If you can believe this but nearly 3 years ago when I first arrived there were no bicycles to be seen in this city.
None..
Today when I took a casual walk to the local corner market I now see bicycles everywhere. All new and shiny and obviously just purchased within the last few months. How long have bicycles been around in the US? What probably a hundred years or so..
According to my students chewing gum was not introduced in Russia until 10 years ago. Imagine that.. Probably one of your earliest memories as a kid had at least something to do with chewing or bubble gum. Bazooka was the most popular when it was introduced here because up till that time nobody had ever seen colorful “nice” cartoons on wax paper before? Kids wanted to learn English back then just to know what the cartoon characters were saying.
I guess there’s a few things I wish to say about these observations.
- Communism is the most screwed up system in the long history of mankind and the Russian people are still trying to recover from it even though it’s been gone here since 1991.
- Progress is coming and it’s happening pretty quickly relative to what these people did not have to start with.
- Most Russian girls have very little exposure to riding bicycles so I don’t know if there’s a more obvious indication out there that these girls come from much much more simpler lifestyles.
Have an open mind to their experience and tread lightly guys..
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Hmm, a lack of bicycles rather stems from cultural differences about “healthy lifestyle” and non-friendly roads with dangerously erratic traffic… yet in villages, where “road” is where one can step or drive without getting drowned in mud, a bicycle is a standard vehicle, ridden even by old baboushkas.
Welcome to the Land of Extremes )
Comrade Natalia