I am Russian. Ask me anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's absolutely wrong. If a Jew converts to another religion, he's not considered a Jew. The Orthodox Jews, for example, are required to sit "shiva", a mourning prayer, if one of their close one converts.

And FYI, Jews for Jesus are not recognized as a Judaism branch.

Of course Jews for Jesus is not a branch of Judaism. There is a Jewish religion, and then there is a Jewish ethnicity. As a non-Orthodox Jew, is the former really such a big part of your identity? Why do you feel the need to exclude people who grew up in an environment where Judaism as a religion was largely not an option, yet suffered so much more for being Jewish than an American temple-on-the-high-holidays-attending Jew could ever imagine? All eight of my great-grandparents and all four of my grandparents were 100% Jewish by blood. All were proudly atheist. My father knows Hebrew and occasionally participates in Judaic celebrations. My mother is devoutly Christian. She did not convert because there was nothing to convert from. I am both an agnostic and a Jew proud of my heritage.

[Anonymous]

OP back on board. Let me read thru the questions and get back to you folks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell me about the tsar?
Are there still people who remember him?

No, too long ago (tsar was overthrown in 1917). However it is now a popular topic, people try to reconstruct a lot from that era, even take some ideals from back then (since Soviet ideals are now null and void).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op do russians have anything against Romanians? I asked a guy once if he was Russian and I thought he was going to hit me he was so mad. Red faced, veins popping out, screaming that he was Romanian.
Why the hatred? Is there something about the history?

Romania was put under Communist rule after WWII, so Romanians hold it agains Russians (at least some of them). Russians don't care much about Romanians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a problem with Jews?

I don't, some Russians do, but not much anymore - there are Chechens to hate now

this is OP again. Actually, I have one problem with Jews Many of them claimed to be truly oppressed in the Soviet Russia, so came to the US seeking asylum and got their green cards in a snap. It is also easy for them to bring their parents here. Well, there was no life threatening oppression. Discrimination - yes, prejudice- yes. But not to the point of seeking and getting asylum. why do I care? because I have to work my butt off to stay in this country...

I'm the one who asked you that question because I am a "Russian" Jew (Russian-speaking, from Ukraine, actually). Certainly I wasn't tortured regularly (beaten a few times here and there, yes, both by the police as well as punk kids), and there are many around the world more deserving, objectively, of refugee status (you say asylum but it's refugee status). I did come here as a refugee. As you say, there was not usually life threatening oppression (though I do have relatives who died because they're Jewish, for all kinds of reasons, including Jews being used in chemicals "research" by the military), but there was life-long hard core discrimination. Naturally it is thanks to lobbying in the US by Jewish groups that got us here and I am grateful for it. And it's benefitted the US enormously--my family and our friends/relatives brought very needed skills into the country, especially in hard sciences. Hello, Sergey Brin, etc.

This is OP. One did not have to be Jewish to be beaten up by either police or punk kids. You had to look intelligent and be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And I am sorry, I don't believe in the chemical research thing. Yes, you are right, refugee, not asylum. But you see, the whole country can claim to have been oppressed - by the Communist regime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a problem with Jews?

I don't, some Russians do, but not much anymore - there are Chechens to hate now

this is OP again. Actually, I have one problem with Jews Many of them claimed to be truly oppressed in the Soviet Russia, so came to the US seeking asylum and got their green cards in a snap. It is also easy for them to bring their parents here. Well, there was no life threatening oppression. Discrimination - yes, prejudice- yes. But not to the point of seeking and getting asylum. why do I care? because I have to work my butt off to stay in this country...

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.

Aha, the job police has arrived Well, two things re: work - first, I am legal to work on my visa. Second, my husband is a classical absent minded professor, he only goes to work and works there (hard). I do the planning and plotting and it is due to my effort that we are here (and maybe we will stay here because of me - depending whose employer converts one of our visas first).

Now the answer to your question - it is for my son. I want him to breathe fresh air, play at clean shady playgrounds surrounded with trees and grass. I also don't want him to go to the Russian army.
And, last but not least, I really like it here! I also enjoy the good things I described.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

I think PPs have already replied but I would like to add that there are also some Siberian and Ural ethnicities who are Asian-looking (and they are Asian) - Buryats, Yakuts, Bashkirs, Tatars. These are parts of Russia (not former republics), people there speak better Russian than many ethnic Russians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. One did not have to be Jewish to be beaten up by either police or punk kids. You had to look intelligent and be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And I am sorry, I don't believe in the chemical research thing. Yes, you are right, refugee, not asylum. But you see, the whole country can claim to have been oppressed - by the Communist regime.

Well, if you don't believe it, I suppose it just can't be true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

Cowboys - don't know who they are, sorry
Independence - I am happy for them. My DH lived in one of these countries (republics at that time), I have been to two of them, and I think they have a difficult history, always torn between bigger nations, an object of numerous disputes. I think its good they got independence finally. Still, I hate it that they downplay Russian influence (like, Russians helped them establish industries, etc), and they discriminate against their Russian population (except I think in Lithuania, they don't have many Russians anyway).
No, atheism was not taught at school (in college, maybe, but not in my time, maybe before me)
Not exactly Gulag, but my maternal great grandfather was executed after the revolution, after the Civil War ended.
How was the west viewed - when exactly? Most of the time official ideology portayed it anything from outright evil to shallow and consumerist, but unofficially it was all things cool - from Coke to jeans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

I have grown in one of them, and the majority of people still lives in them (and the newer ones being built are not much different, just bigger).
Let me tell you they are not much worse than 1BRs we lived in here
Overcrowding - that was and is stressful, sometimes people would put something like a cupboard or shelves to divide a room in two...
Poverty in America - I am truly surpised that it still exists and is - frankly - pretty bad. I have once found myself on H street near Union Station - that was very eye opening. After that I read a lot about SE, esp. east of Anacostia. I also caught a glimpse of some neighborhoods in Baltimore...
In Russia, there aren't that many outright undesirable neighborhoods, it is more mixed (though right now stratification is increasing).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

Thanks for the compliment, PP!
I would probably feel shy to go into Russia house myself
On black people in Russia -unfortunately there is a lot of racism. Obviously we don't have many AA people , but a lot of people who come from African countries to study and then stay, get a job, get married, etc. Also, there are many mixed race kids who are not always treated well
So there's a mix - lots of racism, but lots of mixing, too.
I feel very bad about this kind of racism, esp as black people in Russia are always nice, they don't behave like some Chechens at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a "lighter" question- how are hockey celebrities such as Alex Ovechkin, etc, regarded in Russia?

I would say -as any celebrity in any country..or maybe I don't understand the question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think that Nikolai Baskov is talented? (anyone who wants to know who this Russian wonder is, search Youtube for baskov and "power of love").

I think he has a great voice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think that Nikolai Baskov is talented? (anyone who wants to know who this Russian wonder is, search Youtube for baskov and "power of love").

I think he has a great voice.

[Anonymous]

Sure, everybody was oppressed under the Communist regimes. Only the minorities, not the Russian majority, were not allowed to practice their language, culture and traditions. You were spied on if you went to the synagogue. There were quotas at the universities and specialized schools. You couldn't be hired or promoted because you were "not Russian" according to your passport. Ever heard of "5 grafa"? Ever had ethnic slurs yelled at you at the store? My family had. So no, we didn't have to lie on our refugee application.