Tag: Russia

Final Checklist

There are a couple of things I like to have done before I go somewhere for a slightly long haul (a week or more). They include having a haircut and clipping my nails, and shaving.

I didn’t have to get a haircut since I’m only going to be in St. Petersburg for a week, but I just finished clipping my nails – the last thing I am doing before writing this post, and then having Madeline graciously drive me down to the airport.

A new place, a new time. Things are going to change this week. A new trajectory will be followed upon reentry.

Same as the Old Boss

At YOU CAN! in Poland, during Polish Night I sat across from a girl from the mainland of China. The conversation turned to censorship and its acceptance in China, and she told me that she thought that it was good that the Internet and publications were censored. She said that the government knew what was good for them, and so she trusted their decision.

This concerned me quite a bit, and was an unusual thing to hear especially from an AIESECer. I have just read this article on the BBC about life in modern Russia, and it has the same kind of concepts from the mouths of ordinary Russian citizens. Why do people willfully submit themselves to an unchecked authority like this?