Russia through Swedish eyes

This doesn't have anything to do with Kazakhstan, but I can't stop myself from commenting on the Eurovision song contest finals in Sweden.

Living abroad, I got used to the same old image of Russia based on stereotypes.
Russian gangsters, mafia, vodka, bear, matreshka (also called babushka), balalajka, girls in tight cloths, Russian dance just to name a few. All these things were ingredients in the comedy sketch about Russia during the Swedish contest. The sketch called "Tingeling" is a catchy mix of techno music with Russian military chorus and folk songs. The song got even reactions to make "Tingeling"Sweden's entry to the Eurovision contest in Moscow.

To me it's fine to make fun of stereotypes in the ironical way about both Sweden and Russia in this particular song. But I think it went too long making fun of Stalin in the context of satire. Stalin is not about fun. Among not so many real Russian words you can hear: "Na zdorovje, Stalin!", "Na zdorovje, Lenin!", "Do svidanya, Putin!" ("Cheers, Stalin!", "Cheers, Lenin!", "Bye-bye Putin!").

Ballroom dance competition

"Love Story" was the name of the ballroom dance competition that took place in Almaty last weekend. We went to see the final show but the competition took four hours in the evening and we were already tired to stay for the show. Four hours were more then enough to enjoy waltz, tango, chacha, rumba paso doble etc. Here come some snapshots:

The moves)

Cultural life in Almaty

R and I have set record for theater and opera visits in Almaty. Each week we go to new performances and enjoy our cultural life make-over. On the other hand we don't have many options for other kinds of social activities. There are almost no restaurants, pubs or other public places with non-smoke area. The sound level in the cinema is very high and I feel that my baby doesn't appreciate it.

Actually, it's cheaper to go to the 2,5-hour performance in the Drama Theater or 3-hour opera then to go to the cinema. It's still communist prices -- 5-10 dollars for a ticket to the theater. And as you see, the closest theater of opera and ballet (the yellow building behind the blue one) is just across the street from us:

Camels

The first cultural insight: camels do exist in Kazakhstan, even when it's minus 10 C. I took a picture of the camel just behind the corner of our house. Although if this camel is not a real one, there are 1,5 billion camels in the steppes of Kazahstan and Mongolia.