Google Translation Приведение миров

You think trying to order a McDonald's cheeseburger from a Spanish worker is hard? Try having a conversation with a Russian..or three Russians...now that defines difficult.

For the the first two days of Kibbutz life our group of fifteen people was split into two groups: Russian speakers and everyone else.

The Argentinians could speak broken English, and we could talk to them in broken Spanish. The New Yorkers we could understand despite many of us being confused what a drawaer and caf-fee meant.  The Brits have a dialect many of us learned from Austin Powers or Flight of the Concords, despite the fact it's hard not to laugh every time they talk.

But the Russians, there's no understanding Russian.

Our three Russian friends, Yura, Misha, and Alexander didn't (and still don't) speak a lick of English -- but after days of of complete and utter confusion we turned to Google Translate, and from there on out our worlds finally made sense.

You may have heard Special Education or Pre-School teachers talk about how their jobs are so rewarding because they can make a difficult life easier -- and that's exactly how this felt.

With the courtesy of Google Translate and six hours of translating we taught our Ruski friends (who are not communist) Poker, Texas Hold 'Em, a few American swears, and basic conversation. We all find ourselves a world away from comfort -- but now with the help of Google -- we are all becoming more comfortable here in Israel.

Now if you'll excuse me, some Kibbutz Ulpanists from Japan are arriving....back to the translator!