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cyndy22 · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:04 pm Post subject: Hosting Bellarussian Visitor

I will be hosting a woman from Belarus the 1st 2 weeks in April. She is visiting US with 9 other Belarrussian professionals to work in the field of youth advocacy to learn about youth social services in US and share information etc. I am really excited to have her stay with me, my husband and son. I will get the opportunity to practice my Russian since she I am told does not speak much English at all. Any suggestions for making my guest feel more comfortable are appreciated and most welcome. For example, any special food items, etc. It probably makes the most sense to find out her preferences and interests when she arrives.

mediashark · Moderator Joined: 04 Nov 2004 Posts: 1599

I don't know anything really specific, but if I were you I'd just by myself and just be a good host. Not sure about food, but I taught myself a bit of Russian cooking and in Singapore it always brought a smile and started interesting conversations among my Russian (and Singaporean) guests. Of course you'll never cook as well as their mama does, but they'll appreciate the effort.

However many people like to try new types of food. Italian food is generally well-received. Pasta is just so cheap here, but nobody has really cracked the secret of the sauce. A 'typical Russian breakfast' can sometimes consists of a couple of sausages and plain (or if you're lucky, buttered) macaroni served with mountain of mayonnaise! My husband can't live without mayonnasie. We go through 1kg tubs in a week![/list]

Zach10791 · Moderator Joined: 19 Mar 2005 Posts: 815

Hi Cyndy,

I occasionally I play around on RussianFoods and I found this section for you that can give you more insight on what they eat. Here is the link:

http://russianfoods.com/recipes/group00023/default.asp

Also according to Let's Go Belarusian’s love ice cream and they eat it at all hours of the day. My kind of culture. Very Happy

Katyara · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:49 am Post subject:

Zach10791 · Moderator Joined: 19 Mar 2005 Posts: 815

I love ice cream also, oops dont want to sound too much like a child. Rolling Eyes

Is it true that you guys eat a sunday with fresh fruit in it?

Katyara · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:09 am Post subject:

Don't wanna seem stupid, but what is "sunday"? Is it a type of ice cream? 'cause it doesn't sound like a day of the week in your sentence...

Anathema · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:25 am Post subject:

Katyara · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:33 am Post subject:

This ice cream looks so g-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-d... I was about to eat the screen...

Katyara · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:36 am Post subject:

And it is true that we eat sundae with the fresh fruit in it. Anyway, I do!!! Very Happy

Anathema · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:48 am Post subject:

cyndy22 · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 10:17 pm Post subject:

Mediashark,
I guess not all Russkies love mayo as much as your husband. I invited my Russian neighbors over our house for dinner next Tuesday night. I asked Larisa if there is anything they do not like. Larisa told me that Dmitri hates mayonnaise. Go figure!

And you are absolutely right about Russians having a high regard for their mama's cooking, especially Russian men. When I brought over some galobsi I prepared awhile back to their house for them, I was a little offended that Dmitri kind of snubbed my dish. And I am a pretty good cook. But Larisa tells me that even she can't measure up to mama's cooking! Anyways just wanted to share that.

MrSpice · Lounge Wizard Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 3431

I have lived in Russia in St. Petersburg for 20 years and have lived in America for the last 11. I never ever ate buttered macaroni with mayonnaise for breakfast. As far as I remember fried or scrambled eggs will do just fine. Russians love hot cereal with milk (aka "kasha"). If you live close to Boston, you can drive to the local russian stores (and there are many of them in the Boston area in Brighton and Lynn and other places). I personally think that regular 5-min Quaker Oatmeal with milk is the best breakfast one can have. Most Russians love potatoes in all forms - boiled, fried, etc.

But I really think you should not worry about this stuff. There are lots of new restaurants in Russia and Belorussia nowadays. People may appreciate new food. And American food like hamburgers, hotdogs and boiled/broiled fish or chicken would probably be greated with joy as well.

One thing to note: make sure they have a way to get around during the day. One thing that is different about most places in America except New York City is that America is very suburban: you can't get anywhere without a car. In large cities accross the former Soviet Union, people are used to very urban life where they take buses, trams and subway everywhere. People can get bored sitting at home alone without any ability to get to town. If you live in Cambridge, ignore this paragraph, they will be just fine there Smile

MrSpice · Lounge Wizard Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 3431

Forgot to mention that most russians that came to America quickly adjusted to love Chinese and Japanese food. I really have never had a problem with food in America Smile

One thing: most russians love to have some sweets with tea for desert - after dinner (regular black, like English Breakfast tea or coffee with or without milk). When I say sweets I mean cookies, biscuits, sponge cake, chocolates, anything like that.

mediashark · Moderator Joined: 04 Nov 2004 Posts: 1599

Oh, sushi is all rage in Moscow now! And food fads come and go all the time these days. However traditional food will always be here to stay.

Recently I've gotten into the somewhat lazy habit of buying frozen Russian foods like pelmeni (dumplings), kotleti (meat patties)), blini (pancakes) etc. since I can't seem to replicate the taste even as much as frozen food--and not to say anything about my husbands mother or the kitchen-goddess, his grandmother! (She and grandpops have their own garden, and vinyard as well.) Save for the one meal I have together with him, I can't be bothered to cook something nice for myself.

Recently I developed the habit eating of instant-kasha in the morning...

How can anyone hate mayonnaise?? I just don't understand!!! Not that I don't know anyone who doesn't like it... but I just don't understand! : Rolling Eyes

cyndy22 · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:03 am Post subject:

Mr. Spice,
A big spasiba to you! Actually I am not that concerned about feeding my guest. We eat well in this house and I enjoy cooking alot of different ethnic foods. Also we live just 5 minutes away from
Northampton ,MA which has phenomenal restaurants of every kind you can imagine. Even Tibetan! We also have a pretty large Russian community near by in Springfield, W. Springfield and Westfield with Russian markets etc.

Our guest will be very busy during the day time since she and the group will be attending programs and visiting social service agencies all day long. But we will enjoy spending time with her at breakfast, dinner and weekends while she is with us. Transportation won't be a problem at all because I work in Amherst at the University and can bring her to the Institute for Training and Development each morning and ITD also provides transportation to their participants in this program, which by the way is funded by the US State Dept.

It will be nice to host this person. I enjoy hosting people, especially people from Russia and former Soviet Republic countries. I am sure that we will give our Belrussian guest a very hospitable, enjoyable and interesting experience not only in our home but in our community. I love showing the good things that are abundant in the US AND IT WILL DEPEND ON HER INTERESTS OF COURSE. But there is no shortage of music, art, dance, theatre, nature, sports, dining, etc. that we will be very happy to introduce our new friend to. Smile

By the way, what brought you to the states and where are you located?

Best regards, Cyndy

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