Word: penses
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Schecter says that his Russian friends reacted to him in different ways. "some were just after the novelties of your life-style," he notes, "such as bubble gum, foreign stamps, and felt-tip pens. Or listening to music and bumming Marlboros off you. It was t(ose kinds of people...
The descriptions of the differences between Russian and American consumerism are striking. The Schecter children report that adults in Russia repeatedly begged American students to bring them felt-tip pens, a rare commodity in Russia. American liquor is viewed as an important status symbol. Soviet stores are perpetually out of...
The book does not, however, plow through one grim aspect of Soviet life after another; these are interspersed with light-hearted vignettes and pleasurable memories. The children in particular relate their stories with good-humor, almost bordering on blissful naivete. Katie's list of "what they have in Russia" includes...
The loosely chronological narrative-a series of signed excerpts contributed by each family member-recounts the Schecters' efforts to apprehend the peculiarities of Soviet society. For Correspondent Schecter, working in Moscow meant learning how to make the most of his mamka (KGB-planted Russian journalists assigned to "assist" foreign...
There is a set of chopsticks used by Richard Nixon in China, a souvenir can of caviar from Russia, a bronze bust of the former President and a full display of cufflinks, matchboxes, pens and playing cards from his years in the White House. All are part of a one...