Long winter, huge territory, Putin and the crisis: Bangladeshis about Russia and Russians

170 million people live in small Bangladesh, more than in the entire Russian Federation. About Russia and Russians, "My Planet" has already talked with residents of the UK, Egypt, Turkey, Spain, Thailand, Japan, Denmark, China, Greenland, Argentina, India, Vietnam, Holland, Italy, Ireland and Israel. And now the residents of Bangladesh will tell their opinion.

Source: My Planet

— Crisis. Earlier, I remember, they traded in jute (jute is one of the main exports of the country. — Ed.) with Russia. Now everything is slipping to nothing: either they have switched to synthetics, or there is actually a crisis. The Russians also have a very strange language — it looks like they are just babbling something, it is absolutely impossible to understand what they are talking about, nor the tone of speech. (Jalal, 46 years old, jute seller)

— A huge territory. Always, when I look at the map, I wonder: what a country! After all, you have fewer people living here than we do! — Well, yes, Bangladesh is all the size of my native Nizhny Novgorod region, and we have only 3 million people. — Here! I'm telling you! And we already have 170! — And with us, if you give birth to a second or subsequent children, the state gives almost $10,000. — Come on?! That would be so for us, everyone would already be millionaires! (Bangladesh is one of the most overpopulated countries in the world with one of the highest birth rates. — Editor's note). (Reza, 44 years old, owner of a boat on the Buriganga)

— Long winter. Snow. When I see photos of Russia on the Internet, everything is constantly covered in snow. Do you have summers at all? — It happens, of course, even fiercer than yours! - Yes? And I thought you always had snow. I've never seen him at all. And, to be honest, I don't want to see it. You also drink vodka to keep warm in winter. But if you have summer, you probably don't always drink it. (Abshishek, 38 years old, owner of a houseplant store)

— Well, the first thing that comes to mind is Putin, a tough foreign policy and an excellent free education. We don't teach it the same way as you do. Some of us, especially before, went to study in Russia — then they turn out to be great specialists. There is also nuclear energy, Russia is now building a nuclear power plant here, the first in the country (we are talking about the Ruppur NPP. — Ed.). I hope it will work soon, otherwise we have constant problems with electricity. (Karim, 23 years old, student)

— Beautiful girls. Very beautiful. Tourists come to us infrequently, especially from Russia, but this, what's her name... — Kournikova constantly appears on the Internet and on TV? — Yes, exactly! An incredibly beautiful woman. (Muhammad, 34, tailor)

— To be honest, I know very little about Russia. It's somewhere far to the north, where it's very cold. You make good automata, that's what I know. (Minkhaz, 19 years old, loader in a leather workshop)

— Communism. Putin. The main opponents of ISIS. I can't remember anything else. — What about vodka? — Vodka? Is she Russian? (Tamim, 23, shoe cleaner)

— A huge area covered with forest. — Siberia is called. — Yes, Siberia, exactly. — And almost no one lives there. — How is that? So much forest! There are rivers, lakes, right? — Yes, but it's very cold there. Up to -50 ° C happens. — Minus 50??? Does this happen at all? You're crazy. (Muhammad, 48, garbage sorter)

— I'm sitting around the clock and watching TV. Once they showed a program about Moscow. The only thing I really remember is the subway. How can you build such a beautiful subway? This is some kind of museum! Anyway, I would like to ride on this — you go-you go down underground, and there's a whole city. We can't build such a thing — it's too low, I dug with a shovel twice — the water went. (Arafat, 56, security guard)

— You know, you're the first Russian I've ever seen. You are very similar to the rest of the Europeans — I wouldn't tell you apart. And I'm sorry, I don't know anything about Russia. Except that you have a lot of Muslims. And there is some kind of war all the time. (Rahman, 37 years old, builder).

— I remember, sometimes they used to show Russian ballet on TV. It's a very strange thing, but I've always liked it. They're not showing it now. You don't do it anymore? — Yes, they seem to be engaged, I don't really follow, to be honest. — What is your most popular sport? Don't you play cricket? — No, we don't play hockey anymore, we don't play cricket, especially like you. — I don't know anything about hockey at all... (Anwar, 52, traffic controller)

— You know, no offense, but I know almost nothing about Russia except that it's somewhere far to the north and that it's a very big country. So what are you friends with India? And if you are friends with India, then you are not friends with Pakistan. We are not friends with Pakistan either. So, we are friends with you! (Ahmed, 56, male costume salesman)

— There is a lot of oil. And gas. And in Bangladesh, in my opinion, Russian gas fields are going to be developed. I even have your oils on sale. Pretty good and inexpensive. (Mohammed, 44, car service owner)

— Well, first of all, I can say about Russia that it is a huge country. Very big. You look at the map — first at Bangladesh, then at Russia — it becomes scary (smiles). Also, as far as I know, all your medicine is very high-level and free. It's incredible! — Well, the quality of our current free medicine is not so great, especially outside the capital. — What are you, you just don't understand what the absence of this type of service is! When people don't have a penny, even minimal medical care is a lot! Otherwise, you just die quietly, and that's it. — Well, in general, yes, I agree. We even prescribe pills for many people for free, at the expense of the state. — Well, you see! You're just used to it and don't appreciate it. — Yes, we just appreciate it, just those who are sitting higher, apparently, do not appreciate ... (Rajit, 28 years old, doctor)

— I don't even know what to say... your president is often shown on TV, but I don't even remember his name. Put the camera down better, let's go to cricket! (Cricket is the national game in Bangladesh. — Editor's note) Can you? (Islam, 15 years old, student at the mosque)