Tatiana
Moscow Military Tattoo We visited Moscow Military Tattoo with my husband today. It was amazing! There were bands from Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Armenia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, China, Turkey, Switzerland and Russia. We had such a great time! 2.5 hours passed in the same breath. We bought tickets online on the official website, but there was only one entrance with e-tickets from Nikolskaya street. It was a rainfall last morning, so seats were with water (they are made from plastic) and it was chilly. However, we were ready for it and we took a wool blanket and put on warm clothes. Maybe that's why it was comfortable to spend time there :) If you visited Edinburgh Military Tattoo you may think that there is nothing new for you; nevertheless, there are a lot of Russian bands, all of them are bright, tall and play Russian songs, so it will help you to learn something new about Russia. After the show bands played for people a little bit more outside the arena and people also had a chance to take a photo with them. The most popular was an Italian band, they had big colorful flags and they are handsome, all girls and children wanted a photo with them. :) I took a photo with one Italian man too. :) After that we saw a group of Irish with pipes and I asked a photo with one of them. By the way, I was in my tartan skirt today, but it was quite dark, I think he didn't see it. But more importantly, each time when I don't expect a small talk I just don't know what to say! He asked us if we liked the show, we answered that it was great. And that's it. Aaahhggr! I feel stupid about that. I feel like I can't speak English and my tongue is frozen. Anyway, I think I can do it, but not when I'm in Russia, because I can't imagine a polite small talk with strangers here. The other point I would like to mention is that I thought how wonderful and useful a cultural exchange works. Your TV can say that somebody is an evil, but you see people by your own eyes, you speak with them and you can have your own opinion. Russians warmly met all bands and I hope that all band members will spend good time in Moscow and will meet friendly people.
Sep 2, 2014 9:33 PM
Corrections · 2
2

Corrections in red.  Stylistics in blue.

The Moscow Military Tattoo

I visited the Moscow Military Tattoo with my husband [1] today. It was amazing! There were bands from Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Armenia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, China, Turkey, Switzerland, and Russia. We had such a great time! Two and a half hours passed in a single breath. We bought tickets online on the official website, but there was only one entrance accepting e-tickets from Nikolskaya street.  There was a rainfall yesterday morning, so the seats were covered with water (they were made from plastic), and it was chilly. However, we were prepared for it, as we had brought a wool blanket and had put on warm clothes. Maybe that's why we were comfortable during the time we spent there :)

If you have visited the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, you might think that the Moscow Military Tattoo is nothing new for you; nevertheless, there are a lot of Russian bands, all of them are bright and tall lofty/sublime, [2] and play Russian songs, so it will help you to learn something new about Russia.

After the performance, the bands played for people a little bit more outside the arena [3], and people also had a chance to take photos with them. The most popular was an Italian band; it had big, colorful flags, and the band members were handsome.  All the girls and children wanted a photo with them. :) I took a photo of [?  4] one Italian man too. :)

After that, we saw a group of Irish with bagpipes, and I asked permission to take a photo with one of them. By the way, I was in my tartan skirt today, but it was quite dark, and I think he didn't see it. But more importantly, each time when I don't expect to engage in small talk, I just don't know what to say! He asked us if we liked the show, and we answered that it was great. And that's it.  Aaaargh [5]! I feel stupid about that. I feel like I can't speak English and my tongue is frozen. Anyway, I think I can do it, but not when I'm in Russia, because I can't imagine a polite small talk with strangers here.

The other point I would like to mention is that I thought how wonderfully and usefully [6] a cultural exchange works. Your TV can say that somebody is an evil, but when you see people with your own eyes and speak with them, you can form your own opinion.  The Russians warmly welcomed/greeted all the bands, and I hope that all the band members will spend good time in Moscow and will meet friendly people.

 

[1] In Russian, you often use the following formula: Мы с кем-то + глагол in situations in which two people (the speaker and someone else) do something. In English, however, we don't say “We”. We say “(someone) and I”. Thus: Мы с мужем поехали.... My husband and I went...

   You can use the word "with" <em>after</em> the verb.   I went to the Tattoo with my husband. =  My husband and I went to the Tattoo.

 

[2]  The word "tall" doesn't seem to be correct.   I suggested I few other words which you might mean.

 

[3]  "Arenas" are usually associated with sporting events.  However, it is possible to play music in an arena, so I can't say that "arena" is the wrong word.  

 

[4]  If you're in the photo also, say, "I took a picture of myself with one Italian man too."

 

[5]  The exclamation is usually spelled "argh," but you can add any number of a's that you need in order to express your disappointment or frustration!

 

[6]  The verb "works" requires adverbs.  You could say, ... "how wonderful and useful a cultural exchange is."

September 3, 2014
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