Search by tag «Life in Russia» 141 results

• Love Shared Apartments Like a Russian

  Being confined to your apartment these days seems like a hard task, but what if you had to share it with a bunch of strangers? Five toilet seats hanging on the wall, five stoves in the kitchen, a kid riding down the hallway and ducking under someone’s drying clothes that look like giant sails. Someone’s soup is bubbling away, and someone’s tending to their orchids. Welcome to the communal apartment - a time capsule and small city behind a single front door.

  04.05.2020

• Don’t Leave the Room, Don’t Make a Mistake and Run: Poems Every Russian Knows

  Did you know that every Russian child spends their 11 years at school memorizing poems (and sometimes even prose excerpts) for literature classes? And while some might look back on these memories in terror, personally, I found the experience to be rather enjoyable. What’s true for most of us, however, is that we still remember quite a few lines and they’re sometimes all that’s needed to find a key to that mysterious Russian soul of ours. 

  28.04.2020

• Speak Like a Russian: Corona-Inspired

  Last time, I promised you to write about safe Russian swear words, which is a fun topic, indeed. However, as I watched everybody get so tense because of COVID-19 and self-isolation, I couldn’t really say what’s safe anymore! “Вот зараза!”, I mumbled as I scrapped yet another list of swear words, and this kind of inspired me to change the topic. But worry not - the swear words are coming next.

  20.04.2020

• This Stay-At-Home Weekend in St. Petersburg: March 21-22, 2020

  Self-isolation doesn't mean getting bored. With St. Petersburg cultural landmarks closed until further notice, we'd like to take you on a no-expenses-needed tour of Russia’s unusual regional museums. Pour yourself that cuppa – and let’s go!

  18.03.2020

• Spend Your Evening at Home Like a Russian

  While there's always a lot to do in St. Petersburg, sometimes it's wise to just stay at home, especially with all this news about coronavirus. While wasting these hours on social networks or watching the next movie are always options, why not make it a device-free experience as well as learn a thing or two about Russian culture?

  05.02.2020

• Speak Like a Russian: On Kvetching And How Things Go Wrong

  Since early December, I’ve been looking forward to see some real winter: sparkling white snow, chilling winds, lucid sunsets. Yet, all we get now are drizzling rain and cold mud. I don’t know about you, but I find this all very frustrating, which made me choose quite a specific topic for this article. Simply put, our today’s words will have to do with kvetching and bad things in general.

  20.01.2020

• Soviet Movies For the Winter Holidays

  Whereas last year we offered you our take on the best internationally known holiday movies, this year let us introduce you to some of our favourite Russian holiday gems, which have shaped our culture and our New Year’s traditions. Enjoy! 

  03.01.2020

• Speak like a Russian: New Year’s Words

  The New Year is almost here, and tomorrow evening will be celebration time. There will be congratulations, speeches and toasts – so let's learn a few basic expressions that’ll help you join in on the fun! 

  30.12.2019

• New Year in Russia: Traditional Foods

  I’m not really a fan of various New Year traditions; I don't like the obligatory exchange of presents, and chopping down live trees just to throw them away in a week’s time doesn’t sound like a good idea, either. Still, there’s one custom that’s sacred to me – and that’s the New Year’s dinner, which is a very special event for almost every Russian. And since you can’t have a meal without food, it is the traditional Russian New Year foods that will be our topic today!

  17.12.2019

• A Quick Getaway to Moscow: the Journey from St. Petersburg

  There are a lot of reasons to travel to Moscow from St. Petersburg and getting there can be a fun adventure in and of itself. For a city 700 km away, it’s surprisingly close. It may not be the geographical center of Russia, but it is its center in every other way. Moscow is the hub of all activity; where meetings and conferences are held; where people come from all around Russia to gather.

  19.11.2019