From the bloglines

"Before my journey, I believed what most Americans believe: Russia is a borderline, third-world country; its citizens are a skeptical and secretive people who depressingly dramatize their past history, and drink themselves into oblivion at will. The country’s leaders support an aberrant form of socialism that condones violations of human rights and views bribery as the normal course of business. Those that do not fit into the prior categories are either violent spies or vicious gangsters. How do Americans know that truth? Simple. We see these truths in our motion pictures, television shows, and press articles written by reporters who have never seen the inside of an ordinary Russian home!
...surprise, surprise, there is food for all, movie theaters with interesting flicks, coffee shops with mountains of tasty pastries, clean, efficient and beautiful metros, abundant, reasonably-priced taxis and shopping malls with food courts. Russia is now the 6th largest economy in the world. I’m certain less than 1% of 300 million Americans would have ever guessed that. Even worse, I suspect there are Americans who still think Russians stand on lines to obtain the basics of everyday life..."
Read more: One American's view of Russia


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