School starts... and ends forever for some.

I was  not going to do a post on "День знаний" ("the Knolegde Day"), as September First is frequently called in Russia.  But something I saw today made me changed my mind.

I will be omitting any ethnic references in what follows.  I will be omitting references to any specific religions.  I will even try to stay away from politics.

Photo by:   Schekinov Alexey Victorovich
Source: Wikimedia Commons

You know, September 1st is a big day in Russia - for school kids especially.  It is the official first day of school - each year, always on the same day... has been that way for decades...

There aren't really any classes on that day... but there are a lot of flowers that kids bring for their teachers, lots of very dressy kids and lots of emotion.

So one bright morning - specifically, the morning of September 1st 2004, in a town of Beslan, 1100 school kids and teachers had their plans a little messed up...

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... three days later, Beslan had 334 school kids and teachers fewer...  All because a bunch of psychos had decided that attacking a school on the 1st of September and holding kids hostage was a really great way to validate their ambitions of religious, political, or any other sort... So three days later, it looked like this:




More about Beslan school hostage crisis.

So folks, please please please remember not to let your religion, your political views, your stereotypes (yes, we all have them) become fuel for hatred and murder.  Those people in masks believed they were heading for paradise, you know.

Russian Fires and other Russian News

This week I saw pictures of people in Moscow wearing masks - trying to breathe. That told me it's got to be pretty bad.  You know, during the Avian Flu pandemic (and the Swine Flu, and the annual regular flu season) with all the scary stories and such, I never saw one local in a mask.  I mean you would get into a Tokyo-style-crowded subway car, with people sneezing not covering their mouthes - yet no one wore masks... it just wasn't cool... or things were not bad enough. So seeing Muscovites in masks told me all I needed to know. Folks, it's bad. If you were planning to travel there - wait until the rains start in a month or so.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of English-language news sources for Russia:

The Voice of Russia - the link is to the English version, but you will also find it has a version in German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi and other languages, thirty-three in total (including Russian).

Russia TV - in English, Russian, Spanish and Arabic.

The Moscow Times - an English-language expat-aimed Moscow newspaper. You may find it (and its Saint Petersburg counterpart - see below) featuring opinions different from those expressed by the first two media on the list.

The Saint Petersburg Times - an English-language expat-aimed Saint Petersburg newspaper.

James Bond and "Russian" Spy Girls

Russian Spies are still all over the internet, with comments ranging from "sexy Russian spy" for the one known as Anna Chapman ( I wonder what they would call her... "Анечка", "Анюта" or "Аннушка" who spilled the oil in Mikhail Bulgakov's novel  the Master and Margarita) to Vladimir Putin allegedly stating that they all were betrayed (chuckle) and that severe punishment is awaiting the traitor.



Incidentally, an acquaintance of mine, who used to work for a US intelligence agency, burst into laughter when I mentioned this... saying that the now-famous Russian Spies were, indeed, betrayed - by their own stupidity.  Apparently, this was one of the most poorly-trained and least professional groups of post-Soviet "intelligence".

Anna Chapman may be the Russian Spy star for the moment... and some may even associate the "sexy Russian redhead spy" with a Bond Girl... but did you know that NONE of the James Bond Girls were actually Russian? I mean, did you realize the Russian Bond Girl characters were never played by Russian girls?

See for yourself:

From Russia With Love (1963)
Tatiana Romanova, a Soviet Army Intelligence corporal assigned to the Soviet Embassy in Istanbul
Played by Daniela Bianchi, born in Italy

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Major Anya Amasova, Agent XXX, (KGB)
Played by Barbara Bach, born in the US

A View To A Kill (1985)
Pola Ivanova - a KGB agent working for General Gogol
Played by Fiona Fullerton, born in Nigeria

Goldeneye (1995)
Natalya Fyodorovna Simonova, a programmer for the Severnaya Space Control Center
Played by Izabella Scorupco, born in Poland

The only sort-of exception is the recent  Quantum of Solace (2008), where Olga Kurylenko, born in USSR (now Ukraine) plays a Russian-Bolivian agent Camille Montes.  But here is the kick: apparently, she trained with a dialect coach to perform with a Spanish accent.




Coming next: the James Bond of the USSR and Soviet spy movies.

Russian Words: Current Events

It appears that two major themes dominate our news stream of late: the oil spill (or, rather, a series of them) and the illegal immigration related debates.  Both are topics not completely unknown in Russia, so here are the Russian words for you:

OIL (the fossil fuel kind) is нефть ("neft").  Which is why you have company names like Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Gazprom, Rosneft, Transneft, Yugansknefegaz, etc., all oil companies.   

Cooking or salad oil, on the other had, is масло ("MAHS-lah"), or, to be exact, растительное масло ("rahs-TEE-tehl-noh-yeh MAHS-lah"), as opposed to сливочное масло ("SLEE-vahch-nah-yeh MAHS-lah"), or butter.


As far as the illegal immigration issue (you may be surprised, but apparently there are plenty of people interested in  moving TO Russia), the phrase is almost identical to the English one: in Russian we say

 нелегальная иммиграция ("neh-lih-GAHL-nah-yah ihm-mih-GRAH-tsee-yah")

For the most part, нелегальные мигранты ("neh-lih-GAHL-nih-yeh mih-GRAHN-tih"),"illegal migrants", or simply нелегалы ("neh-lih-GAH-lih"), the illegals, as they are more frequently called, come from the former Soviet republics, especially those in South-East Asia.