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I am Russian. Ask me anything.
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Anonymous
Wait a minute, I thought you live here with your husband, and he's the one who has to work his butt off to stay in this country! Now, here's my question - why do you want to stay here? You're not a Jew, hence, no prosecution  , you had a good job back home, you're above average in terms of household income, you don't hate Putin, like some people claim to. You probably have family and friends there. Why?
A genuine question. |
Anonymous
No assface clearly I don't know much about Russian or Romanian history! Thanks for the input though |
Anonymous
| I went to a Russian party once in LA - and it was awesome - by the way. There was a bigger mix of looks than I expected. So the folks who look like they have some mixed Asian ethnicity - is that a specific group of people? Is that a common thing in Russia? |
Anonymous
Not OP here but I'll answer. Lots of former Soviet Republics are Asian (Central Asian)--Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, etc. Many full-blooded Central Asians in the US are commonly taken for Japanese or other East Asian ethnicities. Some Central Asians looks more like hispanics to Americans and even to other hispanics. I have a good Central Asian friend and everyone here thinks she's "Mexican", even Spanish speakers constantly try to speak Spanish with her. Russia itself has a lot of Central Asian immigration, legal and otherwise. Tajiks in Russia are akin to Spanish-speaking migrant workers here, though I daresay treated much worse. |
Anonymous
You're welcome. And with each post, you're both more charming and more intelligent sounding. Not. |
Anonymous
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Do you remember the leningrad cowboys?
What do you think of the indepence of estonia, latvia and lithuania? Have you seen the movie soviet story? I lived in a western country near russia where many had vacationed there and their stories were grim. Of taxi drivers who want to exchange money, prostitutes desperate for foreign currency and they see the foreigners and come and hound them. It was a place for cheap booze where you could exchange your old pair of jeans, Separate stores for those who are high in society, everywhere else just long lines. Was ateism taught at school? Do you have any family members who became victims of the gulag? How was the west viewed? |
Anonymous
I'm not the OP, but the tzar was murdered in 1918. You would have to be pretty darn old to remember him. Although some people consider Putin the new tzar so... 
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Anonymous
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that is interesting to me, that jews in Russia are not members of the jewish religion but were still discriminated against. I always thought the WHOLE point/origin of discriminating against jews was the religion - persecution of Jesus, charging interest on loans, involvement in banking (when christians did not charge interest).
So if you were a christian jew, why wouldn't you intermarry with other christians? and how does your face identify you as jewish? would natalie portman look jewish in Russia? |
Anonymous
I'm a Russian Jew and I am actually going to disagree with OP on this point. Sure, some Jews in Russia baptized and became Christian, and many others aren't particularly observant, but most Russian Jews (at least the ones I know) would certainly consider themselves Jewish. Under USSR, all religious practice was essentially outlawed (not just Jewish but Christian and Muslim as well), so most people who grew up in the Soviet times were not religious. Atheism was the official position of the Soviet government (it was thought that you could not be a "proper" Communist and be religious). Now that you can practice religion, many people are going back. Persecution of Jews in USSR had more of an ethnic rather than religious feel to it. BTW, there is no such thing as a "Christian Jew" - if you belive in Jesus Christ, you are a Christian. Not a Jew. So if you marry other Christians, it is not "intermarrying". |
Anonymous
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Have you been in one of those soviet style apartment blocks?
How was life then? How did anyone deal with the overcrowding. What do you think of the poverty here in america? |
Anonymous
Russian Jew here. Personally I don't know any of us who went Christian, I would that that happens but is not common. Like most Soviets in general, Jews were athiest or non-practicing at best. When we came here, most I know stayed culturally or ethically Jewish but few actually practice. As far as being identified as Jewish, all of our official documents (ID cards, work records, "permanent record" if you will) all had a line for ethnicity, so you were identified as Jewish wherever you went. My parents were regularly and matter-of-factly told that they couldn't be promoted because they were Jewish. |
Anonymous
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As far as I know everyone had a nationality attached to their citizenship. And your lifetime opportunities were tied to that. Someone with the category of estonian instead of russian in estonia was also disadvantaged.
A kid born in a kolhoz in rural land could not leave and move to moscow. So what you say is not uncommon. You need personal contacts and bribes. Here it is called networking and the old boys club |
Anonymous
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this has been a really interesting thread!
i'm black and live near the russia house here in d.c. my husband and i are very leary of going inside even though it looks like they're having a great time inside (and once people fall out drunk). i think we went in once but that was because we brave after a night of drinking beforehand. obviously, the russia house is not full of russians only but still...it doesn't look/feel welcoming. how are black people viewed/treated in russia? |
Anonymous
Dear g-d. Herring + Cabbage + pink + FUR! Man! In Russia, dessert eats you! Awesome. |
Anonymous
Yes, the creator of Google, ultimate Big Brother, ironically. |