[Geno Prussakov]

When you hear "Russia", what comes first to your mind?

Be honest.

Geno

[MichaelColey]

The Battle of Stalingrad (popularized here by the great book and okay movie "Enemy at the Gates"), the KGB, Tom Clancy's "The Cardinal of the Kremlin", Putin, Vodka, and Geno.

[Geno Prussakov]

...Putin, Vodka, and Geno.

Good start, Michael! Thanks... BTW, "Geno" is a nickname deriving from "Evgenii" (my full Russian name) -> "Eugene" or "Gene" (in English)...

[Ebudae]

Snow, Onion Domes, peasants, Nicholas and Alexandria, the movie Reds (one of my favorites), the fields of yellow daffodils in the movie Dr Zhivago, Stalin, the first 5 years of the 10 year plan, spies, those beautiful fur hats, Anna Anderson, vodka, Al Stewart's song "The Road to Moscow", Faberge eggs...

[Geno Prussakov]

the first 5 years of the 10 year plan

Could you please explain?

...those beautiful fur hats, ... Faberge eggs...

Now, these sound like our products... :)

Geno

[jrrl]

In addition to many of the above mentioned things:

The Hunt for Red October, St. Basil's Cathedral, Lake Baikal, Siberia, The Tunguska incident, Chernobyl (sorry, man, I know it's in Ukraine, but it pops to mind), Tarkovski (director), the Strugatsky brothers, Tolstoi, Dostoevsky, Solzenitsen (100% sure that is misspellt), Tchaikovsky, Gulags, Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, creepy nesting dolls (we all have our neuroses), podstaknaki (the cup holder things), Alaska, the Amber room, Rasputin, borsht, and frozen mammoths.

I realize that that is not a very positive list overall, but a lot of the good stuff was already said and I didn't want to be as repetitive as I was in the other thread. Heck, any country with something as cool as Lake Baikal is worth a round of applause. :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

-John.

[elbowcreek]

Russians? I think of Cossacks, a cavalry charge across a field........

[UncleScooter]

Bitter cold weather

[Geno Prussakov]

Bitter cold weather

Yeah, we love 'em this way... After all, it is much more fun drinking vodka when it's bitter cold outside...

Geno

[missdonna]

Duck and cover exercises in kindergarten (california 1950), Bomb shelters, Movie - "The Russians are coming, The Russians are coming.", Big strong maculine women.

[AutoX]

Moscow for New Years ( a trip we hope to do in the next two years), Excellent Vodka and Siberia Bbbrrrrr..

[SSanf]

People being killed in Red Square, I think it was.

Sorry about that.

That and good winter clothing that actually keeps you warm.

[Ebudae]

The first 5 years of the 10 year plan.

Could you please explain?

Geno

Sure :-) When Stalin took over he wanted to industrialize Russia which lagged behind the other nations. So he set forth the 5 years plans. Each 5 years had goals to achieve, like building roads, dams, etc.. This served the purpose of modernizing the Soviet Union and also keeping the people under control.

read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-Year_Plan

[Ebudae]

Geno - I have 2 questions for you :-)

Have you ever seen the movie Dr Zhivago? (or read the book - is it allowed?)

And do you know who Anna Anderson was?

[Leader]

@ Ssanf--unless you're talking about a different event, I think you're thinking of Tienammen(sp?) Square, China... where a bunch of protesters got wiped out by their own military...

When you hear "Russia", what comes first to your mind?

Be honest.

The Soviet Union.
Communists! Lingering anticommercialism now, Communists under other names still running the smaller towns...and many gray buildings, bleak and dreary.

Wretched cold weather, creaking factories, exile to Siberia, the KGB, black cars in the night, and all the other Cold War stuff that people so far have been too nice or too PC to mention. No counter-reports making it through to the news here during that time.

Then old leaders' statues crashing down, the surprise breakup (a surprise to me anyway!)...some very old guy who dug up his tractor from 1920 or so and started it up. Religion being legalized and churches reopening.

On the other hand, I recall the Duma building being assaulted with tanks as though it was a foreign nation, and the legislators holed up inside...and wasn't that just because they wouldn't go along with the leader (was it already Putin, then?)? That oil company, Yukos, and their head honcho thrown in jail on fishy-seeming charges after financing some dissident slate...showing that massive retribution from the executive branch is still a big reality there.

Yet Moscow's become...An ad-filled extravaganza?? I've read that there's a McDonald's, too?! Yet right in the same city they've still got Lenin on display and people still come to see him.

So I'd say that a whirlwind of hard-to-assimilate changes, and contradictions, are foremost in my mind when I think of Russia now.

Oh, but how could I forget, the mysterious and deadly strains of "colds" which only affected high-level politicians?! :yellowlau Totally ridiculous spin of course, but the mysterious "cold" was blamed for the death of many premiers as I recall...it was big news when Gorbechev DIDN'T die after being reported to have a "cold!"

[C.Whyte]

Babooshkas and my lady friend <3

[Mr. Sal]

When you hear "Russia", what comes first to your mind?



Be honest.

Geno

Come on Geno,

You say "Be honest", so I will say this:

But if you really want to know what is the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear "Russia", here it goes: Communism!

Remember what You say: "Be honest", so I am been honest.


Sal.

[SSanf]

Naw. I am thinking of Rusia where last century or the one before the Russian military killed a bunch of protesters like in Dr. Zhivago. I think Dr. Zhivago is about all most of us know about Russia. Sure we studdied it in history class but generally thought history was for dead people. So, who paid attention to anything but boys in high school, anyway? Well, maybe most of the boys didn't.

I was more concerned with keeping my virginity AND my boyfriend.

Well, those were the olden days.

[SSanf]

Aiy, yai, yai!

Let's lighten up!

It is a legitimate business question. He is selling Russian goods. He isn't selling Islamic or Pagan goods. It will help him know what to sell if he knows our reaction to "Russia"!

So many have mentioned cold. Wouldn't that indicate a feeling that cold weather clothes from Russia might seem more useful when cold weather comes?

[Geno Prussakov]

It is a legitimate business question. He is selling Russian goods. He isn't selling Islamic or Pagan goods. It will help him know what to sell if he knows our reaction to "Russia"...

Thank you, Sandra. I am sure most other ppl understood this too.

Geno

[Geno Prussakov]

Sure :-) When Stalin took over he wanted to industrialize Russia which lagged behind the other nations. So he set forth the 5 years plans. Each 5 years had goals to achieve, like building roads, dams, etc.. This served the purpose of modernizing the Soviet Union and also keeping the people under control.

read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-Year_Plan

Thanks, Ebudae. (I wrote my Cambridge dissertation on Stalin) :) The part that I do not understand is the "10 year plan" part... As far as I remember, there were no 10 year plans. Everything was divided by 5 years.

Geno

[Leader]

You titled the thread "Stereotypes," so that's what you got. The stereotype is, that Russia's that Communist place, and is cold. Oh, I did forget about the VODKA part of the stereotype before. Lots and lots of vodka...as in, too much... But even the non-alchies are reputed to love vodka. There's a lot of vodka sold in the US that has slapped some Russian name on their label to tie into that image...I doubt that many of those brands actually have Russian connections.

As for Russian Goods, nothing in particular comes to mind, except the reports of exploding TVs (did/do they REALLY blow up?!)! There isn't a defining product I can think of, nothing that's associated with the country, as in Swiss watches or Japanese video games or Detroit autos.

Maybe the Faberge eggs, but that'd be the ORIGINAL Faberge eggs, the ones that cost a huge fortune and get auctioned off by Christie's. As for a defining "consumer good," I can't think of anything particularly Russian.

The market was jammed with (supposed) Red Army overruns for a while, but that's still not a big branding thing like the others...

Speaking of things from Russia, though, amazingly I forgot TETRIS! That video game ate many of my quarters when it came out! But I think the actual physical manufacture of the games probably happened in Japan or China and they just sent royalty checks over to whoever wrote the program.

[nish]

Aiy, yai, yai!
That one reminds me of The Gods must be Crazy. Just saw it 2 days back. :)

When you hear "Russia", what comes first to your mind?
Cafe St. Petersburg.. an awesome russian restaurant in boston.

cheers!
-nishith

[Geno Prussakov]

Speaking of things from Russia, though, amazingly I forgot TETRIS! That video game ate many of my quarters when it came out...

What about "The Bat" e-mail client? And Sergei Michailowitsch Brin's Google for that matter! :approval: However, I guess, the latter would be more of a "Jewish legacy" topic... I used to have a lot of Jewish friends when I was growing up. Smart kids.

Geno

[Geno Prussakov]

Come on Geno... That is not a fair question for you to ask in your RussianLegacy forum, that is a question for the political forum.

If I remember it correctly, I was the one who paid to bring this forum into existance. So please let me decide what is a "fair question" for me to ask here and what is not, Mr. Sal. If I ever need 'moderating services', I will certainly remember about you.

Geno