Chapter 1669 A Head-Scratching Way of Addressing

Xiao Peng was worried that going to Ivan's house with too many people would cause trouble for him. After all, with Desarev included, there were now more than 20 people in their group. But when he saw Ivan's house, Xiao Peng whistled, "Ivan, your parents' house is really big!"

When he said 'not small' he didn't mean that Ivan's parents' house was big, but because Ivan's parents had 'many' houses!

Ivan's parents' house was a pile of log cabins.

The so-called "logolen" is a typical Russian residential building, which is a tall house built with large stones as the foundation and a single piece of wood. A set is not very large, usually consisting of a bedroom, living room, kitchen and storage room, and there is usually a small attic on the pointed roof.

This type of wooden structure is basically handmade. The thick wood is placed on the bottom layer and then stacked up layer by layer. Moss and other things are also stuffed into the gaps between the wood. During construction, no iron nails are used, and wooden wedges are usually used for reinforcement.

You can see many such "mukerens" in the suburbs of Russia. Some people in urban areas have "mukerens" in the suburbs specifically for vacation.

Ivan's parents have bought a piece of land here, surrounded by a circle of wooden structures, with a glass greenhouse in the middle. The large open space on the side is used for farming. Many people come here on holidays to plant flowers and vegetables, barbecue, drink wine and enjoy the pastoral life. This is the Russian way of life.

They built more than 30 wooden houses in total. Now several of them have been rented out and people live in them. The rest of the wooden houses are empty, so it is no problem for Xiao Peng and his friends to live in one each.

Kashin smiled and said, "The land here is relatively cheap. I originally wanted my parents to buy a big house in Moscow, but they bought this piece of land here and built a bunch of wooden houses to farm. They like this lifestyle. Of course, boss, we have to thank you for this. If it weren't for you, they might still be living in Chechnya. I'm not saying that Chechnya is bad, but after all, we are Russians in Chechnya. No matter how much my mother contributed to Chechnya, we are still outsiders in the eyes of Chechen nationalists. Why not live here? Come on, let's go in."

Xiao Peng nodded and followed him to Kaxin's parents' resort, where he also met Kaxin's parents.

His father is Andrei Kashin, his mother is Evelyna Ivanovna Kashinya. He has an older brother and two younger sisters. To be precise, he has three older brothers, two of whom died in the Chechen War.

Russian names actually all have three sections. There is also a "patronymic" in the middle of the full name, which means that you can know their father's name by looking at the name. Men will add a suffix such as "Ovich", "Ichi", "Yevich" after their father's name. For example, Kashin's full name should be: Ahmed-Andreevich-Kashin. If he is a woman, he will have to add a suffix such as "Ovna", "Nikina", "Yevna", that is, Ahmed-Andreyevna-Kashin.

However, that is the full name. Generally, you don't need to introduce the patronymic when greeting someone. The full name is only used in very formal occasions or in official documents.

Xiao Peng was very interested in Evelyna Kasinya. After all, in her youth, she had been a "White Sock," a female sniper who fought against the Russians during the Chechen War. The Russians had suffered greatly from her, yet now she was living comfortably near the Russian capital.

But this is not surprising. It's just like the civil war. We fought and got hurt, but we are still brothers after the fight.

Evelyna Kasinya now looks like a typical Russian rural woman - strong body, peaceful appearance and friendly attitude. It is impossible to imagine her fighting against the Russians with a gun in her hand.

But Xiao Peng wasn't feeling well right now. It really was... Russians really have so many rules! There were so many rules just for calling someone by their name.

For example, Xiao Peng called Kashin "Kashin" directly, which is correct. In Russia, in "superior to subordinate" situations, when the older one calls the younger one, the leader calls the employee, the superior calls the soldier, and the teacher calls the student, people usually only use the surname. Just like Xiao Peng called Kashin only by the surname, which is correct.

But if he called Kasim's parents like that? He would be beaten soon.

When Russians introduce themselves, they usually only introduce their last name, but you cannot just call them by their last name, especially when meeting an older person, you must call them by both their first name and last name, which is a respectful title.

But when they introduce themselves, they only give their last name. How should we address them?

For example, when Kaxin's father introduced himself to Xiao Peng, he said: "Hello, I am Kaxin's father, Kaxin." But Xiao Peng cannot call him Kaxin. If he does, it would be impolite. At this time, he should call him "Comrade Kaxin" or "Mr. Kaxin".

But old Kasim was unwilling to be addressed like that because it would seem too serious, so at this time he had to be addressed by both his first name and last name, which made him seem less serious and respectful enough.

Of course, Xiao Peng could also just call Kashin by his patronymic, which is how Russians usually address elderly people or respected teachers in conversation. However, this way of addressing someone by their patronymic should not be used casually, as it often leads to jokes.

Xiao Peng also realized the mistakes he had made before. For example, when he met Ivan, he kept calling him "Ivan, Ivan", which was actually very impolite.

Although Russian friends and relatives call each other by their first names, like Kashin's parents call him "Ahmed", Kashin does not dare to call his parents that. He cannot just use the first name for the elders but the first name plus the patronymic. For example, Kashin calls his father "Old Kashin" Andrei Ivanovich. "Ivanovich" is the father's name of Old Kashin, which means that Kashin's grandfather is called Ivan.

Ivan's full name is Ivan Gavrilovich Vasily. Xiao Peng always calls him "Ivan", but according to Russian customs, the correct name should be Ivan Gavrilovich!

My head hurts! It really hurts! They say when in Rome, do as the Romans do. As soon as I arrived in Russia, I was given a "show of force." Just the mere mention of what to address was enough to leave Xiao Peng completely bewildered.

The Kassin family was overjoyed when they heard about his distress. It wasn't that much trouble! Just add a suffix to his last name. 'Mr.', 'Comrade', 'Ms.', 'Mrs.', or even his job title, and it would be done. Why bother with all that?