• eleitl@lemmy.zip
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    9 hours ago

    Living in Russia in Moscow/Petersburg is actually really nice these days.

    • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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      2 hours ago

      I mean if I was a rich ethnic Russian in either of those cities, I’d probably love it.

      I’m Estonian though, don’t speak any more Russian than yes, no, please, thank you and go fuck yourself. Of course I also understand when being asked for a cigarette - an absolute necessity in Estonia (though these days you’re very unlikely to get attacked for not providing said cigarettes - 20-30 years ago was different, but I wasn’t exactly old enough to smoke then)

      But overall I’m glad I don’t live in Russia because I don’t agree with the politics. Even before the current war, I’m sure I would’ve been seen as a dissident. I’m sure the people of Russia are actually mostly very nice. It’s also cheaper than a lot of western countries so working remotely, I’m sure I would’ve been able to live very comfortably before the war. I just wouldn’t ever want to live under Putin rule and I wouldn’t really want to live in a country with so many nationalists (US, if I ever moved there, would be a bit easier, because it’s more about race than nationality and I’m white)

        • vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org
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          3 hours ago

          I was thinking more about all the dismemberment and depression jokes about the one on Neva with the Aurora cruiser docker yadda-yadda

          • eleitl@lemmy.zip
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            3 hours ago

            It’s the weather, probably. Something for the natives, and Finns maybe.

            • vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org
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              3 hours ago

              Yeah, but at the same time - the weather in Vyborg is fine by me, and the weather in Narva\Ivangorod. But the place between them (one the coast) is somehow far more depressive.

              And I don’t think I’ve heard Helsinki being called depressive.

              It’s something about planning, perhaps? Streets are laid out so that you feel as if you were in a military location. People live in those historical beautiful buildings as if they were birds making nests under the roof, as if people were not the main thing there.

              And places around SPb, like Strelna, are also not depressive at all. At least in my perception. That air flavored with Baltic salt, every sea smells differently, the Baltic water smell is nice, in some way similar to Coca-Cola.

              It’s the city itself.

              • eleitl@lemmy.zip
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                2 hours ago

                Interesting observations, thanks.

                I also am a fan of Michael Swanwick.