I have worked with a lot of Russians during my time in the oil biz. I used to be able to handle a bit of the lingo, but that was long ago.

I learned very quickly not to put any stock in their opinions since they had no factual basis for almost anything they said. Did you know that Alaska, Washington State and Oregon are still a part of Russia? It's True!

There are two races of people in Russia. Russians and Jews. Yup, There are no other native peoples there at all and never have been.

How do you get a table at a Russian cafe? You tell the doorman, usually a retired military person with a ton of medals, that you are coming in and if you have to go though him to do it then BY GOD that is the way it will be. Then he opens the door. They really do respect that whole totalitarian thing there.

If you ever said you were going to study a problem to determine the best way to deal with it they would not quite freak out but they would get very nervous. If they were presented with too many choices it would cause them to just stop and do nothing.

Another Russian trait is to never say what you really think. You always say what is expected of you. Everyone know someone who was sent to the Gulag for speaking their mind, so why take the chance?

Do you think they would get off the boat and say the Russian way of life was best? They would expect to be given a one-way ticket back to Mother Russia.

And who would think that someone who just got off the boat would know everything about how our Government works?