Frenchwoman moved to Russia: expectations and reality
Andrea now lives in Kazan, but she came here from France, from a small Norman town. Initially, she did not plan to settle in Russia, but she met her soulmate here and remained in our country.
She arrived in 2016 as part of a commission for which they organized a promotional tour to various cities of Russia. Most of all she liked in Kazan. In our country, she met a guy, because of which she lingered here. Two years later, Andrea married him.
Expectations and Reality
Upon learning that Andrea was going to Russia, her family and friends were not happy about this. They even started to dissuade her. Say, the Russian language is very difficult, and the climate here is too harsh. Of course, she heard the usual set of stereotypes, consisting of
Putin, vodka and bears, but did not take them seriously.
Andrea believes that fear of Russia is based on a lack of information. In addition, the creation of a negative image is facilitated by Western media.
As for the Russian colds and the complexity of the language, everything turned out to be not so problematic.
Indeed, in winter the temperature kept at around 10-15 degrees Celsius, and once even dropped to minus 32. When the girl formed icicles on her eyebrows and eyelashes, she was in mild shock. True, she noticed that if you dress warmly, then the frost is not terrible. Of course, you should be careful not to get sick, but she suffered the Russian winter relatively easily.
And for the study of the Russian language, she showed good abilities. She noticed that our language has approximately the same basis as most European languages. Without noticing that, we use many words borrowed from other languages. In particular, we don’t think that the words “beach”, “nightmare”, “floor”, “garage” are of French origin.
True, some difficulties for the girl were Russian names. For example, she did not understand what was common between Alexander, Sasha and Shura. And why these three dissimilar words are variants of the same name.
What pleases the eye in Russia
Andrea noted that Russia is a very beautiful country, especially with regard to nature. Amazingly, even in densely populated areas, untouched places remained. In Russian forests you can find wild animals - moose, wild boars, hares, bears, wolves, eagles.
In cities, especially ancient ones, you can find buildings built several centuries ago that delight with their beauty and originality.
Another Frenchwoman liked the Moscow metro. It has a very beautiful finish, all around clean and tidy. Yes, and you feel completely safe here. With all of this, our metro metro compares favorably with the subways in many European capitals, including Paris, where Andrea has lived for quite some time.
Frenchwoman about Russians
When the French woman met the parents of her future husband, they met her wholeheartedly. They liked the girl, and, of course, they accepted her as their own.
In general, Andrea sympathizes with the inhabitants of our country. They are very welcoming and friendly. True, they smile a little and do not always apologize if they are pushed in the crowd. But about the same behavior and the Parisians.
The girl noticed that the mentality of young Frenchmen is practically no different from the way of thinking of Russians.
She also drew attention to the fact that representatives of various nationalities live quite comfortably side by side in Russia. The girl believes that tolerance is very developed in our country. True, Andrea noticed that among the topics discussed in conversations between people there is practically no ecology, feminism, as well as homophobia and other types of discrimination.
As for Russian cuisine, she praised the dumplings with sour cream, but could not touch the dried fish, which in Russia is enjoyed with beer.
Our country seemed to her very old-fashioned, and in a good sense of the word. Men in Russia are very gallant. For a Russian to help a woman, even a complete stranger, is completely natural. This occurs at the level of reflexes.
The girl also noticed that the Russians are patriotic and proud of their country, which can not be said about the majority of the French.
She arrived in 2016 as part of a commission for which they organized a promotional tour to various cities of Russia. Most of all she liked in Kazan. In our country, she met a guy, because of which she lingered here. Two years later, Andrea married him.
Expectations and Reality
Upon learning that Andrea was going to Russia, her family and friends were not happy about this. They even started to dissuade her. Say, the Russian language is very difficult, and the climate here is too harsh. Of course, she heard the usual set of stereotypes, consisting of
Putin, vodka and bears, but did not take them seriously.
Andrea believes that fear of Russia is based on a lack of information. In addition, the creation of a negative image is facilitated by Western media.
As for the Russian colds and the complexity of the language, everything turned out to be not so problematic.
Indeed, in winter the temperature kept at around 10-15 degrees Celsius, and once even dropped to minus 32. When the girl formed icicles on her eyebrows and eyelashes, she was in mild shock. True, she noticed that if you dress warmly, then the frost is not terrible. Of course, you should be careful not to get sick, but she suffered the Russian winter relatively easily.
And for the study of the Russian language, she showed good abilities. She noticed that our language has approximately the same basis as most European languages. Without noticing that, we use many words borrowed from other languages. In particular, we don’t think that the words “beach”, “nightmare”, “floor”, “garage” are of French origin.
True, some difficulties for the girl were Russian names. For example, she did not understand what was common between Alexander, Sasha and Shura. And why these three dissimilar words are variants of the same name.
What pleases the eye in Russia
Andrea noted that Russia is a very beautiful country, especially with regard to nature. Amazingly, even in densely populated areas, untouched places remained. In Russian forests you can find wild animals - moose, wild boars, hares, bears, wolves, eagles.
In cities, especially ancient ones, you can find buildings built several centuries ago that delight with their beauty and originality.
Another Frenchwoman liked the Moscow metro. It has a very beautiful finish, all around clean and tidy. Yes, and you feel completely safe here. With all of this, our metro metro compares favorably with the subways in many European capitals, including Paris, where Andrea has lived for quite some time.
Frenchwoman about Russians
When the French woman met the parents of her future husband, they met her wholeheartedly. They liked the girl, and, of course, they accepted her as their own.
In general, Andrea sympathizes with the inhabitants of our country. They are very welcoming and friendly. True, they smile a little and do not always apologize if they are pushed in the crowd. But about the same behavior and the Parisians.
The girl noticed that the mentality of young Frenchmen is practically no different from the way of thinking of Russians.
She also drew attention to the fact that representatives of various nationalities live quite comfortably side by side in Russia. The girl believes that tolerance is very developed in our country. True, Andrea noticed that among the topics discussed in conversations between people there is practically no ecology, feminism, as well as homophobia and other types of discrimination.
As for Russian cuisine, she praised the dumplings with sour cream, but could not touch the dried fish, which in Russia is enjoyed with beer.
Our country seemed to her very old-fashioned, and in a good sense of the word. Men in Russia are very gallant. For a Russian to help a woman, even a complete stranger, is completely natural. This occurs at the level of reflexes.
The girl also noticed that the Russians are patriotic and proud of their country, which can not be said about the majority of the French.
Information