Cross-Cultural Blog

Hello Bengt, Hannes, Maria, Ronald and David!
It is very nice to meet you.

My name is Alisa Yushchenko. I`m now doing my 4th year of international accounting at Khabarovsk State Academy of Economics and Law (KSAEL).
A native of Russia I grew up in a sunny and snowy city of Khabarovsk from which Japan is twice closer than Moscow. I have been doing MUN since my first year of studies. I am the president of KSAEL Model United Nations club.
I love traveling, enjoy walking, skiing, cycling and watching movies.
I study French and love this language. I have a cat, he is very cute and charming.
A couple of year ago I did photography. You may see some of my works at
http://alisa-londo.photosight.ru

I am very very glad to have an opportunity to meet you. And I am very interested to know Sweden better.

Thank you for your questions. They all are great.

Various sports are popular in our city. A lot of people do Asian marshal arts. I live in the center of the city, close to a big stadium at the bank of the river. A lot of people cycle there, there is also some tennis courts and two football fields.

Far East of Russia is rather different from the European part. It seems to me that some people know more about Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea) than about Western Russia. It is easier to go for a trip to Asia, than to Europe. A lot of people study oriental languages in the region.

I think that Russia is rather conservative country. And untraditional families are not widely practiced here.

We have various student unions. As I have mentioned before I do Model United Nations. At our Academy there are also photography, dance, journalist, poetry and some other unions.

For me Sweden is famous for ABBA. I love its music and believe that it is one of the best bands ever )

Could you please give the names of some modern Swedish musicians?

I have also heard that Sweden is the best country in Europe to start business because it has the lowest corruption level.

Could you please tell your opinion how Sweden has reached and ensures its low corruption rate?

Alisa Yushchenko.

Hi!
It is nice to meet you!
My name is Nadia. I am 18 years old. I am studying and working at Far Eastern university of humanities. In future I am a teacher of information technologies. Unfortunately I have no enough free time. So when I have it I try to spend it with my family and friends.
In our town people do really like sport. So as for me I enjoy playing volleyball. If i want to watch some competitions I will go to the stadium ещ root for our hockey team=) I would like to play tennis, but next year.
Also I know a lot of people who like running.
I think that our part of Russia is really different from western Russia, because we more often connect with such countries as Japan, China. So we accept a part of their culture.
I think that it is OK to make fun of Putin, but we do not want to do it because today politicians are everywhere.
As for me, Shweden is famous for its hockey skiers.=)So I will be really glad if you give me some iformation about the most popular sports in your country!
I am looking forward hearing from you!

I am sorry/ I wanted to say hockey AND skiers..=)

Hi, dear Bengt, Hannes, Maria, Ronald and David!

It's very nice to meet all of you!

I really can't wait to see all of you in a conference and it would be really awesome if we could meet in person!

It's really nice that Swedish students are so eager to communicate and discuss different questions together.

As i understood, you are very friendly and a real team! It refers to other swedish groups too! really enjoy reading your blogs, guys!

Let me try to answer your questions!
- Which sports are the most popular where you live?

It's definitely hokkey, footbal, volleyball, tennis, ice skating!
• How would you describe your relationship which your neighbouring countries?
We have good diplomatic and stable economic relaionships with China, South Korea, Japan and others. There are few disputable questions like Kurils between Russia and Japan..But it doeosn't influence any other realtions. there are lots of students coming from those countries as students and tourists to our town. And also many people go to China, japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and others..
• Do you have interaction with people from other countries? What kind of interaction (outside school)?
me personally, i do because i studied in US for a year! I made lots of friends and not only in US. The are from France, South Korea, Peru and Guatemala. We chat on Skype, msn and facebook!

Btw, my Skype account is elvira_with_arms_wide_open. I will be very glad to talk with you on Skype!
• What is your view on homosexual, bisexual, transsexual and queer people?
I don't mind people having different sexual preferences than most of others. I'm very tolerabt to that! And I'm really for personal right to choose what relationships they want. But as long as it doesn't negatively influence other people!
• What is your view on abortion?
My personal view is that it is a really bad thing but i also can't say that it should be banned!
• Is Absolute Vodka any good compared to Russian vodka?
Well...I don't relly remember how absolute vodka tastes..if i ever tried it...can't remember..maybe it's better to ask smb else..:)
• Is your part of Russia very different from western Russia? How?
It is different! Climate is more humid (and it is not very good), more asian-looking people..But not big differences...
• Is it ok to make fun of Putin?
It is not forbidden of course but he is usually pretty serious and doesn't really say lots of funny things...;)
• Do you have an active student union?
We do have different active students groups. We also have a union of students, but i don't hear a lot about them, so i guess they are not very ative...:)I think small active groups involved in many different activities are more productive and creative!;)
• What do you know about Sweden?
Sweden has a very beautiful nature!Part of Scandinavia! it's a kingdom, member of Europena Union. Famous people: Abba, Roxette, ace of base (i was and still am a fan of thouse singers. "Happy Nation" is just clasic as well as "Listen to your heart"!). I would beso glad to hear more about Sweden!

Best regards,
Elvira Gaifullina
Skype: elvira_with_arms_wide_open
msn: dancer_elvira@hotmail.com

Hello! My name is Dmitry, I study on the 4th year, my majors are Math and Computer science.
Bengt, I do like House MD too! And Hugh Laurie - I like this actor much:)
Answerig the question abot sport I can say I like football much, and I also like wathing rugby matches on the TV, but I don't know anything about this sport in our city. One great sport some people enjoy is rally! We have races in all seasons of a year, that makes it always interesting!

Hi Maria, Ronald, David, Hannes and Bengt!!!! I am glad to meet you. My name is Alice Kandyba. I am studing at the Academy of Economic and Law on the 3rd year. I major in accounting of international business. But to tell the truth I am not sure that it is my future profession. I study English and German and I am fond of foreign languages. I hope that intercultural communication will be the thing, that will connect with my future job and activity.
So....coming to your questions:
1.I am from Komsomolsk on Amur - it is a small town next to Khabarovsk. And It is famous for its mountain-ski lodges. So I think that because of our snowing climat skiing is the most popular sport for us. Personally I was convinced, that it is great to ski this winter!(thanks to my friend):)
2.As far as I know we now have very tight collaboration with Chine, most of all in trade and tourism. It is not difficult and expensive to travell to this country and even people from middle class can afford this.
3.No....Early I had no such opportunity because of absence of internet...But I have always wished to interact with young people from english-speaking countries. (And my wishes are coming true):)
4. My view on all these categories of peoples orientations is very calm and normal. I know that in spite of all restrictions and disapprovals these people will always crowd our society.
5.Being a girl, being a normal girl, who is well aware of the whole situation and possible promlems, that every woman can clash with...I am for approving aborting and its legalization. Women should have right of choice. It is their lives and it is depended from them how to act.
Well...thank you for your interesting questions. I am really enjoy to answer them.))) And I hope to hear from you soon. Bye!:)
Alice Kandyba

Alice_KN@mail.ru

Hi!

My name is Gleb and I'm 3rd year student in Khabarovsk State Academy Of Economics and Law, and I major in international audit.:)

I really like your questions very much, so here are my answers for some of them.

• Which sports are the most popular where you live?

The most popular sports in Russia in the whole, and also in the Far East of Russia are soccer, hokkey, volleyball and basketball, etc. I'm going for volleyball, and sometimes, mountain ski. Also I enjoy tennis very much.

• How would you describe your relationship which your neighbouring countries?

I would say these relationships are very complicated now. Russia has become much more stable country during the last years - both in economy and in politics. That's why I think many countries look at Russia as strong competitor. But the relationships between people of different countries are much easier and warmer. I think that's essential and much stronger than any political or economical competiton.

• Is it ok to make fun of Putin?

It is absolutely appropriate and correct, and we do it:) The latest joke I've heard about him sounds like this: "Does Putin actually know that he is NOT a president anymore?"

• What do you know about Sweden?

Sweden is a well-developed European country. Stockholm is the capital. It has land borders with Finland and Norway, and sea borders with Russia and other European countries through the Baltic Sea. This is what comes first into my head when I hear about Sweden:)

Feel free to ask other questions if you have.

Gleb Scherbina
4gleban@list.ru

P.S. could you recommend me some Swedish rock bands? I'm really crazy about Scandinavian rock music! Thanks:)

Hi, Guys.

I can answer some of your questions since I am from Russia.

• Is Absolute Vodka any good compared to Russian vodka?

Absolute Vodka is good when compared with cheap Russian vodkas, but not when you compare to premium Russian vodka brands, like Russian Standard Platinum.

• Is your part of Russia very different from western Russia? How?
Russia is so huge that many parts are different. Different people, weather, culsture, architecture...

• Is it ok to make fun of Putin?
Sure. You can make fun of Putin or Medvedev. There is more freedom of speach for average person in russia then USA. Putin does not care about little guys.

Privet!

Hello everyone! I am glad to see you and I am looking forward to communicating with you in the conference!
My name is Katya. I am a freshman at our Khabarovsk State Academy of economics and law. I major in international accounting. My native town is Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. It is located on the small island Sakhalin not far from Khabarovsk. It is also known as the biggest city of the biggest island of the biggest country :)
I also will try to answer your questions.
• Which sports are the most popular where you live?
As Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is very snowy in winter the most popular sports here are skating, skiing and snowboarding! I personally like snowboarding most of all. Also I am into swimming and jogging.
• How would you describe your relationship with your neighboring countries?
As the Far East of Russia is close to China, Korea and Japan we have close ties with Asian cultures and develop mutually beneficial relations with them. And what counts is that we support steady contacts not only in politics, economics and business but also develop our cultural ties and interactions. So we try to expand our contacts in all spheres of life.

• What is your view on homosexual, bisexual, transsexual and queer people?
I personally have nothing against people of different sexual orientations. I just don’t care about it. This is there choice and this is their right to be who they are. But what really alarms me is the broad propaganda of these on TV and muss media in general. No doubt it negatively influences children and teenagers. This is a private life of everyone and it shouldn’t be reflected in muss media.

• Is your part of Russia very different from western Russia? How?
Actually each part of Russia has its own unique features. Of course the Far East of Russia differs from western Russia. I think it largely depends on our geographical location. First of all the Far East has different natural conditions. Nowhere else you can find such charming, magnificent and unforgettable nature. Also our territory is very rich in minerals and other natural resources. The Far East is really a granary of Russia. Then the Far East borders on China, Korea and Japan. And of course Asian cultures influence our lifestyles and identities greatly.
• What do you know about Sweden?
Unfortunately I know too little about Sweden. And that is why it is especially interesting for me to participate in our conference and to learn more about this enigmatic country from you. Everything I know about Sweden is that it is famous for its alpine skiing resorts and exotic northern nature. Also I know that it is surrounded by numerous islands.

• Which sports are the most popular where you live? American football, baseball, and basketball
• How would you describe your relationship which your neighbouring countries? Immigration with Mexico is a big issue. There's not much to say about Canada. To a certain extent, the US is isolated geographically in contrast to Europe- so Americans don't think as much about neighborly relationships.
• Do you have interaction with people from other countries? What kind of interaction (outside school)? At school, we have international students. And if it's not the students, a lot of students' parents are immigrants. Stanford also has a great study-abroad program, where students spend a quarter in a foreign country.
• What is your view on homosexual, bisexual, transsexual and queer people?
We live in the Bay Area, so its a very open and accepting community.
• What is your view on abortion? We're pro-choice.
• Is Absolute Vodka any good compared to Russian vodka? We've never had Russian vodka- but Steph thinks not. I (Mai) don't drink.
• Do you have an active student union? Yes, they organize student events, protests, educational events, and more.
• What do you know about Sweden? Not much sadly, other than the video conference we had with the Swedish rhetoric students.

Hi Group 4!

You are such a diverse group and it sounds like fun over there. My name is Danielle, and I'm from Bermuda, a British colony. So to answer some of your questions in relation to Bermuda:

1. The most popular sports are rugby and cricket.

2. Bermuda's relationship with neighbouring countries is odd - practically no one knows we exist or where we are, but we have good business relationships with other nations.

3. I do have a lot of interaction with people from other countries as Bermuda is only 21 square miles and I get island fever very easily so I've traveled all around Europe, Central America, the US, and Canada. I usually travel alone but meet other backpackers and have a lot of fun with everyone.

3. I am completely open with all sexualities - it's natural in my opinion.

4. I believe that abortion is a right that the woman should get the option to.

5. Unfortunately, I don't believe I've ever had true Russian vodka, but Absolute's okay.

Post more! It's great to here from all of you!

Hey guys, this is Bruce from the United States.

*I would say American Football and BAsketball are our favorite sports.
*In terms of international relations, we are pretty sure other countries don't like us that much, however there is no hostility with Canada or Mexico.
• I guess it is not hard to meet people from other countries around here. Most of the interactions occur when going to stores or other places where we happen to interact with others, aside from school.
• I personally don't know how I feel about bisexual and homosexual relations.
• Personally I believe that there are better answers to problems than abortion.
•

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Hello guys! M name is Abot from United States. How does it feel to be attending a rhetoric programme and meeting new people of different culture? I envy you given such opportunity.