Anastasia Borisova. Foreigners About Russia. Creating a Website in English

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FOREIGNERS ABOUT RUSSIA. CREATINA A WEBSITE IN ENGLISH (CREATIVE FORMAT)



Аннотация

interview information international media

Проект фокусируется на образе и восприятии России гражданами других государств. Основная цель проекта - раскрыть данную тему через интервью с иностранцами, ранее посещавшими Россию. Текстовые интервью публикуются на специально созданном англоязычном веб-сайте. На первом этапе работы над проектом, были изучены академические источники и данные социологических опросов, которые показали, что Россия во многом по-прежнему ассоциируется с социалистическим прошлым. На следующем этапе проект предлагает подход к интервью как к возможности сравнить взгляды тех, кто не был в России, и тех, кто провел в стране некоторое время. Работа предоставляет описание пилотной версии сайта и анализ результатов проекта.

Abstract

The present creative project focuses on the image and the perception of Russia among the representatives of other nationalities. Its major objective is to cover the subject in the interviews that are being published in English on a specially created pilot website. The project starts researching the issue from an academic perspective, concluding that Russia is still mostly associated with its socialist past. The paper continues by referring to the media that cover issues similar to the theme of the project. Then it develops the concept of the website as a media dedicated to the foreign audiences, and a guideline for the creation of its content. Finally, the description of the created website is provided, as well as the analysis of the project's results. To conclude, the significance of the project is explained by the possibility to make the foreign audience more familiar with the daily life of Russia and by the professional expectations of the project's author.



Contents

Introduction

1. Theoretical Framework

1.1 Research on the Theme of the Project

1.2 Previous Media Coverage

1.3 Interview in Journalism

2. The Creation of the Project

2.1 Defining the Concept of the Project

2.2 Stages of the Project Creation

2.3 Website Content: Interviews and images

2.4 Building a Website

2.5 Analyzing the Results

Conclusion

References

Appendices

Appendix A Content Plan

Appendix B List of the Questions for the Interviews



Introduction

The present project is dedicated to the creation of a website in English that would represent the view that foreigners have on modern Russia after spending some time in the country.

Relevance of the Project's Theme

A lot of foreigners visit the Russian Federation every year for different purposes. According to Russian in Numbers (2019) report, 247.7 thousand foreign students studied in Russian universities in the 2018/2019 academic year (p. 143). At the same time, the Association of Travel Agencies (2020) informs about 32.9 million of visits of the foreign citizens to Russia, of whom 5.1 million said they entered the country for “tourism”.

The foreigners entering the country need some sources of information prior to their visit, and those sources should be available in foreign languages. While the governments and travel websites, both from Russia and oversees, launched many online pages with practical advice (on transportation, legal regulations, etc.), for instance, Study in Russia (2015), or “Russia for First-Timers: Dos and Don'ts”, on Lonely Planet (2019), there is still a lack of information about cultural differences and the processes in the modern society.

The information about daily life in Russia is partly represented by the international media and by the users of online platforms or social media pages (the resources available in English will be described further in this paper). Nevertheless, the coverage in the media is rather sporadic, while the user-generated content is mostly devoted to the tourist attractions, “advertising” local food, cities or festivals.

Main Objective of the Project

To provide a source of information about modern Russian society, the project aims at creating a pilot version of a website in English. The content of the project will consist of interviews with the citizens of other countries about their views on modern society and their experience of visiting Russia as a foreigner, of the interaction with the local community. The project's participants are several individuals from overseas, who came as tourists to the country, spent some time studying in Russian universities or working on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Format Relevance

The format of the interviews with foreigners, while providing personal accounts and perspective on daily reality, can potentially reveal the peculiarities of the Russian society that are left unnoticed by the author of the project as a Russian citizen. At the same time, this format can help the project gain more credibility from the audience, as it will allow to give voice to the people in the same position, to look at the modern Russian society “from overseas”.

The interviews will be presented as text transcripts of the conversations. Such form was chosen to minimize misunderstanding provoked by differences in accents and pronunciations in the speeches of the interviewees. Still, the website allows embedding audio and video elements from other platforms that can be used in the future.

Target Audience

The potential target audience of the final media product can include students from different countries who would like to enter an educational program in Russia, people considering starting a business in the country, finding a job or only planning a short visit.

Public value

The media product can become the source of information about the modern Russian society, the way it is seen by the foreigners visiting the country, and also provide some tips for future visits concerning the interaction with the local community.

At the same time, some details reported by the interviewees could be a starting point for research in the areas of intercultural communication, cultural identity and other social sciences.

Market Development of the Project

If launched to the market, the project can potentially become a platform for advertising tourist-related businesses with foreign audiences. It can also include some services, for instance, job advertising for foreigners (following the example of The Local (2020), which provides local news serving as a website and publishes jobs posts in several countries).

Another potential source for collaboration can be in the websites for language learning, for instance Real Russian Club (2017), and others.



1. Theoretical Framework

1.1 Research on the Theme of the Project

The creation of the project implies the initial research of academic sources devoted to the topic of perception of Russia and Russians among the populations of other countries.

Several scientific studies were observed to identify the ideas, processes, and traits of the society that the representatives of other nations consider common for modern Russia.

Some interesting findings were discovered in the study of the image of Russia in modern Turkey (Bakhrevskiy, 2018). For instance, it named matreshka doll, vodka and the red flag among the most important objects that symbolize Russia for the Turkish people (p. 8). Among the most prominent cultural habits the study mentions the consumption of large portions of alcohol and tea-ceremonies (p. 9). At the same time, the Turkish citizens definitely perceive Russia as a Christian country, being less aware of the role or status of the Muslim population in our country, according to the paper (p. 12).

As found by another study, that analyzed the perception of Russia in Finland, Russians are seen as “unpredictable”, while the country is associated with the Soviet Union; it also suggested that “the spirit of communism is still alive” and still present in Russia for the Finnish population (Layne, 2017, p. 127).

Similar opinion was expressed by the respondents of a study conducted among international students and aimed at revealing the difference in the perception of Russia in the two groups: those who studied in Russian and those who did not. Communism was among one of the key words associated with Russia (p. 44), the other political-related concepts included traditionalism, USSR and the figure of the president Putin. Speaking about cultural associations, the foreigners who study in Russia mentioned mostly the “matryoshkas” or the “bears”, while for those who did not receive education in the country the most associated words were “cold” and “vodka” (p. 46).

In overall, the study has found that the perception foreign students have about Russia differed among the two groups. For instance, a greater percentage of those who only studied abroad view our country as an “alternative to Western liberalism”, while a larger part of international students from Russian universities consider they “share common values” with the local population.

Among other publications, the project relied on “insights” about the working environment in the country as it is seen from abroad. For instance, the “Doing Business with Russia” brochure (2019), issued by the Global Business portal, suggested that it takes a long time for the Russians to establish a trustful relationship, and that unofficial meetings happening “behind closed doors” play a greater role in negotiations than they do in other countries. It also mentions that one should look “smart” to demonstrate that they have the power of decision-making in order to convince the potential partners to collaborate and accept their proposals.

On the other hand, the perception of Russia by foreigners can be studied through surveys and opinion polls, and some of them were also examined during the preparation for the preliminary research.

A globally conducted survey about the perception of Russia as the country that would hold the World Cup in 2018 (Ipsos MORI, 2018) revealed that three in four respondents aware of the event considered Russia a “successful venue” for the championship, and almost two thirds commented it would be a safe country for the football fans. However, “only three in ten Britons aware of the World Cup (31%) agree that it is safe for their people to travel to Russia”, and they were followed by the Polish participants in the level of doubt about the safety in the World Cup host country.

The academic research on the image of Russia in the foreign press tends to focus on studying the media coverage of political events in the international agenda (Bjшrg et al., 2019; Dajani et al., 2019; Smirnova et al., 2017). The works in this area can be divided into the two groups: the first would study the material provided by the international media of the Russian origin (the RT television channel, the “Sputnik” news agency), while the others would analyze the articles appearing in media based in foreign countries.

The first group of academic works suggests that the image of Russia in state-supported media is created by balancing exposure and concealment needed to justify country's foreign policy (Dajani et al., 2019).

A study from the second group came to the conclusion that the image of Russia in the media is linked with hostility towards other countries and strong disagreement with them (Bjшrge, 2019).

1.2 Previous Media Coverage

Talking about the previous coverage of the topic, we will focus on the sources in English, mentioning also some Russian-speaking projects with similar approach, and social media pages dedicated to the topic.

Media in English

First of all, the information about the current processes in the Russian society can be obtained by the foreigners from the locally-based media with overseas or expat-oriented broadcasting. They are represented, for instance, by the RT TV channel, financed by the federal funds, including its minor project Russia Beyond the Headlines (RBTH).

The RBTH is mostly centered in telling the foreign audiences about Russian culture, and some articles on the page are dedicated to the phenomena that foreigners do not expect to find in Russia or facts to consider before coming (for instance, “8 Things That Surprise Foreigners in Russia”, 2020; “10 Facts About Russia Foreigners Do NOT Believe Until They Visit”, 2020, or “Cultural Shocks That Foreigners Experienced During Their First Time in Russia”, 2020). The frequency of such articles, related to modern society rather than to the history or literature of the 19th century, has increased recently. Moreover, in October of 2019 the project created a new YouTube channel: Russia: Tips, Tricks & Travel (RTTT), dedicated to touristic and cultural insights from Russia and hosted by an American Tim Kirby. The channel has some videos dedicated to life in the country as a foreigner, too: “Buying/Renting Real Estate in Russia as a Foreigner”, (2020) or “Jobs in Russia for English Speakers”, (2019). Since October (just after the time the topic for this project was submitted), the channel of the RBTH has also been redesigned and started to make more videos revealing special features of the modern Russian society as it is seen by expats, including “Mexican Expat's Life in Russia Under Quarantine”, (2020) and one of the most popular of the channel's recent videos “Being Black in Russia”, (2020).

The RT itself has launched in January of 2020 a new Spanish YouTube channel with a foreign host, “La Lista de Erick”, or “Erick's List” that is built upon the same “plot” of a foreigner exploring Russia, with its traditions and daily life. However, it seems that the concept of those sources does not imply talking with the foreigners about the problems they observe in the society. The same can be said about the news agency “Sputnik” which is centered on the political and international topics mostly.

Apart from the media that tend to be associated with the government, there are some other outlets that provide the information about life in Russia in English. Among them are the English edition of the Medusa project, with several articles a day, and The Moscow Times, that, besides providing the news coverage also produces short vox-pops videos revealing the view of Russians on the events relevant for the local agenda (“What Are Russian Millennials Most Concerned About?”, 2019). Some of The Moscow Times videos were also dedicated to the local expat community (“How Did Georgians in Moscow React to 'Anti-Russia' Protests in Tbilisi?”, 2019).

On the other hand, InRussia, a media project focuses on music, photography and other arts from the country, though new articles only appear once in several months.

There are also some English-speaking media dedicated to the whole region of the former socialist countries and produced by foreign organizations. The Current Time is one of them, specializing on political and social topics, mostly on the territory of the Commonwealth of the Independent States, while The Calvet Journal is dedicated to visual arts on what the magazine calls “New East”.

Online Pages and Social Media

Besides those media led by professional journalists, some information on the opinion of the foreigners about the country appear on travel or educational portals. The governmental Study in Russia mentioned before has a blog with short interviews with international students, though it obviously has advertising purposes (“Testimonials of International Students”). There is also an ongoing “survey” led by the To Discover Russia webpage that aims at finding the three phenomena that representatives of different nationalities consider the most associated with Russia. With each new article the author updated the chart, which lists the most mentioned variants. So far, the majority of the phenomena reported were related to national “traits of character”, for instance, a Swedish couple considered that Russians are “very pleasant” (“A Look at Russia From Sweden”, 2019).

Some of the users on social media and other publishing platforms start their own blogs, dedicated to modern Russian society. For instance, the YouTube channel RussianPlus claims to help learn the language, while also showing popular leisure activities or providing greater knowledge about the culture (“Asking Foreigners About Russia”, 2019).

Moreover, many pages on forums are dedicated to the experience of studying and living in Russia (“I am studying in Russia right now”, 2017). The users exchange tips for those who consider visits to Russia in the future or express their opinion on the things they notice during their stay.

In Russian Media

The theme was covered by the Russian media, and some of the ideas they implemented turned out to be also helpful for the development of the present project.

First of all, there is an ongoing TV show on the local Moscow channel Moskva24, broadcasting weekly the stories of foreigners who came to live in Russia's capital (“Moskva s Aktsentom”). The project borrowed the general attitude towards the interviewees from this show, as if the interviewer and the guest were friends. The show is also looking for personal stories related to Moscow, some anecdotes, which was considered a useful approach for the present project, too.

There were also some interviews with foreigners in an independent media Batenka, including a story about the girls from Congo (Popova, 2018). Unlike in the mentioned article, in the present project the author intended not to focus the whole materials on problems and difficulties the citizens of the overseas countries face in Russia, not to look for negative impressions only.

Finally, the approach that was considered the closest to the idea of the present project was discovered in a series of interviews with foreigners living is Saint Petersburg, published by the local media Bumaga. The interviewee becomes the main character of the article. Journalists have a set of questions answered by every respondent (for instance, “What are the top 5 of the discoveries you made in Saint Petersburg?”). At the same time, each onversation is different, depending on the interviewee's occupation. Each story begins with the standard “heading” that tells the readers about the origin and the age of the person, as well as about their occupation in Russia.

1.3 Interview in Journalism

Within this project an interview is understood as a method of professional activity of a journalist, as well as a genre of the web media (Ilchenko, 2021, p. 7).

Russian journalist Ilchenko describes several types of interview:

· the ceremonial interview, which informs about the decisions of the authorities;

· the informative interview, aimed at receiving some facts of figures about any topic;

· the portrait interview that has a goal to present the personality of the interviewee,

· the issue-related interview, the one searching to present a view on a social problem; this is, generally, the type of interviews conducted within the present project;

· vox-pop, which is a series of interviews with people that have no relation to each other and all respond to a number of similar questions; this type is mostly used for TV programs as a sort of small “opinion polls”.

Interview Techniques

As a professional technic, interview requires following some rules on every stage: while preparing for the conversation, talking to the interviewee or publishing the final version of the material.

While the interviewer is getting ready for the future talk, Ilchenko suggests that it is crucial to inform the guest about the topics and issues that would be discussed and to provide full information on the usage of the interview by the media. The book also underlines the importance of collecting as much information about the guest as possible in order to predict their probable reactions to some topics, and to create the list of the questions (excluding the most frequent questions and those a person has already answered during other interviews).

Preparing the questions, journalists need to think of the unusual approach that would make the person react emotionally and speak openly, forgetting about the unreasonable, unnatural politeness, correctness or possible regulations in relations with the press. The experienced journalists say one should come up with the questions and statements that can “drag out” expressive phrases, “elicit information” (Sally, 2009).

Journalists also highlight the significance of empathy and ability to listen in the time of conducting the interview. They suggest implementing body language (for example, nods) to encourage the guest to talk, and to make pause before asking new questions, following the pace of the speech of the interviewee.

While the whole conversation should be planned and “anticipated” by the journalist, Ilchenko insists some interviews can turn out even more engaging and interesting for the audience after they do not go as planned. The author of the Interview in Journalism encourages interviewers to follow the train of thoughts of the respondent once they begin to share some exclusive information or personal emotions. This does not apply, logically, to the cases when the interview has an aim to receive some particular information, then all the guidelines assume it is necessary to be persistent, yet polite, and continue trying to get the answer.

Conducting the interviews for the project, the author follows, among others, the guideline offered by the British charity Center for Investigative Journalism (Interview Techniques Handbook), which demands to respect the wish of the interviewee not to give comments on-the-record or not to reveal their personality, as well as the necessity to inform the interviewee that the conversation is being recorded. The recommendations also underline the importance of the research on the subject before the meeting and of the ability to formulate clearly the questions during the interview.

Interview in the New Media

The interviews as a part of the media are very widespread, and the changes in media consumption have influenced the way interviews reach the audience. There are a lot of audio podcasts and videos on platforms such as YouTube that include interviews, though they do not differ significantly from traditional radio and TV programs in the way they are produced and presented.

Text interviews, on the contrary, have undergone some changes. For instance, the tendency to increase the amount of visual content and shorten the texts has evoked `“cards-interviews”. Instead of publishing the text, journalists choose remarkable quotations and put them on “cards”, or the images that contain the chosen passages. This form of interviews representation is widely used, especially on social media, as they shorten the time needed to catch the attention of the reader and facilitate the interaction with the content (for instance, the interviews made by the Iznanka community are published on social media in this format).



Pic. 1 A “card” with chosen passages from the Iznanka community



2. The Creation of the Project

2.1 Defining the Concept of the Project

As mentioned before, the project is aimed at creating a pilot website in English containing interviews with foreigners about their views on modern Russia. The website was named The Bear, as this animal is one of the most-mentioned symbols of Russia abroad. It could also be “Matreshka”; however, there is a Russian-speaking radio station with overseas broadcasting that uses the name Matreshka FM.

The interviews on the website are divided into the sections: “Tourist-visiting Russia”, “Studying in Russia” “Working in Russia”. The content consists of the interviews with the foreigners that have been involved in the mentioned activities. The texts are relatively short, so that no more than 5 minutes would be needed to read any of them.

The website is made with the use of “Wix” publishing platform. The major focus of the project is creation of the content for the website.

2.2 Stages of the Project Creation

1. Conducting research in the academic field and in the previous media publications;

2. Selecting the interviewees for the project;

3. Designing the interview questions based on the academic overviews;

4. Collecting the content for the web page - interviews, images;

5. Building a website;

6. Filling the website with the created content.



2.3 Website Content: Interviews and images

Selecting the Interviewees

As stated in the Cambridge Dictionary (2020), a “foreigner” is someone who “comes from another country”. So, looking for interviewees, the author only tried to find people who spend most of their lives in another country, had visited Russia and were ready to share their opinion about what they have seen. A person of any citizenship could become part of the project.

Nevertheless, the goal was to diversify the nationalities among the respondents. No more than one interview with foreigners from the same country was held. At the same time, the project made an attempt to balance the three sections by the number of content units in each of them.

The list of the interviews by sections is provided in the Content Plan in the Appendix A.

Questions for the Interviews

Using the opinion polls and scientific publications about the perception of Russia by the citizens of the foreign countries, the project designed questions for the interviewees to compare the “general” perception of the country by the people of other nationalities with the personal perspective of the foreigners who had the opportunity to interact with the Russian community and to explore the daily reality of Russia.

The use of the opinion polls is crucial for the design of the interview guidelines as it helps to identify the subjects and ideas the foreign people are familiar with, the questions they have about our country. It also decreases the risk of subjectivity, as the interviewer noticed some of the questions prepared were rather the questions a Russian would ask a foreigner. So the sociological studies help understand the target audience and to respond to what is specifically interesting for them.

The set of the questions to each interview tends to contain two-three general questions, or the calls to share some personal experience, and also some specific questions, concerning the perception of Russia in a particular country, the view of the persons on some specific area of the society, etc.

The questions for all the interviews, as they were prepared, are provided in the Appendix B.

The interviews were conducted in different formats: during face to face meetings, video calls or with the use of instant voice messages (where meetings and calls were not possible). The conversations were recorded. The transcripts of the audio made during the interviews were later edited by the author of the project.

At the moment of publishing some expressive quotations were selected in each interview to catch the attention of the readers.

Images

Where possible, the interviews have been illustrated by the photos of interviewees provided by them, taken during their visit to Russia.

In other cases, the images from free photo stocks were used. For each image, a byline was added to provide the information about the author.

2.4 Building a Website

The project was made on the platform for website creation Wix.com. The platform allows choosing a template according to the needs of the online publications. The project was composed with the use of a Blog template, which facilitates content structure and is useful for the publication of journalistic materials. For each content unit (or each material uploaded to the platform) the creator can choose tags that would reflect the publication date, the author and the section of the webpage the material will belong to. It is also possible to assign the tags associated with the topics of the materials to facilitate the search inside the platform or assign hidden tags that would help filter the content units shown on particular pages of the website.



Pic. 2 Screenshot: Wix blog editor

The platform also offers design templates. The author of the project lacks the designing skills needed to create a unique layout and choose colors for the website, so the project uses one of the suggested templates.

The major criterion for choosing among them was the convenience for the future reader, so that the colors of the layout would be suitable for the materials with long texts. Concerning the criteria, the “Personal Blog” template was chosen to create the website.

Website Structure

The website consists of several pages:

· Home

· Studying in Russia

· Working in Russia

· Visiting Russia

· All the interviews

· About the Project

Except for the “About the Project” page, all the pages contain customized blog feeds with the posts filtered by some criteria. For instance, the posts shown on the main page are chosen by the project author as the best interviews, while posts belonging to the three sections show up automatically in the correspondent feeds, as all the posts of the blog are assigned to some section.

Pic. 3 Screenshot: The main page of the website

Pic. 3 Screenshot: Single post of The Bear website

The “About the Project” page contains the description of the website, its purpose, content, as well as provides the contact details.

Mobile-friendly

Although the platform has an automatic creation of a mobile-friendly version, some adjustments were done afterwards, such as reducing the number of items on the main page.



2.5 Analyzing the Results

Within the framework of the project, a pilot version of a website The Bear was successfully launched.

https://thebear-media.wixsite.com/english

All the tasks of the project at each stage are accomplished by the author of this paper. We continue by analyzing the mistakes and the achievements that were noticed in the process of the project creation.

First of all, a new approach towards the topic of the perception of Russia was offered. In the same period, a similar approach was independently developed and implemented by the RT channel and its media Russia Beyond The Headlines, which can be a sign of relevance and topicality of the format.

Secondly, several interviews with the foreigners were conducted and published. Creating media content in a foreign language was one of the major personal and professional challenges for the author of the project. What is more, the interviews provide insights to some topics that do not get substantial coverage in foreign languages (for instance, first-hand impression of visiting the headquarters of the Russian media houses form the German student or the tendency of most Russians to avoid talking about politics).

The author of the project also had the opportunity to practice interviewing skills taking into account the techniques proposed by experienced journalists.

On the other hand, there is some room for improvement. One of the mistakes that were committed during the work on the project is related to the design of the guidelines for the interviews. The first lists of questions were too long, while the questions itself were too general. So during the next talks the interviewer intended to focus on a particular topic, related to the country of origin of the interviewee and/or their occupation.

Moreover, the project did not succeed in balancing the content units between the three sections: the majority of the interviews were conducted with students. Consequently, the topics of working in Russia and visiting the country as a tourist were left nearly uncovered. There might also be a mistake in the idea of asking a person about their impression of a country after they have only spent several days there.

Another issue related to the content plan of the project is the fact that some regions of the world are not presented among the list of the home countries of the interviewees. The author failed to contact or get an agreement for the interview with individuals from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, North America or Oceania. Moreover, the majority of the respondents have only visited Moscow, which is quite different from the rest of the country.

Some change in the concept of the project might be considered, for instance, the focus on the perspective of international students only.



Conclusion

To conclude, the project has launched a new source of the information about Russia for the international audience, which can potentially help the foreigners prepare themselves for the “culture shock” before visiting the country. It may also facilitate and enhance intercultural communication, giving an opportunity to look at some processes and daily life of the Russian society from the perspective of a foreigner.

Summarizing the views expressed by the interviewees, the project concludes that the perception of Russia differs significantly among those who have never visited the country and those who have spent some time on its territory. Moreover, while some of the “key” symbols associated internationally with Russia were present both in the international opinion polls and in the responses of the interviewees participating in the project, (for instance, kazachok dance), in general, the foreigners did not share the common tendency to strongly associate Russia with socialism and the USSR after their visits.

For the author of the paper the project has become an opportunity to implement professional skills creating the content in the foreign language, and this experience is extremely valuable considering their future career plans in international broadcasting.

Further development of the project might include expanding the “geography” of the interviewees, the range of the topics discussed; some other platforms (for example, social media) might also be considered for the promotion of the content.

Moreover, the project may be developed in the future by including other formats of interview, as podcast or video.



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8. Nasser, N. (2017, September 15). I'm studying in Russia right now. Quora [web log comment]. Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-be-studying-in-Russia-for-non-Russians

9. Premium Russian courses. (2017). Real Russian Club. Retrieved from https://realrussianclub.com/premium-courses/

10. Russia for first-timers: dos and don'ts. (2019, August) Lonely Planet. Retrieved from https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/first-time-travel-to-russia

11. Shevchenko, N. (2020, April 13). 10 facts about Russia foreigners do NOT believe until they visit. Russia Beyond. https://www.rbth.com/travel/332005-facts-about-russia-foreigners-not-believe

12. Sinelschikova, E. (2020, April 16). 10 facts about Russia foreigners do NOT believe until they visit. Russia Beyond. https://www.rbth.com/travel/328067-things-surprise-foreigners-russia

13. Sounds of the fall. (n.d.). InRussia. http://inrussia.com/sounds-of-the-fall

14. Sputnik. (n.d.). Sputnik News Agency. Retrieved from https://sputniknews.com/

15. The Calvet Journal. (n.d.). The Calvet Journal. Retrieved from https://www.calvertjournal.com/about

Videos

16. La lista de Erick. (2020, May 1). Mujeres rusas: rompiendo estereotipos. [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll-YHTpfDME

17. Russia Beyond. (2020, april 14). Mexican Expat's life in Russia under quarantine [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t50dy6PzO4g

18. Russia Beyond. (2020, February 7) Being black in Russia // Student life in Moscow // Russian Mindset. [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q876n4f_lQ4

19. RTTT. (2020, February 6). Buying/Renting Real Estate in Russia as a Foreigner [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F98fypBYWkk

20. RTTT. (2019, November 21). Jobs in Russia for English speakers: teaching [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ve-6CUszT0

21. RusianPlus. (2019, September 30). Asking Foreigners About Russia - How much do they know. [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbssUYQKhhs

22. The Moscow Times. (2019, July 1). How Did Georgians in Moscow react to 'anti-Russia' protests in Tbilisi? [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJWa-R533ho&list=PLVJpWogZhhzTqTVhakMqJy_7Ou30Meouj&index=8&t=0s

23. The Moscow Times. (2019, June 3). What Are Russian Millennials Most Concerned About? [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69IS07f6go8

In Russian

1. Ilchenko, S.N. (2021). Intervyu v zhurnalistike. Spetskurs: uchebnoye posobiye [Interview in Journalism]. Moscow, KnoRus.

2. Tsupin, V. A., Nimatulayev, M. M. (2019). Upravleniye kontentom. Praktikum: ucheb. Posobiye [Content Management]. Moscow, INFRA-M.

3. Bakhrevskiy, Y. V. (2018). Sovremennyy obraz Rossii i russkikh v Turtsii [The modern image of Russia and Russians in Turkey]. Kulturologicheskiy zhurnal, 1 (31), 1-19. Retrieved from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sovremennyy-obraz-rossii-i-russkih-v-turtsii

4. Layne, U. (2017). Vospriyatiye Rossii v obshchestvennom soznanii Finlyandii [The perception of Russia in public opinion]. Sravnitelnaya politika, 8 (1), 123-139. Retrieved from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/vospriyatie-rossii-v-obschestvennom-soznanii-finlyandii

1. Assotsiatsiya turoperatorov Rossii. (2020, February) V 2019 godu inostrannykh turistov v Rossiyu priyekhalo na 20,5% bolshe. [The Russian Association of Travel Agencies]. Retrieved form https://www.atorus.ru/news/press-centre/new/50489.html

2. Ekspaty [Expats]. (2020). Bumaga. Retrieved form https://paperpaper.ru/tag/expat/

3. Federalnaya Sluzhba Gosudarstvennoy Statistiki. (2019). Rossiya v tsifrakh: 2019 [Russia in numbers: 2019] URL: https://www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2019/rusfig/rus19.pdf

4. Matreshka Radio Index. (n.d.). Matreshka FM. Retrieved form http://matryoshka.fm/

5. Moskva s aktsentom (2020). Moskva24. Retrieved form https://www.m24.ru/shows1/90

6. Popova A. (2018, March 20). Kak vyzhivayut afrikantsy v "Beloy Afrike" [“This is how Africans survive in “White Africa”]. Batenka, da vy transformer. Retrieved form https://batenka.ru/unity/family/white-africa/

7. Vyderzhki iz intervyu s rabotnikom onlayn-kazino [Extracts from the interview with online casino employee]. (2020, May 9). Iznanka. Vk.com. Retrieved form https://vk.com/izzznanka?w=wall-115718282_132559



Appendices

Appendix A Content Plan

	Name	Contry	Type
1	Aidai	Kyrgyzstan	student
2	Charles	Ireland	working
3	Elisa	France	student
4	Fei Zhao	China	student
5	Franziska	Germany	tourist
6	Hakim	Morocco	student
7	Hedi	Tunisia	student
8	Jose	Peru	student
9	P.A.	Spain	tourist
10	Ranya	Turkey	student



Appendix B List of the Questions for the Interviews

I. Aidai, Kyrgyzstan, student

1. So, you have spent several years in Russia, and you're getting a bachelor degree. Would you like to stay here after graduation?

2. Do you feel that Russia and Kyrgyzstan have something in common, that they are parts of the same region, concerning cultural aspects?

3. They often say that some features of a traditional society are still present in Russia, especially in the relations between men and women. Would you agree with that?

4. Do you feel a foreigner, a stranger, in Russia? Does it seem to you that the local people treat you as a foreigner?

5. Do you feel that you are more “at home” in Russia than you would be in any other country?

6. They say sometimes that xenophobia is widely present in the Russian society. Have you noticed that people divide or treat distinct ethnic, religious groups differently?

7. What would you choose as an object that represents Russia for you?

II. Charles, Ireland, working

1. So, you had spent several years in Russia and you had been working here, right?

2. A German philosopher Walter Benjamin, who visited Moscow in 1930, told that nothing happens on time in Russia and nothing goes as planned. Did you have the same feeling?

3. Is there something special about the working environment in our country? Do businessmen need any particular approach?

4. Do you think it's easy for a foreign business to find partners in Russia? Putting aside governmental regulations and other administrative restrictions.

5. One of the tip lists for doing business in Russia suggests that it is crucial to dress smartly and to look “important” during the negations in Russia, as it shows that you are a decision-maker. Do you consider the demonstration of this “power” so helpful while negotiating with potential Russian partners?

6. The same list names business-dinners and other entertaining events among the key factors to consider if a company needs to establish good relations with Russian partners, though I guess it would be true for many countries. Do you still think the role of such less formal events is more significant in Russia while forming new business relationships?

7. Before the World Cup, in 2018, only three in ten Britons aware of the event agreed that it is safe for their people to travel to Russia. Do you think there is really something to be afraid of in Russia? Or, at least, for the foreigners?

III. Elisa, France, student

1. So, you came for an exchange program, right? How much time did you spend in Russia so far? What places have you managed to visit?

2. Russia is famous for crazy videos (with horses seen inside an automobile, and things like that). Did you also have some crazy stories? Did you witness some extraordinary, strange cases of people's behavior?

3. Have you seen the autumn protests in Moscow or do you remember something about them? Maybe your friends told you something about it?

4. Did you discuss the political situation in Russia with the locals? What is your general impression from the attitude of Russians towards politics?

5. What's your brightest impression or memory from Russia in general?

6. If you would need to describe Russians with one word, what would it be?

7. Any advice for a foreigner who wants to get familiar with the Russian culture? Where to begin?

IV. Fei Zhao, China, student

1. How would you estimate your level of Russian?

2. Do you find it difficult to communicate with Russians?

3. So you feel comfortable in Moscow as a foreigner?

4. Do you feel that our cultures are alike?

5. Was there something surprising, something you didn't expect to find here?

6. Is there any advice that you would give to the people that come to Russia?

7. And is it really that cold in Russia as they say?

8. Have you been to the Chinese restaurants here?

V. Franziska, Germany, tourist

1. “Nothing happens on time in Russia”, wrote Walter Benjamin in his `Moscow Diary'. Would you agree?

2. I know you had a chance to visit the headquarters of some Russian media and talk to the journalists. Did you notice some difference in the way journalists perceive their work in Germany and here in Russia?

3. You also talk to the students from the faculty of media. Do you think they had different expectations about the future job than the students from your university?

4. Russia is far from leading places in annual Press Freedom from Transparency International, to say the least. Have you noticed any manifestation or example of this during your visit?

5. What impression Moscow left on you in general? What is the greatest memory you have after the visit?

6. Did people seem hostile or unfriendly to you?

VI. Hakim, Morocco, student

1. You stayed in Russia during the coronavirus outbreak. Do you feel safe? Was there something that surprised you in the reaction of the local people to the pandemic?

2. You told me it's too cold for you here. Did you get used to the cold?

3. What is a typical trait of character most Russians share? Something that describes all of us? In communication with other people, in the lifestyle, in our ideas?

4. Would you stay in Russia after graduation to work or to live?

5. Do you feel that local people behave unfriendly towards you?

6. Is there anything you learnt here? Some new ideas that only came to your mind after you have spent some time in Russia?

VII. Hedi, Tunisia, student

1. Why did you decide to come to Russia? And what was the main factor in your decision to stay to live here? You're now working in a university, right?

2. Did you notice any typical reaction from the locals when they realize you're a foreigner?

3. Did you notice any “taboo” topics in the conversations among Russians? Something they do not comment about even when you ask?

4. Some people say that Russian men are extremely jealous and one better not try to make friends with a girl who has a boyfriend. Would you agree?

5. From your point of view, Russians mostly tend to be closed, unfriendly or open and welcoming towards different cultures and nationalities?

6. Was there anything surprising for you in the working environment? Anything you had to get used to in the interaction with colleagues or with the bosses? Some surprising unofficial rules?

7. What would you name as the most prominent problem of modern Russian society?

VIII. Jose, Peru, student

1. They say that Russians never smile. Would you agree? If you've seen people smiling, why do you think such a stereotype appeared?

2. Do Russians really drink a lot?

3. Russia is seen as a country that still has the `communist' impact. Have you noticed the `presence' of these ideas in the society? In some social institutes (for instance, in university)? Or during the conversations with other people?

4. After 5 years here, would you stay to live or work here?

5. Are there any keys to make friends with the local people?

6. Cuarentena, coronavirus. How do local people perceive the crisis? You told me about some messages in Whatsapp. How do people react towards the quarantine measures? Do you feel safe?

IX. P.A., Spain, tourist

1. As far as I remember, you came to Russia for a short visit of several days and stayed in Moscow and St Petersburg, right?

2. There was a strange story that you had told me. You were in a bar in St Petersburg and a man with the gun came in. Could you please repeat the part about the reaction of the staff and the other guests? And what happened next.

3. Why do you think no one helped you?

4. Have you visited Russia after that? Are you planning to do so? Why?

5. Do you think it's difficult for a foreigner to communicate with Russians? Did you face difficulties? Have you managed to really have a talk with someone?