My 3rd Interview's report; Russia

Marina Vlasova is a Russian student from Moscow. She is majoring in International Business, the same as my major. She moved to the United States when she was ten years old. Marina is very involved with activities on campus, and she likes to hang out with international students because she is a foreign, too.
According to Marina, she has lunch at Garvey very often in order to involve herself with international students. Last Thursday, November 5th, I met Marina at Garvey, while she was having coffee and sitting with a couple of other students. I asked them who would be willing to have an interview and she told me she can certainly do it. From there, we walked to a table that was in a quiet area and started the interview.
Marina was very understanding and listened carefully to me when I told her what I was supposed to do. I gave her a copy of the interview questions and we started it. She did not have difficulties with living in the United States, because she moved here when she was very young. However, Marina speaks English, Russian, and German. That impressed me a lot.
I chose not to transcribe this interview among the other two because I felt as if I was talking to an American person who only knows that they are originally not from here. Other than that, I really had fun having the interview with her and listening to someone from a country that is in Europe and Asia which interests me a lot.

I made a research on Russia after the interview, because I did not know from which country I was going to interview people from. I had China in mind, but fortunately I found Marina Vlasova who comes from a country that is in two continents. The following is what I found in my research:

“Russia is a country in northern Eurasia (Europe and Asia together). It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. Russia shares borders with the following countries (from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (via Kaliningrad Oblast), Poland (via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan (by the Sea of Okhotsk) and the United States (by the Bering Strait). At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is, in area, by far the largest country in the world (the second one, Canada, is about half the size of Russia), covering more than a ninth of the Earth’s land area. Russia is also the ninth most populous nation in the world with 142 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 11 time zones, and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources, and is considered an energy superpower. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water.”

URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia

“The Russian Federation is made up of 21 autonomous republics with the capital being in Moscow. It has a three branch system of government modelled after the United States. The executive branch is headed by Boris Nikolayevich Yelstin(since 12 June 1991). The legislative branch is a bicameral federal assembly; it consists of the State Duma and the Federal Council. The State Duma has 450 members that are elected throughout the country based on population of the districts. The Federal Council has 176 members, two each elected from Russia's 89 territorial units. Judicial Branch: Constitutional Court, Supreme Court (highest court for criminal, and administrative cases), Superior Court of Arbitration (highest court that resolves economic matters) There are more than 20 parties currently competing in Russian politics.”

URL: http://www.csudh.edu/global_options/375students-Sp96/Russia/PolitSys.html


“General Facts about Russia:
Geography: Russia is the largest country in the world, covering 17.1 million square kilometres. Extending nearly halfway around the northern hemisphere and covering much of eastern and north-eastern Europe as well as the whole of northern Asia, Russia has a maximum east-west extent, along the Arctic Circle, of some 7,700 kilometres and a north-south width of 2,011 to 2,976 kilometres. Russia has an enormous variety of landforms and landscapes. Arctic deserts lie in the extreme north, giving way southward to the tundra and then to the forest zones, which cover about half of the country and give it much of its character. South of the forest zone lies the wooded steppe and steppe, beyond which are small sections of semi-desert along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea. Much of the federation lies in latitudes where the winter cold is intense and there are many rivers, lakes, and swamps, which are freeze in winter.
Climate: Owing to its vast size and the fact that most of Russian's territory is far removed from any ocean, the climate throughout the country is extremely continental, with distinct periods of warm and cold weather. The continentality of Russia's climate increases as one travels east, with average temperature differences between the warmest (July) and coldest (January) periods in Eastern Siberia, for example, varying as much as 65 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit). There is, however, much variation in climate based on latitude and physical geography. Temperatures for Moscow and St. Petersburg range from highs of 32 C in the summer to low - 25 C in winter
Population: Of a population of about 145.5 million, nearly 80% are concentrated in Western Russia. Moscow, the largest city in Europe, has a population of 11 million people, and St. Petersburg (former Leningrad) has 5 million inhabitants. Around two-thirds of the population now live in cities. The population size is currently on the decline. Pensioners constitute 23% of the population and the average family size is three people. The average life expectancy rate is much lower than that of other developed countries.
Language: Russian is the country's official language. It uses the Cyrillic alphabet (rather than the Latin one used by most Western countries), and contains 33 letters. However, the 120 or so nationalities of the Commonwealth of Independent States speak about 48 other languages. Those of Slavic origin (i.e. Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians) account for approximately 75% of the total population.
In Moscow or St Petersburg it is not uncommon to find Russians who speak European languages, especially English.
Living Standards: The Soviet system provided accommodation with very low rents, free social services, subsidized vacations, and assisted factory canteens, shops and sports facilities. Few of these remain. Prior to price liberalization, food, drink, cigarettes, public transport and utilities were also very cheap.
Today the recent reforms have forced a significant share of the population (especially pensioners) below the poverty line as inflation has outstripped increases in state benefits. There is a developing middle/commercial class involved in legitimate business. Only a very small proportion has become extremely wealthy, commonly known as 'novae Russkie.'
Culture & Social Life: Theatre, cinema, music and arts are important parts of Russian life; as with other countries funding has fallen for these, and private sponsorship is emerging. Features of Russian culture, which are at the highest of international standards, include the Bolshoi Theatre, Pushkin Art Gallery in Moscow and Marin-sky (Kirov) Theatre and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Russians also spend a considerable amount of their leisure time at the homes of friends and relatives - they place much importance on friendship and family. Consequently anniversaries and birthdays are celebrated with more gusto than expatriates may be used to at home.
Religion: Russian Orthodoxy is the main religion in Russian, followed to a lesser extent by Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism. Religion has become more popular in Russia over the last few years as the Russian Orthodox Church has received official encouragement through the return of property confiscated during the Soviet period. The rebuilding of Christ the Saviour Cathedral (in Moscow) is symbolic of the restoration of the right to practice a religion in Russia, and this development has evoked much emotion amongst Russian (and foreign) people alike.
Ethnic diversity: The territory of Russia is home to more than 100 different ethnic groups representing a multiplicity of national histories and cultures and many distinct language groups, including Indo-European Slavic, Turkic, Finno-Ugric and others. The vast majority of the population - over four fifths - consists of ethnic Russians with another four percent consisting of Ukrainians and Belarusians.
International time: Moscow and St. Petersburg are three hours ahead of London time and eight hours ahead of New York time. Vladivostok is seven hours ahead of Moscow. Travel time to Moscow is about 3 hours and 35 minutes by air from London or Paris, 9 hours from New York, and 10 hours and 25 minutes from Tokyo.”


URL: http://www.stranslation.com/Russian_Translation/general_facts_about_russia.htm