The Honey Trap

Honey Trap, the official definition from Dictionary.com is: “a strategy whereby an attractive person coerces another person into doing or revealing something; also, a person employing this strategy to entrap another”. This definition summarized my 2 ½ day trip to Moscow from Tomsk in a nutshell! And oddly enough I’d never heard of this term until my Russian friend from Rostov-On-Don pointed this out to me regarding Russian women.

But before I launch into the honey trap I fell into, I wanted to wrap up my time in Tomsk. Tomsk was magnificent and I finished my time off with more sightseeing of wooden homes just off the main street of the city center. The last day also came with a bit of a surprise. That afternoon I received a text from Dmitry, the guy who was friends with Natasha and had offered to meet with me. He texted me and advised me to visit the well known local gift shop, Tommy’s Gifts saying a pleasant surprise awaited me there. I thanked him immensely and said I’d be sure to stop by.

Tomsk walking tour postcards

I walked into the building where Tommy’s Gifts were located and saw very little except for two clothing stores and a small kiosk with gifts outside in the common area. Could this be the famous Tommy's Gifts? I was expecting something large and grand like Дом Книги (Dom Knigi) or Book House in St. Petersburg, which has a giant gift shop. I double-checked my phone to make sure I was in the right place. Apparently I was and then to confirm I texted Dmitry. He told me I was in the right place and to tell the girl behind the counter that I was “Steve from America.” And with these three magic words I was handed a whole book of Tomsk postcards!! WOW!! Thank you Dmitry!

The next morning came and it was time to bid a fond farewell to the beautiful city of Tomsk! I felt bad I never connected with Dmitry but knew this served as an excellent excuse to return to Tomsk next time. I got to the station with no hassle and boarded the train for Moscow, which would be a 2 ½ day journey. 

The Tomich train pulling in

I settled into my cabin and suddenly there was a knock at the door. I’d already checked in with the train attendant and bought a nice cup holder from her so it couldn’t be her. I opened the door and it was a familiar face, the food services girl, Natasha (not to be confused with Natasha of Seattle who gave me all sorts of excellent info about her native Tomsk). Her first words to me were, “you again………what….did you not like our city”? I explained I had to get to Moscow and only had a few days in Tomsk.

 

My beloved compartment

She had come to my compartment to discuss my food options for the next day. Shortly thereafter she turned on the flirting big time saying, she would love to sit around with me and watch the scenery go by, but she had to get back to work. This was music to this lonely traveler’s ears!! A fairly good-looking Russian girl in my compartment, wanting to spend time with me, had my dream come true? I quickly said I wish she could too. I guess there’s a saying “don’t wish too hard or it’ll come true”. And it did come true!

Not too long after our brief exchange I heard a knock at my door. I said «да»/da or yes and who should it be but Natasha! She came back to talk and wanted to know what I was doing. I said I was just sitting watching the scenery go by. She looked over and saw my zip lock bag full of my favorite cereal Count Chocula and she quickly asked “what’s that………cookies”? I tried to explain in Russian that it was breakfast cereal, but she didn’t get it, but wanted to try some. Me, Mr. Nice Guy, let her try some. Instead of simply trying a bit, she put her whole hand in and scooped up a lot putting a large dent in my supply.

She then caught a glimpse of my beautiful new glass holder that I bought from the РЖД/RZD (Russian Railways) attendant with its beautiful gold trim. She picked up and said “Steve, give me this as a present please”. I said no. She then begged and even begged some more. I continued to say no. Knowing she wouldn’t get my glass holder she turned on the flirting even more saying it’d be nice to have some champagne together. 

 

I said no that I didn’t drink and it was too expensive. Natasha responded, “doesn’t matter, I’ll drink it and we can get to know one another”. You’d’ve thought I would have learned from the last time I bought a bottle of champagne for a Natasha. That turned out rather badly. In that situation my girlfriend at the time ended up drinking the entire bottle, getting rather drunk and totally hung over the next day. It would not have mattered much except it was during a special vacation to The Oregon Coast I’d planned for us. 

Anyway, back to The Tomich train, Natasha kept begging and begging saying it was a tradition for men to buy the women drinks to get better acquainted with them. Again for the fifth or so (I lost track) time I said NO, НЕТ/nyet! She flirted a bit more and we talked and then she said ok that she’d catch me later.

I felt rather proud of myself that I had turned her down because usually I’m always Mr. Nice Guy and say yes. This time I’d stood my ground. Around a half hour went by and suddenly there was a knock at the door again! To be continued……………..