Russia blog

Maxim's Freeman blog

Most of the blogs I found on Russia were from every day people writing about their experiences. While not always the most well written blogs, I like looking into the lives of those people because I feel like I can relate to them more than a politically run blog.

One of the best blogs I found was actually written by a history student at UCLA, Sean Guillory. His blog was the most political of the ones I found. He is writing is dissertation on the Young Communist League in NEP Russia, although he follows many forms of Marxism. The most interesting entry I found was about Russian President Dmitri Medvedev taking to the video blogosphere himself. In the video on Sean's blog, President Medvedev discussed what he would be taking to the World Policy Conference in Evian, France. The conference took place on October 8. Medvedev stressed the need for updated security measures, citing the old system does not work and gave examples of the conflicts in Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan of the failure of the old system. I found it very interesting that the president of a country would be willing to get on video and make promises like that, especially since Russia has been in minor conflict with Georgia recently.

Medvedev also said the “world financial crisis requires urgent joint action” between the world's powers.

Another blog I found interesting was that of Kolin Zeinikov, a Moscow blogger who uses photos from his cell phone to show the world his life. I like the idea of a young person taking the time to show the world around him with an emphasis through Russia's music scene. The top of the blog is a disclaimer saying the blog is not a typical one and I do not think it is.

The blog on Russian cultural differences called The Russian Way was another eye opening look into life over there. One thing I found interesting was the abundance of homeless dogs that supposedly exists in Russia. Another thing was the lack of attention to maintaining infrastructure in terms of paint, etc. The blog states that most infrastructure was inherited from the former Soviet Union and a “lack of private ownership on city property” leads to no one being willing to take responsibility for maintenance.

Another blog is written in protest to the Sochi 2014 winter Olympics. I found this interesting because I have not seen a lot of support for the Chicago 2016 summer Olympics outside of those pushing for it, like Mayor Richard M. Daley and Chicago Olympic Committee members.

Two other U.S. blogs about Russia caught me eye. One is from a jazz musician originally from Russia. Alexei nows lives in the U.S. and discusses those who voted for President George W. Bush twice and the resurgence of jazz music in Russia after Joseph Stalin's death in 1953.

The last blog is a dual blog written by an American man and his Russian wife. It is interesting to see the different ways they view things because of their cultural differences. They also sponsor Russian students who are seeking to improve their English