Marvelous Metro, Ubiquitous Vodka
Slavyansky Bulvar (Jaime Silva)
I get asked this a lot – in fact, much more than I would like. What is like living in Russia, and when will you come back to America?! Listen once please: America is great. There is no doubt about it. Russia is something much more different than this. While I will agree that Russia has its share of problems in the government as well as on the street, I will say this: I love it, not matter what.
Things that I like about Russia: When you are 18-years-old and you decide that you don’t want to go to college, guess what? You won’t be sitting around doing nothing all day and “finding yourself.” You will be joining the military or better yet the police force. While this isn’t really the case anymore since most children and teens have decided to do this early in their life they go to special schools and colleges for all of this.
The transportation system is one of the best in the world. The metro for instance is beautiful and everything runs smoothly. The metro only cost 28 rubles which in the current conversion is less than one dollar! Not only that, the buses and trains are the same price! Nice and cheap to get around town!
People say New York City is the city that never sleeps. They haven’t seen Moscow. With 24-hour flower shops, supermarkets and cafes, Russians never sleep. Of course, this is because the work day starts from about 9 a.m. until 6p.m. (that is right one hour longer than in America). Most Russians also live far from their work so they don’t get home till about 7p.m. at the earliest.
The wonderful malls, there are just so many malls around Moscow, you can spend your whole life walking around malls here. You will always find something new in any mall even if you have been there tons and tons of times.
Building and Buildings! I like the fact that wherever you look you will see new buildings springing up fast. Not only that, they are just great to look at! The prices leave something to desire, but they are getting rid of the terrible buildings from the 40 years ago.
Things I don’t like about Russia:
(rodc)
Drinking. Russians love to drink, they love drinking outside, inside, upside, downside, all sorts of sides! Male and female, you will see them all with a beer in their hand when it is the end of the work day. When I would teach English, one of my old students told me that the difference between Russians and Americans is the fact that they drink in public and we (Americans) drink at home.
There are eyesores that they call Krushovkas! These are terrible small five-story panel homes that were built in the 1960s to allow people to have their own place. These are small, let in lots and lots of air and are not very attractive.
It is true that New Yorkers are rude. Russians are even ruder! I never met a Russian woman who is old who was nice. Not one yet: if you spot one please let me know. They rush on a crowded train and get angry when there is no seat. They will push you out of the way and will curse. Not something very nice to experience.
The stray dogs, while in America we may have more stray cats than dogs, here in Moscow there is just one huge problem with dogs. I am an animal lover and it breaks my heart that these poor dogs have to suffer through everything just because some people threw them away. ASPCA should really try and set up a shop here to help the animals!
When people ask me what it is like living in Russia, it is different I tell them. However, I love the challenge and will not step away from this country. I love Russia. I love America — both have my heart. Russia is different than what you read or see on the news. Russia is great, come and you will never look back!