All foreigners that I met during my life can be more or less equally divided into two groups: first tell me with foam on their lips how great the life in Russia is and how wealthy and happy Russian people are and the second pour me vodka, ask where my bear is and are convinced, that I live in the middle of the forest without access to any modern facility. None of them know anything about Russia. My friends are dressed better, than many Italians, are more politically active and pro-democratic than Americans and we live in much better conditions, than British. These are the three countries I lived in for a while, which explains I picked them up for my examples. But back to the main idea: a lot of foreigners still have a lot of silly prejudices about Post-Soviet world, many blindly trust what official and not-so-neutral media sources show them or base their opinions on behavior of few Russian people whom they meet abroad.
Russia is a unique culture stuck between Europe and Asia and featuring treats of both, it can make boast of fantastic literature and artistic heritage, one of the strongest in the world dance and theater schools, outstanding composers and musicians, magnificent nature, vibrant and busy cities, warm-hearted and beautiful people, and centuries of history. It is also true, that our mentality is so different that in many cases it may be hard to understand a Russian person, but trust me for us it may be even harder to understand you.
I have been thinking about this blog for a while, mainly as a source of information for businessmen, travelers and people, who want to learn more but have no Russian friend next to them. But it was politics and the recent Ukrainian crisis that pushed my idea forward: now I feel on my own skin that nothing can be worse, than generalization, as I witness a great mistake of putting equality mark between Russia and Putin. To make the long story short, I hope that all people ready and willing to learn and to listen will discover a lot of new facts and things they never even thought about.
P.S.: I have my first degree in International Relations and the second in the Art Management, so I feel pretty confident about writing both about politics and culture, and as a traveler I hope I understand the need of people who would like to visit Russia.
P.P.S.: Clearly I am happy to answer any questions, but please be respectful: many times people ask me questions as if I am an exotic animal or a nazi criminal.
Welcome to this blog and to Russia 🙂
Russia for Dummies 