A Russian journalist's fond farewell to Tallahassee

Alina Fooks

There is a famous satirical play, "The Government Inspector" by the Russian-Ukranian novelist Nikolai Gogol.

Officials in a small Russian town were waiting for the inspector from Saint Petersburg and mistook a civil servant for him. As a result, the guy enjoyed increased interest in his personality and a lot of benefits.

You’re probably thinking: “Why has this Russian girl come to Florida and given us a lecture about Russian literature?”

The thing is, in my first days in Tallahassee, I couldn’t stop thinking about this novel.

Alina Fooks, a visiting journalist from Moscow in the International Center for Journalists program, interviews Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna.

I kept asking myself: “Why are they being so nice to me? Maybe they were waiting for another Alina from Moscow?”

My Russian friends were skeptical too.

“You know there was a zombie movie about a girl who comes to a small city. Everybody is being nice to her and then turns out that they are zombies and want to kill her. Watch your bag!” — a good friend told me over the phone.

Tallahassee Democrat local government reporter Karl Etters and Alina Fooks, a visiting journalist from Moscow in the International Center for Journalists program, attend the June 2019 Tallahassee City Commission meeting.

►Read one of Alina's stories, datelined from Tallahassee

Well, maybe I should have left my skepticism and cynicism in Moscow along with warm clothes.

You all (I’m sorry — Y’all) are some of the greatest people I’ve ever met.

I didn’t think I would learn so many things about the democratic process here and the work of local media.

For the last two weeks, I have felt like a 5-year-old kid who continually asks "why" questions.

Alina Fooks, a visiting journalist from Moscow in the International Center for Journalists program, enjoys oysters on the half shell at Up the Creek Raw Bar in Apalachicola.

Why are there no pedestrians on the streets? Why do you have different pictures besides numbers on your (vanity) license plates? Why does everybody care so much about trees? Why do you still have so many print newspapers?

Poor Karl, my host, needs a day off now to recover from the past two weeks of questions and my stories about Russian reality.

By the way, now I know a phrase that has shocked nearly everyone I've come in contact with: “I’m 28 years old and I have never driven a car!” Probably because our public transportation is much better than in many states in America.

My next stop is New York City and then I’m going back to Moscow.

Know that you now have an ambassador of Tallahassee in the Russian capital.

Contact Alina Fooks at fooksalin@gmail.com or @interfux on Twitter.