{"id":3662,"date":"2018-04-17T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-09-12T14:53:25","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T18:53:25","slug":"so-your-character-is-from-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victoriagracehowell.com\/staging\/6258\/so-your-character-is-from-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"So Your Character is From Russia … Featuring Sofia Marie @ Teens Live for Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"


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<\/span> It’s time for this week’s So Your Character is … Post! This is a weekly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country or having a disability. I’m hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven’t checked out last week’s  So Your Character is from The Czech Republic … be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!<\/span>
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<\/span> Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts is as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.<\/span>
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Photo Credit: Jerome Kayl<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\nSofia Marie is a 19-year-old who used to live in the European part of Russia, but who now is exploring the expansive world of college in the United States. She loves running, reading, writing, acting, and spending time with friends. One of her dreams is to become a high school teacher who is always there for her students. Sofia Marie\u2019s blog, Teens Live for Jesus<\/a>, includes devotions, quotes, discussions on music, and over 75 book reviews for Christian fiction and nonfiction.   <\/span>
\nBlog<\/a>\/\/Blog Facebook<\/a>\/\/Author Facebook<\/a>\/\/Pinterest<\/a>\/\/YouTube<\/a><\/span>
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<\/b><\/span> What do you feel is unique to your country? Landmarks? Celebrations?<\/b><\/span>
\nI think the first thing one has to remember when writing about or talking about Russia is the size. Its 17.1 million km\u00b2 (6.6 million mi\u00b2) far outruns the next contestant, Canada (10.0 million km\u00b2 or 3.9 million mi\u00b2). Although that does not determine everything, it is important to note that stereotypes or even truths about one part of Russia can have almost no relevance to a different part of the vast country. <\/span>
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<\/span> As for celebrations and the like, New Years is by far the biggest one. Schools make a big deal out of it, having kids prepare a performance weeks in advance. Adults get some time off. Many stay up until midnight, \u201cgreeting the New Year.\u201d Sadly, many adults get very drunk as well. May 9th is also a great celebration of the victory over Germany in World War II. <\/span>
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<\/b><\/span> Tell me about your country’s environment. What are some of your favorite places?<\/b><\/span>
\nAgain, the country is amazingly huge, so different parts have different flora and fauna. I live in the part of Russia where you can see all four seasons clear-cut. The winters are colder than in many different places, but nothing like Russia\u2019s northern corner. We often get to about -20\u1d52 C (-4 \u1d52F) in the winter and +20 \u1d52C (68 \u1d52F) in the summer. The 30s in either direction are a bit extreme for us. Russia has many forests, which are beautiful. Rivers also abound. Again, this is for the \u201cmiddle\u201d of the country. Russia\u2019s northern and southern realms are vastly different, containing cold and warm seas, mountains, and more. A huge landmark is the Ural Mountains.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Ural Mountains<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Tell me about your country’s food. What are some of your favorite dishes?<\/b><\/span>
\nRussians eat a lot less than the United States, often because of insufficient money just to spend it on food. Soup is often the first part of the meal, followed by potatoes, rice, or the like, and possibly finished off by a salad. The portions are typically smaller than American ones. Russians do love their soups and salads, and you can find a great variety of both. Meat is usually a side-dish and almost never the main course of the meal. Baked goods are very plentiful and absolutely delicious. <\/span>
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<\/b><\/span> Tell me about any different speech patterns in your country. Slang? Idioms? Words for things such as \u201cbiscuits\u201d instead of \u201ccookies\u201d?<\/b><\/span>
\nHaving lived in Russia for the majority of my life, I often mistake Russian idioms for American ones and vice versa, and it turns out hilarious. One of the most used, at least in the educational setting is \u201c\u041f\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u2013 \u043c\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0443\u0447\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f,\u201d translated as \u201cRepetition is the mother of all learning.\u201d  Another unique phrase is \u201c\u0434\u043e\u0431\u0440\u043e\u0432\u043e\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e-\u043f\u0440\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0434\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e,\u201d which speaks of the way that some things are supposedly based on a volunteering, but people are very highly encouraged. So, it\u2019s not volunteering anymore, really, even when it\u2019s called that.  <\/span>
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