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With its vast distances, Russia defies analysis. The sheer immensity of the world's biggest country puts it beyond definition or categories. Viewing the landscape from either a moving train or an airplane window discloses fields, mountains, and endless expanses of the birch tress that have come to symbolize for its people Rodina or the beloved Mother Russia. Yet the natural resources lying either under or on the surface of the land remain largely untapped. The reason for this wastefulness is sadly apparent. The inefficiency and waste connected with Josef Stalin's many five-year plans for Soviet growth still haunt the country. Russia still suffers from those failures in transportation, communication, and infrastructure that give it the shabby, ragged look of a third-world country. Still worse, Russians have inherited no work ethic from its Soviet days, and the worst corruptions of the capitalist west have also curbed initiative, creating both crime and unemployment and stifling the initiative of would-be investors. Yet the tough but tender Russian spirit has survived this repressiveness. Visitors to Russia relish the great national pride, the warmth, and the indominatable energy that declares itself in the busy streets of Moscow, the farms and factories of Siberia, and the natural splendors of the Far East. Russians of all ethnic stripes welcome foreign visitors and make them feel comfortable. If their country still suffers from the idiocy of communism, it has also inherited the traditions connected with writers like Tolstoy and the stirring music of Tchaikovsky, And don't forget the caviar, kvass, borscht, blini (or pancakes), the vodka and cognac, that Russia has given the world. The very act of having a Russian meal conveys the same robustness and heartiness that saw Russia through what is called there the Great Patriotic War Despite suffering more casualties than inflicted upon all of Nazi Germany's other enemies combined, Russia, more than any other nation, freed the West of fascism. The contrasts put forth by Russia create a singing tension that captivates all visitors. It's no wonder that once-reluctant visitors keep returning to it. After leaving the place for a month, you, too, will find yourself ready to go back. Perhaps the country is a mirror of the individual human soul.
World Wise Expeditions, © 2007 Far East Development |
