Hello everybody. Been a while eh?
I just got back from one of my Russian friends house where everyone stayed up all night playing Monopoly and a board game called Colonization and it was one of the more satisfying evenings I've had in a while. Russians love their board games. Almost as much as they love their beet-root salad. Which is almost as much as they love wearing their hair in a mullet. Tons of mullets here. If I had a kopek for every mullet I've seen in the last week I'd have a ruble. My friend had a little cold but he refused to take showers cause he said Russian doctors say you shouldn't take showers or baths when you're sick because it's not good for you to be warm then be cold when you leave the bathroom. I really wanted to start laughing in his face when he said this. By the way Russians are very good at heating their houses.
And speaking of houses, there aren't any here in the city. Absolutely no houses like were all accustomed to. There are just big complexes of flats, or apartments, some bigger than others. No houses. It's kind of weird. There being no houses there is. People don't live in houses here, everyone lives in a big dormitory basically. So, with that in mind, I've heard from more than one person that Russians are obsessed with the American "House Party" like they see in the movies. And now that I think of it, house parties rule, and I'm glad I was raised in a culture where house parties were more than just an unreachable dream on the movie screen. Did I mention that fact that there are no houses here? But to be fair, people usually do have a house out in the "country" (I shudder to think of what that consists of) which they go to on weekends and holidays. But there are definitely no house parties there.
And also from my discussions with the mobile phone lawyer I've learned 2 new things about Russian views to Americans. One, they think that John McCain was a serious contender for the president because Americans mistook him for....wait for it....Steve Martin! Its a huge joke in Russia about Americans love for everything celebrity. And I live in the state where Arnold Schwarzeneggar is governer! And two, one of the most lasting views Russians have from American films is when the father opens up the front door in the morning with a robe on and is greeted by a flying newspaper to the head, thrown from the local paper boy on a bicycle. So to sum up, the 3 main images Russians have about Americans from the movies so far are 1) A person being held upside down and having the toilet flushed on their head; 2) Out of control house parties: and 3) flying newspapers hitting fathers in the head in the morning.
I was also schooled in the traditional Russian way to drink vodka by one of my older students. Remember Vladimir with no hair? Yeah with him. So this is how it goes. Russians don't chase a vodka shot with liquids. They chase it with food. The 3 most traditional things to chase down a vodka shot is salted cucumber (tastes exactly like a dill pickle and I got into a little argument with him saying it WAS a dill pickle), cabbage salad (tastes like sour cole slaw), and little weird mushrooms which I still don't trust. So you take the vodka shot - the whole thing, not just a sip, Russians consider it arrogant and boastful to sip vodka, you need to take it down in one gulp - and then instantly eat one of the above mentioned curiosities. The most traditional snack to go along with drinking is salted herring with a little potato and onions, which is actually quite delicious.
Monday was a national holiday here called Day of the Defenders of the Motherland, which sounds like a holiday I want to be a part of. It's basically the day of the Russian army, but the funny thing is that its commonly just referred to as "Man's Day". Haha, Man's Day. This is the day where Russian men are honored with new shaving kits and new coffee mugs. Which is exactly what I received from my work. "So, how was your Man's Day? Fine, thanks." Next month is "Woman's Day" which from what I hear is like Valentine's Day on steroids.
Alright thats all folks. I have no more kindergarten left so hooray, back to a normal schedule. This calls for a celebration, I'm thinking board games.
I just got back from one of my Russian friends house where everyone stayed up all night playing Monopoly and a board game called Colonization and it was one of the more satisfying evenings I've had in a while. Russians love their board games. Almost as much as they love their beet-root salad. Which is almost as much as they love wearing their hair in a mullet. Tons of mullets here. If I had a kopek for every mullet I've seen in the last week I'd have a ruble. My friend had a little cold but he refused to take showers cause he said Russian doctors say you shouldn't take showers or baths when you're sick because it's not good for you to be warm then be cold when you leave the bathroom. I really wanted to start laughing in his face when he said this. By the way Russians are very good at heating their houses.
And speaking of houses, there aren't any here in the city. Absolutely no houses like were all accustomed to. There are just big complexes of flats, or apartments, some bigger than others. No houses. It's kind of weird. There being no houses there is. People don't live in houses here, everyone lives in a big dormitory basically. So, with that in mind, I've heard from more than one person that Russians are obsessed with the American "House Party" like they see in the movies. And now that I think of it, house parties rule, and I'm glad I was raised in a culture where house parties were more than just an unreachable dream on the movie screen. Did I mention that fact that there are no houses here? But to be fair, people usually do have a house out in the "country" (I shudder to think of what that consists of) which they go to on weekends and holidays. But there are definitely no house parties there.
And also from my discussions with the mobile phone lawyer I've learned 2 new things about Russian views to Americans. One, they think that John McCain was a serious contender for the president because Americans mistook him for....wait for it....Steve Martin! Its a huge joke in Russia about Americans love for everything celebrity. And I live in the state where Arnold Schwarzeneggar is governer! And two, one of the most lasting views Russians have from American films is when the father opens up the front door in the morning with a robe on and is greeted by a flying newspaper to the head, thrown from the local paper boy on a bicycle. So to sum up, the 3 main images Russians have about Americans from the movies so far are 1) A person being held upside down and having the toilet flushed on their head; 2) Out of control house parties: and 3) flying newspapers hitting fathers in the head in the morning.
I was also schooled in the traditional Russian way to drink vodka by one of my older students. Remember Vladimir with no hair? Yeah with him. So this is how it goes. Russians don't chase a vodka shot with liquids. They chase it with food. The 3 most traditional things to chase down a vodka shot is salted cucumber (tastes exactly like a dill pickle and I got into a little argument with him saying it WAS a dill pickle), cabbage salad (tastes like sour cole slaw), and little weird mushrooms which I still don't trust. So you take the vodka shot - the whole thing, not just a sip, Russians consider it arrogant and boastful to sip vodka, you need to take it down in one gulp - and then instantly eat one of the above mentioned curiosities. The most traditional snack to go along with drinking is salted herring with a little potato and onions, which is actually quite delicious.
Monday was a national holiday here called Day of the Defenders of the Motherland, which sounds like a holiday I want to be a part of. It's basically the day of the Russian army, but the funny thing is that its commonly just referred to as "Man's Day". Haha, Man's Day. This is the day where Russian men are honored with new shaving kits and new coffee mugs. Which is exactly what I received from my work. "So, how was your Man's Day? Fine, thanks." Next month is "Woman's Day" which from what I hear is like Valentine's Day on steroids.
Alright thats all folks. I have no more kindergarten left so hooray, back to a normal schedule. This calls for a celebration, I'm thinking board games.
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