As well, during the 90's, Walter attended several annual
conferences of the AAASS (The American Association
for the Advancement of Slavic Studies) with great
interest, though obviously not as an academic. His
home library of Russian-related books had swelled to
over 700. After the family business closed in 2000,
Walter went to Irkutsk as a complete non-Russian
speaker with the intent of trying to learn some Russian
over a 1-year period. This process continued and in
2002, Walter reached a Russian Goverment-certified
basic level of proficiency. Having taught English from
the very beginning as well, he decided to just keep on
going, on a year-by-year basis, with informal Russian
study and teaching through 2010. Though a lifelong
batchelor, compelling circumstances made him decide to
move to his current status in Australia. The stark
contrasts from the beginning remain as utterly
fascinating and illuminating. As an American and
devoted capitalist, Walter decided to put the perceptions
resulting from his experiences and informal study at this
site, with the hope that they may prove useful to the
99.9999999% of the non-Russian, non-Eastern
European people who suffer from Churchill-syndrome
(Russia is a riddle-mystery-enigma triple packaged).
Though his model is subject to superficial, short-term
change, the basic mentalities of Russia's leaders and
led are absolutely not. It's a uniquely Russian
static/dynamic. Please, enjoy!!!
conferences of the AAASS (The American Association
for the Advancement of Slavic Studies) with great
interest, though obviously not as an academic. His
home library of Russian-related books had swelled to
over 700. After the family business closed in 2000,
Walter went to Irkutsk as a complete non-Russian
speaker with the intent of trying to learn some Russian
over a 1-year period. This process continued and in
2002, Walter reached a Russian Goverment-certified
basic level of proficiency. Having taught English from
the very beginning as well, he decided to just keep on
going, on a year-by-year basis, with informal Russian
study and teaching through 2010. Though a lifelong
batchelor, compelling circumstances made him decide to
move to his current status in Australia. The stark
contrasts from the beginning remain as utterly
fascinating and illuminating. As an American and
devoted capitalist, Walter decided to put the perceptions
resulting from his experiences and informal study at this
site, with the hope that they may prove useful to the
99.9999999% of the non-Russian, non-Eastern
European people who suffer from Churchill-syndrome
(Russia is a riddle-mystery-enigma triple packaged).
Though his model is subject to superficial, short-term
change, the basic mentalities of Russia's leaders and
led are absolutely not. It's a uniquely Russian
static/dynamic. Please, enjoy!!!
Walter is 62 and 50% of German ancestry, 25% of
British/French ancestry. He had no interest in Russia
growing up in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles,
having only learned about it as the big red evil place on
the map then-named the USSR. Everything changed
in 1977 during a trip around Western Europe, during
which it was decided to make beer-tasting side trips to
Pilzen and Prague. The stark contrasts between East
and West got Walter interested in their root causes,
namely the USSR and its incursion into
Czechoslovakia earlier in 1969. Working in a family
business meant very few vacation opportunities, so his
first trip to the USSR was in 1983 for 3 weeks
(Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Kiev, and Odessa). The
next trip was in 1988, also for 3 weeks (Moscow,
Leningrad, Bratsk, Irkutsk, Ulan Bator in Mongolia,
Tashkent, and Khiva. The next trip was in 1991 for 10
days, via Alaska: Magadan and Khabarovsk. The
next trip was in 1992, a 3-week cruise: Hokkaido,
Japan, The Kurile Islands, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky,
Sakhalin Island, and Khabarovsk. The next trip, also a
cruise, was in 1994, for 3 weeks: Moscow, the
Moscow-Volga Canal, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Plues,
Nizhni-Novgorod, Simbirsk, Kazan, Samara, Saratov,
and Volgograd. The next trip, mostly a cruise, was in
1997, for 3 weeks: Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, Yeneseisk,
Dudinka, St. Petersberg. The final vacation was in
1999, a 10 day visit to just Magadan.
British/French ancestry. He had no interest in Russia
growing up in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles,
having only learned about it as the big red evil place on
the map then-named the USSR. Everything changed
in 1977 during a trip around Western Europe, during
which it was decided to make beer-tasting side trips to
Pilzen and Prague. The stark contrasts between East
and West got Walter interested in their root causes,
namely the USSR and its incursion into
Czechoslovakia earlier in 1969. Working in a family
business meant very few vacation opportunities, so his
first trip to the USSR was in 1983 for 3 weeks
(Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Kiev, and Odessa). The
next trip was in 1988, also for 3 weeks (Moscow,
Leningrad, Bratsk, Irkutsk, Ulan Bator in Mongolia,
Tashkent, and Khiva. The next trip was in 1991 for 10
days, via Alaska: Magadan and Khabarovsk. The
next trip was in 1992, a 3-week cruise: Hokkaido,
Japan, The Kurile Islands, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky,
Sakhalin Island, and Khabarovsk. The next trip, also a
cruise, was in 1994, for 3 weeks: Moscow, the
Moscow-Volga Canal, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Plues,
Nizhni-Novgorod, Simbirsk, Kazan, Samara, Saratov,
and Volgograd. The next trip, mostly a cruise, was in
1997, for 3 weeks: Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, Yeneseisk,
Dudinka, St. Petersberg. The final vacation was in
1999, a 10 day visit to just Magadan.
About the Author:
WALTER
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