Russia

Kyrgyzstan: A blend of Russia and native Kyrgyz culture, now evolving into its own unique identity

Today, we introduce you to Nargiza Ryskulova. Nargiza is one of our regional Pocket Cultures contributors, who is from Kyrgyzstan but currently lives in London. Kyrgyzstan is a country that many of us don’t know a lot about:even down to the country’s location on a map, or what language the locals speak! Read more from Nargiza about what makes Kyrgyzstan so unique, multi-cultural, and what most surprises visitors.

Where do you live? Where are you from? If those are different, can you tell us a little about what inspired your move?

I have been living in London since August. Originally from Kyrgyzstan. Technical reason to move to London is to do my MA in International Journalism at it is one of the best journalism schools in the world. But really it’s for London, because London is just one of the cities that are on my “must live” list. It’s an amazing city to be young in, inspiring, overwhelming and challenging. So in combination circumstances match the desire and make London a perfect place for me to be at this moment.

Would you describe yourself as multi-cultural?

I have grown up in a culture which is itself a mixture of cultures. Kyrgyzstan was in Soviet Union for 70 years, inheriting strong post-soviet culture, blended on the basis of native Kyrgyz culture and Russian culture, strongly implemented through media and literature. Now as a developing country Kyrgyzstan is evolving its own new culture.

Why did you decide to become a Pocket Cultures contributor?

Because I love cultures, and I love the fact that I can share mine, or the one I am exposed with so many other people who are also able to appreciate specialties and fascination of different cultures.

Can you describe a typical day for you?

My morning starts with cup of coffee and morning dose of fresh world news. 40 minutes of good reading on the tube and walk to University. After school comes the most exciting, exploration of new: places, people, activities. Thanks to the fact that London has so much to offer it’s never the same!

What is the best part of living in your country? The worst?

The best part of living in my country (Kyrgyzstan) is to be able see mountains from any point. It just gives you a different perspective on things around you, reminding you that you are just a human. People are incredible, their hospitality and sincerity makes up for imperfectness of infrastructure. The worst part is the political system, which is striving to develop into something functional. But I guess, that’s why we called a “developing” country.

What books or films would you recommend someone who’d like to know more about your country?

Blogs:

• http://www.travelbite.co.uk/holiday-ideas/2008/4/18/hospitality-ambush-in-kyrgyzstan
• http://sonsofhedin.org

Books:

• Life At the Edge of the Empire: Oral Histories of Soviet Kyrgyzstan by Sam Tranum
• Any literary piece by Chingiz Aitmatov (will provide the deepest insight into culture)
• Kyrgyzstan: Central Asia’s Island of Democracy? (Postcommunist States and Nations, 4)by John Anderson

Films:

• Wedding Chest  by Nurbek Egen
• Sanzhyra by Nurbek Egen
• Birth of Manas as a Premonition by Nurbek Egen
• Beshkempir (1998)
• Jamila (1994)
• Bishkek, I love you

What’s something that visitors are often surprised by when getting to know your country/culture?

That we look Asian, located next to China, but speak Russian language.

That the horse milk is a national drink “komuz”!

Infographic: Top languages on the Internet

As the number of web users grows around the world, languages on the internet have continued to expand resulting in an increasingly multilingual internet. The Internet used to be English centric and even today; English remains the dominant language, but the remarkable growth of languages such as Chinese has changed the online language landscape.

Continuing on from a previous post on the Top 10 languages on the internet, which listed the growth of various languages on the web, I thought of revisiting the topic and look at the changes that have occurred since then through an infographic.

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Images from the edge of Russia

Imagine looking over the Sea of Japan from your office window. For Natie, author of Living on the edge of Russia it’s an everyday reality. She lives in from Vladivostok – where Russia meets Asia. Natie’s blog hasn’t been updated recently, but shows some interesting photos of everyday life from this part of the world.

“We still have trams and it could be so interesting and (somehow) beautiful inside.”

Read more
More blogs from Russia on Blogs of the World
My city: Bishkek – post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan
Russian tea time

A blog for new immigrants to the USA

The blog America for beginners aims to ‘bring American culture closer to new immigrants’. It’s written by Anna Kudryashova, a Russian in Boston who is also a linguist specialising in cultural diversity. And although it’s a new blog, there’s already a fair bit to read here.

Maybe because of her background in cultural studies, Anna tends to approach the cultural differences she finds in the USA in an analytical way, and as you might expect there is a focus on comparison with Russian culture. But I found it interesting reading despite not being Russian.

These ‘difference of the week’ sketches are a fun way of showing cultural differences.

Read more:
More blogs from the USA on Blogs of the World
Dance and cultural identity in Lower Silesia, Poland
Test your cultural expertise with our weekly quiz

Show me the way to Russia

Way to Russia describes itself as an online travel guide, but it’s got a lot of insights into Russian culture as well. There’s a romantic story behind the site: it started after the founder (Dmitry) made a trip to Europe in 2000.

“During his trip Dmitry met a beautiful girl (Celine), who wanted to visit him back in Russia. She had to get the Russian visa, but it seemed nearly impossible then. Step by step we (Dmitry, Dan, and Celine) learned everything about the process and put all this information online, so that nobody runs into the same problem again”

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Meet Anna and Ailo

Where are you from?

My name is Anna, and I’m Russian, my boyfriend is called Ailo and he’s Norwegian.

Where did you meet?

We have known each other for 5 years, we’ve been internet friends. Last year I just went to Norway to study and we started dating.

What language do you speak at home?

We speak English.

Do you try to cook food from each other’s countries?

I cook Russian food, he likes it a lot,he cooks different meals like Mexican, Italian, American so, nothing in particular. But not Norwegian as it’s more for holidays, than everyday meals.

Can you explain one part of your partner’s culture that you found surprising?

Yeap, he’s not very emotional all the time, but I learned how to tell what he feels by his face and body language. He doesn’t talk about love a lot, but if he tells that he loves me it means that this is very serious, not just words, So it’s new, but I really appreciate it.

What’s the best thing about being in a cross-cultural relationship?

It’s that everything is so different and interesting, not routine. It’s so interesting to talk about differences in our cultures, make jokes about them, it’s fun!

I just like Norwegian culture, I know a lot about it, so it’s more a nice thing that we’re from different countries than a problem causing thing.

What’s the hardest thing about being in a cross-cultural relationship?

Hmm, I guess it’s language that can cause misunderstanding… but in fact it’s not. it’s all about respect and value. If I misunderstood my boyfriend, we would always sort the problem out and we’d see what was the root of the problem. So it’s probably the language and cultural differences, but you can always avoid big problems if you learn the language better, learn each other’s cultural peculiarities and simply respect each other.

Do you have any advice for other cross-cultural couples?

Yeah, learn as more as you can about the culture of your partner, listen to each other, appreciate and respect each other.

UPDATE (13 Jan): the original version of the interview didn’t have Ailo’s name, and has been updated.

Read more:
Meet Anna and Bose (UK and India/USA)
Meet Sharell and Pradeep (Australia and India)
Meet Ozlem and Javier (Turkey and Spain)
Meet Matthew and Shinichi (USA and Japan)