mimi
 |
ookaay here we go:
Russia, according to land mass is the biggest country in the world. at one point (after WW2) it was even a superpower fighting for power against the US. this period is better known as the cold war when the two superpowers crashed due to their diverse ideologies. Russia was the biggest advocate of communism, while the US was of democracy/capitalism. The Russian language is a slavic language, and they write using cyrillic letters. In fact, most countries that were under the influence of Russia, in the day called The Soviet Union speak slavic languages.
Having such a vast landmass that stretches from East Europe all the way to East Asia and the Pacific Ocean , the people of Russia are very diverse. however, they are known for community work and public service, like their underground subways. these subways are perhaps the best looking subways you would ever see..probably a due to the communist ideology. education is very appreciated, as are good manners, ettiquette and so forth. The religion in Russia is Russian Orthodox, which contains a few differences in the dates of holidays and other traditions. look at the sources below, i sited an excellent web site with more details on Russia.
Germany was once a major capital of Europe with its thriving economy, liberal democracy, strict and seriuos working traditions. The German language considered to be one of the least pleasing to the ear, is very different from Russian, but is a little closer to English. it is also very similar to Swedish, Dutch ect. they have, not two, but THREE articles and a very complex grammar.
Germany is a beautiful country, very clean, a bit chilly (especially in the winter)and very green (famous for its black forest). Germans are stereotypically known as cold, not talkative, and very strict people, also known not to overly enjoy the company of foreigners.though they have lots of immigrants, mainly Turkish, East European, some Arabic...Germans themselves are great travellers. being economically stable for the most part, next to asians, they might as well be world's most common tourists. Their kitchen is not very rich, as they dont have the tastiest of vegetables. Their main foods are potatoes.. and the hamburgers and hot-dogs believed to be American..are actually German in origin. Sour krout is another typical dish, with various sausages or wursts, amazing pastries, bread and so on. when drinking, most Germans would prefer beer!!! many would love to visit Germany during its oktoberfest celebration where you see women with bigger biceps than men carrying 5 huge jugs of beer in one hand and 5 in the other.
Italy is perhaps what you could call the 'opposite'of Germany and also very unlike Russia. Where Germans and even
Russians are highly educated, and especially Germans that adopted the American moto of working hard..Italy is a whole other scenario. Italians stick sternly to their 'work to live'rather than 'live to work' philosophy.. and it shows! a very laid back people, gentle and kind, loud, funny, proud (but Italy is something to be proud of). no one can tell an Italian that someone else might have better food, music, actors, looks, movies, clothes, cars, bikes, shoes, monuments-cities, beaches, soccer, coffeee and lots more. for the average Italian, these are best when and ONLY when Italian. however, North and South Italy.. Rome being the dividing point, differ very much. the north is more similar to continental Europe like Germany, while the South can be seen as similar to Africa (ok, a little exaggeration).
Italian is a beautiful language filled with many vowels and soft letters. it is a Latin language, most similar to Spanish, French and portuguese.though if you are visiting italy, maybe it is even more useful to learn their hand signals as they use these extensively when speaking! In the past they had their, more than fair, share of evil leaders (Mussolini and fascism), corruption, which is till today a MAJOR problem, and mafia!!! every rule in italy is made to be broken, and if not broken ..veeeeeeery twisted. this, for example, in Germany is unthinkable. driving in Italy is like playing bumper cars at an amusement park. in fact, if a car does not have a dent in it...its not italian! pick pockets and robberies are a normal thing peopl put up with. the people in italy (again unlike the Germans) are very concerned with their looks and fashion.. men included!!! the economic stature is always exhibited through brand names of clothes, cars etc...
lifestyle, bureaocracy and people in general are extremely unorganised, making life in italy (especially for foreigners) a serious pain..(i wont mention where). today, life for the young or neo graduates is also very difficult as it is becoming a strain to find a job (unemployment is high..1 of highest in Europe), pay is very low and life very expensive. however, you will always find the Italians filling up their restaurants, cafes and bars in the nights. Also the italians hold very close their family relations. many own family businesses, or live in large houses with the entire family. in fact, it is not strange to have older kids like over 30 still living with their parents..this is also perhaps due to the difficult of finding good paying jobs, and low cost houses.
obviously, Italians are Catholic and very much so for that matter.. i mean vatican city (in rome) is home only to the one world catholic leader ..THE POPE! having said this, italians are quite conservative in many aspects. for example, most tourists complain that it is very hard to get an italian girl to share her number, evening out or even just a smile.. italians also hold on firmly to their traditions (as i mentioned afore, they are very proud of them). they also have a large number of immigrants (causing lots of distress, and some discrimination), are very bad at learning about different cultures and languages (it is difficult to find an italian that even speaks english), and are a very individualistic people, when russians we said were communitarian. however, italy as a touristical place to visit has sooooooooo much to offer its incredible. every city is a museum, whether its one of art such as perhaps florence, history.. rome or just beauty..Venice, its amazing!!from sicily to naples, to pisa, to verona (home of romeo&juliet) to trieste and cant forget sardinia.. ITALY IS GORGEOUS NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!!! but life is difficult and much less practical than Germany. Russia is also a hard place to live in seeing that many parts of it are stuck in dire poverty and the standard of living there has not yet blossomed...
i cant write anymore, but i do know a fair amount about these countries since I live in Italy, have lots of family in Germany and so I visit it on every holiday occasion I get, and have a close Russian friend who I also visited numerous times. if you have any more questions...feel free to ask! |
News
Travel Topics
Travel Forum Travel Directories
Dictionary 
Travel
Forum 
Italy 
No Spam
Adult 
Gambling
Unfinished
Deception
Plagiarism
Not English
