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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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 Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 4:45 am Post subject: |
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Ho ho ho...
Have a small suitcase packed and left ready by your front door, rat. You'll need warm clothing and enough dried bread to last an eastern train journey of about one or two weeks.
The best thing of all about Russia, lots of space for dissenting views : ) |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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Phillip Schofield
Joined: 02 Feb 2015
Posts: 116
Location: The Land of Pelmeni and Honey
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| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:26 am Post subject: |
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I have lived and taught in 5 countries now. I have visited a large portion of the world. I have been to some pretty dire places, but none which concerned me as much as Detroit. Even when I went through poverty stricken areas of China or India, I never felt as threatened as I did in Detroit.
Kids selling beads on the side of the highway. Burnt out cars. Bars on all the windows and doors of houses.
One American colleague once said; "The only difference between Detroit and Afghanistan is that Afghanistan has goats." |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
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| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:41 am Post subject: Pampered? |
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| You'll need warm clothing and enough dried bread to last an eastern train journey of about one or two weeks. |
Train journey? in the good old days of the Tsars they had to walk all the way!
Getting back to the subject of this thread, don't forget Russian chess players. |
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maruss
Joined: 18 Mar 2003
Posts: 1145
Location: Cyprus
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| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 3:34 pm Post subject: Wooden houses.... |
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I also loved those wooden houses JN-far more than the concrete monstrosities which you find in so many towns and cities there!
But seriously,things are getting really tough there for many people again because of the economic problems and the signs don't look promising either? |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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| - ability to withstand disasters. Regularly... |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
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| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 7:08 pm Post subject: Endurance |
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| The Russian people have had a lot to put up with over the past 100 years. |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Luckily they have had communism to save them. |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| - most people share the same six or seven Christian names, which is charming if confusing. And those six or seven names have six or seven diminutives, which adds mystery to Rusdian novels and zest to real life comprehension situations. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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Love it that in a new class I can call on Sergey, Ivana, Vladimir, or Elena, and someone is definitely going to answer:-)
I'm bad at names, should have been Russian in this respect! |
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Phillip Schofield
Joined: 02 Feb 2015
Posts: 116
Location: The Land of Pelmeni and Honey
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| Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2015 6:18 am Post subject: |
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| Sashadroogie wrote: |
| - most people share the same six or seven Christian names, which is charming if confusing. And those six or seven names have six or seven diminutives, which adds mystery to Rusdian novels and zest to real life comprehension situations. |
I remember when I first came to Russia. I knew that Alexander became Sasha, but I didn't realise that Alexandra also became Sasha. So when my flatmate said he was dating someone called Sasha I assumed that he was gay.
But then I discovered that 1/4 of the entire population of Russia is called Sasha. It's the 'Muhammad' of the Slavic world. |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 8:37 am Post subject: |
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| 'Tis the Bysantine connection. Alexander being a Greek name, and much copied by other cultures. Though less so in the Muslim world. Apart from Iskender kebab, hic! |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 8:39 am Post subject: |
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| -patronymics. Used to great effect to clarify who is who. |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 8:42 am Post subject: |
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| - river cruises. Massive rivers, lengthy trips aboard nostalgia-laden vessels. |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 8:44 am Post subject: |
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| - souvenir mugs and t-shirts with images of great leaders, cosmonauts, military hardware, and revolutionary slogans. Where else could you find such treasures? |
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