Russia

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 10, 2009

Happy Mother’s Day! Don’t forget to wish your mom, mam,mother, imma, or mamka a good day for making the time to introduce you to the world  in an extremely unpleasant manner for her. Below, the author with her imma and grandma, and Mr. B, with his mom.

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May 9: The Day we Pwned the Germans

May 8, 2009

World War II is kind of a Big Deal for Russians. As much as the Americans helped, we like to say that “Russia threw bodies at Hitler,” and that’s how we won.  By just burying him in bodies.   Also, we probably started making German soldiers drink moonshine vodka (that would be vodka made out of cleaning alcohols.)  That would be the other point of victory. We celebrate it on May 9, which is Victory Day and a HUGE deal in ...

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Quickie Book Review: The Golden Veil by Kim Wilkins

April 21, 2009

What it’s about: Two worlds, one is today’s, the other is the place where all pre-Christian Russian mythology has gone Why it’s good: Very pressing plot, complicated characters, an intricately researched Russian culture Why it’s bad: Too short! Moral of the book:Still important to leave a lil’ somethin’ somethin’ for the domovoi Will I like it:  Yes, if you love fantasy and mythology, combined with Russian culture

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Uzbek Guest Workers in Russia

March 12, 2009

I love Russia. I say this with mixed patriotism and cynicism. There is nothing that makes me prouder than telling people I’m Russian, which is immediately followed by an apology of what a messed up country we are. Even Israel, I think, is less messed up than Russia on a scale from one to Stalin. The types of stories that come out of that country are amazing. Like the time when I was almost chased by a pack of hungry ...

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The most depressing baby songs ever: Russian ones

February 6, 2009

In America, we sing songs to babies to calm them down, to get them to go to sleep, and to make them feel safe and loved.  This is not the case in Russia.  In Russia, women sing songs to their babies to warn them of death, starvation, and wolves. And this is sung in a mildly soothing and pacifying voice, one that has been carried through generations of Russian Suffering. In my mom’s case, it was also Russian Jewish suffering. ...

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