I’m an American who just returned from a one-week vacation in Moscow and St. Petersburg. I am writing this thread less as a data sheet and more as an observation and reflection on the Russian culture and general worldview.
General Observations:
I had no problems getting a Visa or entering the country, even though I’m an American and I’m in the military. When I arrived at the Moscow airport, the customs official didn’t ask me a single question (not even business or pleasure, nothing). He looked at my passport for about 10 seconds, stamped it, and told me “Dostveedanya.” I have had more problems flying into my own country than I had flying into Moscow. This was the first of many pleasant surprises.
My entire trip to Russia was organized by a Russian tour company called “ExploRussia.” I booked an all-inclusive "Winter Adventure" tour which did a great job of showing me the highlights in a relatively short time span. They sent a driver to pick me up, a mildly attractive “daywooshka” (woman) who spoke decent English. Driving in Russia wasn’t quite a third world experience, but it’s definitely more of a free-for-all than what we’re used to in the USA. I was immediately struck by the vehicles I saw on the highway – plenty of decrepit Soviet-era Ladas but also a lot of shiny new BMW’s, Mercedes, and Cadillac SUVs. We definitely passed some shabby-looking areas on the way to the hotel, but nothing particularly horrifying (especially when you consider some of the sights you’ll pass in a lot of inner-cities in the USA).
Talking to my driver was the first real exposure I had to the Russian worldview. As someone who works for a tour agency, she was already well-versed in our stereotypes of Russia. After talking to her (and many subsequent Russians) I definitely picked up on a sense that they feel very misunderstood by the West. She and others asked me to tell all my friends back home that Russia isn’t full of KGB, Kalashnikovs, villains, and drunks. They know that many Americans believe this (and like all stereotypes, it probably exists for a reason), but based on my time there I can confirm that it is not an accurate picture of Russia today. I obviously can’t speak for what it was like 15 years ago or during the USSR period, but during my recent trip Russia struck me as a peaceful and well-functioning country. My tour guides and other Russians I met on the street were very excited that I came to see Russia in-person and to observe first-hand the difference between what we are told about it and what it actually is.
One thing I definitely appreciated was the accessibility of restrooms. This was just like in the USA, but forum members who have traveled to western Europe are probably well-familiar with the way Europeans hide their bathrooms far from public areas, and when you do manage to find them, they charge you as much as 1 euro. In Russia they have adopted the American view.
The Metro system was another pleasant surprise. The subway stations were the nicest I have seen anywhere in the world (to include Asia). They are ornately decorated from the Soviet times, and I never saw the slightest trace of litter, graffiti, homelessness, or the general ghetto-ness that plagues public transportation in the US. I rode the metro system alone late at night and never once felt threatened. It was an excellent location for people-watching, too. I noticed that for the most part the subways were completely quiet (it’s definitely true that Russians don’t make a habit of smiling at strangers or striking up small-talk). They walked around with a sense of purpose which I found pretty unique. Unlike China or Italy, the people weren’t rude in their hastiness (they never pushed or shoved) but they walked very fast even for someone like me with long legs. It was a very different form of motion than the way people lazily shuffle about in Western Europe.
As compared to our own capital, the security apparatus in Moscow was also surprisingly lax. I was very surprised by their politeness in their interactions with the public. There were indeed metal detectors at the entrance to the Red Square, but no one ever groped/frisked me, no one made me take off my shoes (even at the airport), no one dumped out women’s purses or hand-bags, and no one even looked inside the camera bag I was carrying. It’s possible that there was an element of racial profiling (I am white and don’t look like a Muslim) but in any case I was impressed by the respect the police showed to everybody in the middle of the capital on a national holiday. The atmosphere of paranoia that exists around the holidays in the USA and Western Europe (especially now) was non-existent, which brings me to another important point.
There was no semblance anywhere of multi-culti globalist bullshit. Foreigners were definitely welcome, but with the caveat that “this is Russia and you will do as the Russians do.” When you walk around Western Europe you can see the pacification of the people. The only people willing to stand up for their culture and their way of life are the packs of Arab “refugees.” It is easy to imagine Sharia-law and no-go zones existing in Paris, Brussels, and Frankfurt, but not in Russia. You can see in the eyes and on the faces of the Russian people that they are proud of who they are. You can see that this is their home and that they own this place. While I think a lot of reports of “racism” in Russia are overblown, I can definitely imagine that a Muslim immigrant harassing pedestrians or trying to establish Sharia-law zones would be received very differently in Russia than in Europe (an ass-beating is well within the realm of possibility).
I really appreciated the “fuck the world” attitude displayed by the Russians, which was not at all malicious but simply a willingness and confidence to go their own way. They have no desire to conquer the world or to reestablish the Soviet Union, but you can definitely tell they simply don’t care what globalists and western elites tell them they should do. For example, one Russian chick explained to me that a huge controversy had erupted in the West when Vladimir Putin refused to allow the construction of a so-called “Pride House” during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. She (along with her fellow citizens) were dumb-struck that the West could make such a fuss about Russia’s refusal to promote open homosexuality. They simply gave a collective shrug and said “well, that’s not gonna happen.”
I also asked some Russians about “Pussy Riot,” which as we know is celebrated throughout the western media and most recently in the Netflix series “House of Cards.” Everyone I talked to was genuinely surprised that I even knew who they were, but they roundly condemned them as a silly group of degenerates, not to be taken seriously. The reaction was something akin to what a foreigner would get asking an American about their country’s “oppression” of the Westboro Baptist Church -- eye-rolls and WTFs.
New Year’s Eve in Moscow:
I picked up a lovely Russian girl at a bar the night before New Year’s, and she agreed to be my NYE date. Before going out to meet her, I checked cnn.com on my phone to see what the rest of the world was up to. In Munich (where I had close friends celebrating) the main train station had been evacuated due to a “credible threat” of terror. In Paris, fireworks and mass-gatherings on the Champs- Elysées had been cancelled due to an unspecified threat of terror. Thousands of military and police were patrolling with flak vests and automatic weapons. In Brussels, it was the same story. I smiled as I gazed upon the festive streets of Moscow. The story couldn’t have been more different.
After a short Metro ride with my Russian date, we popped above ground at a large ice-skating park near the Red Square. It wasn’t your typical oval track: Frozen ice-paths snaked throughout the park with hundreds (maybe a thousand) skaters gliding all throughout. Christmas decorations and colored lights were plastered everywhere, and a huge screen had been stood up to broadcast the events from Red Square live. I held hands with my date as we skated through the park and enjoyed the Christmas music (a selection of Russian and American hits). About 10 minutes before midnight, the music was interrupted by a regal-sounding trumpet tune. People stopped skating and turned their attention to the screen. My date interpreted the large captions on the screen:
“A message from the President of the Russian Federation.”
The whole park cheered wildly as Putin took the stage (you can watch his speech in English here):
My date translated most of it to me, and I was amazed at the level of respect people showed for Putin. In a park with hundreds (maybe thousands) of people, you could hear a pen drop on the ice while he spoke. The silence was maintained at the end of the speech, as the Kremlin clock immediately began the countdown to midnight. Instead of shouting and cheering (like Americans), there was dead silence in the last 10 seconds of 2015. My date later explained that this is a Russian tradition: As the clock goes through all 12 gongs, you are supposed to meditate upon your closing year and make a wish for the coming one. As soon as the clock struck 12, the silence was broken and the whole park erupted in cheers. A large Russian flag appeared waving on the screen, and a bold rendition of the Russian National Anthem played loudly in conjunction with the first volley of fireworks (I recommend a quick listen to give you a feel for the moment):
A camera-boom panned over the crowd as my date and I locked lips to consummate the New Year. I had never experienced a New Year’s Eve that awesome in my entire life, and I don’t know how I could possibly top it. It absolutely exceeded my wildest imagination, and it certainly topped my friends’ NYE in Munich (they were being shuffled around the streets by heavily-armed riot police responding to the “credible terror threat”). At least they weren’t in Cologne…
Closing Thoughts:
Materially Russia is catching up fast to the West while still managing to filter out most of the degeneracy and multi-culturalism. Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays, even a chicken restaurant called “Los Pollos” (if you’re a “Breaking Bad” fan, I shit you not, this is real…) have made major inroads in the Russian market. The respect for their culture, their traditions, and their nation was deeply impressive to me. I have long wondered if there exists any holdout in this world (outside of the Islamic world) from the ever-expanding march of cultural Marxism and its associated degeneracy. Incredibly and ironically, I found that Russia is indeed such a holdout. Perhaps it’s because they already suffered under Marxist delusions and now they know better, I don’t know. I could fill an entirely new thread with some of the political discussions I had with Russians, but I’ll save that for another day. In the meantime, suffice it to say that I HIGHLY recommend a pilgrimage to Moscow for any Red-Pill thinker who wishes to bask in an atmosphere of independent thought, cultural confidence, feminine women, and traditional mores.
General Observations:
I had no problems getting a Visa or entering the country, even though I’m an American and I’m in the military. When I arrived at the Moscow airport, the customs official didn’t ask me a single question (not even business or pleasure, nothing). He looked at my passport for about 10 seconds, stamped it, and told me “Dostveedanya.” I have had more problems flying into my own country than I had flying into Moscow. This was the first of many pleasant surprises.
My entire trip to Russia was organized by a Russian tour company called “ExploRussia.” I booked an all-inclusive "Winter Adventure" tour which did a great job of showing me the highlights in a relatively short time span. They sent a driver to pick me up, a mildly attractive “daywooshka” (woman) who spoke decent English. Driving in Russia wasn’t quite a third world experience, but it’s definitely more of a free-for-all than what we’re used to in the USA. I was immediately struck by the vehicles I saw on the highway – plenty of decrepit Soviet-era Ladas but also a lot of shiny new BMW’s, Mercedes, and Cadillac SUVs. We definitely passed some shabby-looking areas on the way to the hotel, but nothing particularly horrifying (especially when you consider some of the sights you’ll pass in a lot of inner-cities in the USA).
Talking to my driver was the first real exposure I had to the Russian worldview. As someone who works for a tour agency, she was already well-versed in our stereotypes of Russia. After talking to her (and many subsequent Russians) I definitely picked up on a sense that they feel very misunderstood by the West. She and others asked me to tell all my friends back home that Russia isn’t full of KGB, Kalashnikovs, villains, and drunks. They know that many Americans believe this (and like all stereotypes, it probably exists for a reason), but based on my time there I can confirm that it is not an accurate picture of Russia today. I obviously can’t speak for what it was like 15 years ago or during the USSR period, but during my recent trip Russia struck me as a peaceful and well-functioning country. My tour guides and other Russians I met on the street were very excited that I came to see Russia in-person and to observe first-hand the difference between what we are told about it and what it actually is.
One thing I definitely appreciated was the accessibility of restrooms. This was just like in the USA, but forum members who have traveled to western Europe are probably well-familiar with the way Europeans hide their bathrooms far from public areas, and when you do manage to find them, they charge you as much as 1 euro. In Russia they have adopted the American view.
The Metro system was another pleasant surprise. The subway stations were the nicest I have seen anywhere in the world (to include Asia). They are ornately decorated from the Soviet times, and I never saw the slightest trace of litter, graffiti, homelessness, or the general ghetto-ness that plagues public transportation in the US. I rode the metro system alone late at night and never once felt threatened. It was an excellent location for people-watching, too. I noticed that for the most part the subways were completely quiet (it’s definitely true that Russians don’t make a habit of smiling at strangers or striking up small-talk). They walked around with a sense of purpose which I found pretty unique. Unlike China or Italy, the people weren’t rude in their hastiness (they never pushed or shoved) but they walked very fast even for someone like me with long legs. It was a very different form of motion than the way people lazily shuffle about in Western Europe.
As compared to our own capital, the security apparatus in Moscow was also surprisingly lax. I was very surprised by their politeness in their interactions with the public. There were indeed metal detectors at the entrance to the Red Square, but no one ever groped/frisked me, no one made me take off my shoes (even at the airport), no one dumped out women’s purses or hand-bags, and no one even looked inside the camera bag I was carrying. It’s possible that there was an element of racial profiling (I am white and don’t look like a Muslim) but in any case I was impressed by the respect the police showed to everybody in the middle of the capital on a national holiday. The atmosphere of paranoia that exists around the holidays in the USA and Western Europe (especially now) was non-existent, which brings me to another important point.
There was no semblance anywhere of multi-culti globalist bullshit. Foreigners were definitely welcome, but with the caveat that “this is Russia and you will do as the Russians do.” When you walk around Western Europe you can see the pacification of the people. The only people willing to stand up for their culture and their way of life are the packs of Arab “refugees.” It is easy to imagine Sharia-law and no-go zones existing in Paris, Brussels, and Frankfurt, but not in Russia. You can see in the eyes and on the faces of the Russian people that they are proud of who they are. You can see that this is their home and that they own this place. While I think a lot of reports of “racism” in Russia are overblown, I can definitely imagine that a Muslim immigrant harassing pedestrians or trying to establish Sharia-law zones would be received very differently in Russia than in Europe (an ass-beating is well within the realm of possibility).
I really appreciated the “fuck the world” attitude displayed by the Russians, which was not at all malicious but simply a willingness and confidence to go their own way. They have no desire to conquer the world or to reestablish the Soviet Union, but you can definitely tell they simply don’t care what globalists and western elites tell them they should do. For example, one Russian chick explained to me that a huge controversy had erupted in the West when Vladimir Putin refused to allow the construction of a so-called “Pride House” during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. She (along with her fellow citizens) were dumb-struck that the West could make such a fuss about Russia’s refusal to promote open homosexuality. They simply gave a collective shrug and said “well, that’s not gonna happen.”
I also asked some Russians about “Pussy Riot,” which as we know is celebrated throughout the western media and most recently in the Netflix series “House of Cards.” Everyone I talked to was genuinely surprised that I even knew who they were, but they roundly condemned them as a silly group of degenerates, not to be taken seriously. The reaction was something akin to what a foreigner would get asking an American about their country’s “oppression” of the Westboro Baptist Church -- eye-rolls and WTFs.
New Year’s Eve in Moscow:
I picked up a lovely Russian girl at a bar the night before New Year’s, and she agreed to be my NYE date. Before going out to meet her, I checked cnn.com on my phone to see what the rest of the world was up to. In Munich (where I had close friends celebrating) the main train station had been evacuated due to a “credible threat” of terror. In Paris, fireworks and mass-gatherings on the Champs- Elysées had been cancelled due to an unspecified threat of terror. Thousands of military and police were patrolling with flak vests and automatic weapons. In Brussels, it was the same story. I smiled as I gazed upon the festive streets of Moscow. The story couldn’t have been more different.
After a short Metro ride with my Russian date, we popped above ground at a large ice-skating park near the Red Square. It wasn’t your typical oval track: Frozen ice-paths snaked throughout the park with hundreds (maybe a thousand) skaters gliding all throughout. Christmas decorations and colored lights were plastered everywhere, and a huge screen had been stood up to broadcast the events from Red Square live. I held hands with my date as we skated through the park and enjoyed the Christmas music (a selection of Russian and American hits). About 10 minutes before midnight, the music was interrupted by a regal-sounding trumpet tune. People stopped skating and turned their attention to the screen. My date interpreted the large captions on the screen:
“A message from the President of the Russian Federation.”
The whole park cheered wildly as Putin took the stage (you can watch his speech in English here):
My date translated most of it to me, and I was amazed at the level of respect people showed for Putin. In a park with hundreds (maybe thousands) of people, you could hear a pen drop on the ice while he spoke. The silence was maintained at the end of the speech, as the Kremlin clock immediately began the countdown to midnight. Instead of shouting and cheering (like Americans), there was dead silence in the last 10 seconds of 2015. My date later explained that this is a Russian tradition: As the clock goes through all 12 gongs, you are supposed to meditate upon your closing year and make a wish for the coming one. As soon as the clock struck 12, the silence was broken and the whole park erupted in cheers. A large Russian flag appeared waving on the screen, and a bold rendition of the Russian National Anthem played loudly in conjunction with the first volley of fireworks (I recommend a quick listen to give you a feel for the moment):
A camera-boom panned over the crowd as my date and I locked lips to consummate the New Year. I had never experienced a New Year’s Eve that awesome in my entire life, and I don’t know how I could possibly top it. It absolutely exceeded my wildest imagination, and it certainly topped my friends’ NYE in Munich (they were being shuffled around the streets by heavily-armed riot police responding to the “credible terror threat”). At least they weren’t in Cologne…
Closing Thoughts:
Materially Russia is catching up fast to the West while still managing to filter out most of the degeneracy and multi-culturalism. Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays, even a chicken restaurant called “Los Pollos” (if you’re a “Breaking Bad” fan, I shit you not, this is real…) have made major inroads in the Russian market. The respect for their culture, their traditions, and their nation was deeply impressive to me. I have long wondered if there exists any holdout in this world (outside of the Islamic world) from the ever-expanding march of cultural Marxism and its associated degeneracy. Incredibly and ironically, I found that Russia is indeed such a holdout. Perhaps it’s because they already suffered under Marxist delusions and now they know better, I don’t know. I could fill an entirely new thread with some of the political discussions I had with Russians, but I’ll save that for another day. In the meantime, suffice it to say that I HIGHLY recommend a pilgrimage to Moscow for any Red-Pill thinker who wishes to bask in an atmosphere of independent thought, cultural confidence, feminine women, and traditional mores.
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