The Dutch about Russia and Russians

After the release of the material “Turks about Russia and Russians”, we decided to continue and make a whole series of similar photo projects. This time, the author of My Planet walked around Amsterdam and asked the Dutch the same question: “What do you know about Russia and Russians?” Read the answers in the photo captions.

(Total 10 photos)

1. - The Dutch and Russians obviously belong to different cultures, developing in different directions. Russian culture is strong, strict, it does not tolerate contradictions. (Andrey, seller in a store of records and vintage posters)

2. - Russians are not as open as the Dutch, they are introverts, a little shy. I don't know what to say about the country. I haven't been there. But I heard that it is beautiful, with beautiful architecture, in St. Petersburg for example. And we always tell our customers about tea from Kusmi Tea! After all, it was founded by emigrants from Russia - the Kuzmichevs. (Mette, shop assistant at Het Hanze Huis - "Hanse House")

3. - This is a great country to live in. Everyone in it is quite free. You should not be afraid that you will find yourself on the street and you will not have anything to eat. Because everything is captured there, everything functions well, everyone interacts. Russians are too direct. Sure, they're friendly, but they often act like they're giving you orders instead of asking politely. (Jim, Rusland coffeeshop worker)

4. - Russia is huge. And it has a rich history. You are always cold. In Russia, many people are thoughtful, real researchers. I know the Russian words "thank you", "yes", "no", "priva" ... that is, "hello"! What else? Russians speak fast, it's a fast language, faster than English and Dutch. (Anna Mar, waitress at the Argentinean restaurant La Vida)

5. - I was born in St. Petersburg in a Cuban family and moved to Cuba when I was only one year old. At the age of 15, I was offered to choose Russian or Cuban citizenship, but I no longer felt Russian, although my parents remained in Russia. After the Chernobyl tragedy, Cuba was the first country to invite the victims. And many stayed there, it seems that they have long lost their Russian identity. (Hugo, graphic designer)

6. - Russians often buy a lot of things, they like to spend money. The Chinese, by the way, do the same. I have not yet seen Russians in my store, and we don’t even ask what nationality someone belongs to, it’s impolite. (Gina, employee at Henk comic book store)

7. - I know one great Russian director - Tarkovsky. I watched "Stalker" and "Mirror". Tarkovsky's films are so dark, heavy, gloomy - not in shooting, but in plot. I like his Polaroid photos, I even made a series of similar works. (Gert, artist and gallery worker W139)

8. — I am glad that more and more Russians are coming to us. One day I will also be going to Russia. My parents traveled around the Golden Circle and told many stories about it. By the way, I have always been interested in Russian music, literature and your great history. (Theodore, co-founder of designer condom shop Condomerie)

9. We are father and son, and this is our family business. We really like Russian tourists, they are no worse than others! We even learned a few Russian words related to our business: “herring”, “eel”, “onion”, “cucumbers”. Our herring is not as salty as in Russia. That's probably why you like to buy it here. (John and Jack, owners of the fish stand in Spey)

10. - According to my observations, rich Russians like to dress pretentiously so that everything sparkles and it is clear that they are wearing branded clothes. They like to wave money, to show that they have it. The Dutch, on the other hand, hide the fact that they have money, they are more modest. (On the left - Leon, physiotherapist) - I was born in the USA, it is as big a country as Russia, so I understand that it is difficult to control the most diverse processes within it. It is difficult to convince a large number of people of anything, and it is even more difficult to convince them otherwise. (Right - Andre, artist, teacher at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy)