Final+Paper

I knew from the very beginning of this project that I wanted to choose a country that I was not familiar with, and preferably one that I had some type of connection to. When I saw that there was a Russian partner available, being that I knew next to nothing about Russia and that I am almost half Lithuanian, I jumped at the opportunity. My partner Igor Nikitin has proved himself to be very reliable and informative as far as emails go, providing a thorough, thoughtful, and honest opinion for all of my widely ranged questions. My emails began with simple questions inquiring about symbols representing his home country, what he likes to do in his free time, and what kinds of Russian foods he likes to eat. My questions became progressively more challenging to answer as we continued correspondence, transitioning into the political and economic situation of Russia and the cultural comparisons between Russia and Hawaii. When asked for a symbol to represent his mother country Russia, Igor replied with the bear. This is not an unusual answer seeing that there are many Russian proverbs referring to the bear or bear-like characteristics, like; "Don't try to wake up the sleeping Russian bear". In Igor's opinion the Russians throughout history in wartime have acted in having similar characteristics to a bear. His meaning is that a bear is generally peaceful and minding it's own business, but when it gets agitated and has reason to believe the agitator is a threat, the bear will attack with vicious ferocity. Igor gives specific examples through the Russian wars with France in 1812 and Germany in 1941-1945, in which he explains that in both cases, the opposing countries initiated the attack of Russia, resulting in a severe and utter defeat. Igor also feels that the bear represents the personality of their culture, describing the Russian lifestyle as having a "slow rhythm" and a "calm forcefulness".The symbol I sent to Igor was of the Manoa Valley because I believe it is a good symbol of Hawaii in the context of my life. In the email I attached my haiku and an explanation for its importance. I told Igor about how much time I actually spend in Manoa because I live and go to school in the area, and how my runs, running also being a significant part of my life, do not exceed the limits of the valley. My runs are in a way characterized by my familiar surroundings of the valley. Igor said that he understood my feelings for the valley because he also studies at the University of Hawaii Manoa and hence sees the valley quite often. On the other hand, a symbol I would choose to correspond with Igor's bear is the Hawaiian flower lei. I believe that the lei represents the spirit of our state in a similar way that the bear represents Russia for Igor. The lei is given to people as a symbol of welcome or congratulations, which reflects Hawaii's open spirit and relaxed way of life. The lei may also represent peace; something that Hawaii has also been quite good at keeping. Even during the American takeover, Hawaii was very passive and did not put up much of a powerful fight, perhaps because the spirit of Aloha is simply too delicate and sweet like the flowers in a lei to engage in war. Igor also sent me a handful of famous Russian poets and authors, as well as a couple of poems he felt were somewhat representative of the Russian nation during that particular era. My impression based on the fact that Igor sent so many works and authors of poetry opposed to novelists is that poets in Russian history have made more political statements and taken more risks in their works than other artists. Igor liked to mention that in Russia it was often said that a poet was more than just a poet. "Siltentium!" is a poem by Fedor Tyutchev written in 1830 and is admired for it's rhythm that keeps with the theme of silence, and also for it's anthropomorphic and spiritual imagery.  Speak not, lie hidden, and conceal  the way you dream, the things you feel.  Deep in your spirit let them rise  akin to stars in crystal skies  that set before the night is blurred:  delight in them and speak no word.  How can a heart expression find?  How should another know your mind?  Will he discern what quickens you?  A thought, once uttered, is untrue.  Dimmed is the fountainhead when stirred:  drink at the source and speak no word.  Live in your inner self alone  within your soul a world has grown,  the magic of veiled thoughts that might  be blinded by the outer light, <span style="display: block; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;"> drowned in the noise of day, unheard...   take in their song and speak no word. From my interpretation of this poem, the Russian society during this period was very oppressed due to the strict and controlling Soviet government. The people felt that their thoughts and feelings should not be expressed and should instead be stifled within themselves; "Live in your inner self alone". This poem even seems to glorify the state of keeping all thoughts inside, portraying such circumstances as an opportunity to build another, better world in one's mind; "within your soul a world has grown". Tyutchev is saying in the line "the magic of veiled thoughts that might be blinded by the outer light" that to express these thoughts that possess a magical quality when held inside, would be to contaminate them by exposing them to the impure, exterior world outside of the mind. Tyutchev even goes so far as to say "A thought, once uttered, is untrue", implying that to give voice to a thought is to ruin it completely. This kind of outlook on expression is the exact opposite of the American culture, which has for a very long time emphasized the freedom of speech, presenting the expression of thought as a positive and admirable action. In contrast to this work of literature, I thought of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, a novel that very well represents America, written by an author who dubbed himself to be //The// American. This book was even published fifty-five years after Tyutchev's poem was written. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has been read for decades now, and is one of the most famous books in the country. I think that it's popularity in itself reflects American culture in that we like simple, humorous texts, while the Russians may widely appreciate deeper, more serious works of literature. The story is an expression of Twain's opinion towards the South and human nature in general. Huck's adventures show the reader the culture of the South post-Civil War, an essential point in American history in which African Americans experienced severe oppression because of social persecution, opposed to the Russian government-based oppression. From our conversation and from outside research I have done on the Russian culture, it seems that one thing our culture in Hawaii has in common is the relaxed nature of our lifestyles. Igor also says that in Russia people are generally very friendly and filled with what we might call the "Aloha spirit", he uses the example that when people greet each other they ask "How are you doing?", and are genuinely interested in the answer. Climate has also greatly influenced our two cultures. Russia is very cold, and so their activities may involve staying indoors and engaging in more intellectually stimulating forms of entertainment. Hawaii locals or even Americans in general like to emphasize being active, and are more inclined to enjoy watching or playing sports. The Russian attitude towards their country is also quite different. Russian's love for their country is geographical, they love their land and the beauty of the nature in it. In this way it is very similar to Hawaii. But America's love for their country as a whole is based on patriotism, the Americans love the political freedom and democracy of their country and want to protect and spread it all over the world. Igor also often remarked that Russia is composed of an Asian mentality and an European appearance, and because of this the country is torn. I recognize how this could be true purely based on geography, but I would like to further understand what he means by this. I image that an Asian mentality is one based on hard-work and hidden feelings, with roots in Communism or the Tao. An European appearance can be explained by their physical image, literature, architecture, and even their foods. I am especially interested in how this mix of cultures exists in Russia since I am also half Chinese, and with China being so close to Russia, I could personally relate to these comparisons. A gift that Russia gives to the world is an example of perseverance. The Russians in history have been very successful at sticking to their values and keeping their country strong. Whenever attacked, the Russians never faltered but immediately began preparing for retaliation, and their forces always prevailed when it counted. When the Russians adopted Communism, they held very strong to the values of this way of life, even though during the Cold War this system caused their country to fail. Pre-World War I Russians were not prepared for modern war because they had never modernized due to their strict adherence to traditional feudal society, which rejected modernizing. This cost them in the war in the beginning, but the Russian perseverance helped them catch up again. This type of perseverance contrasts with the history of Hawaii. The Hawaiians were very easily swayed when Americans came and basically took over their entire culture and land, without putting up much of a fight at all. The Hawaiians absorbed all of the religious teachings and modernization suggestions the Americans brought immediately, and have subsequently lost a lot of their culture because of it. Only once the Americans tried to annex Hawaii to the United States did Hawaii truly begin to fight, and in this fight they failed. Russia and Hawaii have proven themselves to show many interesting similarities and contrasts in culture even though their histories are extremely different. I for one greatly enjoyed learning about a country my ancestors came from but that I had basically no knowledge about, and I can only hope that the generous Mr. Igor Nikitin got some positive experience from sharing so much about his country as well.
 * The Russian Bear**