I hate it when people take things for granted

Russia, no, I never felt at home there.

People ask me this if there’s anything I miss about Russia. The only two things—I don’t miss them, but they were good—caviar and chocolate. But you can get caviar and chocolate from Russia abroad. I think nostalgia is a feeling that people get when they’re not culturally very comfortable in a place. [...]

School in Siberia

When you say, “Going to school,” the first thing that comes to my mind is cold. When I grew up, this place was in Siberia, so when people talk about Chicago winter I’m like, “No, you have no idea.’” So it was really, really cold. Schools are good, universities are good—I mean the [...]

American flags everywhere

I remember my very first two impressions when I came here to the States as a tourist. The first one was the number of American flags everywhere. In Russia back in ’96 after the Communist era it was actually not good. People did not want to show any pride in their countries, so [...]

I’ve never been back to Russia, ever since I left Russia.

My dad is still in Russia because he’s a journalist, and you know how it is when you’re a journalist. He’s a very good journalist, but when your profession is connected to a language—and he is Russian, born and raised, so he still lives there. My mother lives in London. She’s been [...]