I'm a fan of Russia myself; a couple of people from my high school live there now. One works for the State Dept. the other is an artist. My opinion of its government is rather cautious; it's by no means a liberal democracy and there are quite a few authoritarian elements of the regime that I don't like. However, I'm a big fan of Putin and Medvedev, and I think the country is headed in the right direction (cooperation with NATO, cracking down on Iran/Kyrgyzstan etc.). One thing that concerned/shocked/made me lol at first about Russia was this wonderful little story: Sexual harassment okay as it ensures humans breed, Russian judge rules. I was researching Russian gender inequalities for the Model UN event I was going to (as I always went as Russia, fuck yeah!) and discovered that sexual harassment laws effectively don't exist in Russia, and as a result women have very difficult times assimilating into the workforce. I'd love to hear a Russian's opinion on the situation, as my cultural bias probably makes me incompetent as a judge of this.
As a general rule I think fair-skin and dark hair are pretty, but I don't care all that much. Nationality wise I think Northern Europeans/East Asians are the most beautiful.
I've read this article and I was as shocked as you. I have never heard anything like this. And if someone was harassing a girl in front of me I would try to stop him. Or to force him to stop, if needed. And I'm pretty sure most of my friend would do the same. So, as far as I can see harassment is absolutely inadmissible in Russia. P.S. I'm not sure what's happening but posts are becoming more hard to understand.
Individual taste in women you say? Well I like my Hispanic women, which is good for me because right now I'm living in southern florida so there is a huge Cuban population walking around. Just saying I've got some good oppertunities whenever women want a suave and sensitive guy.
Do you Americans believe that in spring everything wakes up after winter and... starts fucking? Russians do
Do you mean a stereotype about Russians or a stereotype which Russians believe in? Because being Russian, I don't think that women are oversexed. Of course, many people do, but men thinking this way can be found all over the world (do you remember Quagmire from Family Guy? He's not Russian). About drunks... Well, there are actually many alcoholics in Russia and Russians are also one of the most drinking nations. But the worst thing is that people don't find it disgusting. Almost all of my friends don't mind drinking alcohol, and when they offer me to join them and I deny, they look at me just like I'm mad or something. I don't know if it's same in other countries, but I have never heard anything like this from my foreign friends. By the way, I've got a question for you guys. How do you call a film divided into episodes? You know, such as House M.D., Scrubs, Friends and many others. My dictionary says «serial» or «serials», but I remember that there was another word...
In the UK drinking is very much the norm. I'm not a fan of drinking at all and I'll only have about 3 pints/cans/bottles of lager at a time. I think it is a waste of money and I think the negatives outweigh the positives. Very close! A TV series. A television series. A series.
