What makes the FSU so interesting?

[Eduard]

I am amazed they still exist. On the other hand, I can't find a reason why not. I bet it takes some social skills to live their in peace with other families.

yes... my wife's girlfriend owns a room in a communal apartment (kommunalka) although she doesn't live there any more... The communal bathroom there was very old and in terrible shape so she decided to have it renovated at her own expense. Once the work was finished her neighbors demanded money from her because "they liked the bathroom the way it used to be". They took her to court, but lost the case.
She now rents her room out and rents the place elsewhere in Moscow. Lucky for me I have never experienced the wonders of communal apartment living, but the theme was featured in many old Soviet movies so I have a pretty good idea of what it was like.

[Anotherkiwi]

go for it, Misha! I'm braindead right now... My GSD puppies wake me up every morning at 6am so I've been feeling like a Zombie for several days now. Thank God the are going to their new homes in 3 weeks! Knowing this is what keeps me going! 

Some of us don't have the luxury of sleeping past 6 am anyway!

[mendeleyev]

I find it intriguing that from posts on CraigsList and LiveJournal, etc, there is a growing movement for young singles to ease into communal apartments as a form of ownership. The concept is to buy a bedroom and when the next becomes available, purchase it, etc. At some point you own the whole apartment. We have a relative who owns 2 bedrooms so far and if a 3rd becomes available it will be snatched up too.

There are snags as Ed mentioned. I was reading on LiveJournal one evening the story of a young man who is using the strategy above of buying a bedroom at a time but his neighbors, likely seniors on a pension, and are not interested in helping him make improvements to the common areas.

[mendeleyev]

I bet it takes some social skills to live their in peace with other families.

Very true! One can imagine the discord if a guest uses the wrong coat rack, the wrong towels, etc. I'd be miffed too probably. I think also that seniors in one bedroom living next to a family with young children or teens would be a challenge.

Some of my most cherished memories with our departed Uncle Mikhail were over the holidays, sleeping 8-9-10 people in a single room. I didn't understand the need to do so and sometimes complained since we had a home about 40 minutes away, but today I'd give my right arm to spend another New Year in his family's apartment, even with his snoring only a few feet away and children strewn around on sofas and mattresses. Those things seemed inconvenient at the time but are some of the most cherished memories I carry today.

[mendeleyev]

Let's see... зайчик, красовчик, котик, пусик...

Now let's see if I can convert the ladies in the house to make these changes. 

[ML]

- Not only should you wash up with the host family's soap and dry with their towel, but toilet seats are separate too. Likely your host will have a coloured toilet seat that is different from the other families. It will be hanging on the wall so take the right one down for use and don't forget to hang it back on the wall when you're finished.

- - - - - - -

This caught my eye since I have built a few bathrooms . . . along with the rest of the house, apartments, etc.

These toilet seats must not be of the standard variety which  could  not be  readily changed, or would slide around if not bolted down.

So how were such seats affixed, albeit temporarily?

[mendeleyev]

This caught my eye since I have built a few bathrooms . . . along with the rest of the house, apartments, etc.

These toilet seats must not be of the standard variety which  could  not be  readily changed, or would slide around if not bolted down.

So how were such seats affixed, albeit temporarily?

ML, do you remember the late 80's when even Russian museums didn't have toilet seats? They'd be stolen in a day so the government simply didn't replace them. McDonalds experienced the problem of disappearing toilet seats early on too, but not for lack of replacement funding.

The problem of sliding seats must be viewed the same way that engineers installed the giant 600 ton, 83 ft tall Alexander Column on Palace Square in St Petersburg. No attachments were needed and the column is supported by its own weight. Hopefully you'll weigh enough if you ever visit a communal apartment to keep that baby from sliding around. 

Not every communal has separate seats just as not every communal has a separate stove for each family. But if you do encounter it, simply ask the host about the correct colour and you'll be fine.

Edit/addition: Some of the seats have those places for bolts/screws on a bracket (I'm not a homebuilder) and it seems that those are removed for use, if that particular communal uses separate seats.
           

[BC]

Well, at least there are no arguments about whether or not the seat is left in the up or down position..  That helped ruin my last LTR.

[Ade]

Very true! One can imagine the discord if a guest uses the wrong coat rack, the wrong towels, etc. I'd be miffed too probably. I think also that seniors in one bedroom living next to a family with young children or teens would be a challenge.

Some of my most cherished memories with our departed Uncle Mikhail were over the holidays, sleeping 8-9-10 people in a single room. I didn't understand the need to do so and sometimes complained since we had a home about 40 minutes away, but today I'd give my right arm to spend another New Year in his family's apartment, even with his snoring only a few feet away and children strewn around on sofas and mattresses. Those things seemed inconvenient at the time but are some of the most cherished memories I carry today.

My wife says she has never heard a good story come out of communal apartments. There's almost always grief and strife between the neighbours.


She just retold some stories of visiting and staying with relatives living in kommunalka - sounds pretty awful to me. Clash of personalities is one thing, disgusting bathroom habits in shared areas, theft, lack of privacy among other things too.

[mendeleyev]

Ade, I'd mostly agree with your wife. My personal experiences were on visits and holidays and therefore magical times in hindsight which I disliked it at the time. In real life these are nice places to visit and to see how the Soviet Union once operated for most Russians.

All that being said, I wouldn't want to have a "neighbor" who was as close as the next bedroom and who shared a bathroom and kitchen. The theft was something my cousin Gherman would tell you quickly is an issue, or in his case was until a certain neighbor moved out. If you have a dirty or unruly neighbor you have to go thru the local housing council to get it ironed out and who wants to put your life into the hands of a committee?

I do admire the young people who have caught the vision of buying these up, bedroom at a time, to eventually outright own and control the unit. If that gets them into home ownership at a measure they can afford, great. The rub comes however when that last neighbor doesn't want to sell. That is a problem bantered about on social media. If you are too aggressive in remodeling and making the place nice, then the remaining neighbors just rent out their bedrooms to complete strangers and make more on the rental market without any investment or sweat equity of their own. You did all the work, they get the financial benefits.

[Misha]

I do admire the young people who have caught the vision of buying these up, bedroom at a time, to eventually outright own and control the unit. If that gets them into home ownership at a measure they can afford, great.

I also find this admirable. My wife did the same. She bought one room, sold it, bought another, renovated the bathroom and the neighbour that shared the bathroom in the next room refused to pay his share. Her goal, if she hadn't met me, was to sell her room and then buy a one-room apartment.... She took out a mortgage, made sacrifices to pay and build up her equity as these young people are doing in buying rooms in communal apartments. Hats off to them!

[mendeleyev]

One of the most genuine and fun TV personalities about travel is Andrew Zimmern. Ole Mendeleyev is also a big fan of Russian foods. So let's follow Andrew around in his two-part series in Saint Petersburg:

[mendeleyev]

The Faces on Ukraine, continued:

Ukraine (please do not say "the Ukraine") is spelled Україна and spoken as "ukra-eena" and is the second largest country in Europe. Ukraine's neighbors are the Russian Federation to east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary going west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south/southeast. Official languages are both Ukrainian and Russian. Both use the Cyrillic alphabet.




Ukraine has been ruled by the Greeks, the Turks, and Russia. Oddly enough, Ukraine was the birthplace of the country that grew into modern day Russia. The beautiful city of Kyiv (Kiev) was the first capital when the people were called the "kievan-Rus." Today Ukraine is an independent country.

The Mendeleyev Journal.

[mendeleyev]

This is part of the Mendeleyev Journal's continuing series on the faces of Russia.



These girls are holding icons in traditional styled towels. In some cases these may have been the "wedding towels" which bound their parents hands during the wedding ceremony and later with which they were baptized as babies and given their Orthodox saint name which becomes their first name throughout life.
             

[ML]

Official languages are both Ukrainian and Russian.

Are you sure about this?

Or just anticipating?

[mendeleyev]

ML, thanks as you are correct. My (reluctant) anticipation, I guess.

Earlier this month the Party of Regions,which holds the majority pushed the bill through the Rada (parliament) to make Russian an official language. President Yanukovich has not signed the bill saying that he was undecided on the issue. Some believe that the Constitution must be amended to reflect the change if it is signed into law, but supporters point out that the bill keeps Ukrainian as the official national language while allowing Russian to be an official language in areas where ten percent or more of residents are native Russian speakers.

[mendeleyev]

It was March of 1993. Had you come upon these two ladies in the fish market at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky would you have made a fish purchase?
 
 


 
We're guessing that you recognize the word вода, water (va-DAh). Yes, in case you were wondering, the name "vodka" водка, is a diminutive of the word water and means "little water." When saying "vodka" like a Russian remember that the D is modified when spoken because of a consonant cluster rule and you change the D sound so that vodka is spoken as "VOhT-ka" instead.
 
During the Soviet days some of the older вода (water) dispensers required that you use the same glass as the last million customers before you. More modern versions of the machines dispensed a glass or you brought your own.


 

As you can see the first three letters of the word at the top began with газ (gas), signaling that the water was carbonated.
 
You can use that same labeling today to determine whether a bottle of water is carbonated or not. Just look for газ (gas) on the label. If is isn't carbonated it will let you know with the term, не газа (no gas), "ne gaza." You'll see it on the first five letters of a bottle label as this: негазированная.




Third line on bottle, негазированная, no gas carbonation.

 
And if a market clerk asks, Вода - с газом или без? (Water - with gas or without?) just say something like "ne gaz" and she'll get the idea.

You can also specify Вода без газа (water without gas), "vah-dah bez gaza" to make sure you get the right bottle. Gassed/carbonated water  increases the acidity of the stomach and can cause belching and painful cramps if your body isn't used to drinking water in that style.

Of course your lady may not understand your choice. She may respond with something resembling, почему пить воду без газа? Вроде с газом же тоже вода (Why drink water without gas? The gas is also the water).

When in doubt, drink the tea. Tea is made from non-gassed water that is boiled before serving.
 

[ML]

Another method is to squeeze the bottle.  If it 'gives,' there is no gas.
If the bottle is rock solid to your squeeze, there is gas inside.

[mendeleyev]

Another method is to squeeze the bottle.  If it 'gives,' there is no gas.
If the bottle is rock solid to your squeeze, there is gas inside.

Wow, didn't realize that. Thanks!

[JayH]

Another method is to squeeze the bottle.  If it 'gives,' there is no gas.
If the bottle is rock solid to your squeeze, there is gas inside.

How does it work with a glass bottle !!  lol

[mendeleyev]

I've not seen that many glass water bottles, other than the high end bottled waters which do tend to be carbonated.

[mendeleyev]

Are there any limits on a Russian's love for caviar?

We've seen no limits, in fact can't think of a single Russian or Ukrainian who doesn't love roe. If one or two exists, they're hiding it well. Okay, last year the Mendeleyev Journal showed readers the Lay's CRAB flavoured version of potato chips. Now it is time to kick the chip up a notch!



(Red caviar potato chips.)

красная = red "kras-naya" 

икра = roe (caviar) "e-kra"

красная икра = red caviar "kras-naya e-kra"
     

[Ranetka]

Mendeleev,


just a small correction. Correct term for still water will be без газа  (bez gaza), literal meaning "without gas" or негазированная if you can pronounce it. 

[Fashionista]

One of the most genuine and fun TV personalities about travel is Andrew Zimmern. Ole Mendeleyev is also a big fan of Russian foods. So let's follow Andrew around in his two-part series in Saint Petersburg:

Great show... Despite of how it looks on TV, I am not sure how many westerners who are not food-curious would really like Russian food. I remember going out of my ways once to bring a can of black caviar to Canada, we opened it when we had a big party, and the reception was lukewarm, it didn't look like people liked it...
 
The west has started to come around though, you can find decent "smetana" (sour cream, usually sold as plain natural yogurt of certain brands) and very good kefir in local supermarkets. Pickled herring is still quite a bit of a problem, unless you have specialized Russian stores in the area. Nothing beats Dutch pickled herring anyway, but you have to go to Amsterdam for that. A lot of other things you have to pretty much pickle/cure yourself, if you know how.
 
 

[BC]

Great show... Despite of how it looks on TV, I am not sure how many westerners who are not food-curious would really like Russian food. I remember going out of my ways once to bring a can of black caviar to Canada, we opened it when we had a big party, and the reception was lukewarm, it didn't look like people liked it...
 

Too bad for them....

I remember when black caviar was still affordable... we used to buy a kilo for around 400 bucks or so.  When our son was a young toddler he used to have a spoon full or two for breakfast.... He would go absolutely nuts when he saw the jar come out of the fridge...

When I tried I would usually get my hand slapped.... 'It's for your baby!!!' don't you care about him?

That was when I started snacking at midnight.....

My parents did not like it that awful much which was a bit strange... they love beef tongue though - an acquired taste from our years in France.

Is a wonderful delight. I hope folks in the west do not acquire the taste for it so that the sturgeon recover along with conservation efforts.

Sad to think though that even at the most fancy western parties much gets thrown out... 'fish eggs'... 'ewww'.....  I spent most of my time near the kitchen inspecting trays going towards the wash section....