Hello everyone from Odessa In Ukraine
Привет! (That means hello in Russian)
I am with my mate Remy. He is French, a traveller like me
and today we're going to talk about his first 5 impressions
of Odessa which is in the south of Ukraine,
on the coast of the Black Sea.
Rémy, tell us what you think.
Well, still very naïve because I'm leaving really soon
after I arrived here in Ukraine.
Arriving at the airport you have big yellow and blue
signs where it's written in English:
« Bribery is a criminal offence »
so when I arrived I told myself
finally
we can have a stable, corruption-free regime in Ukraine.
The pace here really is the dream. It's really fast. When you arrive at the first taxi station,
well it's not really corruption, but you have all those
taxi drivers and that's a piece of advice for you travellers
if you come to Ukraine.
Around their neck they have a badge which says "official taxi"
That's false. It's an organised network
that's there simply
as a way to rip off tourists.
Exactly, to rip them off.
So always negotiate the price when you get to the airport
because it wasn't a big surprise when once I had negotiated the price to go
from the airport to an apartment just one hour away
the first thing that the driver did was to take off his badge
and hand it to another taxi driver. So it was a very clandestine taxi.
There are apps to find taxis here in Ukraine so I recommend that you
download them as soon as you arrive in the country
because it's important to avoid those negotiations.
Very true. Also, my third impression
when I arrived here in Odessa
was that the people seemed really impolite at the start.
Not saying hello, not shaking hands.
Not paying you much attention, not looking at you when you're talking to them.
But that's just an impression
because once you have started a conversation with them
these people are incredibly lovely,
very kind, very obliging and they are there to help you.
Whether you're
out of the city centre
or in a bar or club
or museum
They're very kind to you
if you address them politely.
Yes. Super. I also think that
because when I arrived I also had the impression that the people weren't very nice
if we can say that but that's the difference between
politeness and being kind in general.
You have to make a distinction between those 2 concepts.
And here they're particularly
useless and holding the door when you're leaving a restaurant!
What happens?
Well they'll look at you weird and they'll think: 'it must be what he does'.
But anyway there are the differences between different standards of politeness.
Also you mustn't forget that Odessa is a seaside resort.
Many people are on holiday here,
they take walks in the evening and eat ice creams outside
even in front of the opera house
and the people here are very elegant.
You have west-European fashion standards,
international trends which are really followed
by young Odessans who head out in the evening
to bars and clubs.
It's really important, really fashionable.
Yes it's really trendy
How do you say trendy in French, Remy?
A la mode, I suppose.
Super! Well thanks for your impressions of the marvellous city
that love very much; that's why I chose to stay here for one month
this summer so please, come to Odessa!
And it's goodbye! Пока, пока
from Odessa, Ukraine.
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