Things I've Learned About Russia

I know our nephew Derrick is learning about Russia in school and we've been trying collect tidbits of information for him. Not to mention now taking pictures of everything we eat (see above for our dinner from last night at the hotel, creamy chicken & a prawn kabob). We get a lot of funny looks when we do that. :)

I thought I would offer up some things I've learned about Russia during the 2 weeks we've now been here. Maks will hopefully find these things interesting and can compare them to what things are like when we come back...

1. The women in Russia are WAY more on top of fashion than back home. I am always underdressed. The majority of them wear tall boots with high heels, dresses, fur coats, etc. Even in Siberia! NONE of them wear jeans. That is very rare to see.

2. They have ice cream kiosks everywhere on the street. I would say there is one every 5-6 blocks in Siberia. Doesn't that strike you as odd? Its -25F today and people are buying ice cream on the street.

3. They LOVE dill. And put it on everything from French Fries to Soups. I never knew that about Russia.

4. They also LOVE sour cream. Again its served with LOTS of the foods and ALL of the soups.

5. The people are very interested in us when we speak English. Everyone in every place we go to stares at us. Sometimes I think it has to do with the fact that many of them are young and do speak English. The girls at the restaurants we go to all "practice" their English on us. They are very sweet and friendly.

6. The highways in Siberia are very good! I don't know what I expected, but apparently they fix them every single summer. Can you imagine the potholes they get with the weather as cold as it is!

7. No one says Excuse Me. Its not that they are being rude, they just allow each other to go ahead of themselves at grocery stores, in doors, etc. I haven't heard one person say Excuse Me in the past two weeks.

8. I think I've said this before, but I'm now INCREDIBLY passionate about this. Children in the USA absolutely NEED to learn a 2nd language. We are one of the only countries that I've been to that do not require their students to learn a 2nd language. We are already WAY behind folks! We need to help our students!! Young Russians all seem to know English and Russian and in many cases another language as well. Everyone we spoke to in Sweden knew English.

9. Service is very slow compared to American restaurants. It seems that many Russian people order multiple courses and multiple drink courses. They have salads, lots of soups, some type of liquor, a glass of wine AND tea.

10. When you eat at a restaurant you will most likely all be served at different times. They bring the food out as its ready. We have not received our meals at the same time at any restaurant we have eaten at so far.

11. The colder it is outside, the warmer it is inside. We were told by our interpreter that they do that to avoid depression during the long winter months. We have absolutely found it to be true.

12. Pigeons are very big here. I mean VERY big. They were the fattest pigeons I have ever seen in Siberia. I think they have to bulk up to be ready for the winter. I don't know why anyone would care about this information, but I found it fascinating.

13. Russian people seem very healthy. We have a lot more people who are overweight in the USA. A lot of their food is fresh here. They order lots of juice and portion sizes are much more reasonable. Good job Russia! I'm impressed.

14. Russia is no friend of PETA. 99.9% of the women have some type of fur on their coat. Many are all fur coats. I am the only woman in Russia right now without fur on my coat. I swear.


Thats all for now. I wanted to get these down before I forgot them!