Russia?
Interesting decision.
How come?
If you need any help with the language and/or culture, feel free to ask.

Heh, I do receive mostly bemused responses when I mention it, even from the Russians at work. Some of them are quite enthusiastic about it, meanwhile others question my sanity :D

I've always been a bit into the culture so that's part of it. But the main reason is that I enjoyed studying languages back in high school and I want to rekindle that interest and gain some level of fluency in Russian... it's a beautiful language and seems like a suitably masochistic challenge. Beyond that, Russia strikes me as a fascinating country with some decent tourist destinations. Also, I get on well with the Russians I know - they're all pretty interesting people.

Thanks for the offer. I might be pelting you with questions in a few months haha. Are you currently living there? Anyhow, my first task is to get into the country - the visa rules are crazy strict!

Russia is a fascinating country. The only time I've really been there was a week I spent in Moscow about ten years ago. It's an incredible city and it was one of the best trips abroad I've ever had.
I was born in the Soviet Union and Russian is my first language, but I've lived most of my life in western Europe.
I might not know lots of current things, but my Russian is still perfect and I'm still quite immersed in the culture, so I still might help you out.
I guess people are bemused because it's not really a country for tourism. No, the evil Russians are not all out to get you, but the authorities love to **** with foreigners, many cities have parts one shouldn't go to even during the day and the current political climate is very tense. Try not to pass for an American.
And for god's sake, don't buy food from street vending babushkas or those shawarma joints
Don't let that sour your expectations though, I'm sure you'll still have a great time.

Be sure to try krokodil and tell us all about it.

In Russia, krokodil tries YO....oh nevermind

In that case, be sure to try Putin as well.

Putin' what and where?

Russian is actually not that difficult to learn. I took two years of it in high school.

Ну-ка, блесни знаниями.

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