"American, unfortunately": 10 reasons why Russia is better than the USA, through the eyes of an American

American Megan Case (Megan Case) in 2004 moved to Russia, where she lived for several years, even studied at St. Petersburg State University. To talk about her impressions and reflections, Megan started a LiveJournal blog in Russian and called it "American, unfortunately." Now the blog has already been closed and has not been updated for several years, but the archival history remains.

Megan writes about herself: "I am an American, jumping between two cities — St. Petersburg, Russia, and Falun, Sweden, traveling with my partner Kostya. I write mostly about Russia in LiveJournal."

A post shared by Russian Food (@russianfood_usa) on Nov 30, 2017 at 10:30am PST

A post shared by Russian Food (@russianfood_usa) on Nov 30, 2017 at 10:30am PST

Meal

Some time ago, I arranged an interview on a blog, and many Americans asked me: "Is there a Is there something in Russia that you like more than in the USA?" I wrote several answers and realized that I often think about this question. I've broken down my answers into several categories, and today's category is food.

Ask an American who has never been to Russia what comes to his mind when he thinks about Russian food, and he will definitely say something about cabbage, strange meat and vodka. Of course, there is no doubt that this is all part of Russian cooking, but traditional cuisine is still much broader.

Russians do amazing things with dairy products, various soups and especially with mushrooms. There are a huge number of bakery products intended for tea drinking. And here is a list of dishes that I really love: pancakes, solyanka, porridge, kefir.

Well, I can go on and on, this is just the beginning. I'll probably have a pancake for lunch today.

24 hours

Well, that's what I particularly liked about St. Petersburg. This is a special urban phenomenon in Russia: 24-hour stores. There you can buy everything you need around the clock: groceries, alcohol, household chemicals. In the USA, such an opportunity exists only in very large cities or at gas stations. And you'll be lucky if you find a carton of milk or bananas there.

Here, near every metro station, there is at least one 24-hour grocery store that sells groceries, not fast food. So if you are on your way home from the club in the middle of the night and you need eggs in the morning, you can buy them. There are even bookstores in St. Petersburg that are open 24 hours a day.

When I was telling my family about this, Dad reminded me that there are many 24-hour supermarkets all over America. I can't deny it, but they're all out of town. I like that here I can get what I want, a five-minute walk from home.

Lack of Puritanism

I got a tan last week. My American friends who think that Russia is a wasteland covered with ice all year round will be surprised to hear that you can get a tan in the north of Russia.

"Where can I put my ass in the sun?" — you ask. Perhaps in the city park at the very end of my street. Go to any park on any day of the week in summer, and you will be surrounded by almost naked sunbathers. I feel quite uncomfortable lying on a blanket in swimming trunks in a city park in the USA, but here it doesn't bother anyone. And honestly, it's great.

Dacha culture

Many foreigners know the Russian word "dacha". However, it is associated with an expensive house outside the city for the state elite. This concept has taken root in the United States due to the fact that only the very rich own more than one home. Imagine country houses in the Hamptons and the like.

Of course, there are fashionable dachas for the state elite, but ordinary people also have dachas, and they are usually quite simple and devoid of amenities, such as plumbing, for example. The dacha provides an opportunity for urban residents to travel outside the city to relax, breathe fresh air and enjoy nature. People grow vegetables and pick berries and mushrooms in the country, sometimes because of financial necessity.

Spending a weekend, a week, a month or the whole summer at the dacha is an important part of Russian culture. I read that more than 50 percent of St. Petersburg residents leave the city for part of the summer. Back at work this week, my colleagues and I discussed what we had done this summer. A few people traveled, but most said, "Oh, I went to the country" — with a dreamy satisfied smile and a healthy blush.

I think that in polluted cities, the country culture is one of the most beautiful and healthy Russian traditions. And tomorrow I'm going to the country for the weekend!

An ordinary person can…

Skating (figure skating), singing in front of other people, even if he is not a rock musician… Enjoy opera and ballet… Average Americans are horrified by these things, because they are afraid to look effeminate.

This is not to say that heterosexual men in the United States do not do this, but their sexual orientation may come into question. And the boys who do these things can get paid for it at school. Which is very sad.

This is one of the factors that I like in Russia, so I'll just say that it's great when people can have a wider range of interests than just sports. The flip side is that Russia is a super homophobic country.

Simple pleasures

On Saturday we are with Kostya bought two cans of beer and crackers (croutons for beer snacks) and went to the 300th Anniversary of St. Petersburg Park on the northern side of the Gulf of Finland. We were sitting on top of a concrete wall, looking at the sea and drinking beer. It was about 8 o'clock in the evening, the sun was shining brightly, the temperature was the most suitable. All the people around us were walking, flying kites, walking dogs and riding bicycles.In most places in the US you can't drink beer in a public park and in many places you won't be able to buy just one beer for 70 cents. Although I understand why and think that public drunkenness and alcoholism in Russia is a big problem. But it's very nice to take a walk, have a beer and look at the sea on a summer evening. Petersburgers really like to walk, especially in this short, precious time of the year when the weather is good. Not a jog, but just a quiet walk with friends. This form of entertainment is both legal and not so much. Of course, Americans also walk, but here it is really characteristic.

New Year

I have never written the next issue of my series "What I like in Russia", mainly due to the fact that I have been living in Sweden since August and have spent a lot of time here, with pleasure finding out how Sweden differs from Russia.

But it's exactly 9:30 p.m., New Year's Eve — I'm holding a glass of wine in my hand, I'm going to meet friends to drink champagne in the city square, and I have to say that I miss the broad Russian (New Year's) soul.

New Year in Russia is a super holiday. When the Communists canceled the celebration of Christmas, all the Christmas traditions switched to the New Year: a Christmas tree, decorations, an old man with a beard handing out gifts, chocolate, a glutton… In addition, the Russian New Year has elements of the Western: they have fun after midnight, get drunk, make or take promises, kiss strangers when they meet.

Plus, there are other festive traditions: dressing up children in costumes of wolves or rabbits, princes or princesses, and everyone also watches one particular movie "The Irony of Fate".

In the US, as a rule, New Year's Eve is disappointing. University and college students spend the New Year at home with their parents watching the Dick Clark show. When I was already in my 20s, I had a few strange, random New Year's celebrations when you can't decide what you're going to do until the last minute. I have only a handful of memories of celebrating the New Year, when I had to definitely (but only once in my life, please) go to Times Square, but most of all New Year's Eve is associated with stress because I'm not good enough to go somewhere.

In Russia, for example, such pressure does not exist for most people. People just get together, make mountains of olivier salad, salami and salmon sandwiches, drink and have fun. New Year's Eve is the only time when strangers communicate with each other on the streets, wish happiness and always smile. In big cities, for example in In St. Petersburg, fireworks begin to be launched already in the afternoon, the peak of launches, of course, at midnight, and only by 4 in the morning the launches slowly come to naught. In order for your New Year's Eve not to be boring, it's enough just to go outside.

I'm so stupid. Why did I stay in Sweden while Kostya went to New Year's Eve in Russia? Okay, I'd better get dressed up. It is enough, at least, that I will meet my friends from the post-Soviet space: from Azerbaijan and Ukraine. And I also have a bottle of Soviet champagne. Maybe after it, the New Year will become more festive.

And I constantly hear the popping of fireworks outside the window… It's a good thing that in security-obsessed Sweden they still sell fireworks to the general public. Thank god!

Pharmacies

This outrageous story that I found on the BitchPhD website reminded me of one thing that I really like about Of Russia: many medicines that can only be obtained by prescription in the USA (in Sweden, however, too — you can't even buy aspirin outside the state pharmaceutical monopoly) can be purchased in most Russian pharmacies. From the point of view of public health, perhaps this is a bad idea, but personally for those who are confident enough in their competence about choosing medicines for themselves, it is very convenient.

By the way, today is the 5th anniversary of the first time I set foot on Russian soil. Affordable repair and tailoring

I have never repaired clothes in an atelier in America. I'm not saying, but I can only guess that it costs a lot. My grandmother Gina always darned my trousers on her sewing machine if needed. But here, in Russia, I didn't have my grandmother with her sewing machine next to me (although, probably, I could have bought a typewriter), so a couple of years ago, when I bought corduroy trousers that were too long for me, I reluctantly went to a tailor in a nearby shopping center.

It was a very successful experience. The tailor, a tall, thin, middle—aged Caucasian man, was very friendly and professional. He did a great job and returned my trousers to me on the same day, and it cost only 200 rubles (that is, $ 7). Later, I gave him another pair of trousers to shorten, and he also cut the sleeves on my suit jacket just as well.

Recently I decided to try something more complicated. I have several skirts and dresses that don't fit very well because they are too big in the waist. And I decided to try to sew them, although I was worried that it was more difficult and might turn out less successfully than shortening trousers or sleeves. And I now live in another area of the city, but after I saw a grumpy woman in the nearest atelier, I decided to go back to my previous district to a tailor I know.

Only he wasn't there. Instead, I met Tamara, who works part-time there, and she remarkably transformed my three dresses and skirts for just 800 rubles in total. If you want to get her number, I'll be happy to share it.

So there is no excuse for wearing clothes that do not fit the figure, while the tailor's services are of such high quality and affordable.

Russian nerds — Russian nerds

Russian Russian "smart guys" (not everyone in general, but only one, with whom I lived, and his friends) with their sense of humor reminded me how much I love Russian "smart guys" with their sense of humor: this is a song from the Soviet sci-fi movie "Kin-dza-dza", which my Russian "smart guys" for the first time forced to see me 5 years ago.

Russian russians If you grew up in a certain part of the United States, then you may get the impression that all Russians are nerds and geeks, starting with those Russians who came to the States during the time of scientific emigration.

But if you visit at least once in In Russia, you will understand that there is the same ratio of bespectacled people / nerds * / sports fans / pop music fans / all sorts of cattle and others, as in the rest of the world. Fortunately, during the brain drain period, it was not possible to drain all the brains from In Russia, they are still sitting there on pirated software, leaving sarcastic comments in their LiveJournals.

* "bespectacled" and "nerd" are Russian terms for the words nerd/geek. A bespectacled person is someone who wears glasses. You can find out for yourself what the word "nerd" means.