Yesterday on Facebook I was asked where in Russia I lived. As usually I referred to Moscow having said that I live about a five-hour drive from it which isn’t really far by Russian standards. The girl on whose profile I posted this comment jokingly said that I’m talking about the capital city because most Americans don’t know much more about Russia than Moscow, St. Petersburg and Siberia.

I don’t blame them for it! We live on different continents after all. Nevertheless I’ve met a lot of Americans who knew quite a bit about Russian history, climate, politics, who could name a few bigger cities. Some of them were genuinely interested in learning more. So what are the FAQs about my native country?

1. What are the oil prices in Russia? – Petrol is actually more expensive here than in the US.

2. How did I get so tan in Russia if it’s always so cold? Tanning booth? – No artificial tan. There’s plenty of sunshine and heat where I live beginning with the middle of May. It gets crispy cold in winter but summers are perfect for being out in the sun.

3. Are there a lot of communists in Russia? – There’s a communist party but it’s far from being the major party in the Russian government (‘Duma’). There are elderly people and a tiny percentage of younger population who still believe in the brighter future of Communism.

4. Who’s the President? – Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev.

5. Who’s Vladimir Putin then? – The Prime Minister. We have both the President and the Prime Minister. They share the power though the head of the country is the President. W

6. What do you eat in Russia? How often do you go to McDonald’s? – Most people still cook. Often from scratch. We don’t get a lot of things that are available everywhere in America, for example it’s hard to find pepperoni which I absolutely love. And no, I don’t eat in McDonald’s. There’s been a couple times when I ate fast food. I like the taste but know what all this stuff consists of I’d rather stay hungry until I get home and cook for myself.

7. What do people drink over there? – Tea. That’s definitely the most popular drink ever. More often black than green. With lemon and sugar.  Lots of people can’t do without beer. Vodka is the most popular drink for various celebrations. There are plenty of national holidays in Russia, so lots of occasions to get to drink it. But NOT everybody drinks.

I was asked a lot of questions. Those are the ones I can think of so far.

Maybe you’d like to learn about anything else?