Full Russian breakfast

Full English breakfast looks like a serious kick on a stomach, there is no way I could digest this amount of hearty food in the morning on a regular basis. But what's for sure - the nation that can have black pudding for breakfast every day can not be defeated!
  So is there such a thing as full Russian breakfast? Well, there definitely isn't. If you travel in Russia and stay at hotels you are most likely to be offered continental breakfast which will include bread of different types, selection of cheeses, cold meat and Russian sausages, and if you are keen on a bit of "Russian touch" this is likely to be kashas.
  Kasha is usually made with boiled milk and butter and might include fruit and honey. Porridge (oats kasha) is quite popular in Russia but it's not the only option.
  Other popular kashas include buckwheat, semolina and millet.
  Here is some millet kasha in a pot - in olden days Russians used to cook kashas for hours in ovens, so that the grain got soft and kasha got all the nice flavours and, as we Russians say, melted in your mouth.

Semolina kashas might include home made jams, while buckwheat kasha is often cooked with stewed onions and mushrooms.
  Hot, tender, filling and "comfy" kasha is a healthy and nice way to start your day:) 

Is there something Russian about you?

Russians - as Western media often portraits them - are sneaky dangerous aggressive people.
You might think that the fact you have been born far away from the country where people heal their hangover headaches with weird liquid called rassol (which is basically salty boiled water in which pickled cucumbers tend to float in a jar) - you might think that this fact kind of guarantees that you are safe from having something Russian about you but you are wrong.
So here is a little quiz which can help you find out whether there's something Russian about you.

You might be Russian if:
1. You adore fast driving. The more drunk you are the faster you are going to drive.
2. Being a man you would rather spend a nice Friday evening cuddling a 1,5 litre bottle of vodka than going on a date.
3. You keep saying your country is sucks but are always ready to smash some foreigner's nose if you think they are not respectful enough.
4. You like lying on your sofa imagining something miraculous will happen and you become rich, beautiful and happy.
5. You can talk for an hour using no other words apart from swear ones and some prepositions.

Gracious swans

That's me feeding swans in Stratford last June.

As all swans in the UK belong to the Queen you can't just catch one and make some decent swan casserole,  but swans used to be a great part of the Russian national cuizine. They were cooked and served mostly as impressive table decorations during grand dinner parties, some of them were so huge that they required several people to carry these "birdies" into dining halls from dirty and smelly medieval Russian kitchens. They used to be served on regular basis in rich homes.
  Ignorance is bliss - those Stradford swans are pretty unaware I could grab them and cook something very Russian - huge, impressive and tasting very.... featherly!

Some funny and weird Russian superstitions

Every time I see a black cat trying to cross a path I am walking on I either scare it off the path or go another way. Because it's one of the most common Russian superstitions - if a black cat crosses the path you are walking on just in front of you this can mean bad luck.
So here are some other ones (most of them are weird, some are really creepy):
1. Do not whistle inside a house or a flat - if you whistle you will have no money. You can whistle as much as you like when you are outside though - if other people don't mind!
2. Bumping into a woman with empty buckets in the street means getting some bad luck - fortunately you can't see lots of women with buckets empty or not in the streets these days. However if a woman has got two buckets filled with water - well, this means good luck and prosperity!
3. Russians spit a lot. Across their left shoulders. Weird it might seem to ignorant Western people but we scare away some bad luck with that!
4. We also knock a lot on wood to keep bad luck away - long story short spitting and knocking might be great fun when done for a reason! Even some freaky one....
to be continued....
If you know some funny superstitions please tell me:)

100 Facts About Me... Well, Almost 100!

Rats have got very bad reputation in Russia. In Moscow they are everywhere: in the underground, in litter bins, in cellars of block of flats. Huge, nasty, sneaky and very aggressive.
I used to be scared of rats. To overcome the phobia I got myself two pet rats - they lived happily together in a sort of enemy-friend relationship for almost 3 years. They were pet rats of course, I didn't catch a couple of wild ones in the street - that's for sure!
There are amazing animals and humanity owes them a great deal (keep in mind all those new medicine tests!)
The photo was taken from here http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2013/mar/05/mammal-society-photographer-in-pictures#/?picture=404888011&index=14

British men: myths, reality?

There's a community in Russian LiveJournal called Pora valit' what actually means "It's time to move away from Russia". Russian speaking people those who emigrated from the country (or other former Soviet republics such as Ukraine or Kazakhstan) share their experience, those Russians who are planning to move to other countries ask for some tips and advice.
  One of popular bloggers, a Russian speaking young woman who has lived in the UK for more than 7 years shared her ideas of what British men are really like here  http://pora-valit.livejournal.com/1074005.html  
  I have done some translation and sharing it with you here

About English men

In the times on Soviet Union there was this belief that every foreigner is nearly a prince charming. This delusion could be justified by some objective grounds, including The Iron Curtain and the like ones. But I have noticed that this myth about foreign men being exclusive is still quite common and that marrying a foreign man is still seen as being very prestigious.....

English men cheat on their wives or girlfriends less often than Russians. But it's not because of high moral standards, it's just all about the principle of so called "fair play". It's bad to steal something that doesn't belong to you. Plus English men are inert and passive, they seldom reflect on feelings and love matters, they loathe changing their usual way of life, and having an affair is simply very pricey when it comes to spending time, finance and energy. It's also very pricey to leave your wife and get a divorce.

English men are not very fussy about their female partners' appearances. It's quite common here in the UK to see a very handsome good-looking man with an unattractive woman. Sometimes their women are really ugly. It's not because all English women are very ugly and English men simply have no choice. It's due to the fact that this cult of appearance of being attractive isn't very much developed in the UK. What is more important - English men tend to choose the easiest option, being inert and passive, they think that ugly women are an easy target and much easier to "lay" and to please....

English men drink, drink really a lot, but they seldom have days of drinking...

Both English men and women are very shy and reserved, the worst nightmare for an English person is finding themselves in a embarrassing situation. All the communication codes here are arranged the way to avoid embarrassing situations and even to prevent such situations from happening...4

When an English man falls in love though keeping in mind their cold temperament it's hardly possible to use this phrase so let's say - when an English man starts feeling attracted to a woman he usually finds himself in a pickle. Getting out of this pickle is possible in two ways:

1. Irony and sarcasm. Joking and taking the mickey out of a woman. It's like when you are in a primary school - if you fancy a girl you simply beat her up with your school bag. The same happens with English men "in love". They express their interest towards a woman by laughing at her and taking the mickey out of her...

2. Bare rudeness and offence. It's a paradox but that's true that it's much easier for an English man to get very drunk and tell a woman he fancies somewhat like "Fancy a shag?" rather than ask her out for a real date. A date is too straightforward and direct, it speaks clearly and openly of your feelings and intentions. While suggesting shagging isn't that embarrassing and means somewhat like "I was just passing by and I had an urge and you can just work nicely as a sperm-accepter!"

If an English man is brave enough to ask for a date you should not expect anything exciting. They are not an impulsive people and hide their feelings, sticking to a boring and trivial scenario. If he invites you to go out to the cinema that's pretty interesting. If he suggests going to the theatre - it's something extraordinary! Has he bought you flowers? What a real charmer! A usual date means going for a drink in a pub or for a coffee, for a dinner at a restaurant what is very rare. And then you have to split the bill. English men seldom pay for a woman. If he pays for the dinner he expects to have sex this very night.

It's not a custom to take a woman home after a date. If a man does take a woman home he expects sex.

English men are so lazy, passive and inert that it looks really ridiculous. If you have exchanged phone numbers with an English man he often starts arranging the first date and then he says something like "Look, I am knackered, you'd better come to my place and we cook dinner together" which basically means "I don't want to go out anywhere I'd rather you come to my place and we have quick sex in an old "bam-wham-thank you ma'm" style.

Let's get it started!:)

Let's get it started!:)