"Okroshka is like pouring Coca-Cola over any salad?": foreigners talk about the Russian summer
Russian summer is not the Cote d'Azur and colorful cocktails (although in some regions there is such an option), but a unique flavor with forests and cucumbers from my grandmother, forcing visiting foreigners to reflect on the meaning of life. In general, you can't understand Russia with your mind, but with your soul-easily. Read how the guests of the country react to the Russian summer and what causes them maximum bewilderment.
Turning off the hot water
In civilized countries, there is either hot water or there is no hot water. Switching off according to the schedule is nonsense. Therefore, foreigners cannot understand why the hotel takes money if it is unable to control the situation.
Jesus, USA:
"I didn't know that the hot water was turned off here until this day came. I told my colleagues about this, and they suggested that I do what some Russian men do. Namely, to take an ice shower, singing a song loudly: they say it helps to forget that the water is icy. I tried, but to no avail. Singing My Girl By The Temptations as loudly as possible had no effect. Maybe you can recommend me another song?"
Heat
Despite the availability of any information on the Internet, many foreigners still believe that the summer in There is no Russia. That is, technically it seems to be there, but it differs from winter except that the top button on the sheepskin coat is unbuttoned. Although many people have heard about sea resorts, they probably think that the harsh Russians feel great in the icy water.
Lindsay Hardy, United Kingdom:
"I expected a cold winter, and a warm summer in September, when the temperature was almost +20 °C, turned out to be quite unexpected. I remember the first snow fell on October 15, on my mother's birthday, when only the leaves fall. I really liked the weather, and winter too, because you can feel all the seasons and see the beauty of all the seasons."
Vicky Hoof, United Kingdom:
"The only negative in Russia is a short summer. Therefore, when the warm season comes, people try to have as much fun as possible. I am ashamed to admit, but before coming to "I thought there was no summer here. Then it turned out that the summer in Russia is even better than ours."
Mohamed Tahar Asses, Algeria:
"If we talk about the first impression, they say in my homeland: "It's cold like in Siberia" - so I didn't expect it to be so hot here!"
Po mushrooms
Why pick mushrooms and risk your life if you can buy them in any supermarket, foreigners who do not understand the subtleties of the Russian soul will ask you. How why? This is a drive, a fight, the same Russian roulette. You don't understand anything.
User parsjukin on the Yaplakal website:
"We were walking in a forest park in Switzerland. (My sister is married to a Swiss.) I saw a whole clearing of redheads! Next to the path. He began to tear and stuff it into a cellophane bag that came across. The Swiss began to be indignant: this is a public park…
— What will you do with them? - There is! — They don't eat such mushrooms! - You'll try it yourself! You'll swallow your tongue! — I won't eat them…
At home, for a guarantee, they boiled and fried, adding boiled potatoes... Purely mechanically, they put a portion for him too… He sat down and began to gently poke... try… As a result, I ate everything and also fished something out of my sister's plate… The next year, the Swiss himself tore redheads there in two hands!"
Dachas
A dacha is not a place for rest and fun. This is the hard work of hoeing, watering and digging, which the Russians shoulder on their mighty shoulders after a five-day working week. And after completing all the gardening duties, they return to the city through huge traffic jams, so that they can go back to their main work in the morning. And so it is from early spring to late autumn.
Ferdinando de Fenza, Italy:
"The contrasts are surprising: patriarchal-looking old women on the street corner are selling berries from their garden to feed themselves, and expensive cars are rushing along the avenues right there..."
Marc Ar, France:
"I really like Russian dachas, I want to write a book about vegetable gardens. This should be done in the near future, because they will soon disappear — modern girls will not plant cucumbers. I want to drive all over Russia by car, buy berries from grandmothers in every village and cook jam."
Jack Milston, USA:
"The days at the dacha passed slowly and lazily. Against the background of apple trees and raspberry bushes, daisies and fir trees, I collected mown grass, sawed wood with a chainsaw and read about the rituals of the Zapotecs, while my son was peacefully dozing in the shade... If there is a paradise somewhere, the dacha is very similar to him. The only thing is that in paradise, most likely, they give something for lunch besides soup."
Tea in the heat
It turns out that Russians drink not only vodka. They wash down breakfast, lunch and dinner with hot tea, and also whip it in the heat. What's wrong with them?
Charles Thompson, USA:
"On my first day in Russia... there was a terrible heat. I lived in a small room without air conditioning. It was 35 °C that day, but the first thing I was offered was hot tea-this is in such a heat! I was stunned and asked for plain water, but it was not there."
Homemade jam and pickles
In every house there is a jar of something delicious and homemade. And let them say that everything is the same in supermarkets — it is more native.
User belan_olga in LiveJournal:
Russian Russian food, " My friend Katie, who, by the way, has Russian roots, for some reason believed that the traditional Russian food is bear meat with soaked cranberries... And most of all she was struck by my most ordinary pickles. Of course, America is full of pickles of all kinds, but they are always salted-pickled with added sugar or vinegar. Our friends from Washington liked our pickled cucumbers so much that they even took a jar with them."
Dasha Walter, The website Question.ru:
"It's funny, but the most favorite Russian dish among most of my foreign friends is pickled and pickled cucumbers. Moreover, they are in one form or another in many kitchens, but friends who have tried them in In Russia, they said that they had never eaten tastier."
Jelly, jelly and other delicacies
For the most part, Russian cuisine does not shock foreigners, but some dishes still put them in a stupor. But it also happens the other way around! As they say, love is from the first spoon.
Johan Motta, Colombia:
"This Russian cold soup is okroshka. I was once offered to try it, and for a long time I could not understand: is this a joke? It's like pouring Coca-Cola over any salad and saying that this is such a special national dish!"
Pei Xia, Vietnam:
"It's a little unclear to me whether this is a dish or a jelly drink. I do not know how to treat him. This is not jelly and not Russian mors, it's something in between. At first, I even wanted to dilute it with boiling water, so that it would look like juice. But I was told that this viscous mass should be drunk as it is."
Ana Lucia Gomez da Silva, Brazil:
"Our Russian grandmother ... often offers to taste cucumbers from the dacha. And we don't eat raw cucumbers! It's like eating a raw eggplant."
Ammar Alansaari, United Arab Emirates:
"I'm a fan of buckwheat, I eat buckwheat porridge every morning. And I already have compote and mors instead of blood."
Keywords: Foreigners | A stereotype