Job Discussion Forums

[maruss]

Or maybe the big sharks eat all the small fish-or leave them to starve while they have a banquet?

[rusmeister]

[mdk]

Reviewing this thread one point has struck me.

When I would walk on the street in Moscow it was not uncommon for Russians to stop and politely ask me for directions. When I would answer in my labored Russian that I understood the language poorly, they would laugh good-naturedly and excuse themselves. Now, none of my Russian friends ever thought that I dressed or looked like a native Russian.

Perhaps it was my relaxed and confident manner or my trustworthy open Scots-American face. I don't know.

But I do think Russians are particularly sensitive to non-verbal cues. If you go around thinking they are bad people - they will pick that up just like it was wrtitten on your forehead in italics.

So if you are being treated poorlyy bt Russians - or more poorlyy than tthey treat each otther - you should look at what vibes you may be putting out.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

[bharrell]

[rusmeister]

[canucktechie]

There is only one objective measure of whether one country is better than the other, and that is how many people voluntarily move from one to the other.

How many people have immigrated from the former Russian Empire, USSR, and FSU to the US? How many people have moved the other way?

What more needs to be said.

And that's not meant as an apologia for the US BTW.

[rusmeister]

[ukrcanadian]

As a Canadian, I can say that it may not be so much of a "tourist" response that Russians put forth, but rather more of an "American" response; it is likely true and very unfortunate. Even in Canada, many Americans (not all, that's for sure) give a superior sense of attitude; as some posters called is, a "know it all" sort of thing. A few years ago an American yelled at me becuase I told him we didn't have an Oak leaf on our flag, but a maply leaf. He was pissed that I corrected him.

I'm not trying to upset people, but there is a reason American travelers put different countries flags on their packs when they go to Europe; they don't always get the best treatment as Americans. I will state this; I worked in tourism for several years, and the majority of people I worked with were American and the vast majority were splendid, polite individuals that I was happy to see again. However, 5% of people who are dinks (no matter where you're from) plaster a bad image on the whole bunch (like those few bad experiences people had in Russia that soured their whole time there). I tried not to let this happen to me (while working), because I was able to persevere, as Canadians and Americans share the same language --I could judge each individual, not the whole group. However, I can't always blame other people form different countries for ignoring people they can't communicate with. Learning some of the native tongue, in an effort to communicate, goes a long ways, as does following that countries belief systems (IE: bowing in Japan as opposed to shaking hands). If you put a good effort forth and they ignore you, then yes, they are in the wrong. But why expect a Russian/ukrainian/pole etc to learn English, in the off-shot chance that they will need it more than a couple times each month?

Lets just remember that it is the differences between countries that even make them worth going to. If everything was the same, we wouldn't even have a reason to get out of the living room.

Nick

[canucktechie]

[maruss]

My fathers family originally came from Lvov,in what was then Eastern Poland, and his mother,along with him and his sisters went to England in the mid 1930's because she was afraid of developments in Germany and Russia,quite rightly as it turned out......His father,who owned a business and had both Russian and German customers,was confident he could cope with any problems and stayed on..wrongly as it turned out and he was never heard of again.Little was ever said in the family while my grandmother was alive about what happened,but I did learn that some of the relatives survived the Germans but not the Soviets when they captured the area for the second time...I can remember my aunt once telling me when I was young that the Soviets were as bad as the Nazis but nobody knew much in those days so nobody talked about it etc etc, adding that maybe one day the truth would be known?
Last November there was an excellent six-part B.B.C.2 drama documentary series called 'Behind Closed Doors' about what Stalin really got up to in World War Two and it contained some excellent interviews with people such as former NKVD officers who were involved in the Katyn atrocities and other archive material which was previously not publicised.
I certainly also agree with Rusmeister that the Soviet regime was at best often brutal,especially in Stalins time and Orlando Figes 'The Whisperers' published in 2007 throws much light on the darkest era of modern Russian history.Ominously enough,the F.S.B. raided the offices of Memorial in St.Petes. last December and seized most of the archives which the author used for the book,although fortunately he has copies in safe storage abroad.
I will leave everyone to their own judgment but sorry if I sense something is not as it should be in Russia today?

[rusmeister]

[Bradley326]

Reading over this thread today I was reminded of a little Russian poem I love.

Умом Россию не понять,
Аршином общим не измерить:
У ней особенная стать �
В Россию можно только верить.

Russia can't be understood with the mind,
And can't be measured with a common yardstick:
It has a peculiar character-
In Russia you can only believe.

I thought it was fitting for the topic of this thread

[jonniboy]

[bfrog]