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This is a blog by JustRussian about learning Russian. You will find useful tips for learning Russian, Russian courses available in London, information about Russian culture and links to websites with information for students of Russian.
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Learning about Russian food
By Vlada 12 April 09
Notes from a student of Russian in London, or things you may be interested to know but may not learn in your Russian lessons. By one of Vlada’s students
Russian cuisine has a dodgy reputation in the West. Mention that you’re going to Russia and folks who’ve never been there will issue dark warnings about thin gruel, boiled cabbage and offal stew. I heard these myself from well-meaning relatives who’d actually visited in Soviet times:
“Everything’s tinned or tasteless. Often both.”
Well, I don’t know if that was ever true – but I do know it’s not now. Russian food is tasty, hearty and filling. And don’t be panicked by the food vocabulary you’ve learned in your Russian lessons; cabbage pies (‘pirogi’) may sound pretty appalling, but in fact they’re delicious.
If you’re lucky enough to be invited to dinner by Russians, you’ll get the full gamut of traditional ‘formal’ dishes. There will almost certainly be Russian salad (known to Russians as ‘salad Olivier’ after the eponymous Frenchman who, legend tells, remembered he had dinner guests minutes before their arrival and simply chucked his leftovers together in a bowl with mayonnaise). This is a glutinous, creamy pleasure that’s particularly delicious with a glass of ice cold vodka. Ironically, Russian salad is probably most widely enjoyed not in its homeland, but in Spain, where it’s a popular tapas dish. One of the supreme delights known to man is a cold Russian salad eaten on a hot Spanish evening, washed down with a glass of aromatic Rioja.
Don’t tell the Russians.
Your hosts will probably serve other salads, too. Two big-time favourites are ‘Vinaigrette’ and ‘Beetroot salad’. The former has nothing to do with its French namesake. As usual with Russian words lifted from French, the meaning has become comically corrupted. ‘Vinaigrette’ is a cold salad of diced, cooked root vegetables (beetroot, carrot, potato, peas), plus finely chopped raw onion and picked gherkins. To a Western palate, it’s a peculiar-sounding combo. But trust me: it’s delicious.
Beetroot salad is simply finely grated cooked beetroot and hard cheese mixed with mayonnaise and grated garlic. A dietician’s worst nightmare, for sure, but all the nicer for that.
Actually, a lot of Russian food isn’t very diet-friendly. This is high octane stuff for a harsh climate, so be prepared. When you’ve eaten, you’ll really know it. And if you’re smart, you’ll take the digestion pills Russians all seem to produce at the end of formal meals. Best not to ask what’s in them. Whatever it is, it beats Bisodol.
Also best not to be vegetarian. That’s if you can figure out how to say ‘vegetarian’ in the first place. It’s not a word that crops up in your Russian lessons because, er, it probably doesn’t exist. Russians are committed carnivores, and will assume you’re sick if you ask for something without meat. If you’re lucky, they’ll produce a potato. There’s no real way to sugar this: vegetarians have a tough time in Russia (and don’t be fooled by Russian salad: it’s got boiled chicken in it).
But not, thank God, meat-eaters. Russian hot food means big, full-on stews like beef Stroganoff and hot soups like Shee and Borsch. Both consist of strong meat stock with various vegetables floating in them. With Borsch, of course, the principal ingredient is the peripatetic beetroot, but don’t be put off if you’re not a fan: although it contains LOTS of beetroot, Borsch has its own unique flavour that is oddly un-beetroot-like. Made well, it’s one of the most delicious soups in creation.
There’s plenty of other great Russian foods (marinated, barbecued ‘Shashlik’, pork roasted with garlic, salted gherkins), but you can discover them yourself. I’ll leave you with just three important Russian food-related factoids:
• Russians love garlic. They really love garlic.
• If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise: Bear steak. Honest.
• Hope you like dill. That’s all I’m saying.
Broadening Horizons
By Vlada 29 September 08
actually, by Dmitry Matchin, Vlada’s colleague –
telling you more about things you may be interested to know but won’t learn in a Russian course.
When foreigners think of Russia, the first places that spring to mind are, of course, Moscow and St. Petersburg. If you come from Russia, you will be taken, almost axiomatically, to be from one or the other. If that is not the case, you will have to explain painstakingly where your city or town is. And although the great capital cities (St. Petersburg was the capital from its foundation until 1918, and is now commonly and deservedly regarded as Russia’s cultural capital) account for almost 10% of Russia’s total population, this seems unfair. Russia, by far the largest country in the world, cannot possibly be exhaustively represented by its glamorous western cities. If you want to see Russia, you need to stretch your horizons.
Take Siberia, for instance – Russia’s vast, freezing hinterland, synonymous with exile, banishment and imprisonment. There are bears walking free in the streets of Siberian cities. There is no civilisation there. There is no escape. In other words, Siberia is inhospitable and dangerous. And that is exactly why you should go there – because most of that is just mythology. The claim about bears alone should make you incredulous. And, of course, you know that the exile history of Siberia is just that – history.
Siberia is, indeed, virtually endless. Stretching eastwards from the Ural Mountains (the natural border between Europe and Asia) to the Pacific Ocean, and southwards from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of Kazakhstan, it occupies almost 80% of Russia’s total territory. Desert, steppe, forest, taiga, tundra are the words that can all be applied to Siberia. Its rivers rank among the longest and most rapid in the world. Lake Baikal, in south Siberia, is the world’s deepest lake: as the largest reservoir of fresh water on earth, it has more water than the American Great Lakes combined.
This enormous expanse of land, vegetation and water makes it doubly difficult to choose where to go in Siberia. I suggest you go somewhere with a characteristic human imprint. Civilisation, although widely dispersed, is certainly not non-existent. The third largest city in Russia, Novosibirsk, is in Siberia. But Novosibirsk is quite young and, frankly, quite ugly. With its pretensions to size (which seem ludicrous when you compare it to Moscow) and its industrial aspirations of the Soviet era, it has no face of its own – like any other Soviet-like city or town. You should go somewhere with more history and more elegance. For example, Tomsk.
Only 5 hours by bus or train from Novosibirsk (in Russian terms, a very short journey), Tomsk is located almost in the geographical centre of Russia, in south-west Siberia. It was founded in 1604, which makes it precisely 101 years older than St. Petersburg. Therefore, Tomsk does have a unique feel to it. Its wooden architecture is truly incredible (many people still live in old wooden houses), and it has quite a number of fine specimens of 19th-century architecture as well.
The climate in Siberia is, of course, not mild. In winter, it can be as cold as minus 50 degrees centigrade in Tomsk, but this is very rare. I have experienced such extreme colds, and, since I am still alive, clearly they are not lethal – the most important thing is to put on as many layers of clothing as possible. When it is that cold, it is always incredibly still and the air is ringing with clarity. Usually, winter temperatures vary from minus 5 to minus 25. When it snows – and it snows a lot in Siberia – it is always quite warm and incredibly beautiful. In England, I always miss snow. Summers in Siberia are very warm, sometimes very hot. A rainy summer can be quite cool, too.
The most incredible thing about Tomsk, though, is its people. Despite its real age, Tomsk is a very young town in spirit. Out of half a million Tomskovites, almost 100,000 (20%) are students. It is not surprising when you realise that there are 6(!) state universities in Tomsk, Tomsk State University being the oldest and most prestigious in Siberia. It was founded by Emperor Alexander II in 1878. It opened 10 years later and has since been the centre of academic excellence behind the Urals. It is for this reason that Tomsk has been dubbed The Athens of Siberia. This vibrancy of youth makes Tomsk a dynamic and forward-looking place. Most citizens in Tomsk are highly educated and cultured. This also makes Tomsk a very liberal and tolerant place. For example, there is, by and large, no homophobia – Tomsk has one of the highest percentages of openly gay young people in Russia. All these things considered, it is understandable why Tomsk is becoming more and more attractive to foreigners. More and more people from the west and China come to Tomsk to learn Russian – there is, in fact, a real boom. There are also many Americans and Britons who teach English there because there is always a great demand for knowledge and modernity in Tomsk.
If you want to learn more about Russia and Russians, why not defy the stereotypes? Take a deep breath and set foot in Siberia. And when you are there, visit, above all places, Tomsk. I promise you: it is simply impossible not to fall in love with the Siberian Athens.
Dmitry Matchin, a freelance Russian tutor, is a graduate of Tomsk University in Siberia and Oxford University in the UK
Moscow 2008
By Vlada 5 February 08
Notes of a Russian teacher in London, or things you may be interested to know but won’t learn in a Russian course.
So what’s new in Moscow this winter? Here are my observations:
• The city centre has become very clean and smart. There are lots of new shops, restaurants and expensive cars. Muscovites are becoming richer and richer.
• There is a lot of construction: new houses and office blocks pop up in the tiniest imaginable places. Old buildings are renovated or knocked down to make way for new ones. Muscovites are upset by it.
• The city is clearly overpopulated. The Soviet infrastructure designed for 7 million people is struggling to support 14 million. The wonderful and fast underground system is chronically overcrowded. Muscovites are upset by it but it looks like it’s the price of success!
• There are huge numbers of young people everywhere. And they all smoke. I don’t like it. Neither the fact that they are much younger than me nor the smoking. My colleagues and I used to spend our breaks between lessons at Moscow University trying to kick smoking students out into the cold staircase. I wish I could do the same in cafes and restaurants!
• More and more women wear beautiful and expensive fur coats. They let the long hems sweep the dirty Moscow pavements and staircases with delicious nonchalance.
• Everyone had corporate (called “corporativ” in Russian) New Year parties, including taxi drivers and other people you wouldn’t classify as corporate employees. It was the hit of the season!
• Traffic jams have reached unspeakable proportions (worse even than London – honest!) so travelling by car in the city has become quite impossible.
• Prices are rising very fast and Moscow will soon be catching up with London!
21 Travel Tips for Moscow
By Vlada 15 January 07
1. Learn the Cyrillic alphabet
If you’re planning to get around on your own, your life will be much easier if you learn the Cyrillic alphabet. Most street signs and signs in the metro are not translated into English.
2. Time zones
There are ten time zones in Russia. Moscow and St. Petersburg are three hours ahead of London. Russia also has summer time, when the clocks go forward. Summer time starts in April and finishes at the end of October.
3. Get a visa
Every westerner traveling to Russia needs a visa. Visit the website of the Russian Embassy in the UK.
4. Customs declaration
When you arrive in Russia, you have to fill in a customs declaration stating how much money in cash you have on you. Keep this declaration throughout you visit, because it may be checked on the way out. Theoretically, you cannot take out of the country more money in cash than you brought in.
5. Have somewhere to stay
When you arrive in Russia, you will also need to fill in an immigration card, stating where you are going to stay, for how long.
6. Carry your passport
Carry your passport with you at all times.
7. Currency
Which currency to take? The best bet is to take American dollars or Euros in cash. You will find small bureaux de change everywhere in big cities where you can exchange dollars or Euros into roubles and vice versa. In big cities you will also find cash machines that accept all major credit and debit cards. The plusher kind of restaurant and supermarkets will accept credit cards, but small local ones won’t. British sterling is quite a rare currency, and you can only exchange it in big banks. Ditto with travelers’ cheques.
8. Taxis
Official Moscow taxies look like New York ones, but they are quite expensive. Muscovites do not use them. You just put up your hand in the street and private cars will stop to collect you. Sounds crazy but it’s a popular way for Russian drivers to make some extra money. You set the price before getting into the car. The driver usually asks how much you are prepared to pay. Needless to say, anyone using this service should be very careful and only get into someone’s car if the driver looks trustworthy!
9. Minicabs
You can call and book an official minicab in Moscow by dialing 232 11 11. (but they speak Russian only!).
10. The metro
The best way to get around Moscow is by metro. It’s big, fast, reliable and cheap. The price of one journey is 17 roubles (1 pound sterling is 50 roubles). You can buy tickets for 1, 2, 5, 10 or 20 journeys. It’s a bit cheaper to buy a card for several journeys in advance. The price does not depend on your destination. But avoid the rush hours (8.30 till 9.30 am and 5.30 till 7.00 pm) because some lines are very crowded.
11. Crowded trains and buses
Russians do not have a comfort zone like the Brits or Americans do. So people will get very close to you on a crowded train or bus. Don’t take it personally! But if you do mind being pressed against someone’s chest or back, avoid taking public transport in rush hour.
12. Traffic jams
Traffic jams can be horrendous in the centre of Moscow at any time of the day. You have been warned.
13. Museum tickets
Museum tickets are much more expensive for foreigners than for Russian people, and it’s official (unfortunately). No one checks your documents though, so you can pass for a Russian if you have a good accent and do not look too foreign!
14. Buy a street map of Moscow
You can buy a street map of Moscow in pretty much any newsagent/bookshop. It won’t be in English, but that probably won’t matter.
15. Don’t miss the metro
The Moscow metro doesn’t work quite like others you may be familiar with. Instead of having stations that have platforms serving several different train lines, every platform on the Russian metro is regarded as a station in itself. Thus when you transfer from one line to another, you’ll find yourself following signs not for another train line, but for another station! Don’t worry: this may sound confusing, but it’s actually very logical and you’ll get the hang of it. If you do get lost, try to enjoy it – the Moscow metro is one of the great engineering marvels of the world and is extremely beautiful. The system opens at 6 am and closes at 1 am.
16. Pedestrians officially do NOT have right of way
Muscovites, like Parisians, drive like lunatics. Worse yet, pedestrians officially do NOT have right of way on city streets and motorists do. So be very careful crossing roads.
17. Beware of pickpockets and beggars
Like any big city, Moscow has its dangers for visitors – particularly late at night. Beware of pickpockets and beggars, who have a reputation for being aggressive. In the city centre, it’s generally safe for tourists whatever the hour.
18. Moscow between November and April
If you’re visiting Moscow between November and April, bring appropriate clothing – it can be very cold! Importantly, make sure you bring waterproof footwear: occasional thaws can make the streets very dirty and slushy. Be very careful with flights of steps: many of these are made of granite, which is astonishingly slippery in the frost.
19. Everything is available
Moscow has changed dramatically in the last ten years. You don’t need to worry about not being able to buy cosmetics, drugs or special items that you deem essential: everything is available to buy in situ.
20. Plugs
Russia has the same electricity system as Western Europe, i.e. two-prong round-pin plugs.
21. A word about car hire
A word about car hire: it may be possible, but don’t be tempted. Russian notions of insurance are, er, primitive. Roads are a bit agricultural. And people drive, as noted above, like lunatics. Spare yourself the pain!
Impressions of Moscow
By Vlada 15 January 07
Are you about to go to Russia for the first time? Do you belong to the generation of English people who think it may be a slightly scary experience because you heard so much negative stuff during the Cold War? Here is a piece written by someone who belongs to the same generation and for whom Russia was at first an exotic experience.
A Londoner writes:
Don’t let the cold put you off, my friends assured me. Moscow’s great. You’ll love it. But, er, you know pack a hat.
Well, you’ll need the hat if you go in winter. And make it a good, full-on, non-PC furry one. Minus 20 is jolly parky. Minus 30 is painful. I’m still cringeing at the photos of my scarlet ears on that first visit, when I chose to ignore the hat advice.
Lesson 1: Russian winter is not to be trifled with
My friends were right, though: Moscow IS a great city, and I did love it. It has enough of the recognisable to feel familiar, yet also a good dollop of the mystery and “otherness” that sets Russia apart from western Europe. On the wide prospects and avenues leading through the city you’ll find the McDonald’s drive-throughs and the huge IKEA warehouses so familiar anywhere else. But step off the main drag into smaller streets and you meet a new world of food shops, mini-marts and curio shops with bizarre names and even more bizarre items for sale. Dried fish (vobla) as a dinner snack, anyone?
It helps, of course, to know the Cyrillic alphabet. If you’ve no idea how to read Russian words, you’ll have some baffled moments. Navigating the splendid metro system, for instance, with its stunning marbled and chandeliered stations and fast, reliable trains, is child’s play if you can read and a nightmare if you can’t. You don’t need to know any Russian, thank heaven, but the alphabet is an essential. And if you DO know some Russian, don’t be disheartened if you get puzzled looks when you try it out. Russians aren’t used to hearing foreigners speak their language and even the smallest mispronunciation provokes bafflement. Don’t give up.
Lesson 2: learn Cyrillics
There’s much to see in Moscow outside those marvelous metro stations. The Kremlin, obviously, is on every tourist’s hit-list and deservedly so. There’s something both thrillingly ghoulish and sternly awe-inspiring about walking between rows and rows of dusty coffins containing the earthly remains of every Tsar in Russian history. Little, if anything, about the Kremlin building has changed in centuries, and the place oozes atmosphere. Blinking in the sunshine of a snowy Kremlin courtyard, surrounded by the impedimenta of tsarist orthodoxy and the sombre inscriptions commemorating appalling sacrifices made by men to protect Mother Russia from a thousand invaders over a millennium, it’s just about possible even for a soulless Anglo-Saxon to feel some of the immense dignity, courage, loss and sadness of the Russian soul. I defy anyone not to find this indeed, everything in Russia an affecting experience.
Lesson 3: bring a handkerchief
And there is, of course, much more. Red Square is astounding. For starters, it’s vast. Far, far bigger than the TV suggests. Think of a huge soccer stadium, double it, add about another hectare and you’re getting the picture. Impressive, to say the least. Plus with the Kremlin wall on one side, the enormous Gum department store on the other, St Basil’s at one end and the vast ruby star hanging high over the whole, Red Square has a luminous grandeur that has no equal in any western city I’ve visited. On a winter night, with ice crystals sparkling in the freshly fallen snow and crunching underfoot, it’s a seriously romantic spot.
Lesson 4: Bring a husband/wife/lover/mistress
Under no circumstances, though, should you bring a dietician. Russian food is heavy – high octane stuff for a harsh climate. Not many green vegetables to be had, although this is changing as restaurants become more adventurous. Not that there’s anything wrong with the food they’re offering: quite the contrary. Georgian food, a popular part of the restaurant repertoire, is sensational. A cross between Turkish and Greek cuisine, with a touch of something exotic thrown in, it’s a treat for carnivores and foodies of all types.
Lesson 5: Don’t bring a vegetarian. Or leave him/her at home when you go out to eat
Moscow is the only city I’ve ever visited where, as a man of six foot, I’m merely of average height among people in the street which is strangely reassuring. Also good news for the male tourist, at least is that every trip out of doors brings the rewarding sight of hordes of knock-your-eye-out pretty girls. I swear Moscow girls are so attractive it’s a wonder that Parisian model scouts aren’t permanently camped on every street corner. I could go on and on and on about this if my wife weren’t vetting this text.
Lesson 6: Be single
For a change of pace, you could of course go in summer. I was stunned to see Moscow in July after my first trip in darkest winter. For starters, there’s the poplar fluff tons and tons of it floating about in the baking, roasting, sizzling heat. From minus 30 to plus 35 is a pretty major journey, I can tell you, and seeing it all through the prism of this weird floating fluff adds a surreal fillip to the Moscow scene. At these times the countryside is also heartbreakingly pretty: Think of the movie Legend, minus the unicorns and Tim Curry, and you get it.
Lesson 7: Don’t take a hat. And don’t take ANY clothes offering anything remotely approaching thermal insulation
One disadvantage of a summer visit is the mosquitoes slavering, ravenous, rabid mosquitoes that strip flesh to the bone in seconds (I swear to God I’ve never been so murderously assaulted in all my life) but then, at least you’ll have Moscow to yourself. Most of the summer, Muscovites retreat to their country dachas to grow tomatoes and aubergines and loll about in the fiery heat. This is both a plus and a minus: a minus because there are fewer people-watching opportunities and a plus because there’s no Muscovites who are pretty cynical and hard-bitten. But then, so are big-city folk the world over. To their credit, Moscow’s inhabitants are also jocular, witty, sardonic, superstitious and generous. Immensely generous. Dare to make friends with anyone and you’ll go home with a suitcase double the weight of the one you brought in. It’s a serious hazard, in fact, because once a couple of people have given you the treatment you’ll be obliged to charter a supertanker to get all your gifts home. You have been warned.
Lesson 8: Charter a supertanker
Any drawbacks? Not that I found. Some of Moscow is rather shabby. Most people live in small apartments. Nothing there that will come as a huge surprise to anyone living in London, Tokyo or Manhattan. You might not put Moscow first on your list if you’re looking to do serious designer clothes shopping. Frankly, if shopping’s your bag, you’re probably not the type to want to visit anyway. Moscow favors the curious, the adventurous, the humorous, the philanthropist and the romantic.
Lesson 9: Go there. Just do it