Posts Tagged "russia"
Ye Ji: Korean 12 years in Russia
Ye Ji moved with her parents to Russia 12 years ago from Korea, living initially in Irkutsk in Siberia near Lake Baikal. She is now studying law in Vladivostok and says her co-students ''treat me like a Russian rather than a foreigner.'' Ye Ji said she is looking forward to moving back home when she finishes her university degree. ''I have lived in Russia for so long, its about time I lived in my own country.''
Alina: Marilyn Manson Fan
Alina (right) and Sasha were eating fast food and drinking milk shakes on a sunday Friday afternoon at Royal Burger, the McDonald's of Russia's Far East region. Alina, an 8th grader, said she liked rap and hard rock, adding that her favorite musicians were Marilyn Manson and Oliver Sykes. She said she came across Marilyn Manson and his music through the Internet.
Igor: Vladivostok Designer, Entrepreneur
Igor, 24, has owned a bar, cleaned up cemeteries and developed an app for an iPhone in his varied working career in Vladivostok. Now he has opened a fashion boutique featuring some of his own creations. He says he has more ideas for businesses, but it is tough getting support from his family. ''My parents don't understand me,'' he said. ''They are from the Soviet period and I am from the capitalist period. They say 'Why don't you go get a government job? But us children of the 1990s - we are grown up and have some money to start our own businesses.''
Polina: Vladivostok Guitarist
Polina, 21, was holding her electric guitar as she waited in the center of Vladivostok for her friend, who is also the singer in their 4-person band. While her group plays a lighter rock, Polina said she loves heavy metal. ''There is a new wave of metal,'' she said. ''It appeals to young people who don't want to be constrained by standards and comfort.''
Oleg: Gardner & Coin Collector
Oleg, a gardner and coin collector, was choosing books from a shelf placed on the street in front of the Vladivostok library to stimulate reading. He pulled out two Czarist coins dating from 1777 from a small flip book to show me and photograph with. When his wife, who was standing behind him looking through books, heard from a Russian colleague that I was an American, she warned her husband from having his picture taken.
Nikita: Heavy Metal Lover, Folk Musician
Nikita walked up to me in the center of Vladivostok and asked for a light. He was dressed in leather from head to toe and said he loved heavy metal. He said his favorite group was St. Petersburg-based metals band 'Infernal Fuck.' I asked if he had his own group. He said he played the contrabass in a folk music ensembles and always wore a traditional costume when he played such as red boots. I asked him about the contrast between what he liked and what he played. ''Metal is my style, but I can combine things,'' he said, open his leather jacket wider to show a conservative-styled gray sweater between his leather jacket and metal print t-shirt.
Musicians Chillin’ in Vladivostok
Vladivostok: ''We are enjoying the sun and the moment,'' said the musician on the left, when I asked these guys what they were doing for Valentine's Day. He said the three were collaborating on a hip-hop album and ''want to conquer the world.''
Nikolai: Butcher Shop Dreams
Nikolai, 25, was offering pedestrians tulips from the back of a car in the center of Vladivostok on Valentine's Day. He had bought 200 hundred tulips from a local producer and sold about 180 by the early evening, pocketing a nice profit. A former worker on a fishing trawler, he said he would like to open a chain of butcher shops because he sees weak competition and strong demand for meat. The current competitors don't understand marketing and he felt he could grab market share. He added that he is part of ''a trend of young people trying to start their own businesses.'' I asked if his parents were involved in food retail as well. He said was born at the end of the 1980s, during a very tumultuous period in Russia's history, and was raised in a village by his grandmother, who has since passed away. ''There are many of us in Russia,'' he said, referring to orphans.
Sergei & Lyubov: Nature Lovers
Vladivostok: Sergei and Lyubov were walking together in the center of Vladivostok on Valentine's Day, both wearing what looked like hiking backpacks. They said they met a month ago in Vladivostok via friends and ''have many things in common, including biking, hiking and outdoor tourism.'' They plan on visiting a cave in the region later this month, while their longterm plans include visiting Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Tibet.
Timofei & Dasha: Vladivostok Teenagers
Vladivostok: Timofei and Dasha, Vladivostok teenagers, were sitting by the shore as the sun set, taking in the beautiful view like many other couples. Timofei said they met a month ago via Russian social media - like so many others I have met lately. Russians normally give flowers on such a holiday, but I noticed that Dasha wasn't holding any. ''The most important thing [in a relationship] is not to be banal,'' Timofei said. ''You have to do something original.'' Apparently, he had something special planned for Dasha.
