Russia today

[Elena Levintova]

Dear Emily,
That was an interesting question! Trying to think of an answer, I came to the
conclusion that for me, as for most other Russian scholars, culture is not
about today, it is about yesterday.
Here in America, however, as I noticed, culture, as everything else, is about
today.  I understand that in this practical context culture could be taught as
an answer to the question: "What do you need to know to survive in Russia
today?".  To do it in a way that would benefit American students I find it
useful to study the impressions of Moscow expatriate community, and found much
interesting material at the following address:

http://www.matrix.ru/wayan/rus_exp/rus_exp.htm

Also, I feel that  "corruption and fraud, crime, no respect for the law,
health crises, ecological crises, and so on and on" are not exactly new to
Russia. Classical Russian literature is full of it all, culminating in
"Vishnevyi sad" being cut down as the symbol of all ecological crises to come.

And how can I subscribe to Johnson's Russia list? I would appreciate a link.