Dear Diary

A day in the life of soccer columnist Kurtis Larson on the ground in Russia

MOSCOW — I’ve been to the UK, Ireland, and all over France and Italy. Have I mentioned Iceland is lovely? But Eastern Europe just feels different — less warm, less welcoming, seemingly bothered at times.

That’s not to say I haven’t interacted with some lovely people.

The young folks here are eager and open to help World Cup media and tourists.

But, depending on the neighbourhood, you still get stares when you greet someone with a “hello” or “how are you?”

Cashiers look up at you as if you’re some kind of rare species.

They sometimes laugh to themselves.

It feels like this is a country that only recently opened up to foreigners.

It makes you respect coffee shop workers and bartenders who obviously refined their English skills knowing the world would descend on Russia for a month.

Every once in a while you can draw a smile out of a middle-aged grocery store worker who sees you struggling to order something behind the counter.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve apologized more times in two weeks at the World Cup than most people do in an entire year.

Then again, I’m Canadian.

The optometrist lobby in Russia must be poor.

Tiny grocery stores here are outfitted with vending machines that spit out contact lenses.

How much easier would life be if, like in Russia, you could walk up the street every few weeks with $10 and replenish your stock of lenses?

It looked legitimate.

My Airbnb host didn’t realize I’m a dual citizen of the United States.

So he proceeded to take a shot at the Yanks for questioning Russia’s World Cup team.

The U.S. doping agency reportedly wants Russia to undergo stricter doping tests due to their performance at this tournament.

My response to my host: “Can you blame them?”

He didn’t really respond when I reminded him Russia kind of has a history of cheating.