(06-14-2011 06:11 PM)fireform. Wrote:  The way a girl dresses tells me what she's generally about. If she's into bottles in the club, into Indie music and socialism, or generic and not that into anything. The way someone dresses is a good measure of what subculture they consider themselves to be in, and it could hint at compatibility with a girl.

+1

(05-18-2011 08:49 PM)Mark Wrote:  Sidenote: if you are a minority, you will NOT be treated the same here as a white person. Sad, but true. Steer clear.

Does this apply for Oriental people as well? Turkic/Mongol people with Oriental features have been part of Russia for centuries, nuless there is some stigma about that?

Anyone non-white it seems, sadly.

I did some googling and it seems Moscow and St. Petersburg in particular are hotbeds of racist attacks. For language learning, some people recommend going to one of the other former Soviet Republics with a non-Russian native population which seem to be friendlier. Someone else on the same thread also recommended Siberia and Vladivostok, though probably other, more ethnically diverse republics in the Russian Federation would be more open to non-whites too.

Might be a bit OOT but I hope this is useful.

Yes. I don't think you'll necessarily be attacked, but you'll be treated more rudely. When I was there, I asked a number of Russians about the reputation about racism and pretty much all of them said the same thing, that non-white people aren't really respected. Violence is rare, but little things like a bartender not serving you, a taxi driver ripping you off, girls not wanting to talk to you, etc., is to be expected.

But then of course, there are some people/girls who don't care. But I can't say that Russia sounds too enticing if you're not white.

(06-15-2011 12:56 PM)Harry Potter Wrote:  

(05-18-2011 08:49 PM)Mark Wrote:  Sidenote: if you are a minority, you will NOT be treated the same here as a white person. Sad, but true. Steer clear.

Does this apply for Oriental people as well? Turkic/Mongol people with Oriental features have been part of Russia for centuries, nuless there is some stigma about that?

I don't know how it it is now, but there was a huge neo-nazi movement in Russia a few years ago. Gangs of skinheads would randomly attack non-white people and beat them in a brutal fashion. This is a bit ironic, because Hitler considered Slavic people to be "sub-human" and not "Aryan".

I think I'll pass...

Makes me feel like the ignorant rednecks who populate my locale could be a lot worse ..

(06-15-2011 09:27 PM)Mark Wrote:  Yes. I don't think you'll necessarily be attacked, but you'll be treated more rudely. When I was there, I asked a number of Russians about the reputation about racism and pretty much all of them said the same thing, that non-white people aren't really respected. Violence is rare, but little things like a bartender not serving you, a taxi driver ripping you off, girls not wanting to talk to you, etc., is to be expected.

But then of course, there are some people/girls who don't care. But I can't say that Russia sounds too enticing if you're not white.

I've never been like you have, so I can't say for sure. But Russians tend to like Indian Bollywood movies. And Indian South Asian guys are often able to date Russian girls in the USA etc..

But I'm surprised that there is Racism like this despite this fact.