{"id":166,"date":"2008-08-29T04:56:58","date_gmt":"2008-08-29T08:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=166"},"modified":"2014-07-16T18:25:24","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T18:25:24","slug":"is-the-russian-tradition-%c2%ab%d0%b8%d0%b4%d1%82%d0%b8-%d0%b2-%d0%b3%d0%be%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b8%c2%bb-dying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/is-the-russian-tradition-%c2%ab%d0%b8%d0%b4%d1%82%d0%b8-%d0%b2-%d0%b3%d0%be%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b8%c2%bb-dying\/","title":{"rendered":"Is The Russian Tradition \u00ab\u0438\u0434\u0442\u0438 \u0432 \u0433\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438\u00bb Dying?"},"content":{"rendered":"

My last post may or may not have been a little too optimistic [the comparative got me carried away there for a moment], something I intend to make up for today with a more serious post on a gloomier subject. As I have to read my favorite Russian paper<\/a> online these days, I stumbled on an article this morning that made me very sad: \u00ab\u041d\u0435 \u0432\u0441\u0435 \u0434\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u0430\u00bb<\/strong><\/a> [this article has made use of an idiom in the title, which can be translated literally \u2013 \u201cNot everybody is home\u201d<\/em> (as is what I suppose the author of the text was going for) \u2013 or with English idioms of the same kind, such as \u2018nobody\u2019s home\u2019, \u2018not all there\u2019, \u2018to be gone in the upper storey\u2019, \u2018to not have all the horses in the stable\u2019, \u2018not the brightest crayon in the box\u2019, \u2018to be eighteen bob in the pound\u2019 and so forth]. The article is about how the Russian tradition of \u00ab\u0438\u0434\u0442\u0438<\/span> \u0432 \u0433\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0438 (\u043a \u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443<\/span>-\u043d\u0438\u0431\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u044c)\u00bb<\/strong> [visit, pay a visit, go on a visit (to someone)] is dying as Russians are more inclined these days to meet up with friends in coffee shops. To a person like me, who can\u2019t come up with anything I love more than being invited over to someone else\u2019s house (this is perhaps mostly due to my Swedish heritage, where being invited over always includes a complete tour of the home, or often house, including all private spaces) this is nothing but a pure disaster. Especially since the Russian way of \u2018going as a guest\u2019<\/em> includes much more than it generally does in the west \u2013 in Russia when they invite you for a cup of tea, that\u2019s not all they have in mind. What they have in mind may perhaps be a cup of tea, but that\u2019s far from everything there is to it; more likely you\u2019ll be treated to a huge dinner that will stretch out into infinity with many courses and wine and then deserts and coffee and vodka and cucumbers and deeply intriguing conversations on life, death, politics, love and the meaning of it all. The article begins as follows:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The best day of my life so far was a sunny day in October 2005 spent in the small town of \u0422\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0430<\/strong><\/a> [Tara<\/a>, located about six hours north of Omsk in Siberia] where this group of six lovely students took me for a picnic after I visited their university. One of them even invited me to spend the night in her home! I did, and her family has my heart forever after that.<\/div>\n


\n\u0412\u044b \u0437\u0430\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0438\u043b\u0438, \u0447\u0442\u043e \u043c\u044b \u0432\u0441\u0451 \u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u0435 \u0445\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0438\u043c \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0433 \u043a \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0433\u0443<\/span> \u0432 \u0433\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0438?<\/strong> [Have you noticed that we more and more infrequently visit each other (in our homes)?] \u0410 \u0432\u0435\u0434\u044c \u044d<\/span>\u0442\u043e \u2014 \u0441\u0435\u0440\u044c\u0451<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0441\u0434\u0432\u0438\u0433 \u0432 \u0431\u044b\u0442\u043e\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0439 \u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0435, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u044b\u0439 \u043e\u0431\u044f\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e \u0441\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0436\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0430 \u043d\u0430<\/span>\u0448\u0435\u043c \u043d\u0430\u0446\u0438\u043e\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e\u043c \u0445\u0430\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043a\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435:<\/strong> [And this is a serious shift in our everyday culture that surely will have an impact on our national character:] \u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0448\u0435-\u0442\u043e \u044d<\/span>\u0442\u043e \u0431\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u043e \u0438\u0441\u043a\u043b\u044e\u0447\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e \u043c\u043e\u0441\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0441\u043a\u0438\u043c \u044f\u0432\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435\u043c, \u043d\u043e \u0442\u0435\u043f\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u044c \u0438 \u0432 \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0433\u0438<\/span>\u0445 \u043a\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u043f\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0433\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0445 \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0437\u044c\u044f\u043c \u0432\u0441\u0451 \u0447\u0430<\/span>\u0449\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u0437\u043d\u0430\u0447\u0430<\/span>\u044e\u0442 \u0432\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0438 \u0432 \u043a\u0430\u0444\u0435<\/span>. <\/strong>[before it was an exclusively Moscow phenomena, but now also in other big cities people more and more often schedule meetings with friends in coffee shops.]<\/p>\n

The article, though rather long, is very interesting and definetly worth to read. If you can\u2019t master it all, the first few paragraphs might be enough. Further down, it points out how people spend time with each other differently in different countries. In Russia it is uncommon to see older people in bars, for example, whereas in Europe bars are more of meeting places for them than for the \u2018kids\u2019. What\u2019s your opinion? Do you think it would be a disaster if Russians were to rather set a meeting with you in a coffee shop than invite you to their home to meet the kids and the babushka? Or perhaps you have an anecdote from an experience of your own to share with the rest of us?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My last post may or may not have been a little too optimistic [the comparative got me carried away there for a moment], something I intend to make up for today with a more serious post on a gloomier subject. As I have to read my favorite Russian paper online these days, I stumbled on…<\/p>\n

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