Has anyone spent anytime in Russia?

[Anonymous]

Dill!! I got so sick of dill I cant even stand the smell of it anymore.  dill on everything is right.  They even have a dill pizza.   You need to watch everything you buy too.  Your bottled water may be just filled by the local tap to recycle a bottle they found in the street, so look at the caps closely.  I had gotten home to find my beer bottles I just bought were filled with water.  No one smiles and they seem so unfriendly but when you make a friend it will be a true friend.  They are very good people for the most part just very unhappy and depressed, especially the men (unless they are drinking).  The women are very social and well adjusted and are the ones who are building the country back up.  They are the doctors and teachers now, the ones getting educated... the men only drink and hunt on weekends.
School teachers make about $90-$120 a month unless you can teach english to the rich on the side, that pays much better.  Prostitution pays better than a doctors salary so do the math.  There are alot of prostitutes with Phds there trying to save enough to get the hell out.

people are depressed because it's fucking russia, man. theres a 10001 things i can list that is the cause of russian depression. It's such an old trait of the people that authors have been writing about it for well over a hundred years. ever read any russian Lit? lol. We russians are very very depressed, anguished people. even if we move to miami were still going to be depressed, it's not a matter of short days and long winters - although that does play a role. once you go to russia, it will be clear as day to you why people are so depressed. I doubt you'll be immune to the depression either che, even if youre popping ecstacy every day. It's in the air, it's like a drug that just hangs in the air that if you breath it in for to long you start getting depressed.
but, russians are also very deep people. and very intelligent, or at least the ones with an education. dont be surprised when every other person you meet starts talking to you about some eastern-thought quackery like psi power, chanting, auras, fortune telling, aliens...anything. they take that shit very seriously. and i mean SERIOUSLY. every russian spetznaz soldier is officially trained in harnessing their "reserve human abilities" - moving objects from a distance, crowd control through thought, elimination of pain.....although generally they use it to make the people they are fighting look like drunk fools.

example:
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consider this: every male in russia is required to join the army. every soldier is evaluated and potentially trained in this if they have the ability. once they retire from being soldier, they become either bodyguards, or gangsters. that is what you are going up against. your CHE-FU wont help you there.
I was trained in this...actually the guy showing the moves to the american marines was my "drill seargent" for h2h combat while in the army. it's no joke, trust me. you may think some of the stuff is staged....like when the guy makes a bunch of people fall over...it's not. they did it to me once....it's like suddenly you loose your balance and topple over like as if you were drunk out of nowhere. When they attack...you may think the guys are faking it and playing along, they are not. I attacked my drill seargent as a demo once.....i went full-power no-holds-barred on him because i myself thought it was bullshit. all i remember is running at him with my bayonet, and then waking up on the ground with a dislocated knee, arm broken in three places and a shattered skull. dont fuck with russians. TRUST ME.

[Anonymous]

oops bad links.

lets try that again

http://www.youtube.com/v/c-1uXzrHMc0&hl=en&fs=1&

http://www.youtube.com/v/uCMtW0kZRL0&hl=en&fs=1&

ttp://www.youtube.com/v/AYq8EueDYNM&hl=en&fs=1&

http://www.youtube.com/v/6V9VV6IW4k8&hl=en&fs=1&

heres another one for good measure. it's vladimir vasiliev, who's an old friend of mine (you'll find that everyone in russia knows everybody...it's weird). he travels around the U.S and canada teaching MMA fanatics all about systema. you can put every UFC fighter in existence all at once up against this guy and he will take em all out in a blink of an eye.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgwpQmOH ... re=related

[Anonymous]

^TheWho^

[TheWho]

I remember the bribes.  They are Intertwined into the culture there.  One of the many tricks was the ticket agents would tell you that there was a problem with your passport or that you need a stamp of some sort.  They then take you in the back room and have you declare all your money (Cash) and they count it in front of you and then hand it back to you with your passport and tell you that there is still something missing in your passport….. see they will never ask you for money because that is illegal and they could go to jail, but they expect you to put some money in the passport and hand it back to them.  Your luggage is already on the plane and you are sitting in this room and they remind you that you will probably miss your plane…. You quickly figure it out.

They absolutely hate homeless people over there.  Coming out of the airport there was this young woman with three young kids with no shoes on and it was cold.  I went to hand her money and my driver jumped between us and pushed her down and spit on her.  He was yelling all the way to the car which sounded like such hatred.  I later learned that no one will help them there, even the kids.  Its their destiny.

The first place I went was to a hotel to have breakfast where I met my translator.  We sat next to a table with service men who were drinking Vodka with their breakfast and I said they must be celebrating something and the translator said this was normal.  Many people drink vodka for breakfast.  Everything revolves around alcohol..... for a chest cold you should take a shot of vodka with pepper, for a head cold add some dill.  For fatigue you have a beer with your vodka,  for a headache you should heat up your vodka etc.

The women really dress up over there.  You rarely see them in jeans.

[Anonymous]

you guys think that anyone who may be shitting you is thewho, eh?

systema looks like bullshido but it's probably the most powerfull fighting style in the world by far. It's not utilized much in MMA because the main principals of systema (small joint manipulation, use of knives, quick bone breaks, use of surrounding objects) are illegal to use in any MMA fight. It's very "out of the box" kindof fighting style....so it looks stupid to anyone used to karate or boxing. to someone who's used to systema, karate is the most idiotic style ever - in a no-holds-barred fight a systema amateur can disable a karate master in two seconds.

about the homeless people: russians dont hate homeless people. the driver was just trying to protect you. If you gave them any money, you would have been swarmed by a dozen other "homeless" people who would surround you and tug at everything you have. all of your stuff would have been pulled off you in seconds...your wallet, jacket, luggage, shoes...everything. If you werent going to get swarmed, those homeless people would have tugged at you themselves and followed you untill you gave them all you had.....or untill they distracted you enough for another kid to run up and pick your wallet. It's also very likely those "homeless" people were not really homeless (if you dont have a home in russia, you die in the winter, lol). they were likely just scam artists, the parents making their kids take their shoes off so it makes them more money. It's not much different in other parts of europe...i ran into the same sort of thing in france, italy, and belgium, except they were either muslims or gypsies there.

In addition, what you were told about "homeless destiny" is a pure backlash against communist ideals. it's like a young child rebelling against their parents and trying to become the polar opposite, except russia is doing it as a country. Back during communism, those homeless would have been helped, they would be equals with everyone else. Now russians have a very capitalistic, independent spirit. No one helps anyone, unless you are friends with them and have mutual business interests. to them, if you dont "make it" in life, it's your own fault. dispite being 20 years sober from communism, it's still really affecting russians...they HATE it and want to institute what they would imagine the exact opposite.

Bribes are intertwined with culture also because of communism. It would take a long time to explain why, but in short, it's because during communism there was always a capitalist black market for things like fruit, candy, clothing, books, electronics, music, etc. The only way these things would get to the people is through a long line of bribes.....and everyone took bribes because everyone wanted a pair of jeans, some oranges for their family, (or later on) the latest deep purple record.....at a time when people lived on just black bread and kefir and only 50% of the population had shoes.. when they switched from communism to capitalism in the 90's, that was the way business was already handled for decades, and they kept the system.  The fall of communism wasnt really a smooth transition. it was just "poof" government gone.....what do we do now? they just continued to do things the only way they knew how...

[Anonymous]

there are definitely some aspects of russian cuisine: kvas, kefir, and blinis in particular.

Kvas is to russians as what coca-cola, lemonade or sweet tea is to americans. it's just a fermented black bread drink, akin to beer. People have been selling it from little carts on the street since pre-soviet times, and continue to do so. much of it is home-made, although there are some big brands. as yes mentioned about vodka, stick to the big brands in tamper-proof bottles, you dont know whats in the homemade stuff. It tastes like a bittersweet beer-soda, it's hard to pin down the taste but it's good. it's usually around .5-3% alcohol, although it's accepted for young children and even toddlers to drink it throughout the day.

Kefir is a fermented milk/yogurt drink. you can find it in the U.S too, as due to it's probiotic content it is gaining acceptance. you can find it at whole foods in the U.S, or just about anywhere in russia. it tastes like thick sour/spoiled milk or sour cream thats slightly chunky and effervescent. It's loaded with the most powerful probiotic cocktail known to man. sometimes if you are new to it, it may give you a bad stomach ache the first time or two. once the bacterial colonies are established in your digestive tract, you'll feel great. It will make you shit every day at the same time down to the minute, and will cut your time on the toilet down to about 2min tops...in a good way. everything will come out as a nice, clean, single piece. you'll also have greater immunity to various bad bacterias and viruses that cause food poisoning, such as lysteria (theres a specific bacteria in kefir who's entire evolutionary purpose is to sit around in the human gut and wait until lysteria comes along, and eliminate it)

blinis are identical to crepes, except they are filled with different ingredients. smoked fish, caviar, and sour cream are most common, but they stuff those things with just about everything. including dill. There's crepe trucks and stands all over russia, sorta like hotdog stands in the US.

dont spill borscht on yourself, you'll never get it out.

make sure you get some lamb pilaf (pronounced plouff in russian) somewhere. it's mostly a southern russian/uzbek/kazakh sorta thing, but it's a favorite dish all over russia. untill you've tasted russian pilaf you've never tasted real pilaf. I would take some proper lamb pilaf over anything any day.....even over a grass-fed kobe-beef filet minion cooked by bobby flay....


also you're going to have to decide betwen the following "looks" in order to fit in in russia. jeans and shirt doesnt fly there, you will stick out like a sore thumb.
-the "gangsta": addidas jumpsuit with flashy sneakers, or outdated casual (not biker/metal) leather jacket with nice shoes
-the "playa": versace/d&g/etc multi-thousand dollar custom tailored suit. this outfit commands the most respect, and it's the only outfit you can wear if you plan on not looking like just another "drunk lowlife russian".
-the peasant: any random clothes you find in the dumpster suffice
-the average guy: decent slacks, tweed or bomber jacket (depending on occasion), loafers, not-to-expensive cotton collared shirt.

[TheWho]

Kvas!!  I remember that.  They served it from a mini “oil tanker” on the side of the road... the truck was yellow I think, yes fermented milk  (mares milk? Or was it cows milk?  I never asked).  I wanted to try it but my translator advised against it and said it would screw up my stomach because I was not use to it.  But she had some and all the local Russians would take a drink.  We used mares milk in our coffee.  Russia has the worse coffee in the world.  You are better off drinking tea.  
My second trip I ended up bringing my own coffee from Dunkin donuts and using filters over the cup.  It was the best comfort food I brought.
I tried many local dishes, besh Barmark or “5 fingers” I think it was called.  It was really good.  Horse meat, gravy and noodles which you ate with your hands (where the name 5 fingers came from I guess).  Never thought I would ever eat horse meat, but it wasn’t that bad.

I use to try to dress in all black and try to fit in but I wouldn’t get 3 feet outside my building when someone would say “Halllow” so I didnt blend in very well because of my features I guess.

[Anonymous]

you're confusing kvas and kefir. kvas is bread-beer, kefir is the milk. They use any kind of milk - cow, goat, mare, sheep, anything. what makes it kefir is the starter cultures (the bacteria). the different kefirs all have slightly different properties and effects. I forgot to mention that kefir also has a small amount of alcohol in it, like kvas, but lower. kids also drink it. It only messes up your stomach temporarily, it's not like bad water where you have to drink it your whole life to be used to it. It's just that kefir kills off all your existing bacteria and colonizes itself in your gut. the transition is sometimes accompanied by significant discomfort, but that usually only occurs if your balance of bacteria is off in your gut, and kefir balances things out for you, so kefir is good regardless if you can brave some cramping and diareah for a few days. just make sure you get good kefir, bottled and in a supermarket. yet again, i cant stress this enough, dont trust the homemade/jerry-rigged/cart-distributed stuff. for all they care they'll sell you a month old batch and not have a single gram of remorse for killing you with it (yes, just like regular milk, kefir spoils eventually and becomes potentially deadly if consumed, it just takes a much longer time to spoil as it is already "spoiled" in a controlled manner)

About coffee, same can be said about american coffee. dunkin doughnuts is IMO the worst coffee in the world. so is folgers, maxwell's, etc....any coffee you get in america that comes in a can or is poured out of a large container or drip coffee maker, or served at starbucks, is utter crap. fresh ground beans in a french press is the way to go. you can get the same beans and equipment in russia as you can here. Just dont drink the "house" coffee at cheaper resturants and hotels. No one in russia drinks coffee, and the ones who do dont have a taste for it, so all they have is the cheap generic black instant coffee that has probably been sitting on a shelf for years. go to supermarket, buy a pound of beans, a grinder, teapot, and press, and you're all set. russian supermarkets carry many of the same products italian and french markets have, since the upper-class russians have a very sophisticated taste in cuisine.

but you should definitely just stick to tea. russians are as avid tea drinkers as the chinese, japanese, or english, although in russia they prefer black tea over earl grey, green, or oolong.

[TheWho]

Yes, it was the milk based, i think.  I remember,now that you mention it,that it had alcohol in it and that kids would grab some from the truck on the way to school.  It was like 2 cents or something really cheap, but they hauled around a few hundred gallons ofthe stuff.

They sold ice cream in the dead of winter on the streets!!!  The best ice cream I ever had, but it was strange seeing a person standing in the middle of nowhere behind a small ice cream stand when it was 20 below out.  I use to buy it and eat it in the car. they did a good business I guess.

A pack of Marlboro was 45 cents 3 years ago.  They sold Pepsi light instead of diet pepsi... cost me more than 3 packs of cigarettes per can.

How about the Russian saunas?  When I first went in my translator left me at the door and I was escorted down the hall into a place to undress and ended up in a steam room with a towel.  Then I was thrashed with a tree limb with leaves on it.  I think it was a birch tree limb.  It wasn’t bad, but strange.  I then had an entire Turkish, Russian sauna section all to myself for only $90 with a private Turkish bath for 2 hours.  It  was pretty cool.  This section was big enough to handle 100 people yet I had it to myself and people would come and go to check on me and bring me water.

The other thing that struck me was the peoples offices.  There was nothing on the walls or floors, no personal stuff.  I had to fed-ex some paintings that I had bought back to the US and they took me to this building and the fed-ex office was on the sixth floor?  I would of thought it would be on the 1st floor near the trucks go figure.  But we hauled all our stuff upstairs and entered this office which was huge!!!  It was the size of a high school gymnasium but with one small desk in the center, no pictures on the wall or carpeting.  Just a small desk with a model fed-ex airplane on it and a girl with regular clothes and a fed-ex pin on her lapel.  In order to send anything out of the country you had you proclaim it as personal items (not art) so I was asked to remove my socks and place them in the package along with the artwork, which I did.
I actually really loved my stay there.  I am sorry I am speaking about negative stuff.  I don’t mean to ridicule I found it all fascinating and educational.  I could talk hours about the people I met there.  Most everyone I got to know (which took a long time) were very nice.

[Che Gookin]

Yeah deffo going to do a look see trip prior to making a final decision. Push comes to shove I can always skip over Russia and pick up a job in Eastern Europe now that I have an EU passport.

[Anonymous]

I dont think you realize something

Eastern europe WAS russia until 20 years ago. It's the same thing, just with slightly different language and culture. pretty much every bad thing said about russia applies to all of eastern europe, in some cases worse than in russia...

[Anonymous]

Whatever you do, do NOT marry a Russian woman. It will be the biggest mistake of your life. Russian women are as hard and mercenary as they come.  I have known many and they are share these traits.
Just buy something nice for the BJ and move on.

[Anonymous]

absolutely true about russian women. this applies to ukrainian women too....but poles, Czechs, albanians, etc not so much.


Russian women are mostly (basically all the ones who are NOT fat, butt ugly, poor and uneducated) are complete golddiggers. they make anna nicole smith look like a timid amateur in comparison........and they are so DIFFICULT! never ever expect to get your way with them once you've established a relationship ......it's "stay whipped, OR ELSE!". If you have access to means to live in another country (meaning US, EU, or australian citizen) be very very careful not to get them pregnant when fucking them. use your own condom that you can be certain was not messed with. they will attempt to impregnate themselves with your seed in order to guilt-trip you into marrying them and getting them out of russia. also, note that HIV is rampant throughout russia, most prostitutes have it. also keep note that most women in russia actually are prostitutes. if you meet an overly friendly woman at a bar, especially in a hotel lobby, be wary. Prostitution does always mean cash. sometimes it means taking her shopping for expensive things, taking her out to a club, fancy restaurant, etc. you may think it's a date, but it's survival bourgeois-style for her.  Also about russian women: many may seem very intelligent. be warned: they are mostly not. Many are well-read and well-educated. they may be street-smart. they can probably hold a hour-long debate with you about the author of your choice. That intelligence is just a facade of expert conversationalism. they may in fact be intelligent, but they are so spiritually, morally, and emotionally corrupt that the "intelligence" is not put to use for anything except hustling men and getting what they want in life. basically, shallow smart women.  

Polish women are way different. if you can get over the whole excessive sugar consumption and high likelihood of either extreme weight gain or weight loss...marry a polish girl and she will reward you with the world's greatest boobs, excellent housewifery and a very motherly personality. that is, if she's not so emotional that she doesnt drive you batshit crazy with her needy cuddly-wuddly attitude.

[try another castle]

all I gotta say is... the russian mafia are the craziest motherfuckers on the planet. If I had to choose between being captured by Al Queda and the Russian mob, I'd take osama any day.

I know this cause I saw it on TV, and if its on TV, it mus be true.

[Anonymous]

There is so much reductive ew factor going on up there in that post about women by region that it almost makes one nostalgic for the not so long ago days where the misogyny here was blatantly expressed in rambling tirades of sadistic mutilation (almost but no not).

Your warning about the mostly not intelligent albeit street smart conversational prostitutes was a crack up. Do you expect that a woman having her life result in the need or just the belief she needs to pander to men such as yourself is going to give you anything substantive of herself?

The women unfortunate enough to be the recipients of your approval are defined derisively in terms that describe a dedicated dullard with a low self esteem and a BMI disproportionate to Vogue standards ‘cept the boobies of course. // hearing you cry Mamama