afterwards Bianca, from the USA, joined us: she is currently working as an English teacher in Novosibirsk. We had a good conversation, nice vegetarian Russian food and a quick overview of lifestyles of young people in Novosibirsk. We learned way more than we could have expected in such a short time! But not enough. We decided to go to a classic Sowjet bar with wooden tables and chairs, red table-blankets and cheap beer. Everywhere were relicts of the Sowjet time and due to that it didn't take long till the topic of the conversation shifted to history and politics. Did you for example know that old French classical movies were screened on Russian television (like all the movies with Louis de Finès)?
When it was getting late we started to go to Andrey's place and the three others needed to catch a train to a city on the way to Irkutsk for a weekend trip. It was great to meet these people! After taking the metro and a mashrutka – mini van, we decided to walk the last 15 min. to his place and on the way he showed us an Orthodox church and all the stores where you can get beer after 10 o'clock. His apartment was like him nice, warm and super welcoming! We continued talking till we all got to tired to talk anymore and decided to sleep.
The next morning he needed to go to his work as a software engineer but he took the time to explain us exactly the way by bus and recommended a place where we could have lunch and find wifi. Sadly our ways already departed then. We only had a short time together but his jokes, activism, engagement in the local couchsurfer scene and his openness were incredible and we would have liked to spend more time in Novosibirsk and with Andrey.
Thank you Andrey for hosting us! We wish you all the best experience for your upcoming travels!
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