Russia is a vast country with a unique charm and a difficult climate, inhabited by mysterious Russian people, known for their wide soul, craving for freebies and worthy of imitation of hospitality. By the way, Russian hospitality was appreciated by guests from dozens of countries at the last football championship. The uniqueness of the Russian Federation for foreigners needs no introduction, while listing all its features is simply impossible.
Thousands of people from all over the world come to the homeland of beautiful ballerinas and great writers every year. Many of them, when they first read about the country in a travel booklet or on the Internet, get acquainted with the unofficial symbols of Russia: vodka, bear and balalaika. It is worth noting that in addition to official state symbols, almost every country has its own national distinctive symbolism, which conveys the character of its inhabitants and is supported by world stereotypes.
Russians drink vodka like tea and coffee
In every country in the world in the pictures of bar menus and on store shelves there is sure to be a large glass bottle with the inscription Russian Vodka. Also, a similar attribute can be found in almost every Hollywood film, where there are scenes with Russians. Myths about the immoderate and popular consumption of this strong drink are known throughout the civilized world.
Neither wedding nor commemoration can do without vodka in Russia. According to foreigners, vodka, like a bear with a balalaika, has been a permanent attribute in any Russian house for many years and is offered to every guest in unlimited quantities.
Bears walk on Red Square
It is in the Kremlin area that tourists dream of seeing the most ordinary Russian people walking on a leash of large brown bears. The stereotype in combination with others is so firmly imprinted in history that a typical query in search engines like a photo of a bear with vodka and balalaika gives hundreds of pages of results.
The pictures, as a rule, depict bears in the boundaries of large Russian megacities. The irony is that it is much more likely to meet a live bear on the streets of some states in the USA or cities in Canada, but in Russia, bears can wander out of curiosity except in some remote village.
Everyone plays balalaikas since childhood
In all likelihood, the Russians invented the balalaika more than 200 years ago. The tool is rightfully considered a national treasure. In those days, balalaikas were an integral attribute of all the noisy festivities. The buffoons performed virtuoso passages and perky motives on them. A common myth says that even now many Russians from a young age also masterly use the instrument. Most perceive the balalaika as a kind of classic guitar with an original “Russian flavor”.
Vodka and bears from balalaika in modern culture are already inseparable, because the latter takes an honorable third place according to references among foreigners. The instrument owes its modern appearance, which is usually shown in pictures, to Vasily Andreev. There is no unequivocal opinion of historians about the origin of the balalaika: some consider it a creation of the Kyrgyz and Tatar nationalities, others consider it to be Slavic ethnic groups.
How everything really
Of course, a drunk bear with a balalaika and vodka in its paws is both very comical and highly figurative in Russian realities. However, the problem lies for the most part in the fact that more likely Russians want to believe that modern foreigners take such myths and stereotypes at face value. But, as part of the country's image, bears with vodka and balalaika at the ready will not soon leave the minds of tourists of all nationalities.