I need your ideas

As you might have noticed, I seem to have run out of ideas to write about. But why not ask YOU - the visitors of this blog?

What would you like to learn about? What facts or stereotypes about Russia do you find amusing, bizzare or disturbing? I'll be glad to share any information as well as my opinion on the topics YOU care about.

Winter Holidays

«С Новым годом!» на Яндекс.Фотках
After talking to the more internationally-aware of my overseas friends, I realized how little understanding of Russian winter holidays there is worldwide. So let me give you a brief overview of this subject.
December 25
is not celebrated in Russia. People do realize it is "Catholic" Christmas (for some reason it's called that rather than Protestant or anything else), children might sing "Jingle Bells" in their English class, but that's about it. In addition, it is a normal work day.
If you happen to be in Russia at that time and feel homesick for your home Christmas celebration, there are plenty of expat communities in Russian cities, who are likely to host some kind of Christmas events. The Moscow Times might be a good place for you to start your search with.
December 31/ January 1 - New Year's Eve/Day
is THE holiday of the year in Russia. No matter where you are - at home, in a restaurant or at work, you have to have your glass of champagne and make a wish.
The holiday is usually celebrated at home with family or friends over a hearty meal. The TV is on in most families, with some New Year's concerts or shows. Just before midnight, the President's speech is broadcast. Then the Kremlin chimes strike midnight and people have a glass of champagne, make a wish and wish each other a happy new year! The feast normally continues into the small hours of the morning.
New Year's is the day people exchange gifts in Russia. Children get theirs from Ded Moroz, or Grandfather Frost, accompanied by his graddaughter Snegurochka, or Snow Maiden (taken from a 19th century play by Alexander Ostrovsky and a subsequent opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov).
December 7 - Orthodox Christmas
is not observed as much as New Year's. The difference in timing results from the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church never switched to the Gregorian calendar, and the Julian calendar it's using is 13 days behind.

January 13 - Old New Year's

is a purely Russian phenomenon. Due to the calendar difference described above, January 1 according to the Julian calendar falls on January 13 new-style. It is basically just an excuse to get together with your friends and celebrate once again.

So, anyway,

Happy New Year everyone!

Peter Nalitch showing off his awesome English

On a slightly less serious note, check out this video. Peter Nalitch graduated an Architecture University and recorded this song and video in horrendous English as a joke. He posted it online and it became a smash hit.
Happy holiday season, everyone! I hope this will make you smile. ;)



Here's a Russian article about Peter Nalitch.

Preparing for Russia: Soviet/Communist Symbols

Author's Note: Long time no see. One reason is that I've been trying to get nice photos to accompany the entries, but it doesn't always seem to work out. So, forgive me, you'll have to believe me and use your imagination to visualize the things I'm talking about.

What?

Many foreigners are surprized by the fact most Russian towns still keep some tokens of the Communist past. These range from statues of Lenin to red stars on subway stations to pompous statues of workers to street names. Indeed, in a country that is no longer communist (I'm not discussing politics here, this is according to the Constitution - I'll leave the rest to political analysts).

Why?

If you ask Russians, why these symbols are still around, an explanation you're likely to hear is "This is our history, so we should remember it". (I can't picture Germans keeping the statues of Hitler and giving the same explanation - but oh well. There are no portrair of Stalin around, for sure, so that's good enough). Another, slightly more prosaic explanation, is the cost of changing all these street names and the exteriors of the buildings which happen to display some kind of Soviet insignia.

What you can do about it?

Just be prepared and try to treat this phenomenon with humor. Most present-day Russians are not communist-minded, quite the opposite, actually. After all, a red star here and there is not as bad as an aggressive driver or a revolting public restroom.

Preparing for Russia: Public Restrooms

What?

Many of the Russian public restrooms leave much to be desired. To make matters worse, they may not even be there when you need them (like downtown Moscow, the subway, etc). Although most restaurants, malls and museums have decent restrooms, you really, but really don't want to visit one in a railway concourse or standing separately. Let me spare you the details, but toilet paper may be absent and the overall hygiene and privacy conditions may be less-than-perfect.

Possible Causes

Lack of infrastructure, indifference of premise owners, insufficient funding - you name it.

Possible Solutions

Look for a McDonald's restaurant. Seriously, you won't even have to BUY anything. Or go to any cafe and have a snack not too feel bad about using their restroom. And try to use it before you leave your house.

Preparing for Russia: Cyrillic signs

Fact
Most street signs, billboards, signs in the subway etc. in Russia are in Russian without any English translation.

Possible Causes

Russian tourism industry isn't as developed as it is in other countries. 70 years of isolation during the Soviet rule might be a factor, too.

What you can do about it

The ideal solution would be learning Russian. But being realistic, I'd suggest you at least learn the letters of the alphabet, so you can read the street names. Still too much for you? Well, then have the name of your hotel/street printed out, so you can compare it with the signs or show it to someone. Ask the younger Russians for directions as they are more likely to speak English.

Preparing for Russia: Street Dogs

Fact

Many foreigners are surprised at the amount of homeless dogs in Russia. The thing is that recently, legislation was passed forbidding the murder/slaughter/sedation (depending on your attitude) of street dogs. Now if they can only be sterilized and sent back to where they were taken from.

The dogs usually live in the underground station vestibules, in the apartment houses' front yards or in the parks. They often form packs to make the struggle for survival easier. And yes, there are occassionally attacks on humans.

Possible Causes

It's obvious the first homeless dogs found themselves on the streets because of irresponsible owners who kicked them out. Now we may be dealing with the offspring of these dogs as well.

What you can do about it

Stay away from the dogs whenever you can. It might be comforting to know most of them (e.g. the ones living by the subway stations) depend on humans for their food and are not interested in attacking them.

However, if - God forbid - you do get attacked, scratched or bitten by a dog, seek medical assistance to rule out rabies.

Preparing for Russia: Shabbiness

I've decided to start a series of advice bits for people going to visit Russia. They will mostly deal with things that may be different from your own culture or just shocking for a foreigner.

Fact

You might find many of the Russian buildings, streets, etc. looking old and neglected. Sometimes the paint will be coming off, or there will be patches of a different color, the surface may be cracked... This presents a strong contrast with the image of Russia as a growing economy.

Possible Causes

Part of this may be accounted for by the fact Russia inherited most of its infrastructure from the Soviet Union, and the young Russian state had neither the resources nor the time to keep up the "hardware". Some may say this stems from the Russian mentality that appreciates utility more than outward "prettiness". Finally, we should not forget the economic argument: lack of private ownership on city property might have contributed to neglect of "no one's" land and buildings.

How to deal with it

You may find it comforting to know that many of the old-looking buildings house modern universities, finance institutions and theaters, and many ugly homes house warm and hospitable families.

Russian Defaults

You probably heard the expression "to google something". Basically, it assumes your default search engine is Google. Well, in Russia it might not be the case. Here's what your average Russian is likely to use:

• Search engine: www.yandex.ru, occasionally www.rambler.ru, though Google is definitely used
• Email: www.mail.ru
• Blogging: www.livejournal.com
• Instant Messaging: www.icq.com
• Social Networking: www.odnoklassniki.ru (free Classmates) or www.vkontakte.ru (a Facebook clone)

I'm not saying Russianas use only these websites, but they are definitely the more popular one.