Russia today

[Mary Elizabeth McLendon]

>Can anyone teaching a Russian culture course, or planning to, tell me
>anything upbeat about Russia today? All I hear, day after day (and I
>subscribe to Johnson's Russia list, which makes it even worse) is
>corruption and fraud, crime, no respect for the law, health crises,
>ecological crises, and so on and on. I have not been to Russia since 1994
>and so am dependent on published reports, travellers, emigres, and
>visitors. Does one have to go back to the past to find anything worthy of
>admiration? I have a feeling a lot of good things must be happening but we
>don't hear about them because no one finds them newsworthy.

How about the recent news about the outpouring of support for Mrs. Gorbachev
as she battles leukemia?  I realize that's not completely good news, since
she is sick, but the Russians haven't let past ill will stand in the way of
true sympathy.

What I've done when the news gets depressing is talk about the Russians on a
more personal level -- day-to-day things like hospitality, humor, and
friendship.  It's hard, I know -- I have freshmen who seem to know nothing
about Russia except what they see in the headlines (they don't read the
articles) and American-movie stereotypes.  I've found that "Russian Life" is
a good place to find topics, since they are generally upbeat and the depth
level is appropriate for a freshman survey.

If you get some good ideas, let me know!
Lisa
Mary Elizabeth (Lisa) McLendon, Lecturer
Department of Slavic Languages
The University of Texas at Austin