I had intended to leave once my battery was exhausted; so I started packing up my things. When I did, however, the aforementioned Russian guy invited me over to sit at their table and chat with them.
There were 3 girls, and 5 guys there; we were in the middle of a crowded pub; and Pete was still around, coming to check on me here and there -- so I figured, "Why not?" We all introduced ourselves, and I learned that they were all graduate students (or had graduated from grad school themselves already, I'm thinking) -- and they were celebrating one of them having attained her MBA! I spoke mostly with Vladimir (the guy who'd been asking me questions at the start of the night), Svetlana, and her husband Leonid -- as they were on my end of the table.
We talked about TONS of things, so here's a good summary of the best parts of the conversation:
*I chatted with Svetlana about the Second World War -- which actually goes by two names, in Russia:
1. The Second World War - 1939-1945
2. The Great Patriotic War - 1941-1945
The names, as you might guess, address the war in its entirety, and Russia's time of participation.
I was slightly nervous to bring the subject up, but I wanted to hear from a Russian, about something I had noticed, from a conversation with a previous Russian teacher: that Russians are told that they won WWII, while Americans are told that we won WWII. Obviously, a tender thing to discuss.
She told me that yes, they were taught that they won WWII, but also something interesting: that they (the Russians) thought of it less as any individual winning the war, but that everyone won it *together.* So, it was a surprise for them to hear people, like the US, saying that only *one* country won the war. It didn't make sense. But from the Russian side, they also have every reason -- *especially* for the European Theatre -- to say that they won/were one of the biggest parts of winning the war. They lost *so* much.
The loss of Life, alone, in the USSR, according to http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/ob62.html
was:
19 MILLION *Civilian* Deaths
9 MILLION Military Killed/Missing
18 MILLION Military Wounded
In addition to the loss of lives, with the loss of Resources, Money, and Cities (that were just completely destroyed) sustained by the USSR/Russia -- it's hard to say that anyone lost more than the Russians did, by the numbers. Save for Pearl Harbor, the US was *so* fortunate that the fight never reached our shores...
I tried to explain to Svetlana that I think some of that, "We Won The War" is starting to change; especially in relation to the European Theatre. I think, in the last few years -- at least as far as my experience has been -- that we've been giving much more credit to the Russians for their part in the War; e.g. along the lines of, "Hitler's failed campaign in Russia was the turning point for the Allies in the War," or "Without Russia ['s defeat of Hitler], Germany may have won in Europe."
Still, I get the feeling we may still see a divide at some point, along the lines of, "Russia may have won the European Theatre; but the US won in the Pacific." -- But in the end, I like what Svetlana said the Russians felt, best of all: "We won *together,* not just one country."
And here, we had ourselves a toast: "To friendship between Russia and the USA!"
That put us on the path of discussing some of the different rules, and how people in our two countries may see each other today. We all agreed that the governments could get in the way, much of the time -- with all of their posturing, and trying to seem like the strongest, or being unwilling to compromise -- while on the individual level, we are *so* much alike, and can get along just fine!
I mentioned that there were some rules or laws that were surprising for me, as an American. The two big ones concern Registration.
In the first place, that people MUST be registered to the city they live in. If they want to travel to another city, they have to register there, too, and have all the proper paperwork in order! For example, say I am here living in Moscow -- I am registered to Moscow; the government *knows* that I am in Moscow, and for what reasons, and I am expected to stay here.
If I want to travel to St. Petersburg, for example, I will have to put in some form of paperwork that says [at least] where I am going (the city) and where I am staying (typically this is a hotel or something, where you will register at***). Essentially, one has to ask for permission to go to a different city.
[***Poor student note: this makes it *impossible* to cram 5 people into a hotel room to save on costs, because each person MUST be registered at the hotel!]
As an American, I understand being registered to a city -- after all, that's how people pay their taxes. But to have to ask for permission to go to a different town? With all of our cars, spread out towns/cities, and "open borders" -- it's all but impossible to imagine. The American Public would never put up with that.
The second, is that the Militsia may stop anyone, at any time, and ask to see people's identification/paperwork. People here actually do carry their passports around on a daily basis; and if you're a student, we also have student ID cards, that show what school we are registered to, etc..
Again, as an American, I can't even conceive of: a. having to carry around a document (Passport), whose importance is so great -- the conditioning has told me -- that it should never leave my person; b. Being stopped by a Police-Type figure, just to show who I am; and c. living in a world where who I am is allowed to be suspect to the documentation I carry.
Both of these regulations are in place as deterrents against illegal immigration, to the best of my understanding; and to be fair, it is not as though I see people getting stopped by the Militsia all over the place.
Typically, I think that the sorts of people who get stopped are the same ones the Police would stop at home -- drunks, belligerents, etc. (Although, yes, some people do get stopped, just because they look like foreigners, I suppose.)
Something to think about, however: don't we [Americans] all carry our licenses with us as Identification? If we get pulled over in our cars, aren't we asked for License and Registration? If we're away from home (or even not), don't the police ask us where we are going or where we have come from? There are a few more similarities than people would care to see, beyond the first glance.
In the end, yes, Russians do have stricter rules, and Svetlana did share that she thought they were, "Bad rules." Just in the sense that they are rather strict, especially when compared to what the US has.
From there, we moved in a more light-hearted direction, to talk about Football (Soccer) -- and Leonid was quite pleased to hear that I had played when I was younger! I picked up some new words (for "goalie" and "Midfielder") -- and learned about the disappointment Russians suffered when their team didn't make it into the World Cup tournament. (So, I learned the phrase for "Broken Heart," too.)
One conversational point/joke -- I don't remember where it fit in, or what was going on when this came up -- but I think we were talking about why they had wanted to learn/study English, and why I was studying Russian. They were surprised to hear that I thought Russian was a beautiful language, and that I had wanted to learn it ever since I was a little girl!
Regardless, Leonid said at one point, in Russia, they have a little phrase: "If you're an optimist, you study English; if you're a pessimist, you study Chinese."
I think it toes the line of funny and slightly offensive, maybe? But it also highlights the seemingly precarious situation that the US is in right now, financially, and as a world influence. The Dollar doesn't go quite so far as it used to go, and some markets are a little stronger than ours. Just things to think about. But!! I want to learn Mandarin *anyway* in the future -- and I'm about as much of an Optimistic-Realist as you'll find, so what does that say? =^_~=
We had fun with Leonid teaching me some typically Russian phrases -- but not exactly things that I should say to a professor! Things like a word for someone who can sell anything which can be sold, as well as for a man who speaks much, but does nothing. Ha ha ha.
The former two conversations brought us around to Politics (AGAIN, I *KNOW*!!!!) -- and they asked me about my affiliations, etc. Leonid was thrilled to hear that I was a Republican, and we had a toast: "To the GOP -- and [its] success in the Fall Elections!!!" Ha ha ha ha!
I know some of you will love that. Others of you may not want to read the following line -- Leonid also said, "Most reasonable Russians are Republicans!!"
He actually also asked me about Ann Coulter; he appears to be quite fond of her.
Following that, they did ask me what I knew about the Russian political system, and I told them honestly that I was sad to say, I really didn't know much. I knew that they have their President (Medvedev), their Prime Minister (Putin), and that they have their Duma, which is like our Congress -- that consists of an Upper House, and a Lower House. And that's it; because we don't learn about it in school. They seemed happy that I knew that much, at least.
On a slight tangent from this topic, but still quite related -- I appeared to impress about everyone at the table, in terms of being at least somewhat aware of the Political Situation (In the US, and in Russia, maybe?), as well as some of the historical things about which we'd chatted. They told me something to the effect of that I had surprised them, and they were impressed with me, because they assumed most Americans did not care about these kinds of things, or sometimes they are not so smart when it comes to these topics. So, tonight, I racked up some points for: Positive Gains, and Stereotypes of Americans Reversed!! I love being my own Personal Ambassador. =^___^=
The next thing we chatted about was actually the Civil War, speaking of Historical Topics. I don't know exactly how it got brought up, save that Leonid had asked me about it -- whether to explain a little more about what exactly it was, or what had happened, I'm not sure. We actually didn't discuss it too much -- just the part about how, "Well…. To a small number of Southerners, it's still going on!" and how it still goes by different names, depending on where you life. E.g.:
North: The Civil War
South: The War for Southern Independence, The War or Northern Aggression, The War Between the North and the South, etc.!
Related slightly, Leonid says they say in Russia: "There is no 'racist' problem [in Russia] -- there is a problem of bad neighbors." -- Interesting, don't you think?
**Other random bits that don't quite fit in anywhere in specific:
*They told me at least two places to go to in Russia to visit.
*Vladimir loves sports, so he told me about a really nice ice skating rink that is around.
*Svetlana's brother loves Latin-American dances, so she told me about a place that he goes to, and to go next Sunday with him! (2-21-2010 Note: We are going to go today! I still have to get in touch with them when I go to the Internet Café today.)
*Made quite the impression on Leonid and Svetlana -- they want to invite me to their Dacha sometime in the future!!
*Did finally chat with the other Svetlana (who'd been sitting on the opposite end of the table). Everyone told me she was the best in English out of all of them -- and it was with her that I'd really discussed why I was learning Russian, etc. She was very impressed with my pronunciation. It was also that Svetlana that mentioned how impressed she was with me, about how smart I seemed, and how I spoke (in general), etc.
****About Toasts:
We had quite a few tonight! As I mentioned before, to:
Friendship between the US and Russia
The GOP Party in the US (We had at LEAST 3 toasts to them! Ha ha ha)
To the friend (another Svetlana) who had just attained another degree
*Some others in between that I have forgotten. (Probably more friendship, happiness, success. The good standbys. =^__^= )
Something that was fun to experience: it seems that it's just no good to toast with water! So, twice, they bought me some freshly made apple juice! It was green!!! And had a green foam on top, too! I'm almost 100% positive that it was made from Granny Smith-Type Apples. Very good! (Go check out the picture in the photo gallery.)
Speaking of Photos -- you'll also find photos of Vladimir, both Svetlanas, and Leonid.
So, as I said before -- we chatted for a *long* time! At least 2 hours; and finally I said I needed to go home, so that I wouldn't be *too* late coming in!!
But it was a wonderful, wonderful night, and I was really happy to have gotten to sit down and chat!
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