Inetrview with Tay (15.01.2022)

Here is my interview with Tay - an american, who currently studies in Berlin
I: Hello, I’m Alex, and I’m working at this project at school about Foreigners’ view of Russia. So I’d like to ask you some questions about your view of Russia, if you don’t mind.
Tay: Yeah, I’m totally cool with that.
I: so could you introduce yourself?
Tay: yes, so I’m Tay, I’m from Illinois in United States. And I currently live in Berlin, Germany. Yeah…
I: And have you ever been to Russia?
Tay: I haven’t been to Russia, no.
I: And if you ever visit Russia, which places would you go to first?
Tay: I think I would go to Saint-Petersburg. Primarily. I have a lot of like people in my life that have been there, and they say it’s one of the most beautiful Russian cities. so.
I: Yeah, totally, yeah. Personally, I love Saint-Petersburg, although I love in Moscow. That’s a great choice! And can you tell me about some basic stereotypes about Russia that are present in the USA?
Tay: oh, okay. There’s quite a lot, primarily because of the Cold War and the way that it was shown to the United States’ public, but um. So a bit famous that, I don’t know it’s kind of insulting to say.
I: Oh, no-no, it’s not biased; you can say whatever you want. The pure truth.
Tay: Okay. So that Russians, the drink a lot of vodka, so most of them are alcoholics. Um, there is also like a big stereotype about a gopnik culture. So, there is a lot of like: “Oh, look, they’re wearing tracksuits”, and like slav squatting, which is like when you squat with your feet put on the ground. Um, and like drinking vodka, and like smoking cigarettes, and eating, um, I don’t know if I’m saying it correctly, but “semechki” (“семечки”) like sunflower seeds. Uhm, that’s like a big thing too. Uhm, yeah, and they’re like all communist, or they love Putin. That’s another stereotype.
I: And which of the stereotypes do you find the MOST ridiculous?
Tay: Uhm, that’s really hard to say. I find most of them pretty ridiculous cause it’s just like not true, like most of them are! Especially like “oh, everyone like is alcoholic, and like yeah, I know, like gopnik do exist, but like not everyone is like that. Uhm… And also, there is so many different types of people in Russia. I think when people think of Russia, they think only of like uhm, I don’t know, western part, where it’s like Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, whereas there is like so many different cultures, and also republics within Russia. So that’s one thing I also have an issue with. Yeah, probably the really negative ones I find the most ridiculous, cause they’re just like NOT true. So…
I: Okay, so like the next is kind of hard to answer because like the meaning of “average” is a really generalized meaning, but how do you think an average Russian differs from an average American?
Tay: Um, so, from my experience, there is a difference, but to be honest there is not that much of a difference, and I think that’s because Russia is so bid and US is so big, so a lot of like thing such as like distance wise or what kind of products that we get in certain places. A lot of those are very similar, because, you know, I moved to Europe, and things just run differently here. Actually, my roommate is Russian, so yeah, she’s like taught me a lot and a lot of things are like processed the same way as in US. Also there are a lot of the same niche cultures that aren't available in like Europe, for example. Yeah, so I'm gonna say we are pretty similar. I think there are some like day structure, but I think there is also a bid difference in like history and the view we have on the world, even like so to this day, uhm because like US, even when I was a kid, even though, i didn't grow up in the Cold War or anything, a lot of like stereotypes about Russia are false information about like what happened during the Cold War, and like even afterwards there are a lot of submissions taught me in school, you know. So it's like all heard from another perspective from the Russian people. . And like what they learned. So, yeah...
I: so if we are on topic of education, I would like you to ask if there were any poets, writers and composers and et cetera in your school program?
Tay: That are Russian?