omgtinyue-blog

[omgtinyue-blog]

Navigating Risk - Drinking tap water in Russia

In Australia, people will naturally choose tap water whether it is for daily use or drinking water which is provided by restaurants or beverage stores. Even in parks or schools, you can see people directly using their mouths to drink the water in the faucet. And the bottle water seems to be used as a portable commodity in life. Tap water is always the first choice for Australians when they need water.

Source from: Pinterest

However, in Russia, almost no one will directly drink tap water. In fact, Russia does not lack freshwater resources, even containing nearly a quarter of the world's fresh water resources. However, a large number of industrial waste discharges makes a large number of freshwater resources polluted.

“Russian regulatory bodies report that between 35 percent and 60 percent of the country’s drinking water reserves do not meet sanitary standards. Forty percent of surface water and 17 percent of underground spring water are not safe enough to drink. Russian rivers and lakes contain pollution from agricultural and industrial waste in amounts that exceed all minimum standards.”

Source from: Flickr

Therefore, if an unwitting person directly quotes tap water in Russia, this person will not have a wonderful travel experience.

When you start planning a trip to Russia, thinking of drinking water is a top priority. A reddit user from Russia suggested that:

“You want to be careful with water in Russia.” 

The user also suggested tourists to drink boiling water, buy simple filters or bottled water in the supermarket. These measures can quickly improve the quality of drinking water in the short travel time.

Source from: Sohu

Furthermore, a Russian filter manufacturer recently drew a map (https://www.mosvodokanal.ru/forpeople/waterquality.php) detailing the water quality of the country. By using this map, even people who travel to Russia for the first time can understand the drinking water quality of their destination, so as to use the above measures to ensure the safety of drinking water.

Risk of drinking water is basically based on serious natural pollution. Therefore, the root cause of drinking water risk is to solve industrial pollution. For national policies, the control of factory emissions and the innovation of national industrial technology can improve water quality laterally but effectively. In addition, Russian regulators can also conduct more detailed and frequent water quality inspection to assist in analysis and statistics. From the personal level, reducing unnecessary waste in daily life and recycling industrial products can improve risk in subtle ways.

Reference:

https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/326484-drink-tap-water-russia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Russia

https://www.mosvodokanal.ru/forpeople/waterquality.php

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskARussian/comments/dwe27t/is_it_safe_to_drink_tap_water_in_russia/

https://borgenproject.org/water-quality-in-russia/

[omgtinyue-blog]

Culture Shock and Confusion-Russians’ Smiling

llelOne day, I saw a video on the internet. There was a Russian lady who introduced the ‘Not to do list’ in Russian for the tourists. She said “ Don't smile at strangers in Russia. They will think there's something wrong with your brain.”

In my growing environment, I often smile at others when I go out for a walk and see people passing, then we will keep going our ways, so I felt a strong cultural impact of this ‘Not to do list’.

There is a well-known proverb in Russia: 

"A smile without reason is a sign of stupidity."

Resource from: Zhihu

That may be confusing for lots of foreigners. In lots of countries, smiling is not only an expression but also an important “social lubricant”. In this environment, people’s smiles show a positive attitude towards other people more than a real emotion from themselves. 

Resource from: Sina

Thus, Russians' different understanding of smiles causes cultural differences. When I tried to understand Russia, I found that this country's history was very tortuous. Russian sociologists’ statistics show that there have been more than 300 wars invaded by foreign enemies in 200 years as  part of Russian history, so Russians’ life has been very difficult for many years. Worry has become a standard and ordinary expression on their face, and a smile represents the most precious thing like well-being, prosperity or a good mood. Although Russians smile at you, they will prefer the closed-mouth smile instead of laughing.

Resource from: parallel-Russian travel specialists

In addition, neither customs nor service staff, they won’t show the ‘business smile’. That’s because Russians believe that dedication is to take work seriously, they should not smile in this serious environment. If you treat them with a social smile, they will think you have ulterior motives.

Resource from: Sina

For Russians, smiling is an authentic expression of emotion. When you decide to travel to Russia, you need to abandon the complicated social logic, contact and understand them with the most sincere feelings.

Referencce list:

https://theconversation.com/why-are-russians-so-stingy-with-their-smiles-98799

https://www.56thparallel.com/russian-smile/

https://k.sina.cn/article_1653689003_62914aab01900pklr.html

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/56290682

[omgtinyue-blog]

Meaningful Engagement-Alcoholism

Since primitive society, people have learned to brew wine through grain. Experiencing the development of thousand-year-long, wine becomes a common way for relaxing and social activity in human life. However, social problems caused by excessive drinking also arise spontaneously.

The data from WHO show the harm of excessive drinking:

-Worldwide, 3 million deaths every year result from harmful use of alcohol, this represents 5.3 % of all deaths.

-The harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions.

-Overall 5.1 % of the global burden of disease and injury is attributable to alcohol, as measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

-Alcohol consumption causes death and disability relatively early in life. In the age group 20–39 years approximately 13.5 % of the total deaths are alcohol-attributable.

Source from: World Population Review

Although the data is so shocking, drunks still enjoy it. Russians are the most famous one among them. According to the wintry weather and turbulent history, Russians always use alcohol to warm the body and get mental stimulation. The memes about Russians' love of alcohol are also popular on the internet.

 (Text meaning:I didn't know whether to save rubles or dollars, so I decided to drink until I spend all my money)                                                                             Source from: Wangyi

Unlike other drunks’ countries, Russia has another dangerous trait on excessive drinking. Compared with other alcoholic drinks (such as beer or red wine), Russians prefer alcohol with a high volume of spirits (like Vodka). The statistics from world population review also show that Russia has the highest prevalence of alcohol use disorders overall, with 16.29% of males and 2.58% of females having alcoholism.

When I start to think about how we can help with this problem, I find that the Russian government has issued many strict alcohol bans to limit the harmful effects of excessive drinking like banning spirits, beer trade at night and raising taxes. Thus the most important thing is to change people’s attitude and dependence on excessive drinking. I am learning landscape design and I really understand how different uses of public space can improve citizen happiness. I think increasing the green space and using colorful flowers in these places will potentially bring a warm feeling. In addition, I also like to organize some social activities in public space to satisfy people’s social requirements and popularize the harm of excessive drinking.

Reference list:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/alcoholism-by-country

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/alcohol

https://www.163.com/dy/article/G7F7M8K60512822P.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_consumption_in_Russia

[omgtinyue-blog]

Place Essentialism- The ice country

When people start to plan a trip to Russia, they always think of the ice and snow that never melt. That’s true in the winter of Russia.

Russia Travel Guide , photograph taken by The Trusted Traveller, 2015.

However in summer, this vast expanse of snow will melt into various waterscapes. The coast and lakeside are welcoming tourists with a mild gesture over the large annual range of temperature. Russia contains

On the official russia travel website, there is a conspicuous icon which represents the classification of holiday Beach. The other article in home page also mentions that in the first sentence：

一Russia is a great place to travel all the year round. Interesting itineraries are available both in winter and in summer. All types of scenery, climates, fauna and flora, amazing landscapes and nature reserves create a vast number of tourist itineraries. (https://europe.russia.travel/?layout=post7)

Russia Travel, photograph taken by Russia Travel, 2017.

Astafyev Bay beach - coastal border area, photograph taken by Russia Travel, 2018.

Sunshine, waves, beach…. These words sound like the key points of Hawaii, but they also appear in Russian. If you are worried about the hot weather in summer, the Astafiev Gulf beach in Russia is a good choice.In fact, the geographical position and climate characteristics of Astafiev Gulf beach is similar to China and North Korea where we won’t relate with cold weather.

Source by: Google Map

When I think about the aquatic flower of summer, lotus first appears in my mind.  As a typical symbol of hot weather especially in China and India, lotus are also blooming in the ice country Russia. In the summer of the lotus field in Ikryanoe, pink flowers and green leaves over the lake show a fairly beautiful and different lakescape.

Not only ice - This is the real Russia!, photograph taken by Russia Travel of Chinese website, 2018.

According to the large difference in latitude, the natural landscape of Russia is so varied even a lifetime is not enough to try them all. If we follow the place essentialism to plan the travel of Russia, we will lose lots of special and  surprising scenes of this beautiful country.

Reference List:

1.  Russian Travel. ( 2018, March 7 ). Must-Visit Places in Russia. https://europe.russia.travel/?layout=post7

2.  Russian Travel. ( 2018, March 7 ). Holiday Beach. https://china.russia.travel/?layout=post9

[omgtinyue-blog]

Hello, Sylvia, I'm really glad to see your blog! The warm color painting in the blog background gives me a feeling of a fairy tale. 

Like the beautiful website design, the street art topic that you choose, love lane also convey a strong emotion of Ireland’s enthusiasm and friendship. 

In the first part of the blog, I feel that the love lane is an amazing graffiti street which can accommodate diverse themes. The colourful heart-shaped graffiti, romantic stories, quotes from local literary works becomes a window on showing Ireland‘s culture.

In the second part you mention that the love lane is a project which is supported by Dublin City Council and the theme of this project is the excitement of human emotion. I think the humanistic care of love lane is also the main reason why so many local artists can be attracted to develop this project.

As the typical street art, graffiti always is seen as a way to release the emotion. Love lane is even more. It is not only a street art work but also an atmosphere which conveys the love of this city.

In addition, I really like the way you cite the website in text, it provides more information for me to understand more about love lane.

A Journey For Love: Love Lane

Located in Lower Mount Street in Dublin, Love Lane has become a symbolic street art representing Ireland’s enthusiasm and friendship. People who come here are often attracted by the portraits, heart-shaped graffiti and plaques with brilliant words on this beautiful corner, and it is also considered a social influencing place in Instagram.

source from: Instagram

Walking through this lane, you will be surprised to find that this small secret world contains infinite love and energy. There are various colourful heart-shaped graffiti under the cerulean wall; scattered plaques telling romantic stories in just a few words; famous quotes from movies, local sayings and literary works written by playwrights and authors worldwide; and a series of incredible portraits which further brightening the street.

source from: Pinterest

source from: DublinLive

source from: DublinLive

The birth of Love Lane is closely related to the “Love the Lanes” initiative launched by Dublin City Council. It permits local artists to transform the cultural district into an open-air gallery creatively, aiming to makeover some lane-ways being less an intimidating place to walk through. Love Lane also gives encouragement and inspiration to those struggling in dilemma, representing this country’s caring about every individual. More than this, as a top spot for Dublin street art, it has a further connotation. In globalized modern cities, street art not only decorates the urban area and visually pleases passers-by, but also is the concretization of the “resistance” practised by the walker continually rewriting the city (Millner 2009, 306). The existence of Love Lane is essentially a silent movement of redeeming and self-redemption by every ordinary individual living in this alienated and cold society under capitalism and consumerism. Some talented artists also indirectly convey their political ideas and pursuit of peace and love by creating and publishing romantic tragic poems in Love Lane.

source from: DublinLive

Reference list:

Callan, Paris Donnatella. 2020. “DUBLIN STREET ART: 5 Best Spots for Incredible Colour and Graffiti.” Ireland Before You Die. May 7. https://www.irelandbeforeyoudie.com/dublin-street-art-5-best-spots-for-incredible-colour-and-graffiti/.

Corcoran Sarah . 2019. “Love Lane Dublin - Lovely Street Art.” Spotted by Locals Dublin. July 15. https://www.spottedbylocals.com/dublin/love-lane/.

Millner, Jacqueline. 2009. “Visual Poetics: The Critical Impulse in Contemporary Street Art from Paris to Melbourne.” The International Journal of the Arts in Society: Annual Review 4 (3): 303-320. doi:10.18848/1833-1866/cgp/v04i03/35660.

[omgtinyue-blog]

Street Art-Sculpture Of Bulat Okudzhava

When people talk about ‘street art’, they will most think of paintings on the street(graffiti). However, some sculptures on the street are just like ‘graffiti’ in 3D which remember the local history and culture vividly. The example I chose for today’s blog, Sculpture Of Bulat Okudzhava in Moscow is the most notable street art nearby.

Sculpture Of Bulat Okudzhava, photograph taken by Vladimir Zhupanenko, 2019

Sculpture Of Bulat Okudzhava is a memorial to the Georgian/Russian poet, writer, musician, novelist and singer/songwriter, Bulat Okudzhava and the position has been chosen at  at the corner of Old Arbat Street (Stary Arbat) and the Plotnikov Passage (Plotnikov pereulok) in Moscow where Bulat Okudzhava lived for many years. 

Okudzhava performing at Palace of the Republic, photograph taken by Reiche Hartmut,1976

This sculpture builds a scene for this popular writer or  musician of the last century but naturally integrated into the scene because the base part of sculpture was made as the brick road like both sides of the street.  The table and two benches in the back represents the yard where Okudzhava spent his childhood, he 2.5 m high bronze arch which is adorn by the citations from his poems. He devoted many touching lines in his poetry to this street, so in this sculpture Bulat Okudzhava walked past his childhood, through his poem then face to the street he loved.

Monument to the poet Bulat Okudzhava on the background of the Arbat, photograph taken by Elengr, 2019

In 2018, Moscow welcomed more than 20 million tourists every year. Albert street also developed into a prosperous walking district for tourists compared to Okudzhava’s time. The sculpture Of Bulat Okudzhava can attract the tourists who are looking for a Russian cultural tour naturally.  However, for other people who walk through the corner of Old Arbat Street and the Plotnikov Passage, it is also hard to not notice the Bulat Okudzhava sculpture according to its lifelike dynamic sense. Tourists can have a rest at  Okudzhava’s ‘childhood chairs’ or go through the bronze arch to enjoy his poem.

As a special street art, sculpture Of Bulat Okudzhava is not only an artwork, but also a living memory of Albert street.

Monument to Bulat Okudzhava on Arbat, view from the back , photograph taken by Vladimir Zhupanenko, 2015

[omgtinyue-blog]

Hi Cyan!

 In fact I don’t know Iceland very well so it was really shocking when I first entered your blog. The coastline of Iceland comes into my view so I can get an impression of this cold island country and your warm color profile image ingeniously integrated into the blog page like a rising sun.

In the bolg of Iceland symbol Lopapeysa, you use a simple introduction and a photo of cloth to define this symbol. Then you reveal that lopapeysa may even not purely use the Icelandic wool and this left me a question of why it is the symbol of Iceland. The rest of the blog also quickly answers me that Lopapeysa is more a spiritual symbol as a product of following the trend of industrialization. This logic of the content's layout of this blog deepened my impression of Lopapeysa.

Your also introduces that the natural colours of the Icelandic wool are white, grey, black and brown. I find these colours are all important colors of the coastline photo in the first page of your blog.

In summary, all elements in your blog are logical and relative and they intuitively show the charm of Iceland to me. It is really enjoyable to read a blog like this.

Symbol - Lopapeysa

Lopapeysa is an Icelandic sweater appeared in mid-20th. This sweater combined the Icelandic traditional elements and is popular among both the local and the tourists as one of the Icelandic symbol (Helgadottir, 2011). The feature of lopapeysa, as shown in the image, is the yoke pattern using at least two colours.

Icelandic sweather, photograph taken by Freimut Bahlo, 2009

继续阅读

[omgtinyue-blog]

Symbols-Russian Ballet

As an art form which was born in the Italian Renaissance, Ballet is more considered as a Russian symbol. The reason comes from the development of Russian ballet during the past 300 years.

Since the establishment of the first ballet school in 1738,  ballet has been rapidly popularized in Russia, the royal family's strong admiration also attracted  local artists and ballet masters all over the world to Russia and created a large number of excellent works in the 19th-20th century according to the Russian culture.

John, Whorf.(1950). ‘Dancers’, Thomas Colville Fine Art, LLC

Compared to the ballet in Italy and France, Russian ballet pays more attention to dramatic plots which contain more artistic appeal. Furthermore，Russain ballet also intergrate with local folk dance and music styles. These features enrich ballet as an art form and give it the soul of Russia. Russain ballet is not only an iconic art form for Russia but also a symbol of Russians cultural tolerance and influence and that is also the reason for me to choose it as the topic.

 Source: Getty image

Swan lake is my favourite example of Russian ballet culture.

As the most famous ballet, Swan lake is shown as a Russian symbol to the world proudly in the opening ceremony of Sochi Winter Olympics.

Different from normal lively dance music,  the famous composer Tchaikovsky injects rich and deep Russian Symphony Music style into the Swan Lake Suite.

The ingenious choreography of Marius Petipa and LEV Ivanov laid the foundation for the professionalism of Russian ballet in the world.

Source: Vogue

The high quality ballet which is created by this cooperation brings Russians national pride and identity, even some tourists also think ‘You've never been to Russia without seeing Russian ballet’.

[omgtinyue-blog]

About me

About me

Hi, I’m Angelina, a third year landscape design student. I come from China and I‘m living in Melbourne now. This is my first time writing a blog and I will try my best.This blog is about traveling to Russia. Hope you can have fun with it!

Travel for me

‘We live without a past or future, for a moment at least, and are ourselves up for grabs and open to interpretation.’– Pico Iyer (2000)

Like Pico’s idea, travel for me is a way to relax from daily life and don’t think about anything in a strange place. Travel makes me feel like I live twice.

The joy of discovering new things always draws me to the next travel. The human landscapes tell me what people can do, the natural landscapes tell me how small I am to this world.

When traveling, I really prefer the natural landscape with water. The first time I travelled to Melbourne, I was attracted by the sea.This also motivated me to live in Melbourne. Although I have been in Melbourne for 5 years I can still feel relaxed when I go to the sea.

The reason for choosing Russia as my blog topic is also related to my preference of water.

Baikal Lake -The break journey  

At the end of 2019, I went back to China and planned to travel to Baikal Lake in Russia with my mother. However the COVID-19 upset my plan，I really want to use this chance to know more about this country.