I feel that my cynical ramblings may not suitably reflect the life I live here in Russia, so here for your cultural pleasure is a day in the life of a Russian devooshka (that's young lady)...
Morning:
The average Russian lady is unemployed, self-employed or a housewife so, like them, I get up late, perhaps at about 8 or 9 am. Typical Russian breakfast appears to be buckwheat or some other cooked grain, maybe eggs, or sometimes pasta cooked in milk (yes you did read that correctly). I have yet to catch on to this tradition of morning eating so I stick to my cerial usually of a flake nature (there's no bran flakes in Tyumen – John-John!) or if I'm feeling adventurous I'll go for the honey-nut Cheerios (only brands of cerial are Nestles or Russian-own brand). They drink coffee or tea. A lot of people here seem to think that coffee is bad for you so tea seems to be the drink of choice but in our house we have the knowledge that coffee is GOOD and so we favour the dark Columbian bean. Most women have a child by the time they're 23 (unless they want to be socially ostracised) so if I was a Russian I would prepare the buckwheat for my kiddie and then wait for the nanny or the babushka to come and relieve me of my duties as a mother while I go and earn the roubles. In fact it's not uncommon for the babushka to live in the same apartment block as, or even with, the family so they can act as housemaid and nanny all at once.
I go to work whenever I have lessons, so two days a week I go in at 10am, and the rest of the time it's the afternoon when I start. As for the average woman I'm not too sure, some of the ladies I teach are businesswomen and some are lawyers or doctors, but usually they are mothers and housewives, but either way it seems like a pretty relaxed system that they have.
Afternoon:
At lunch time there is no routine, the teachers in our place just go to the shop in their breaks and get bread or yoghurt for food and have tea to accompany it. I usually come back to the flat and have a snack. Kids don't start school until they are seven so my little Russian buddy is usually in watching TV or playing with his toys. In the afternoon I go back to work and usually finish at 7 or 8pm, as evenings are the most popular time for adult lessons.
Evening:
Now the sun is out it seems that the common thing to do is go for a walk or go for food and a drink, although they don't have pubs, they have cafes that serve beer and food and stay open until 11 or 12. A lot of people seem to think that, like coffee, television is a bad thing; one of the results of the fall of communism, so they don't allow themselves to watch it, but I find it quite fun to try and guess the storyline and even the dialogue. It all seems quite harmless if you ask me, the only unsuitable channel is MTV because a) it plays nothing but pop and imported American shows like PUNKED and b) the Russian pop videos are very distasteful.
Weekends:
In the winter people do winter sports and in the summer they go to their dachas. Most families have a dacha usually in the forest in the outskirts of the city so about 30 minutes drive away. They grow fruit and have barbecues and have banyas. If you don't have a dacha you spend the weekend in the city maybe shopping in one of the many shopping centres, or going to the cinema, also in one of the many shopping centres, in fact you can just chill in the shopping centre all day, which seems to be a very popular activity. Me, I like to read and listen to music, just like as if I was at home.
Morning:
The average Russian lady is unemployed, self-employed or a housewife so, like them, I get up late, perhaps at about 8 or 9 am. Typical Russian breakfast appears to be buckwheat or some other cooked grain, maybe eggs, or sometimes pasta cooked in milk (yes you did read that correctly). I have yet to catch on to this tradition of morning eating so I stick to my cerial usually of a flake nature (there's no bran flakes in Tyumen – John-John!) or if I'm feeling adventurous I'll go for the honey-nut Cheerios (only brands of cerial are Nestles or Russian-own brand). They drink coffee or tea. A lot of people here seem to think that coffee is bad for you so tea seems to be the drink of choice but in our house we have the knowledge that coffee is GOOD and so we favour the dark Columbian bean. Most women have a child by the time they're 23 (unless they want to be socially ostracised) so if I was a Russian I would prepare the buckwheat for my kiddie and then wait for the nanny or the babushka to come and relieve me of my duties as a mother while I go and earn the roubles. In fact it's not uncommon for the babushka to live in the same apartment block as, or even with, the family so they can act as housemaid and nanny all at once.
I go to work whenever I have lessons, so two days a week I go in at 10am, and the rest of the time it's the afternoon when I start. As for the average woman I'm not too sure, some of the ladies I teach are businesswomen and some are lawyers or doctors, but usually they are mothers and housewives, but either way it seems like a pretty relaxed system that they have.
Afternoon:
At lunch time there is no routine, the teachers in our place just go to the shop in their breaks and get bread or yoghurt for food and have tea to accompany it. I usually come back to the flat and have a snack. Kids don't start school until they are seven so my little Russian buddy is usually in watching TV or playing with his toys. In the afternoon I go back to work and usually finish at 7 or 8pm, as evenings are the most popular time for adult lessons.
Evening:
Now the sun is out it seems that the common thing to do is go for a walk or go for food and a drink, although they don't have pubs, they have cafes that serve beer and food and stay open until 11 or 12. A lot of people seem to think that, like coffee, television is a bad thing; one of the results of the fall of communism, so they don't allow themselves to watch it, but I find it quite fun to try and guess the storyline and even the dialogue. It all seems quite harmless if you ask me, the only unsuitable channel is MTV because a) it plays nothing but pop and imported American shows like PUNKED and b) the Russian pop videos are very distasteful.
Weekends:
In the winter people do winter sports and in the summer they go to their dachas. Most families have a dacha usually in the forest in the outskirts of the city so about 30 minutes drive away. They grow fruit and have barbecues and have banyas. If you don't have a dacha you spend the weekend in the city maybe shopping in one of the many shopping centres, or going to the cinema, also in one of the many shopping centres, in fact you can just chill in the shopping centre all day, which seems to be a very popular activity. Me, I like to read and listen to music, just like as if I was at home.
posted by Girl Least Likely To at 5:51 PM
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