How Russians imagine themselves abroad

During the so-called “Iron Curtain”, due to the lack of information about life in the Soviet Union, the idea of ​​foreigners about its inhabitants was based on myths of Western propaganda. A quarter of a century has passed since the collapse of the USSR, the borders are open, the Internet allows people from different countries to communicate directly with each other. But it turns out that still the inhabitants of the Western world live in a world of illusions about Russians, and youth are completely too lazy to get to the bottom of the truth.





In the minds of foreigners, the vast expanses of Russia, which they can see on a map or globe, bizarrely connect with the image of the omnipotent Kremlin, eventually giving out something like Red Square in the middle of the taiga.

Dumplings, cabbage soup, borscht, do you think such associations are caused by Russians abroad? But no. Foreigners, as a rule, believe that Russians eat vodka and bite it with caviar. If in a fun company abroad a Russian says that he doesn’t drink, then it will cause general bewilderment, because they believe that for a Russian citizen a couple of liters of strong drink a day is the norm.



In the West, everyone is firmly convinced that the Russians are all mafia-minded people, fortunately, the behavior of the oligarchs who have settled there and their major offspring, as well as the Hollywood “cranberry”, contribute to this.

Abroad, they believe that Russian girls are the most beautiful, however, they are convinced of their accessibility, which is facilitated by the behavior of some residents of the former USSR who travel to Europe and the USA to earn money. At the same time, a Russian girl must wear a fur hat, a fur coat and high boots.



Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played the Soviet policeman in the movie "Red Heat", set the image of a laconic, violent, completely devoid of a sense of humor Russian man. According to the prevailing stereotype, communication with the people among law enforcement officers should begin with a blow of a cast-iron fist in the face.





Thanks to Hollywood, Russia seems to be a place where there is always winter and snow. The fact that in Russia there may also be forty-degree heat cannot be imagined anywhere in Alabama. In the narrow-minded performance of some “red-faced” farmer, Russian children play snowballs all the time, and adults in fur coats by firing from “Kalash” scare the bears away from the parade where Russian missiles are aimed, including those aimed at Alamaba.

The cherry on the cake of idle ideas about the Russians will be the opinion of our extreme conservatism, manifested in a dislike for sexual minorities and a desire to return to Soviet times.