Ask a Russian

[caketastydelish]

Why do otherwise intelligent and we'll read Russian people buy the lies and corruption Putin is selling? Aren't they aware their country has slipped back into dictatorship?

Well read people tend to love Putin.

You have a party called the Apple Party?

It has nothing to do with American fruit company.

You mean Apple, the electronics company? And considering they have really and truly demonstrated an ability to generate a surplus rather than debt, maybe them being in charge wouldn't be so bad.

 

[Takhisis]

There's a link to practice sheet in English wiki page.
https://lingualift.com/blog/russian-cursive-writing-practice-sheet/

Highly useful, although I won't give those people my email address.

Except that, I can only find the similar sheets for kids in Russian.

Who says we ever stop being children?

 

[Mustakrakish]

Never been robbed in Russia despite occasionally looking like a tourist.

Why people behind the cash register are so mean in Russia? Where that kind of mentality / tradition comes from? I mean they just hate your guts. Oh... look... a damn customer again.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Why people behind the cash register are so mean in Russia? Where that kind of mentality / tradition comes from? I mean they just hate your guts. Oh... look... a damn customer again.

You probably broke some unknown Russian custom ?
I suspect that with customers like this, drinking too much of the drink that Iam not suppose to mention, Shop keepers have become jadded and mean.
Dont blame me it was front page of RT, and is probably a click bait article for the Western readers.

Russian man’s stomach-churning vodka theft caught on CCTV

A Vladivostok shop thief has done the reputation of his countrymen no favors by downing a large bottle of vodka.

CCTV footage from a store in Russia’s eastern port city shows a man, a little unsteady on his feet, approach a shelf stocked with booze before picking up a 0.7 liter bottle of vodka, removing its cap and chugging away.

According to Vladivostok News, the 34 year old refused to hand over money for the swiftly-consumed drink - though he did pay for his audacity in another way by requiring medical treatment after leaving the store.

The man reportedly tried to claim the bottle was already empty. He has also been known to visit other stores to ‘sample’ alcoholic beverages and has already been fined by police for previous incidents.

The fact that the unnamed 34 year old managed to drink that amount of booze in one go and stay standing is hard to fathom. Less impressive, however, are Russia’s statistics on alcohol consumption.

According to OECD data, the nation remains one the biggest drinkers out of OECD countries, consuming at least 13.8 liters of alcohol per capita. A 2014 Lancet journal study found that around 25 percent of Russian men die before the age of 55, largely due to their intake of alcohol.

https://www.rt.com/viral/360401-vodka-thief-russia-cctv/

 

[Mechanicalsalvation]

This is just nonsense on several levels.
First, because no missiles have ever been "put right on Russian border" - or in any of the new NATO members for that matter*, nor have any such plans been reported.
Second, because US has never pledged "no first use" of nukes. Brezhnev did, but Russia dropped that promise shortly after fall of USSR.
So that whole narrative is just fiction... to be polite about it.

*with the exception of those nukes taken from Turkey to Romania just last month or so - a move obviously due to instability in Turkey. Not that Deveselu is closer to Russia than Incirlik anyway.

Although you make a good points I think you are too dismissive and too quick a judge.

Here is the same statement arguing for violation of INF threaty (missiles in Poland and Romania) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i958NiUZm0Y PLEASE watch the clip:

Link to video.

Here is an interesting read about the US nuclear weapons deployment from the cold war and its shows that the official stories were often lies.

 

[Mechanicalsalvation]

Never been robbed in Russia despite occasionally looking like a tourist.

Why people behind the cash register are so mean in Russia? Where that kind of mentality / tradition comes from? I mean they just hate your guts. Oh... look... a damn customer again.

I got to on that since at times I have the same experience in Czechia and I atribute it 80% to the 40 years of former communism and its socialist market economy.

 

[red_elk]

You mean Apple, the electronics company?

I see you didn't watch Forrest Gump...

Why people behind the cash register are so mean in Russia? Where that kind of mentality / tradition comes from? I mean they just hate your guts. Oh... look... a damn customer again.

They don't hate you, they just don't give a damn about you and were not trained to hide it.

In general, yes, its kind of a part of mentality. Russians usually smile to people only if they know/glad to see/interested in them. The upside is that smiles tend to be more genuine. In large cities and companies, professionals (waiters, flight attendants, receptionists) are of course trained not to scare off foreigners.

We also had a joke - Americans look at people with false smile, but we Russians look at them with genuine hatred

 

[Mustakrakish]

They don't hate you, they just don't give a damn about you and were not trained to hide it.

In general, yes, its kind of a part of mentality. Russians usually smile to people only if they know/glad to see/interested in them. The upside is that smiles tend to be more genuine. In large cities and companies, professionals (waiters, flight attendants, receptionists) are of course trained not to scare off foreigners.

We also had a joke - Americans look at people with false smile, but we Russians look at them with genuine hatred

Well I actually like that (might be because I'm half...ish Russian) and definitely could appreciate that whenever visiting Russia. I was just wondering where it comes from.

 

[Takhisis]

I remember that once in Finnish class we engaged in ‘Finnish conversation’ i.e. we spent three minutes sitting in a circle with people looking at their feet -the more adventurous looked at their hands, or sometimes at other people's feet.

Are Russians that quiet as well?

 

[Yeekim]

Although you make a good points I think you are too dismissive and too quick a judge.

Here is the same statement arguing for violation of INF threaty (missiles in Poland and Romania) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i958NiUZm0Y PLEASE watch the clip:

Link to video.

Here is an interesting read about the US nuclear weapons deployment from the cold war and its shows that the official stories were often lies.

I watched until the guy claimed that "every significant journalist in Europe is/was on CIA payroll". 5 minutes of my life I ain't getting back...

 

[Mustakrakish]

I remember that once in Finnish class we engaged in ‘Finnish conversation’ i.e. we spent three minutes sitting in a circle with people looking at their feet -the more adventurous looked at their hands, or sometimes at other people's feet.

Are Russians that quiet as well?

I smell some vittuilua towards me. Were you an exchange student here and had a bad experience or what's the story?

Answer to the rhetorical question, Russians are not as quiet, not even close.

 

[civman110]

Detailed answer about Middle-Eastern policy:
http://carnegie.ru/2016/04/05/russi...objectives-priorities-and-policy-drivers/iwni

Interesting read. Thanks.

 

[red_elk]

Are Russians that quiet as well?

No, I think on average we are about as much talkative as Americans. The difference is in other things. Most of the Russians who are not adapted to Western lifestyle, are quite suspicious to strangers, but in the same time open-hearted and hospitable to the people they know even briefly. So, while you should not expect Russian stranger to be very friendly and ready to engage in smalltalk, once you become acquainted, he or she may become your best friend. In rural areas hospitality is also kind of traditional thing.

 

[Takhisis]

I smell some vittuilua towards me. Were you an exchange student here and had a bad experience or what's the story?

According to my sources, if a Finn looks at your feet instead of his then you're his best friend. But discussion about Finland and my experiences with the language deserves its own conversation, especially after WWI, doesn't it?

Answer to the rhetorical question, Russians are not as quiet, not even close.

It wasn't a rhetorical question.

No, I think on average we are about as much talkative as Americans. The difference is in other things. Most of the Russians who are not adapted to Western lifestyle, are quite suspicious to strangers, but in the same time open-hearted and hospitable to the people they know even briefly. So, while you should not expect Russian stranger to be very friendly and ready to engage in smalltalk, once you become acquainted, he or she may become your best friend. In rural areas hospitality is also kind of traditional thing.

Hmm, my experience with Russians here is that they're very quiet until they've become Argentinised and/or they've befriended one. It's almost as if they were… afraid? Or at least distrustful.

 

[red_elk]

Hmm, my experience with Russians here is that they're very quiet until they've become Argentinised and/or they've befriended one. It's almost as if they were… afraid? Or at least distrustful.

Where is it? And what does it mean, Argentinised?
As for distrust, yes, as I said it's rather a default state for most of the Russians. Until you show that you can be trusted, which in some cases can be easy.

 

[timtofly]

Argentina South America

 

[red_elk]

Ah, ok, got it. I thought Takhisis was from somewhere in Europe and Argentinised there is a codeword for get drunk or something like that

 

[Takhisis]

It's a weird thing. In Argentina (and Argentina's Belarus a.k.a. Uruguay) people get all touchy-feely, they kiss each other as a regular greeting, shake hands with anyone, and so on. It can be unnerving for outsiders.

 

[Mustakrakish]

red_elk what do you think about this kid's movies? Why Russian movie industry is so much cancer nowadays? And most importantly, why do people watch such defecations?


Link to video.

 

[red_elk]

red_elk what do you think about this kid's movies?

Didn't see them. And most likely not going to, you probably understand why.

Why Russian movie industry is so much cancer nowadays?

I don't know. It's not completely in ruins, I know a few good movies from the last decade. But comparing with the Soviet period, quality dropped by an order of magnitude or so. We still have some very good actors, but on average actors play and especially scenario quality became much worse. Our movie industry now tries to mimic Hollywood modus operandi, by creating market and sales oriented movies and it's just not good at it. In USSR, movie industry was much less oriented on pop culture or sales.

And most importantly, why do people watch such defecations?

What can I say, people watch all kinds of weird things. The video you posted, if I understand correctly, created by internet users, so it cannot even be attributed to Russian movie industry.