The national character of the English and of the Russians.

Alexander   Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:45 pm GMT
Alexander, 46, manager

1. Bear, disorder, snow, boundlessness,
2. The Queen, “Beatles”, football, fog, Stonehenge

3.
- Russian – is there any other nation as uncouth as they are?
- English – it seems there is
- culture – has nothing to do to the both above
- language – Russian – extremely difficult; English – not so simple as it may seem first
- communication – depends on the quantity of vodka/gin taken

4. Cordial, lazy, open-hearted, emotional, impatient
5. Humorous, imperturbable, reserved, reasonable, tolerant
naeb   Tue Apr 15, 2008 6:45 am GMT
1. assholes, motherfucking assholes, gay motherfucking assholes, gay motherfucking assholed savage, gay motherfucking assholed savaging animals
2. fag, weak, pimp, wimp, emo

3.
- Russian – I hate them
- English – I dont really care about them...
- culture – Russian culture is all about destroy and expand, same with the English
- language – Russian – sounds like crap, unintelligently difficult; English – sounds like fag, moronically easy
- communication – wtf?

4. same as 1.
5. same as 2.
Guest   Tue Apr 15, 2008 6:50 pm GMT
What's wrong with pimps?
Guest   Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:09 pm GMT
The stereotype wants both them violent, drunkards, racist, bigots and ugly
Guest   Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:55 pm GMT
to tell the truth the stereotype want them also to be stupid and to stink
Damian in Edinburgh   Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:15 am GMT
Today, 23 April, is the 444th anniversary of the birth of the very greatest of wordsmiths in the entire English Language, the most prolific and well known of playwrights and poets the world has ever seen, or ever will see - William Shakespeare. He also happened to die on his birthday, in 1616, aged only 52 years.

Will, the Bard of Avon, was the most quintessential of Englishmen, born very close to Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, in 1564, in an area which is about as close to the centre of England as it's possible to get, geographically, quite is quite fitting really. His patriotism about England clearly shows in all of his works, especially in plays like Richard II and Henry V.

The works of Shakespeare have been translated into practically every Language in existence, more so than the works of any other writer in the world. Interestingly enough, the runner up to this honour, was the crime writer Agatha Christie (1890-1976), again a quintessentially English woman, born in Devon. Her books have also been translated into most other Languages. Most of her books have also been turned into films, most of them starring a variety of famous actors and actors of various nationalities.

As it happens, today is also St George's Day - quite fitting, considering it was also Shakespeare's birthday. St George is the patron saint of England, and today is officially England's national day, but sadly, the English, being the rather diffident people they are!, largely allow it to pass with very little celebration, unlike us Scots, or the Welsh, on our national days. It takes the World Cup football championships to rouse the English into any form of patriotic flag waving and bursting forth into "Jerusalem" or "Land of Hope and Glory"!

Whatever!......to all my mates down in England - HAPPY ST GEORGE'S DAY! If I meet an Englishman/men in the pub tonight (which I most assuredly will!) I will buy him/them a pint(s)....

What a pity St George was Turkish......... :-) That's a long story.....
Guest   Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:28 am GMT
"only 52 years"?

Wouldn't that be really good back in those days?
Damian in Edinburgh   Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:46 pm GMT
The England 16th/17th century 52 would probably equate with the modern day 80 to 90, or thereabouts I woulkd reckon, so to die at the age of 52 in the England of the early 1600s would be considered fairly good going, really.

The actual cause of Shakespeare's death remains a mystery, as you would expect, seeing that no accurate records were made in those days in anything like the way they are today. No written record of what may have really caused the Bard to snuff the candle has ever been traced, but it is a fact that he enjoyed quaffing ale in a pretty big way and on a very regular basis with all his mates in the taverns of London. So his demise may well have been brought about by an excess of the foaming brew.

He did in fact draw up his last will and testament less than four weeks before he actually died, never having done so previously, so he may well have felt within himself that his earthbound days were likely to end fairly soon. Maybe, like most men even nowadays, he didn't adequately seek advice on his failing health or even tell anyone that he was feeling groggy.

Anyway, there are celebrations taking place in Stratford-upon-Avon today to commemorate the Bard's birthday (or rather, his assumed birthday) and also, of course, to celebrate England's St George's Day. If they don't celebrate St George's Day in that most English of towns, Stratford-upon-Avon, then they won't celebrate it anywhere! :-)

http://www.stratford-upon-avon.co.uk/wslife.htm
Skippy   Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:31 pm GMT
Life expectancy in Europe was shockingly low throughout the middle ages do to disease. The truth is for the past two thousand years (probably longer) the natural life expectancy (one that is not cut short by war or disease) has been pretty consistent. Modern medicine is the only reason people live so long now. Although many people died young in the middle ages, 52 for someone of Shakespeare's social status is relatively young.
Jasper   Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:20 pm GMT
1. Cold, St. Petersburg architecture, Snow, Communism, Mafia.
2. Architecture, rain, drinking, the language, BBC


4. Intolerant, extreme (never do anything half-way), superstitious, adventurous, loud and aggressive, Russian ballet and cinema.
5. Reserved, cold, drinking, resistant to change, xenophobic to some extent, over-clinging to tradition.
Guest   Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:22 pm GMT
It sounds like Naeb has a real problem with homophobia. It seems rather odd in a forum like this.
Guest   Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:25 pm GMT
"It sounds like Naeb has a real problem with homophobia. It seems rather odd in a forum like this."

LOL
Planet HomoTroll
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:29 am GMT
Jasper is right when he includes drinking in his list of typical English characteristics, but I reckon he should also list alcoholic excesses in the Russian liost also. The average Russian can easily drink the average Englishman under the table and still remain standing. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about.

The UK is currently experiencing a very substantial wave of immigration (temporary as well as permanent) of Eastern Europeans, and there is not an area of this country which has not seen an influx of former Communist state nationals, from the Balkans to the Baltics (and, surprisingly, a fair number of Russians and Ukrainians as well, although they do not have the auomatic right of entry into the UK as do the EU nationals). They do all sorts of jobs here, from dentists and doctors to refuse collectors and bus drivers, and what have you. On the face of it you'd think it could be problematic, seeing that an appreciable number of these people have little or no proper working knowledge of English, but in reality it's benefiting the UK economy quite substantially.......many employers now actually rely on them as they are willing to work for less money than their British counterparts (sometimes illegally below the minimum wage rates). The majority of them are extremely hardworking and reliable.

It's funny to see them in the supermarkets loading up their trolleys, on a Friday evening especially, after they've received their week's pay. Most of them stock up with the supermarkets' cheap own brand value type stuff, yet at the time they stock up with loads of vodka (which costs about £14 a bottle) and whole packs of beers and lagers - expense seems no object, apparently.

As for the reserved thing - nobody could ever decribe Eastern Europeans as reserved - far from it. But I also think it's now pretty outdated to describe the English as "cold and reserved", especially the younger generation. Even without the back-up of a shot or two of booze, the present day English (OK...British) generation is pretty much upfront and forthcoming, and all those old stereotypes of standoffishness and stiffness belong to the history books, and it was all very much over-hyped anyway, from what I can tell. They may not be quite as "in-your face, overly and loudly up-front and maybe a tad superficial" as the Americans seem to be to us (rightly or wrongly) but "reserved and cold"? Not at all.....even when dead sober!

As for the rain thing - London receives less than half the annual rainfall of New York City, and less than a third of the rainfall of many other American cities, especially those in the south of the USA. And probably a whole lot less than the rain that falls on Seattle each year! :-) The annual average rainfall total here in Edinburgh is only a little bit higher than that of London....about 610mm a year (or 24 inches in American figures). Admittedly, the mountainous areas in the west and north west of the UK receives whole dollops of rain, but rain shadow effects have an enormous influence really. But most parts of eastern and central ares of Scotland and England are a whole lot drier than you would imagine - it's just that the rain falls more lightly and sporadically here, but it falls on a lot more days than it does over in America - where the rain when it falls, apparently, comes down in almighty torrents!

If it's any consolation - next week we go into May - and the long range forecast for this area for next week is ....cold winds and snow showers. Nice. :-(
Guest   Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:05 pm GMT
1. Cold, St. Petersburg architecture

to tell the truth St. Petersburg was projected by Italian architects, it doesn't seem very Russian. Moscow is more Russian pheraps
Guest   Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:02 pm GMT
You're right, but Saint-Petersburg wasn't projected by italian architects only, Moscow seems to be much more Russian, but I consider Saint-Petersburg to be one of the most beautiful cities