A dangerous Russian bridge, 570 meters (1870 feet) across the Siberian Vitim River. The old railway bridge is 15 meters (45 feet) above the water.
Category: Fun
Another kind of anniversary
Another note from Stoneworks missionary Liz Hulley —
This week, Russia celebrates 20 years of….McDonald’s!
I would like to leave the fast-food (health) debate for the moment and comment on the culture implications. This kind of anniversary is interesting when looked at in the light of what was going on the world at the time.
1990: I was almost 8 years old and probably didn’t know that the USSR existed. And I barely knew what McDonald’s was, as I wasn’t raised on fast-food.
Meanwhile, in Russia, an interesting “cultural” exchange was taking place. I enjoyed reading the accounts in Monday’s local paper (Metro) about people’s memories of the first McDonald’s opening in Moscow.
They speak of the lines, the intrigue, the scent of a new kind of food. People who had worked as servers describe the pressure they felt, then the relief as the idea took on.
I don’t know exactly which characteristics of American culture are represented by McDonald’s cuisine: Convenience? Mass-marketing? Consumerism? At any rate, in some ways this was a little crack in the cultural barrier. Something that could be “shared”?
An interesting excerpt from Metro (Feb.1, 2010).
How many hours do you have to work, to buy a Big Mac?
-in 1990: 2 hours, 10 minutes
-in 2010: 30 minutes
-in 1990: average salary was 297 rubles a month, a Big Mac cost 3 rubles, 75 kopecks
I asked a friend recently what her favorite restaurant was, and she said “McDonald’s.”
I suppose it is cheaper than other establishments in St. Petersburg, but it is still considered “eating out,” not something most people can afford to do regularly.
Ghosts of Christmas Cards Past
I recently told some Russian friends about something I did before I moved to Russia, and they asked if I’d post it on the web:
Years ago, when I was an old bachelor, I had the idea that it would be funny to have a different family each Christmas on my Christmas card. One year at a church cookout I decided to go ahead and do it.
A friend from church was my ‘wife’, and we had three children. I can say that it was quite a surprise to people when they got my card that year. Several people thought I’d gotten married and hadn’t told them. (If you look closely, you’ll see that I have half a mustache; that was my way of saying ‘this is a joke’.)
The second year, I had a different wife and different children, a LOT of different children:
When my cousin got married, her mother (my Aunt Rose) asked if she could be on my next card. We took this picture immediately after the wedding; the bride and groom are our best man and maid of honor.
As you can see by the groom’s expression, he was a bit befuddled as to why we were taking this picture on his wedding day, using the official photographer.
My church was located in an old movie theater in a strip shopping center. One day after church, as I was walking to my car in the parking lot with many people going to and from the nearby shops, one of the ladies at church yells across the parking lot to me, ‘I want to be your wife this year!’ I yell back, ‘you’ll have to ask your husband!’
Later I thought about how very strange that must have sounded.
The next year, I was on hard times —
But by the last year, I had a trophy wife and a nice house!
And that was really my dog, Hank.
The story behind the last picture is fun. I had scouted out this house to use for the card; it was on a large piece of property and quite imposing. The day of the picture, we showed up and knocked on the door. It took a little while for the owner of the house to understand exactly what we were asking, but once he got it he was pretty entertained and gave his permission.
I was soon to be married, and so the tradition ended. Now I’m very happy to have the same wife each Christmas.
Gotta see this
OK. This is very fun. The ‘wrong ball’ play:
Burton Holmes in Russia
Over 100 years ago, Burton Holmes (1870-1958) traveled to Russia. Holmes was an American traveler, photographer and filmmaker, who coined the term “travelogue”. Travel stories, slide shows and motion pictures were all in existence before Holmes began making his travel films, but he was the first person to put these elements together into documentary travel lectures.
Here are some of the photographs from his book detailing his visit to Tsarist Russia in 1901.
And what are the words again?
I’m Yours, on the Ukulele.
The cuteness factor is very high —
Moscow Cat Theatre
You know you’ve been in Russia too long when . . .
I saw this a few places and wanted to post it myself. Not everything applies to me, but those of you who have spent much time in Russia will understand —
You know you have been in Russia too long when . . .
· You are impressed with the new model Lada or Volga car.
· You don’t think things are that bad right now.
· You say he/she is ‘on the meeting’ (instead of ‘at the’ or ‘in a’ meeting).
· You answer the phone by saying ‘allo, allo, allo’ before giving the caller a chance to respond.
· When crossing the street, you sprint.
· In winter, you choose your route by determining which icicles are least likely to impale you in the head.
· You hear the radio say it is zero degrees outside and you think it is a nice day for a change. Continue reading
Tarmo Sings!
This video was made last summer, when Finnish friends visited Russia for a cultural/historical tour of former Finnish sites in what is now Russian Karelia.
One member of the trip was Tarmo Kunnas. Tarmo speaks something like eight languages fluently, and he loves to sing folks songs in those languages. Here he’s singing in French:
This day was one to remember.
From Montenegro to Russia
We recently drove home to Russia from Montenegro. It was a beautiful drive along the Croatian coast and up into Hungary. There we visited missionary friends and saw (rainy) Budapest. The relationships were great, the city was beautiful and we hope to return.
Then we drove to Minsk, Belarus to visit Spring of Revival, a Stoneworks program. Olga Goncharenko and her team are doing a great job there. We enjoy our time with them and fully support them in all they do. Visit the Stoneworks site to learn more about Spring of Revival.
Then we headed into Russia and are now safely back in our flat in St. Petersburg.
We really enjoy this traditional music from Montenegro.
Mike and Olga Cantrell 