Do you truly love your fiancé???

[Martyshk 137]

Cix, here's the link in English for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Y_and_Other_Shurik%27s_Adventures

[Cixelsyd 1]

The clothing stores in Belarus held American brands pretty dear - several hundred dollars for a pair of Levis. Of course, some things were dirt cheap, some very nice crystal and generally anything made locally was reasonably priced. It does put some perspective to things when you see how careful some are about their shoes and clothes. If I wreck a pair of jeans, no worries at $30, but at $200-300, generally making much less..I would start to get a little OCD about wearing and dirtying them!

The pastries in some cafes are great, and cheap.

I'm hoping for 4-8 weeks on the next visit, but we may be waiting until NOA2. Enjoy your trip back!

I've noticed the names I'm familiar with here are more expensive there. But it's stuff I wouldn't like anyway.

I have found a bunch of brands with English names I've never heard of that I do like though and they're way cheaper.

As for the pastries, I'm indifferent on them. I don't really like sweet stuff in general, but I do like the convenience of being able to walk 20 meters outside the flat/house and finding a shop that sells most everything you would want. It's so nice not to have to jump in my car, just because I want to go grab a couple beers, or something to snack on for the night.

As for the trip, I wish it were closer still have to get through the rest of this visa garbage. Should only be a couple of months out though, which considering the entire ordeal is short in perspective.

And hopefully that is just enough time for me to actually clean this place.

[Cixelsyd 1]

The one you are talking about is a segment of the movie called "Operatsija Y" ("Операция Ы"). The protagonist's name is "Shurik". Played by Alexander Demyanenko.

Those are damn good movies. There's a lot of different titles, but they are not short movies.

"Operatsija Y" consists of segments:

- Shurik at a construction site

- Shurik taking an exam and unwittingly following a girl

- Three dumba$$es trying to rob a warehouse

I think I might be forgetting one though... but yeah, hit me up for the titles, or ask your wife!

Awesome, that's perfect. Can't thank you enough.

Yeah, I know they're not really short movies. I just didn't know how to describe them accurately. They're not 2 hours long or something like traditional Hollywood movies, but they're longer than the average TV show.

The three you mentioned are the only ones I've seen so far, and thought they were great. So far the construction site one is my favorite.

Thanks for the link too. Now I'll have some worth while entertainment to help pass the time

[Martyshk 137]

Glad I could help.

Check this title out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Vasilyevich:_Back_to_the_Future

[Brad and Vika 129]

We accidentally walked into a Fridays in Minsk once - we had no idea, until they brought the menu. That was certainly quite different, even though I only ordered some wings, and I think they gave me perhaps 5. They weren't terrible, but definitely not "right." Usually we're only in Minsk for a pair of days at the start and end of a visit, and it winds up being the time that we dine out the most - in part from being tired from travel, and then the obvious at the end of the trip, where pizza.by occasionally comes into play, as well. Amusingly, my favorite restaurant is Belarusian, and we avoid the few American chains that exist. Even in Minsk, the most expensive meal we had was around $60USD, which included quite a bit - dessert and drinks, as well.

We didn't find real tortillas, really, they were more like a thin bread/wrap, so we improvised a bit. The sauce took quite some time to find, and was in a tiny section of sauces which were "International"..kind of. I forget the name on the hot sauce, it was pretty amusing, but add some fresh red pepper to it, and the end result was "close enough"

I used to know the General Director of the company that owns that Friday's. They also own the Spanish Corner, Planet Sushi, and the cafe' next to Friday's. Spanish Corner used to be where Friday's is now. Russian company - and they do try to bring the cuisine into line with what they perceive to be what he called "slavic taste". His mistress of five years was my ex's best friend from University. Long story

[visaveteran 1]

Funny stuff. Hello kettle, arguing with the pot.

According to you, you are no expert, yet everyone else's opinion is obviously inferior to your own. Next time you attack someone, why not answer your own questions, or explain why the rest of the world needs to survey an entire population, while you do not. No one mentioned Russia as a paradise; every country has issues, our own included. Deal with it.

Oh wait, it's a DISCUSSION forum. People have opinions of their own. I would say you don't have a clue, and it's about more than Russian people. Good luck with that in life, hope it works out for ya.

I have no problem with opinions. And I do appreciate when someone owns their comments, and doesn't represent them as undeniable truth. I reject global statements and sweeping generalizations on subjects the posters are in no positions to legitimately state. Comments like: "Russian people feel such and such." The question is how many Russians do they really know deeply? Unless its a number in the dozens, the comment rings empty and only shows the grandoisity of the poster. In truth, who cares how a few Russians feel? And who can verify the poster knows ANY Russians beyond his girlfriend and her kin.

I don't need your sideways "good luck." And I suggest you distinguish between opinions and truth statements. I will say this grandiose act of portraying an opinion as Gospel truth is a very American act. And it shows the shortcomings of those making them.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

To get a little insight into Western Ukraine, google SS "Galichina" (СС Галичина)

Every vegetable and fruit. Milk (I gotta say though, Organic Milk here tastes just as good, but regular milk......it's not even milk really).

Also meats.

I'm talking quality, not price, since I have no idea what prices are like over there now.

I can give you Alla's opinion FWIW. Bread in the USA is like glue, unless you find a fresh bakery, if it is in a plastic bag...forget it. Fruits here are far superior here, in her opinion and far more selection. She was terribly confused by all the varieties of apples and has finally figured out which are "sweet" and which are "sour". (Apples are big here, so maybe we have more variety than you do) but she truly enjoys the fruit. We go through, no kidding, a BUSHEL basket FULL of fruit each week. Apples, oranges, pears, bananas, plums, tangerines. We buy enough to fill the bushel basket in the kitchen each week and each week we are down to nothing when we go shopping. Alla and the boys each fruit like it is candy (and don;t eat candy, chips, etc.) Alla will eat 4-5 pieces of fruit each dsay while she is at school and her luch is basically a sandwich, 3 pieces of fruit and a piece of cheese. She will eat another 2-3 pieces at home in the evening. Vegetables are basically the same, but "too clean". There should be dirt on potatoes and carrots. Meat here is better and bigger variety IF it is organic, we buy from a local meat butcher that slaughters local animals.

Alla says the same as you about milk. She will actually DRINK sour "real milk" but says "factory milk" is horrible. Won't buy it or drink it. We buy milk from a neighbors farm, fresh off the cow. I actually go up to the barn, fill our 1 gal. pitcher off the holding tank and leave him $4 on the table. We buy eggs from there also. He has an "egg stand" at the road and puts out fresh eggs each day, $3 per dozen. You take what you want and leave the money in the coffee can. Next to the road. No one steals the money, it is Vermont, not Philadelphia. We don't know a damn thing about "brotherly love" but we don't steal what other people work for.

Anything in a can or box is not allowed in this house. Some things in glass jars are OK. Pickles, mayonaise. "Terrible Coca Cola" is not allowed, but I am free to drink or eat anything I want outside the house. She does not want it around to "tempt the children". She prefers to know the chicken that lays her eggs, the cow that gives her milk and the animals she eats, personaly, before eating them.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Please let us know how many Ukrainian radio/TV stations, and Ukrainian language schools exist in Russia vs Russian radio/TV stations, and schooling exist in present day Ukraine. I can't knock Ukrainians that want to reverse the Russification done to them for hundreds of years.

What if the US was invaded, and forced to speak another language other than English ...not to mention tens of thousands of US citizens relocated, or even millions of them starved to death and replaced by ethnic Russians ? Ask a Tartar or Ukrainian Cossack about this.

The US WAS invaded...and forced to speak English. What's the point?

Eastern Ukraine, much of it, was basically uninhabitable and unproductive. The USSR in eastern Ukraine, and many other areas, developed resources and basically built large cities to support them, Donetsk is an excellent example. These areas were vacant, basically. Many of the people that moved in (most) were ehtnic Russians, as is my wife and her family and they speak Russian, big surprise. So what is the problem with a free modern society recognizing their are two languages? Seems to work in Canada. Or maybe there should be NO official language, like here. Why is it OK for people in Western Ukraine to do what you decry as terrible when it was done to them? The USSR forced a lot of things omn many people, that was wrong. The USSR killed and starved people, true. So what? So now a free Ukraine should do the same to some of its citizens? Hogwash. The Russain/Ukrainian language line is more or less diagonal from SW to NE. Odessa, where I lived. is largely Russian speaking, perhaps 70%+, though it is hardly "east Ukraine"

The areas you tell me to ask about, Crimea (Tartars) and Cossacks (central and east Ukraine) are the areas speaking Russian, there are a lot of decendents of Cossacks in Donetsk. There were both "Red" and "White" Cossacks and if you think the "Whites" didn't pull off some horrible atrocities, you are simply uninformed. But that was thewn and this is now. We, in the US, do not forcibly change peoples names, we do not force people named "Roberto" to be called Robert. We do not arbitrarily change a persons name on their passport from "Sean" to "John". Or from Juan to John. This is preposterous. we do not refuse service to people in Vermont because they speak Spanish, you would not be refused service in southern Texas or Arizona for speaking English.

If you ask me, Ukraine spends far too much time trying to stamp out the past, as if it didn't exist, and too much money also. Ukraine was part of the USSR, like it or not. It was, at times, part of Imperial Russia. This is nothing to be ashamed of, it just is. Just as parts of our country were part of Mexico, Spain, France, Britian. What benefit would it be to remove all the French street names in New Orleans? Maybe change the Spanish names of hundreds of cities and towns. No more "San Antonio", by God, it MUST be "St. Anthony" No more "Windsor" Vermont. No more Portsmith, New Hamphire...for that matter, NO MORE NEW HAMPSHIRE! "Hampshire" will do fine, thank you. What the HECK would we call "Illinois" French for the native Illini Indian? (same as Quebecois or Vermontois) OMG! "Vermont" is French vernacular for "Green Mountain" #######!!!!! We have to change that! OMG Vermont was part of France!

This whole thing is the most ridiculous BS I ever witnessed and brought on by a bought and paid for "Orange Revolution" (you DO know it was bought and paid for, correct?)

[mox 298]

I used to know the General Director of the company that owns that Friday's. They also own the Spanish Corner, Planet Sushi, and the cafe' next to Friday's. Spanish Corner used to be where Friday's is now. Russian company - and they do try to bring the cuisine into line with what they perceive to be what he called "slavic taste". His mistress of five years was my ex's best friend from University. Long story

We have time.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Please let us know how many Ukrainian radio/TV stations, and Ukrainian language schools exist in Russia vs Russian radio/TV stations, and schooling exist in present day Ukraine. I can't knock Ukrainians that want to reverse the Russification done to them for hundreds of years.

What if the US was invaded, and forced to speak another language other than English ...not to mention tens of thousands of US citizens relocated, or even millions of them starved to death and replaced by ethnic Russians ? Ask a Tartar or Ukrainian Cossack about this.

And what? I live in the United States. Much more than half of the local radio and TV broadcast stations are French language. So what? I speak both, but if not, there is plemnty of English language on cable. Within an hour's drive of my US home are 2 million French speaking people and perhaps 200,000 English speaking US citizens. So what? Should we block French broadcasts?

What you suggest hapening in the US, DID happen in the US. It is OK with you because you "won". STILL, we do not insist on everyone speaking English and we have no official language, we do not change foreign names to meet some proper English tranliteration. Do you think an Hispanic or two would be offended if when they applied for a passport in the name of "Juan Martinez" they got their passport back with the name changed to "John Martin"? Maybe? Just one or two might not like that? What d'ya think? But it would be OK, because we invaded their country, relocated hundreds of thousands of them and even starved some, so now we can change their names. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Martyshk 137]

Fruits here are far superior here, in her opinion and far more selection.

I might agree with that with exception. Crimean fruits and vegetables were just amazing. I've had some from other places in Ukraine and Russia and it was not even close, so maybe that's why Alla says that. I can see that.

[Brad and Vika 129]

We have time.

Better with beer, and in person.

[mox 298]

Better with beer, and in person.

Ok, I'll hold you to that.

[Martyshk 137]

Ok, I'll hold you to that.

Count me in

[Brad and Vika 129]

Come on down y'all - but not Derby week.