Linguistic Football & Jugglery
I never really questioned the origin of the Russian word for “T-shirt”— “footballka,” coming from the word “football,” obviously. Read more
What’s in a (Russian) Name?
If you have ever thumbed through a book by a Russian author, you must have, at some point, felt yourself in the grip of confusion. It’s so hard to keep track of which characters are which, because a single person, at different times, may be referred to as 1) Ivan Petrovitch, 2) Vanya, 3) Vanyusha, 4) Ivanushka, and 5)Vantuz. I’ll try to explain why at least some of this happens. Read more
Tolstoy's show explodes Moscow
I have just been to a presentation of a new CD by the famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy in a Moscow club. I've heard his „War and Peace” and „Anna Karenina” before, and decided to check out his concert. Read more
Russian Geography: Tips and Tricks
As I found out while reading feedback, many of my readers don’t exactly know where this mysterious Russia is. Some think that it’s located in the far north — between Finland and Scandinavia, some think it to be on the far east — between Mongolia and Alaska. The time has come to dot the i’s. Read more
Snow-melting and Jug-cooling Days
Most foreigners who come to Russia stay in luxurious hotels that cater to their every wish and thus never get to learn this side of everyday life here — the exciting world of water service interruption! Read more
Toilet-gardening and Bathtub-plantation
Although it has gotten to be much easier to obtain fruit and vegetables in the winter, fresh produce costs a lot and the vast majority cannot afford it. Therefore, most Russian families prepare for winter by freezing sacks of potatoes so that they keep longer. A family with large supplies of potatoes won’t lose more than one or two people a year to scurvy. Read more
What Russians Suck
Ice-cream here is more than just ice-cream; it is a part of Russian national pride. Not as boring as the famous blinis (pancakes) with caviar, ice-cream is incredibly popular and is truly one of the most loved national specialties. Read more
Beware of Bathrooms
Russians strongly believe in superstitions and ill omens; for that reason, foreigners must be aware of certain behavior which they may consider normal but to a Russian is grave offense and/or peril. Read more
Shopping a la Russia
The first time I got to Moscow I wanted to buy food. I was going to go to the supermarket to buy something to eat and pick up a few other things. I went out of my home and looked for the supermarket. But there were none at all! Read more
The First Color TV Appears in Russia
Today pioneering color TV sets are available for sale in Moscow! Russians are in amazement! It is an innovation in this country! People are going mad, they are buying up all of them! I never knew that Russians had no color TVs. They used to always watch black-and-white TV. Read more
Dusya and the Mafia
The following tale comes from my friend Yevdokiya Vyacheslavovna Vakhromeyevskaya, or “Dusya,” her Russian family nickname. Dusya works at night as a prostitute in a very prestigious bordello and in the daytime writes dreamy letters to be placed in mail order bride ads. “One morning I was awakened by the sound of shooting outside my window that was louder than usual”. Read more
Why There are so Many Bears on Russian Streets
When you first arrive in Russia, you will be very surprised to see an enormous number of bears, walking around and seeking food. Only the elderly remember the times when bears in this country were looked upon as something really strange and scary. Read more
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Russian Response to Origami: Paper Punching
The Japanese have their origami, and we Americans have our chewed paper wads, so why should Russia fall behind in the worldwide paper craft fad.
Russians came up with something altogether different for paper — they use punching guns to punch out pretty designs on paper. This is so popular that you can even do it while you’re stuck on a long bus ride! There are special wall-mounted punchguns strategically placed in every bus, tram, and trolleybus in Russia.
I was confused about the origins of this strange yet interesting craft. Why do they do that, i kept asking myself, until I noticed beautiful white confetti flying out of the mechanism as I rode the bus oneday. Aha! thought I to myself. Apparently, the paper-punching is a side effect of confetti-making that became popular in its own right. This way, you get confetti AND you get intricate perforated designs on any old piece of paper you stick in the pop-gun!
Yet another discovery was waiting for me when I stood next to the confetti machine, pensively and patiently getting party favors ready for a birthday I was going to by running my newspaper through the machine. Suddenly, a large woman in tattered clothes, wearing an old bag around her neck, came to me and sold me a ticket with a magnetic stripe. I looked around for a magnetic reader to run the ticket through. Another passenger next to me took my ticket and punched it with the pop-gun.
He told me my ticket was a lucky ticket. He was a fortuneteller that always goes in buses helping people to find out their destiny. He calls himself «the conductor» because he can conduct you to a better destiny. Does anybody know where this tradition comes from? Have you heard of any other public transportation-related fortune-telling?
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with Greg McNafferson