A Russian person could not visit New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and then say they visited The United States and have an understanding of Americans. They might think they understand, but any American would giggle at the notion.
Conversely, the same is true in Russia. You cannot visit Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazan and think you have an understanding of Russians. However, if you give yourself time, join in the daily tasks and challenges of ordinary Russians, you can easily discover some of the deeper stuff that really puts context on life in the Russian Federation.
Perhaps what follows is a different perspective.
It took a while, but I finally figured out what this phrase “the fatherland” is all about.
Let me start by sharing another phrase that almost every American will find familiar, yet virtually every Russian asked has no reference to comprehend: “you work for us.”
When talking to a federal, state or local government official in the United States and saying, “you work for us,” everyone listening would completely understand your sentiment. However, in Russia that phrase is akin to asking a Martian for a canoe. This is the way to understand “the fatherland.”
Within Russia the social compact is organized around the premise (key word “premise“), that government is the father figure within a family – and all of the citizens are children. The government knows best. The state engages in all facets, systems and structures as if they are the omnipotent father who cares about the children.
The people of Russia generally accept this system. Generations and generations of compliant, well behaved, very structured and regimented ideology still permeates. The muscle memory is deepest in the psychological muscles that run through generations.
Oddly, this social compact is understood, but only understood insofar as the Russian people do not have any other reference point, or alternative system that would enable them to see the deficit in the oppressive system that surrounds them.
The average Russian knows the “West” is different but doesn’t really know why the social system they see outside their window seemingly operates with well-organized randomness. What is this efficiency within unbridled capitalism you speak of, and why would Americans be willing to give it up?
Karelia Russia, early spring ’24
♦ As stated previously, the level of social compliance within the fatherland compact is stunning. Some observers might brush off extreme lawfulness as a remnant of strict authoritarianism – decades of hardcore soviet influence. From that perspective, yes being an invisible “grey man” is safe; drawing attention to yourself can only bring the glare of Father. It is safer to be a generic sardine in a school of sardines.
Live within that system long enough, and it just becomes the natural way it is. It doesn’t matter what the uniform rule is, generally Russians act with extreme compliance.
Standing in line, waiting for the light at a crosswalk, standing on the right side of the escalator, remaining stoic, “cultured” and “not vulgar” in a subway or public venue, putting your trash in an often-changed public receptacle, appropriate (quiet) use of the cell phone, the odd lack of talking in just about any venue, all the way to accepting ridiculous outcomes as a matter of engagement with the fatherland bureaucracy.
The customs and norms circle around ordinary compliance and social acceptances, learned behaviors over time, and so they do. Note, in part this behavior pattern makes it very easy to spot a non-Russian. [That is also one of the reasons why I was careful about taking ordinary photographs, especially considering there are literally no tourists.]
From the 30,000 ft level, generally speaking, somewhere above 85% of the Russian population are compliant children, very well behaved with low expectations of anything in life that is not ordinary. That larger part of Russia accepts their malaise as just “life,” and they move along. The other 15% are part of the social strata (government worker or connected to a higher status), that affords them additional benefits.
St Petersburg, Russia – Spring ’24
Yes, there are definitely two castes or classes within the population, and this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, something the intellectual left in the United States will always deny. Totalitarianism is on the far-left side of the political continuum. Within that leftist system, a process the USA is working toward, there are ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ – or what is more familiarly called “elites.”
Have you ever visited Disney or a theme park in the USA where you can purchase a higher priced ticket to go into a “fast lane” at each attraction? The average price visitor stands in one long line, those who pay a much higher price get to skip to a much shorter line. In Russia, that’s the analogy for the general population engaging in everything; literally everything in their life from shopping to where they live, the better system experience is based on wealth & status.
♦ There is no part of this social system that an average American would enjoy in the long-term. Do not romanticize Russia. Edward Snowden gave up his best life when he made his hard choices.
Put simply, ordinary life as an ordinary Russian is just not easy. The concept of a social system structured around liberty and self-determination is unknown. Russians are not “free” people, not even close.
It is not uncommon to see police on foot, regular beat cops, on crowded streets stopping people and asking for “their papers.” I am told the people being stopped are clearly not native Russians; but honestly, I watched this take place several times, and they all look Russian to me.
As I walked in the crowd with my friends, I asked them, “Do I look Russian”, because I was not being asked for my papers.
The response was generally that I look “white”, and the people being stopped by the police were not white. However, again I repeat, everyone being stopped looked like a white Russian to me, so what do I know.
There were also a few seemingly random road checkpoints where you are stopped by police and asked for your papers when driving, or a passenger. This always made me nervous (and my friends, although they were embarrassed to admit it), and with my passport I was always questioned and checked closely (but never detained – except as previously noted in the airport).
On the overall social oppression aspect, yes there are signs the Russian government is trying to change, to figure out a middle ground. However, the default position of the social mechanism is set to strict control, oppressive govt and authoritarianism.
Step out of the sardine line, and you will end up regretting it – big time. Ordinary Russians do not want to step out of line.
The problem for the Russian government is the generational compliance system does not create forward-thinking, independent thinking or entrepreneurship at the scale needed (Western scale) to rapidly advance modern society or keep up with technological changes and advancements. The DNA of Russia is static, lacking innovation, and built on this system of compliance.
On one hand, too many grey people, not enough independent thinkers…. that appears to be part of the problem in Russia. Hence, the government has all kinds of financial and economic incentives for innovative Western tech people and businesses to emigrate. However, on the other hand the government likes the domineering social compliance aspect, so they face recruitment problems.
Socially, the extreme compliance creates unity, cohesion and lawfulness. However, that same permeating mindset chokes out innovation and independent critical thinking. The lack of home-grown innovation, meaning the people who actually think independently, means the industrial and tech business sectors must steal their ideas from other places. It is not accidentally the same in China. I think this is also why Russian hacking is so advanced.
The current/modern Russian government seems to hate the social wokeism stuff, within the “West,” more than they like innovation in a free-thinking capitalist society. As a consequence, Dear Father is not willing to allow his apples to fall away from the tree.
♦ The Western financial sanction regime against Russia has driven the Russian economy into a very close relationship with China, South Korea and larger Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN). The new automobiles in Russia are almost all Kia, Hyundai and then Chinese models. The Russians notably do not have many EVs; they are mostly standard internal combustion engines. There are some newer USA and EU import vehicles, but those carry the cost of the 3rd party brokers (super high prices afforded only by the elites).
The odd thing about the sanction regime is the invisibility of it, unless you are looking deeply. Sure, many western retail companies were forced to leave by Western political demand, but their products are still mostly available. I cannot visibly see any segment of the Russian economy where the sanctions are having a strong impact. Quite the opposite is true, and all outward appearances of the Russian economy look strong.
Again, in a general sense, because Russia lacks innovative capitalism, their infrastructure innovation is archaic and outdated. This does not mean the old infrastructure is necessarily broken or doesn’t work; it only means it is old and very odd to see. Russia spends a lot of time cleaning and maintaining its infrastructure, but large sections of housing developments and apartments are very old and look well past their use-by dates.
Analog is still everywhere; digital systems have yet to become mainstream. If you step outside the center-city tourist perspective, you enter the 1970’s or 1980’s system in the suburbs dominated by the sardine cans where people live. As a person who was born/raised like Huck Finn in Florida on the beaches, islands and backwater bayous, the stacked-up rows and rows of sardine can apartments is seriously wild and simultaneously “yikes.”
The sardine Russians enjoy their parks, and to be fair they have some really nice spring and summer parks to enjoy, provided and maintained by Dear Father. On nice weather days, the benches are full of people quietly talking to one another, enjoying the fellowship outdoors and generally being well cultured and exceptionally civil.
Random park in center city, St Petersburg, Russia
The well-mannered expectations of social rules, within the suburban and city park system, were explained to me, and I did not see a single reference of non-compliance or crude behavior anywhere – not even once. NOT ONCE.
Truthfully, it’s really weird how quiet and stoic the Russian people are when they are enjoying their recreation time. It’s like something out of a 1950’s pod-people movie, and after a while I found it to be very disconcerting, almost bordering on annoying for some reason.
— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) May 21, 2024
I woke up early and hiked up to that specific and beautiful hilltop in Kareila, Russia, just so I could record that train video. No one else was on the mountain. It was a cold and beautiful morning.
♦ Food and Diets – Russian people eat well, and generally you would say they eat healthy fresh food. Because he was apparently concerned about it at some point, Dear Father banned Canola oil in Russia as a food additive. Fresh foods are what the average American would consider “organic foods.” For those of you who grow in your own gardens, you understand what the food markets are like in Russia.
This is not to say Russians are “healthy,” because overall they might not be. Smoking cigarettes and heavy alcohol drinking are very visible, and the difference in appearance between a 20-year-old and a 40-year-old is striking; perhaps that’s why.
Good quality food is cheap in Russia. Everything you see on the counter in this picture (left) was purchased for less than $70. I transposed the prices that I would pay at my local grocery store in the USA, and I came up with around $150-$175.
Processed food prices in Russia (crackers, chips, candies, cereals) generally are about half of what you would pay in the U.S. However, on the fresh foods side (produce, fish, meats, dairy), the Russian prices are a fraction of the U.S.A costs.
[10 eggs for $0.50, bread $1, bananas $0.05/lb, salmon $2.00, head lettuce $0.50, berries less than $1, apples $0.45/lb, steak $2/lb, ground chuck $1.50/lb, etc]
A 30-mile cab ride is around $5 to $8, and gasoline costs less than $2/gal.
A typical “nice” restaurant meal for 2 people is around $15.00, and you can easily grab a burger and fries for $3/$4 at any fast-food place. The average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment (city or suburb) is around $300/mo. The average income of a middle class (blue collar) worker is around $1,000/month.
Those grab-n-go electric scooters and electric bicycles are well used in the Russian cities and cost around $1 for an hour (kinda cool, and yeah I used them).
Keep in mind, during the soviet era religion was essentially forbidden. As a consequence, the Christian calendar within economic life (something you don’t think about in the USA) was erased.
In the USA the typical work week, Monday to Friday 9-5 weekends off, was an outcome of Christianity in the economy. In Russia you can get a dental appointment at 8:00pm on Sunday, or a haircut at any random time of day. All of the private sector businesses operate based on paying customer needs, not the social economic history of church attendance or worship schedules.
You can open a bank account in Russia using a passport, you do not need to live in Russia to open a bank account. Almost everything in “modern Russia” is done through your phone number and apps. On the downside, I have no doubt Dear Father monitors all of the connected activity on the phone number.
FYI, there are no sanctions on telecommunications, and USA issued cell carriers operate reciprocity systems in Russia.
Instagram, Facebook, Rumble and all pornography sites are blocked on Russian internet, but people use VPN’s. However, before you think it’s big government remember, the number of sites blocked by Russia is less than the number of Russian web sites and domain IDs blocked by the USA govt.
If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) carries a Russian identifier, about half the USA websites will block it, including President Trump’s Truth Social platform. This happens in cell phone networks and targeted apps also. I find this to be very troublesome, because communication is critical to avoiding conflict. The “West” and Russia are building walls around their internet protocols making it harder for Americans and Russians to talk to each other. I do not think this is good.
♦ Healthcare – Russian healthcare is very cost efficient, and the system of healthcare itself is really cool. This is one element where you could say Russian outcomes easily exceed the USA. Healthcare for the average Russian is free; essentially, socialized medicine paid via taxes. However, yes there is a private sector healthcare system available for those who want to pay for extra stuff.
Dental is a good example to give you an idea of costs. You can get braces in Russia for less than $1,000 (generally $500). Standard dentists visit for cleaning around $20. That cost ratio carries throughout the general healthcare system that is remarkably modern, although if you need a specialized test like a CAT scan ($75), PET scan ($200) or MRI ($100/$150) you need an appointment at a govt institution (although, super-efficient timelines there too).
Within private sector healthcare, I’m told medical tourism used to be a big thing with people traveling to Russia for low-cost high-quality healthcare. I can see why. I went on several visits to healthcare providers, and the in/out efficiency within both the govt and private sector was impressive. You can also purchase just about all prescription medications (except narcotics classed meds) without a prescription at pharmacies (that are seemingly everywhere like convenience stores).
♦ The Russian Federation, at least through the prism of life as an ordinary Russian (generally middle class/worker class), is not really close to the portrayal that we see about it through Western media.
Russia is a beautiful country; it is massive and filled with natural resources. From the landscape beauty and natural resource perspective, it is similar to the United States in many ways, but the USA is better. Culturally, there is a big difference between the USA and Russia, some of the differences may be considered good, some of them not good depending on what point exactly we were discussing.
I can see how a very specific type of rugged individualist person may enjoy living in Russia more than the USA. In a place where you are disconnected from the modern world and far away from the urban city centers; you can do just about anything you want in Russia – yes, even beyond what is possible in the United States. However, on the aggregate, the ordinary life of the average MAGA American is far superior in quality than the ordinary life of the average Russian.
The opportunities to improve your independent life in the USA are present and within reach. Those same opportunities are not easily found as an independent person in Russia.
When the innovative DNA is triggered in a Russian person, they are inherently compelled by disposition and expressive need to leave the federation. That dynamic is the irony you will find buried deep under the surface, and for very obvious reasons it is the one dynamic the Russian government will not discuss.
If you were to ask me what is the “one thing” I think that will culturally change Russia, you just read what I think it will be in that prior paragraph.
Feel free to use this discussion thread as an ‘Ask Me Anything’ about my time visiting Russia, and I will try to answer as best possible.
Love to all….
Edward Snowden gave up his best life when he made his hard choices.
Not counting being Epsteined in prison by Barr, Pompeo and Hitlery, of course.
Snowden is not dead.
potentially, I meant.
What about corruption?
Any info on how corrupt they ate compared to the west?
Food, education, finance, food, health, media, entertainment, govt in America poison the mind, body and soul. The .Erica way of life kills people and families. And since most are struggling people enjoy seeing others worse off as a way to make themselves feel better.
My guy sense says that the replacements are being brought in to steal our life. For those that avoided elimination via the clot shot or covid hospital death and hysteria,The standard of living will be dropped for Americans continually. I expect they will stealth anything we have and redistribute.
“I expect they will stealth anything we have and redistribute.”
They are already doing that!
Very, very interesting read. Thank you, Sundance
a. You’re quite right about Vivek Nano Lipid and Blackrock.
b. Your conclusion is daft.
c. Paragraphs are your friend–one of the few.
Married a German women from Munich so spent a fair amount of time in Germany. Stayed away from tourist type establishments so locals places. Every single time I walked in the entire place would stare at me. They knew immediately I was American. Funny example: while using the men’s restroom, a trough, I well, exhaled in relief and said “ahhhh…” every German standing at the trough froze up. Finally one started laughing and said “only Americans talk while they’re pissing.”
Hilarious, a group of us on layover in Aachen got on a bus, it was full, and you could feel the recognition of us as American; actually, it was kind of uncomfortable, you could almost feel the disdain, at least, that was my reaction, but we completed the trip without further ado; BTW, sidewalk urinals are a must.
I was near Aachen, Duran, when the restroom event occurred. I found Germans to be intensely interested in America… I soon found out why: they were constantly looking for a place they could stay during their month long “holiday.”
“…looking for a place they could stay during their month long “holiday…” So true!
Add “for free”.
LOL
In my younger days, my late husband and I, traveled extensively in Europe. We never had to say a word before everywhere we went, they knew we were Americans.
“only Americans talk while they’re pissing.”
Watch Biden carefully during the debate 🙂
Too easy, WORDMAN..
Quick though and LOLOL!!!
Full marks 👍🏻😎
Jill said:
‘Urine trouble now’ 🙂
“I’m dyin’ heahhhhh”
(in best Jersey accent, clutching groinal vicinity)
More giggling
Giggle
What about children in the park? Do they run and laugh and play or are they subdued too?
Children are extremely compliant, well mannered, polite and help old women across the road at random (yes, I watched this several times).
Kind people, caring for their fellow citizen? We could use bit of that in the USA.
Every society has positives it can contribute to others.
It’s the negatives that sometime overshadow the good more than is healthy.
The Russians, and the Chinese, were ruled by monarchs for hundreds, and thousands, of years. The Magna Carta never reached that far from its point of origin. Communism simply replaced one set of monarchs for another. Meanwhile the western governing systems continued to evolve with the US being the most recent major release. FDR believed the US and USSR would become more alike. We are watching that happen even with the USSR defunct. Will we stop becoming the kind of monarchy we see in Russia or China?
Winston Churchill: Mass Effects in Modern Life, 1925:
“The Communist theme aims at universal standardization. The individual becomes a function: the community is alone of interest: mass thoughts dictated and propagated by the rulers are the only thoughts deemed respectable. No one is to think of himself as an immortal spirit, clothed in the flesh, but sovereign, unique, indestructible. No one is to think of himself even as that harmonious integrity of mind, soul and body, which, take it as you will, may claim to be the Lord of Creation. Subhuman goals and ideals are set before these Asiastic millions. The Beehive? No, for there must be no queen and no honey, or at least no honey for others. In Soviet Russia we have a society which seeks to model itself upon the Ant. There is not one single social or economic principle or concept in the philosophy of the Russian Bolshevik which has not been realized, carried into action, and enshrined in immutable laws a million years ago by the White Ant.
But human nature is more intractable than ant-nature. The explosive variations of its phenomena disturb the smooth working out of the laws and forces which have subjugated the White Ant. It is at once the safeguard and the glory of mankind that they are easy to lead and hard to drive. So the Bolsheviks, having attempted by tyranny and by terror to establish the most complete form of mass life and collectivism of which history bears record, have not only lost the distinction of individuals, but have not even made the nationalization of life and industry pay. We have not much to learn from them, except what to avoid.”…….
The Brits aren’t really using the Magna Carta anymore–maybe they could loan it out.
The Good News: it all changes in a day!
Joel 2:
19 He will reply, “See, I am sending you much corn and wine and oil, to fully satisfy your need. No longer will I make you a laughingstock among the nations. 20 I will remove these armies from the north and send them far away; I will turn them back into the parched wastelands where they will die; half shall be driven into the Dead Sea and the rest into the Mediterranean, and then their rotting stench will rise upon the land. The Lord has done a mighty miracle for you.”
21 Fear not, my people; be glad now and rejoice, for he has done amazing things for you. 22 Let the flocks and herds forget their hunger; the pastures will turn green again. The trees will bear their fruit; the fig trees and grapevines will flourish once more. 23 Rejoice, O people of Jerusalem, rejoice in the Lord your God! For the rains he sends are tokens of forgiveness. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as those of spring. 24 The threshing floors will pile high again with wheat, and the presses overflow with olive oil and wine.
25 “And I will give you back the crops the locusts ate!—my great destroying army that I sent against you. 26 Once again you will have all the food you want.
“Praise the Lord, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people experience disaster such as this. 27 And you will know that I am here among my people Israel, and that I alone am the Lord your God. And my people shall never again be dealt a blow like this.
28 “After I have poured out my rains again, I will pour out my Spirit upon all of you! Your sons and daughters will prophesy; your old men will dream dreams, and your young men see visions. 29 And I will pour out my Spirit even on your slaves, men and women alike, 30 and put strange symbols in the earth and sky—blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
Hallelujah!
Winston was also accurately describing the UK, but as an “elite” it never affected him. Its why I left.
The next election will decide.
In Russia about 35% of the population were serfs (and about half of those owned by the state) until emancipation in 1861. Post emancipation created economic and social upheavals that would reverberate through the overthrow and subsequent civil war. Unlike our civil war, now well over 100 years ago, Russian civil war is recent enough to inform memory.
Sundance, not specifically Russia, but related to the economic alignments of yellow / gray zones.
Do you have any thoughts on Norway and Switzerland regarding that alignment?
Norway’s economy is based largely on their oil income. They are not a member of the EU, but are of the EEA. It’s hard for me to see them giving that up for the western anti-oil agenda, but they are obviously located in western Europe.
Similarly Switzerland, strong economy and currency, and a history of walking the line of neutrality, especially in terms of banking.
My thinking is that both these are “western” societies by and large but unlikely to fully buy into the yellow zone economic suicide, but would value your thoughts if you have any.
This is a wonderful post. Thank you.
It also highlights the one huge difference between the United States of America and all other nations – our nation was built upon an experiment, something never done anywhere else in the world, and remains that unique situation.
Our nation is specifically designed for the individual. The men and women who – as a nation – individually want and need to be themselves. So not surprised as the few Russian ex-pats I’ve met that now live here in the US had experienced, on their own, that triggering innovative DNA.
This is why the other nations, and those who are beholden to them, deem it imperative to fundamentally change our nation’s founding rights and responsibilities.
And is why we must succeed in re-establishing our founding principles.
My only question, are you back now? Or is there another episode, China perhaps? It’s very true – keeping communication open is what will see us all through this quagmire.
Well said.
Bessie2003: Yes, America’s founding principles of natural law and individual liberty made us unique in the world. Today’s globalists / communists / socialists / leftists (take your pick) cannot tolerate individualism.
The problem with individualism, though, Bessie, it eventuually leads to how the Book of Judges ended: everyone doing what was right in his own eyes. We see that now. We need a “golden mean” mix of the best from both worlds
Interesting discussion.
I hired a Soviet escapee in 1983 for a factory mechanic job in St. Louis. I always had to stop him from trying to repair a broken part that should have been been replaced with a new one. He had no concept about me paying him $5 dollars an hour to fix a part that cost 50 cents because in Soviet Russia that basically had very few parts and lots of cheap labor and that was all he knew.
Yet here we are, and people are now needed to fix parts.
Yep, my business in the U.S. was keeping things working., particularly in agriculture, so I felt right at home in the FSU where they fixed everything and kept old things for parts. Young people I met there wanted to hear stories about, of all things, my diesel pickup and camper and racing car.
That diesel pickup is now a parts vehicle for the twin I currently drive, both now close to 40 years old. Nothing goes to waste. 🙂
Thanks, SD. My US citizen MD wife since ’96 is from Riga (ethnic RU) and we both enjoyed your report here. You have to go there to understand.
BTW: This AM, I just saw a train in New Orleans loaded with USA Green, not ME desert sand tan, military tanks and armored vehicles.
I saw the same loaded trains in NOLA just before Desert Storm and Afghan kicked off.
NOLA is a major world port, so where are these war materials headed? Perhaps to Ukraine, or Poland to start WWIII with RU?
What are the odds, Vegas?
Team Preezy Demented badly needs an excuse now to prevent their coming blow out election loss in Nov,… is WWIII their plan?
Buckle up!
What if they gave a war and nobody came?
There’s a reason youth is the fodder of war; youthful ignorance.
Yes, I saw something similar before the 2nd Iraq War. … A train load of M1 Abrams tanks coming down out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Nevada. [Must have been at least 50 tanks on the flatbed cars.] … There is a big ship port in Oakland CA, and in Fairfield, CA a major US Air Force base (Travis).
As a safety ‘Nanny’ recommendation: Buy a supply of food you ordinarily eat and can be stored in a pantry. … The trains and trucks travel set routes to the processing plants and supermarkets. … Mountain passes and major river crossings are vulnerable military targets. … Many of the 10 million illegal aliens brought into our country by Joe Biden’s cronies are military aged men.
If nothing detrimental to the USA happens, the basic grub food supply just becomes a supply of food which is ordinarily eaten. … [Probably a person will save money, on the supply of food in the pantry, due to skyrocketing inflation.]
EggXactly,…. got a couple of 50 lb bags of red beans, rice and and also canned Spam safely stored, just in case. Red beans/rice have kept South Louisiana alive as its staple food for the past 300 years. Tabasco sauce helps, as well. “Happy Trails!”
It takes a >big man to handle a 50 pound sack of beans or rice, and pour out the right portion. A wise women most likely invented the handy scoop for preparing food. … Plus, >tough taste buds are required for flavoring food with Tabasco sauce.
I too have seen huge cargo ships being loaded to the gills with MRAP’s, Humvees and various other military vehicles in Charleston SC. I was told they were being “staged” but nobody knows what for.
I told my coworkers that we’re already in another war, they just haven’t told us yet. They chuckled and I told them, “Just wait, you’ll see.”
The fools running our country want and need a war, so they’re going to force one.
Hmmm,… they’re terribly desperate now and if nothing changes, Trump will be #47,… so will we get a Marxist Dims’ Bird Flu Scamdemic or WWIII in Eastern EU prior to 11/5/’24? Take your pick.
The Western financial sanction regime against Russia has driven the Russian economy into a very close relationship with China, South Korea and larger Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN).
In other words, they are working exactly as Barack Obankster’s Owners intended–designed to harm America, not hinder Russia.
compare/contrast Singapore [multi-ethnic-lingual]
it seems as if Russia is lacking our urban minorities. We had a very happy Juneteenth Holiday. S/
The oppressive life of apartment dwellers Sundance described reminds me of what we experienced living in Switzerland.
Saw that USSR built apt life in Riga, Latvia 26 years ago and while the apt dwellers there thought it was Great and bragged about it,… it was definitely not appealing to this Individual raised in a single family house in the Deep South, Gulf Coast USA.
No, I never told any of them.. not polite.
“Juneteenth” is still a redundancy from the illiterate.
I refuse to ever use that illiterate term.
After reading about several shootings, nationwide, during these heavily promoted events, it occurred to me that attending such an event is analogous to driving down that well known boulevard in any major city, MLK Blvd.
I grew up in a city of 110,000 people (Allentown, PA – which, believe it or not, is the third largest city in the Commonwealth by population behind Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). During the MLK Day federal holiday craze, the city government renamed Lawrence Street as Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in 1992. Other than a gated luxury and a small HUD apartment complex, MLK Drive runs along a couple of parks. Probably an exception not the rule as far as streets named for MLK go in the U.S.
thankfully it’s passed, so we don’t need to hear about it for a year
I shall preface this first by saying that I am currently in the EU, and it is not unusual to find checkpoints on the roads here, asking for your ‘papers’.
That being said, I have a question about this: “The problem for the Russian government is the generational compliance system does not create forward-thinking, independent thinking or entrepreneurship at the scale needed (western scale) to rapidly advance modern society or keep up with technological changes and advancements. The DNA of Russia is static, lacking innovation and built on this system of compliance.”
The situation that we are seeing in, for example, Ukraine, where Russian innovation in weapons manufacture over the past few years, vs the US manufacture of high priced, ‘luxury’ weapons that are totally ineffective in the Ukrainian conflict, would seem to belie the idea that there is no ‘forward thinking entrepreneurship in Russia.
Instead, it would appear, at least in that context, that US entrepreneurship brings forth fancy, shiny and undependable ‘Mercedes Benz’ type inventions, whereas the Russians build practical, dependable Toyotas. ???
Not quite. Russians are good at engineering quick fixes for current problems. What southerners would call “afro-engineering” is commonplace.
Give a Russian a bucket of old bits and some duct tape and they will fix something. In the mud of a military conflict you can imagine the benefits to such practical approaches. However, in the longer term of economic constructs (outside military application) the low-tech solution is not consumer friendly.
When discussing innovation, it is best not to compare consumer goods or applications, to military goods or applications.
Low tech Russian military goods have benefits in Ukraine. Low tech consumer goods…. notsomuch. See the distinction?
The U.S. military is quickly redeploying low cost, low tech, systems to the battlefield in Ukraine. It will be a battle of attrition.
Part of the US goal is to bankrupt Russia. More than likely the Ukraine War will bankrupt us.
We are already bankrupt. Have been for quite some time. Just waiting for everyone to notice and realize it. Then the fertilizer will hit the fan.
It is informative that aerospace engineer Sergei Korolev was retrieved from a gulag, when his epic skill-set was needed for the nascent Cold War arms race. Father of the Soviet space program.
True SD except for a few Russian “innovations “. I worked on the trans Alaska pipeline project; became a registered professional engineer there; and learned much about building in permafrost. Russians had been building successful hydroelectric power projects in ice-rich permafrost areas for decades. Nominal thickness of permafrost on the North Slope of Alaska is 2,000 feet to place in perspective.
Hard to square it all. I watched a documentary on Murmansk. Successfully attracting more folks to come live there and work in the energy and mineral extraction industry, they found they outstripped the coal power plant capacity. Solution – cargo ship fitted with a nuclear power plant. My thought was nothing this is done in America anymore.
There are other examples of what I perceive Russia taking bold steps that drive innovation. If my observation is correct, that innovative thinking is making its way to Russia – look out. All they’ll need is people.
Perhaps Boeing should locate a plant in Russia.
Russians have developed hypersonic missiles and used them on Ukraine. The US has nothing comparable in terms of offensive missile technology. The American Patriot anti-missile system is incapable of dealing with them and that is why this winter in Ukraine will be very cold and dark.
The Kinzhal (Kh-47M2) is an air-launched missile capable of carrying low-yield (between 5kt and 50kt) nuclear warheads. The missile itself is capable of traveling at Mach 10 with a range of 2,000 kilometers. Its cost is estimated at USD 10 million each.
The Zircon (3M22) is another Russian hypersonic missile capable of traveling at Mach 9 with a range of 1,000 kilometers, able to carry nuclear warheads and can be submarine launched. Its cost is estimated at USD 10 million each.
As a point of reference, a Patriot anti-missile battery costs $1 billion ($1,000 million) and each individual missile costs $10 million. And the Patriot has proven incapable of stopping the Kinzhal in battle over Ukraine regardless of how many of the $10 million Patriot missiles are fired at a single $10 million Kinzhal. Do the math.
While the US military was promoting LGBTQ+ horrors like “Admiral” “Rachel” Levine, Russia moved far beyond the US in terms of advanced technology which is effective on the battlefield and economical to produce.
Russia will achieve the aims of Putin’s SMO and the US will abandon Ukraine in just the same manner as we abandoned Afghanistan. Nothing accomplished other than the printing of a trillion USD, the destruction of the value of the USD, the creation of a solid military alliance between Russian and China and the deaths of 500,000 poor Ukrainians.
Why would anyone expect anything other than such a colossal disaster from an idiot like “President” Biden?
“asking for ‘your papers'”
YOUR papers.
But obviously not the papers of “culture enrichers” who are considered superior to the native born populations of the various EU countries whose lunatic governments have bent the knee to rapidly reproducing people whose whole purpose is to overwhelm then subjugate and rule.
But as it is racist, hateful,and prosecutable to draw attention to this, I will leave it there…
Stodgy plodding can still develop efficiencies and improvements. They occur happenstance and slowly, but they occur.
Innovation in the western sense is wholesale departures and evolution, which can sometimes make leaps in efficiency or utility, but also can come with the latent Achilles heel that the stodgy solution kept at bay. Call it “getting out over your skis.”
Thanks for the great travelogue on Russia.
The forward thinking, communist, democrat / GOPe party members, who read it, will feel like they have a place to escape to and hide out from the hangman’s noose here in the USA.
After all, after 11/5/24, that russian nuclear sub off of the Florida coast won’t hold but a few of the future evacuated, senior, communist, democrat / GOPe leaders.
“Let’s go Brandon and the democrats and the GOPe!”
Maybe, Cactus. But the legacy of the battle of Hue (1968) may help to clarify the value commies (et al) place on useful idiots, after their usefulness expires. Yuri Bezmenov discussed this issue in context.
I’ve just learned that term
“ going grey” in my search for how not to trigger my
Paranoid liberal daughter.
I’m a creative happy Christian who loves colors and freedom. But every innocent behavior makes her livid. So I am going grey outwardly but living my best life privately.
That’s the genius of Pres. Trump; to promote law and order but don’t be afraid to do something in a different way.
That’s what we need to thrive
deleted – off topic
“But every innocent behavior makes her livid.”
You gave her life, and if that is her attitude toward you, you need give no more of yourself.
Thank you for this fascinating essay.
I am amazed by the sheer amount of beauty that Russia has produced over the centuries in Literature, Music, Ballet, Architecture…
Please share your thoughts about the contributions of the US and Europe to the Bolshevik takeover of Russia.
Also, how the crimes against Tsar Nicholas II and his family were hidden from us for decades.
After watching the Ukraine war for 2 years, I have come to the conclusion that Ukrainians are, sadly, born-again Russians. We will need to recycle through a generation or two of Ukrainians before we can deal with them as “normal” Westerners, specifically when it comes to corruption and theft. I must say, however, that I’ve been impressed by their innovative instincts, which you just don’t see at all in the Russian population. I wonder what the Esteemed Author thinks of the propagandists like Volyvov who spit and rave and stomp their little feets while threatening to nuke DC / Berlin / London. Neither quiet nor gray. Also, watching Russia media, as well as the whole of East Yurp, it seems like they are *all* determined to re-re-re-fight WW2 over and over again. No concept of just draw a line in history and move on?
You think NATO/USA/EU are OK doing the same thing to Russia? They have denied the right to Ukraine to draw a line, not once, but thrice!
For our Western rulers, it is forever 1938 and Hitler is forever marching into the Sudetenland. Everything which happens in the modern world is viewed through that prism.
They are probably viewing Putin’s SMO against Ukraine as if it were Hilter’s Anschluss with Austria.
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in WWII. That was 32% of all the casualties caused by WWII. 64 times what the US lost in the war.
They were used.
If by “used” you mean to defeat the Nazis in Eastern Europe.
Yes, where human life is cheap, human wave attacks make all kinds of sense…
You mean killed by the German and Nazi “wave attacks” on Russia, of course.
Killed in big part by Stalin and the Soviet leadership’s incompetence. When asked about sending waves of soldiers to be killed by the German meat grinder, Zhukov replied, “The women will bear more.””
Serf is the word. Russians have serf DNA, for at least the last couple thousand years. They will always comply.
So if I have grasped the gist of this most informative post, a great many of Russians are accustomed to being compliant and lawfully within expected parameters. But if the ‘spark’ of innovation begins to burn they will feel a need to escape the smothering compliance. Have you heard of very many that have escaped or desire to escape? Or is it in hushed whispers?
That ‘spark’ has been in the DNA of Americans since the Pilgrims landed to escape for religious freedom. Freedom has been revered in our country (except for the latest generation that have been raised to be compliant and embrace communism).
I hope there will be more parents that decide to return to the WILD American roots and raise positively feral innovative children.
Liqueda: Feral children. I like the idea.
Yeah I raised mine way out in the country where they would disappear for hours exploring but come back when they were hungry, dirty, bug bitten and eager to recount their adventures bringing flowers and sometimes snakes.
I believe the “spark” as you call it (nice terminology, may I borrow?) is a natural and inevitable result of the migration and immigration that built America for our first 200 years. By and large, only those individuals with the “spark” would pack up and move from the comparatively safe & ‘comfortable’ life they knew to bet EVERYTHING on moving to America. Once here, only those with a sufficiently strong “spark” survived to build & raise families.
America, the place, has a history of embracing and driving innovation. Whether it was the brain of Nicola Tesla or Werner Von Braun or any number foreign born geniuses. I have concerns that this is dying a slow but sure death in America. We have vast numbers of foreign technical people, but they are largely technicians, not innovators.
“Everything that exists deserves to perish”
Karl Marx loved the line that comes from the devil character, Mephistopheles, in Goethe’s Faust He repeated it constantly.
You first, Karl.
Ordinary Russians do not want to step out of line.
Thats because as the great article points out they are mostly satisfied living in a russian matrix where they are trapped and don’t know it.
The few that escape the russian gov matrix learn of a different world.
The elites and other people in the USA are also satisfied living in the biden regime matrix and either don’t know it or don’t care. They
are also trapped and controlled.
Think caged vs free range chickens.
I am what would be equated to a free range MAGA President Trump supporter unwilling to live like an average russian.👀🇱🇷
As a musician I am curious as to the current state of music there. Before the war they had some good Rock bands that seem to have disappeared or moved to the US. On a side note, that train video was amazing.
We in the US have, against our will, been placed on a war footing by our DC lords and masters. I do wonder how many people in this country are informed and aware of what is being orchestrated…and why.
And I wonder if the Russian people you speak with intuit that their Motherland is once again in the crosshairs of an enemy which is working overtime to start a hot war which likewise they have not asked for, but seemingly comes closer every day.
God forbid.
The cost in US$ of anything, anywhere outside of the US is a function of the relevant currency exchange rate. Russia may, at present, seem inexpensive to the American tourist, but this is simply because the BIS-headed central banking system is US$-centric. For now.
To compare real prices, the metric should be hours of labor paid at the locally average rate. If easily produced pizza X costs an hour’s labor in Slobovia, and the same easily produced pizza X costs only a half-hour’s labor in Krashistan, irrespective of the currency exchange rate Krashistanians have a higher material standard of living than do Slobovians.
Also, the glass walls and ceilings exist pretty much everywhere in the world, not just in Russia. During much of its history, America (+Canada) has indeed been uniquely fertile soil for innovative minds, and, for much of its population, an extravagantly comfortable place to live.
your choice of pizza as an example brings to mind a truism about US manufacturing or lack thereof
“America doesn’t MAKE anything anymore … America makes pizzas and pole dancers”
Artificially inflated energy costs. Thanx, Dhimmicrats.
Yes, while I found everything from housing to food to services (I had a full-time driver and interpreter) were inexpensive to me, they weren’t otherwise. Local income was very low, in general.
Forex, at that time my girlfriend, who worked as a trauma doctor at the local hospital and had been in the Soviet military as same, made about 150 USD a month in Hryvnia. At that time, my typical income a month (profit from my business) was 50 times that. Still, she lived very comfortably. She helped her adult daughter and her husband and granddaughter, and was raising a teenage daughter herself.
One simple way I could tell? When they (she and her daughter) smiled. Her daughter had braces and both had near perfect teeth. That was somewhat remarkable for that time period, as dental care, particularly like braces for kids, was a luxury for many.
Do you have an opinion of Russia’s judicial system, say punishments for offenses like DWIs? As mentioned in your piece, there seems to be a fair amount of alcohol consumption so unless there’s some cultural restrictions in driving while intoxicated, this has to be a common offense.
Thanx much for this, SD. As a Cold War vet with some Russian ancestry (but no travel in Russia), a few thoughts come to mind:
1 – I always heard/saw “motherland” vs. “fatherland.” An irrelevant fine point? Or does that reflect a subtle change here?
2 – “…the government likes the domineering social compliance aspect, so they face recruitment problems.” This one goes all the way back through the Czars, which is why Great Grampa was recruited as a German engineer, to help build the Trans-Siberian railway, etc. The Czar paid them very well in stocks, on the Moscow stock exchange…guess how that worked out.
3 – Former correspondent David Satter does excellent work (q.v.), following up the cultural legacy of The Dark Side, commie and pre-commie; maybe to a fault. That’s still there (pervasive?) and informs the quiescent behavior of Ivan Q. Public that you observed in both metropolitan and rural venues. Looks like the Soviet era expression ‘Czars-with-cars’ still applies. Interesting parallels emerging in the DC Beltway kultur.
Loved the train video, too!
While my Russian was poor, my interpreter usually used the term ‘mother’ in relation to the country. Even though my girlfriend was Ukrainian, my interpreter Tanya was Russian and was working for the government and oil companies so we often worked together since my work life had been in oil and gas in the U.S. and I could help her with technical translation.
Other than people having a marked aversion to the police, day to day I didn’t see fear of government, though that was early after Communism ended. People lived their lives though I will admit they were far more reserved in public than I was used to in the U.S.
Train story? Private train rooms were inexpensive for we westerners. I could buy a whole room (typically for 2-4 people) for 50 bucks on an overnight train. On one trip I’d had ice cream the evening before and woke up with a spate of Stalin’s revenge (diarrhea) and needed to use the common toilet in the car. I had my own TP (knew that drill) but was shocked to lift the lid and see the railroad ties rushing by in the cold January night. Oh, well, adapt and overcome 👍
Many thanks for an inside view we Americans are unlikely to find anywhere else … and some remarkable photography as well.
Would I be correct in thinking that Russia might hold some appeal for 75 y/o white folks on the verge of old-age-related health issues?
Can an immigrant keep his/her own financial assets upon issuance of a longterm visa or residency permit? Or must one’s assets be turned over to Dear Father for safekeeping?
Sundance … very interesting experience! The cost of goods/housing is so low. Do you have any info on Russian career paths/skill & wages in comparison to Russian cost of living? Is there a middle class?? In our US economy, who compares to the oligarchs … our “billionaires”??
How about schools. Here in TN we have about 30% of the kids doing math and reading at grade level. We have thousands of kids that go to college and learn nothing useful. Does Russia use the exam system like China to pick the people that go on to higher education. Can a poor Russian who is smart go to a great school?
Very thoughtful piece based on first hand experience
Centuries of history, much of it tragic, really set the foundation of the collective mindset. North America has nothing that comes close. Hence the ‘new world’ was able to evolve along different paths. A relative tabula rasa.
Just imagine what America would be like after centuries of devastating wars and revolutions on it’s soil.
Question: Even though you were with friends, how safe did you feel being there (aside from the airport slight “detention”)?
Wow, love this.
Funny what you say about the lack of innovation. When I first went to Russia almost 30 years ago, my biggest general takeaway was “I will never fear Russian technology.”
What struck me back in the early-mid 90’s was the Slavic resolve. Tough people. Survivors. I grew to respect them, the average Russian/Ukrainian. I came to understand why the Nazis feared them.
My driver took me out to the local airfield outside Odesa to proudly show me what he said was his personal plane, which looked a lot like a Cessna 152. He said he’d been a pilot in the Soviet Air Force, from what my mediocre Russian could make of things. He did look military. He had that countenance. He definitely didn’t fear the police. When we’d get stopped he’d show them a card and they’d send us on our way without question.
He took me through the catacombs outside Odesa that had been used during past wars. I wonder if they’ve been used again during the latest conflict. He told me there were miles of them. The part I saw was a museum at the time.
Russian tech is often crude by our standards but in practiced hands it works. I found that methodology to work well in my work life servicing agriculture in the U.S. at the time. Ironically many of my customers were Russians (farmers).
So what, exactly, is the US innovating these days?
I mean besides online influencers which seems our biggest of late.
Thank you, Sundance!
What is quite striking is the lack of graffiti and trash, the maintenance and cleanliness. You could just sit on a park bench that would be clean and just enjoy the view.
Although one can go to the dentist on a weekend and things like that – on the other hand, one could go to church and worship in a beautifully restored church, that President Putin has done so much in that regard. He brought back St. Petersburg, as I understand.
If they are asking for papers, surely they will ask Victoria Nuland for her papers and proceed accordingly (ask her to please leave).
So, if you DID live out in the “toolies” and had a farm, you could be eking out a good life, a peaceful life, not afraid of people coming over the border and onto your land, raping your wife and daughters and stealing everything in sight and if the government wouldn’t be telling you that you would have to not water your crops from your own wells, I would consider that a definite plus for the Fatherland!
if the government wouldn’t be telling you that you COULD NOT water your crops from your own wells, I would consider that a definite plus for the Fatherland!
Crow777 has stated on his podcast, more than once, that “Father” does not allow Microwave Ovens in the Fatherland. Sometimes when I am warming something in ours I think about that.
I do not believe this is true. I see microwave ovens in convenience stores within Russia and there was one in my apartment. Everyone has a microwave, I think.
My apologies!
Not having been there nor talking to anyone else who had, I took the word of Crow777 as true without researching it. I should have followed the disclaimer I normally included with most information that I share; “Nullius in Verba”, On The Word of No Man.
Sorry about that!
Thanks for the true facts!
Yes, my apartment in Odesa had one and that was in the early-mid 90’s. My girlfriend didn’t have one but she was an older traditional Russian woman who cooked on a gas or wood stove.
As an homage to microwaves of the past, I heated some water this morning for tea in the Panasonic I bought new for my first house in 1984. It’s 40 this year and still works fine 🙂
Lived and worked in a Siberian coal mine for 6 months in 1983.
It was “Mother Russia”.
Beautiful pictures! Some of them reminded me of parts of Oregon.
But no amount of beauty can replace freedom.
As I’m in Brazil now, I just say, there’s no place like the USA! It’s worth the fighting for our country (yes, I was born in Brazil, but the US is my country of choice.)
Haven’t been to Russia (on my list) but many similarities to S Korea in terms of an orderly well behaved society.
Very interesting article and thanks for writing.
Fantastic perspective. I’ll have to read it a few times. Very non pretending and original.
Sundance, you ever see anyone fly fishing? Or is that just for the elites? How about insect activity on the water? Ever see what we call a reverse snowfall? That being insect emerging from the water and going skyward en mass? Just curious.
In the Summer of 1967, at the age of 14, I visited Hungary and the old Hungarian section of Romania. I still remember very clearly the “greyness” of everything from the people, the miniscule stores, the clothes, the buildings, even the opaque plastic bags of candy bought at one of the many tobacco shops.
The next time I visied was in 2015, and OMG what a difference it was! Everything was colorful, some stores were huge, one named Tesco, I belive from England, and they were selling everything.
As a side note, in my astonishment I told my cousin my amazment that everything in the world was available to purchase, not like in the years of the commies. Her response opened my eyes, “one can buy anything when one has the money”. Her family was poor.
Anyway, a lot of what SD wrote about in Moscow was the same in Hungary, especially in Budapest. Communism is grey and depressing. Capitalism is colorful and, yes, the freedom with “spontaneous playfulness.”
I always applauded when our airplane landed at LAX.
Interesting discussion. You mention the average Russian as it regards Fatherland and sticking to what could be called standard norms. Russia itself is made up of many many cultures in it’s (I think 13 times zones). Some very European in nature and culture (stuff we are kind of familiar with). But there are some very Asian areas, of course some probable Islam leaning areas. Some very strong and “proud” ancient cultures. Did you get out into these far flung areas that aren’t very European in nature? Areas where you would probably be the only “white” person there? How do those cultures deal with the “Fatherland” aspect?
That would be a very interesting discussion. Myself, I saw marked differences from relatively near distances like Moscow to Kyiv or Odesa to Lvov. The one regret I have was never riding the train out to the east, what’s known as the Trans-Siberian. I rode the regional trains as far as Omsk but that was it and never visited the ‘Stans.
I’d be curious to see how it is now. I was surprised how diverse things were even only shortly after the end of Communism, both culturally and generationally.
Due to two very dishonest men I was forced to retire; make that; Blocked from Obtaining any Sort of Employment Before I was Ready for Retirement; so not having discretionary funds for movies that I would like to watch, I try to find them free online.
One of the first ones, which was one recommended by Doctor Larry Arnn, President of Hillsdale College, was a 1972 movie titled; “Young Winston”, which is about Winston Churchill from his childhood days until his young adult years.
The only free source I could find it on was the Ok.Ru website. At the time I did not question what the website was. Later on I heard about another movie about Winston Churchill that I wanted to watch titled; “Churchill’s Secret” and again Ok.Ru was the only website where it was free.
It was not until I searched for and found for free on the Ok.Ru website the movie titled; “The Vernon Johns Story” (Starring James Earl Jones) that I started doing research on the Ok.Ru website. Come to find out the “Ok” part of the Ok.Ru website stands for a Russian social media website, and of course the “Ru” portion of the Ok.Ru website is the Country Name, i.e., Russia.
Now that struck me as extremely odd that American websites wanted to charge me money to watch movies whose Copyright is mostly expired, but a Russian website allowed me to watch movies about Winston Churchill, who was Anti-Soviet Union, and Vernon John who was a devout Christian for Free!
Since then I have found; “Arlington Road”, Full Metal Jacket”, and “Giant” for free on Ok.Ru. All of which are old American movies dealing with subjects that you would think that “Father” would not necessarily want me, as an American, nor any of “his” children to watch.
How Odd!
Excellent and insightful commentary. I have never been to Russia, but have read a lot of Russian literature across different genres, geographies, time periods and political viewpoints. Everything Sundance wrote is reflected in Russian literature, both fiction and non-fiction.
At least 75% of my family backgroud is Russian (geographically, that is, depending on the borders at the time).
If you want to know what Russia is all about without actually going there, read the Russian classics.
You moving?
I’ll ask again, are you planning on moving?
Another question for SD – what is your address?
Good grief.
Compared to my experiences a generation or so ago, the story related sounds pretty similar.
Some examples…
My girlfriend, who was older and a doctor, was very much ‘compliant’ with the government. She actually missed Communism and its perceived security. However, she liked the day to day freedom of the new way. I wrote it off to Communism being all she knew before it ended.
Antithetically, the young people I came to know, particularly in west Ukraine, were quite militant and non-compliant and hated Communism and Russians in general.
The dollar was huge. Living there was ridiculously cheap for me.
The farmer’s markets were epic. I could literally step out the door of my apartment and buy whatever I needed within a short walk. Most people bought what they needed for a day or two; very different than what we did in the U.S. where I lived. Grocery stores were well stocked but prices kept a lot of locals out of them. Cheap for me with western dollars though.
Police were everywhere. Standard MO was dress in black, don’t smile, don’t talk much and don’t speak English. I got stopped frequently when we were driving but my driver had a card he handed to the police and we always were passed; I don’t recall ever ‘showing my papers’, which at the time would’ve been my passport and visa I’d registered with the OVIR.
It’s interesting to read how things have remained the same and/or changed. I spent most of my time away from the big cities. The largest place I stayed was where my girlfriend lived, in Odesa. Her apartment was directly above the then new McDonalds there. We never ate there. She sneered at American ‘fast food’. 🙂
Thanks for sharing everyday life there today.