Foreigners (and our compatriots) discussed this issue..
Alex Filatov, lived in Belarus most of his life
In fact, Belarus is not so terrible. This country of ten million people has
- about 10% GDP growth;
- major industries, including the production of potash fertilizers, household appliances, trucks and cars, public transport, optics; oil refining;
- ranks fourth in Europe in outsourcing;
- pretty good developed system education.
Of course there is large number political, economic and social problems. The per capita income level is quite low, political and often economic rights are not protected to the required extent. But this situation is far from “terrible” when we mean the context of post-Soviet society within which Belarus should be compared.
This beautiful country with the largest forests in Europe, which is characterized by a sense of “provincial” despair and “wild rural areas" together with exceptional remnants of the Soviet way of life and decor that make this place special and interesting for visitors.
Mikita Mikado, founder of Quote Roller
Belarus is not terrible.
The economic and political situation in a country depends on its government. Belarus is a great country with kind and tolerant people. Just visit her and she will surprise you.
Yana Zhakovskaya
Belarusians simply lack interesting ideas. Most people have never tried a different life than the one they have now. Few people travel around the world, internet use is negligible, traditional media is very small, all of them are tightly controlled by the government (unlike Russia, where, if not on TV, then on thousands of radio stations and newspapers, almost anything can be broadcast and printed ).
I know a former foreign correspondent for one of the two national TV channels, who was only allowed to send materials to print showing the poverty of “ordinary Westerners” who lived this way because of their “democracy of capitalism”, emphasizing how good things are for Belarusians in the country . The reporter quit and left the country, which is exactly what too many of those with the power to make a difference have already done.
Jonathan Guttman, Technology/Business Services Analyst based on Dallas HF
I would like to remind you once again that Minsk is actually a funny city. It's almost like Epcot's World of the USSR theme park. There is a hammer here, and even more stars than in Russia. All monuments are connected with the events of the Second World War. And it's very safe here.
Two years ago I was in Belarus for three days and never felt unsafe, even walking at night. I would say that the country has a sense of racism, in principle, like other countries in the Eastern Bloc. I was once in a bar with a Chinese-American friend of mine, and a certain person made it clear that he did not like the company of my foreign friend.
Dmitry Sheiko, web developer
I would say that Belarus can be a pretty terrible place to live here (not just visit as a tourist). People are to blame. Society, terribly spoiled by the times of the Soviet regime, will never be the same.
Some people are “victims” who tolerate everything that is done to them (this was the only way to survive under the Soviet regime and the result of natural selection).
The other part of people is something opposite. They mainly earn their living by using other people's labor. They feel the need to go over people's heads just to feel better about themselves.
I remember the Beatles festival near Minsk several years ago. The concert was over and a large number of people were forming huge lines for the buses (the thought of being stuck in the forest without a car was quite scary). But every time the bus arrived, the people standing at the end of the line quickly rushed straight ahead into the bus filling with people. What was wrong? There is pure joy on their faces. They really thought they were doing the right thing by “dishonestly outrunning fools.”
Frankly, this is exactly what is happening everywhere in Belarus. Just try to get on a bus near a metro station in the evening (say, near the Moskovskaya or Vostok metro station). If you do not want to enter into conflict, then you will have to wait for several hours for the bus. Are you lucky and have already gotten on the bus? Well, try smiling at the people around you. Be careful, you might get hit. Go to the store, where you will enjoy unforgettable Soviet-specific service. Salespeople don't view you as a customer who will bring profit to the company. Have you noticed that from of this type there was no trace of thinking left. Every time you go somewhere, you will see echoes of the Soviet regime. I mean the behavior of people, not monuments, banners and buildings. Although, you are unlikely to notice this as a simple tourist, without communicating with ordinary people.
Mikhail Nitko
The pride of Belarus is considered to be old forests, which occupy 40% of the total territory of the country, and these are not just any forests. These are ancient, virgin forests that existed in Europe back in the Middle Ages, when the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood began. The rest of Europe destroyed such forests long ago.
Vitaly Shevchenko, project manager
One of the terrible things that foreign tourists can encounter is the almost complete absence of English signs in the capital, not even to mention other cities and towns.
Of course, you can come across such common words in English as toilet, currency exchange, cafes, hotels, taxis. You can also try speaking English with young people and get valuable answers, since most students study at least one foreign language at the university.
Let's hope that the 2014 World Hockey Championship brought some positive changes in the matter of English marks.
Angel Martinez Corby
In my opinion, there is nothing terrible in Belarus. It's a beautiful country wonderful people. It was in Belarusians that I noticed many values that were lost in our countries. I don’t understand why this question, whether Belarus is so terrible, even arose. Just because you need a Belarusian visa to enter?
Alexander Burkut
It looks like you have never been to Russia or Ukraine.
Pynshngain Lang Kharmyndai, student
I've never been to Belarus, but checking some sources, I highly doubt that life in Belarus is terrible. I am sure that life in Belarus is even better than in European countries such as Portugal, Greece, not to mention third world countries.
Personally, I would like to visit Belarus to see everything with my own eyes. Of course, it sounds strange, but the only thing that comes to my mind when I see Belarus is Victoria Azarenka.
Mikhail Sender, director of Kufar, meets foreign guests in Minsk almost every week. Over the course of several years, he developed a clear opinion on what and how (not) to do with a foreigner so that he falls in love with our city.
As a person who has lived half of his life outside of Belarus, visited several dozen countries and hundreds of cities, and also received many foreign guests in Minsk, I will immediately say that this essay concerns primarily foreigners from developed countries.
Residents of third world countries can be safely allowed to roam freely through the streets of Minsk, and they will be delighted by almost everything. But receiving guests from Minsk Western Europe And North America, it is important to keep in mind that Minsk, for all its charm, is still very difficult for cosmopolitans accustomed to convenience and comfort.
Any foreigner in any country is a walking prejudice
If you want your guests to have a good impression of Minsk, there is one important thing to understand. Foreigners always go to a new country with a whole baggage of previously formed prejudices, stereotypes and expectations. These expectations are based on the country’s reputation in the world and on the information that manages to leak through various channels into their heads. These expectations are not always fair and objective, but they are often the basis for visiting the country.
It is important to understand that foreigners will first of all look for confirmation of these stereotypes and prejudices. Thus, when arriving in New York, tourists try to count the number of fat people and fast food joints, in Amsterdam they sniff the smell of marijuana and look for LGBT couples, and in Bangkok they look for fried insects and transvestite prostitutes. One or two stereotypes seen on the street are enough to reinforce preconceptions about a country and a city. And only if a person has not seen a single confirmation of the stereotype during the entire trip, his prejudices can be destroyed.
This is where you, as the host, have to make a choice: either you give your guests what they came for and help them confirm their preconceptions, or you aim to surprise them by challenging stereotypes. In the case of Minsk, I prefer the second option - at least because all the stereotypes and prejudices of foreigners about Belarus, as a rule, are exclusively negative. They can be divided into two categories: general Eastern European stereotypes and mental associations specifically with Belarus.
What prejudices do foreigners have about Belarus?
Common stereotypes about Eastern Europe include the gray concrete boxes code-named “buildings” typical of post-communist cities, poverty, dirt, crime, prostitution, dyed blonde women in stiletto heels willing to do anything for money, short-haired, sullen men in tracksuits and classic babushkas wearing headscarves, known as babúshka.
But specifically from Belarus, in addition to the above, they expect even more. Regularly communicating with foreigners who have never been to Belarus, I can roughly imagine how they see it. Arriving in the “last dictatorship of Europe” and the only European country, which is not a member of the Council of Europe and still applies death penalty, a foreigner expects to see oppressed and frightened people in fur hats, plagued by corruption and bureaucracy, soldiers marching everywhere in giant caps and portraits and statues of Lukashenko everywhere. In addition, Belarus is often expected to conform to numerous stereotypes about Russia, which are also very unpleasant.
As you already understand, Minsk has good potential for destroying many of the listed prejudices.
Minsk is quite clean and safe, which is already a break from the pattern, and people don’t look that depressed. At the same time, we must admit that Minsk is really full of signs of militarism and communist heritage, which you will not be able to hide.
But that's not a bad thing! In IT terms, this is not a bug, but a feature. After all, to tell the truth, without this Soviet heritage there would be nothing special in Minsk. The trick of Minsk is precisely that it is an ideal monument to the “soviet” in its best form. There is nothing like this anywhere else in Europe, and this is really interesting for those who know about the USSR only from historical books and films.
Our task is to ensure that during a foreigner’s stay in Minsk, this “scoop” remains at the level of a monument and does not crawl into reality before the eyes of guests, confirming some of the prejudices listed above. To do this, I recommend you the following precautions...
What to remember when meeting a guest at the airport
Fortunately, despite the completely anti-market symbiosis of Belavia and Minsk-2 airport, the former maintains a quite decent level of service, and the latter recent years brought into a more or less divine form. However, the first stage of visiting Belarus has its own pitfalls.
Before departure, warn your friends that they will be given a migration card on the plane, which must be filled out on the plane. This is important for two reasons. Firstly, although Belavia flight attendants distribute them to everyone right on board, they do it quite discreetly, hastily moving along the aisle, without looking at the passengers and accompanying the distribution with indistinct muttering in Russian, typical of many young Belarusians.
It can be assumed that a migration card is most often needed by passengers who do not know Russian. But, apparently, such assumptions are not spelled out in job description flight attendants. Over the past four years, I have flown Belavia to Minsk forty times, and every time everything went according to the same algorithm.
Secondly, your guests will not have to run around the airport and look for a pen (according to eyewitnesses, there may actually be no pens in the arrivals hall), and then end up at the back of the queue at passport control.
Remember: the migration card will immediately reinforce one of the prejudices of foreigners about Belarus as some kind of autonomous region of Russia. For at the top left it says “ Russian Federation" This is one of the very few physical manifestations of the so-called “Union State”, which, I assure you, no one outside of itself has ever heard of.
No one has ever heard of the CIS, CSTO, EAU and the “post-Soviet space”, so you don’t have to bother yourself with trying to translate these abbreviations and expressions into English language. Nobody will understand anyway. Just say that we have an open border with Russia and therefore the same migration card is valid when entering both countries. They will leave you alone for a while, but get ready for the fact that you will have to launder the image of Belarus as an independent country more than once.
By the way, for those of you who are offended by the constant attribution of some Russian stamps to Belarus by foreigners, I advise you not to overdo it with patriotism, because this can play in the opposite direction.
It’s hard not to confuse a country with Russia where everyone speaks Russian, the currency is called “ruble” and 9 out of 10 people pronounce the English adjective “Belarusian” as “Belaráshan”. For those who are not sure how to pronounce it correctly, listen here:
I very often see how Belarusians, out of patriotic motives, constantly try to tell foreigners about the differences between Russia and Belarus, Russians and Belarusians, presenting their people in a positive light. You shouldn't do this. Firstly, this smacks of xenophobia. Secondly, paradoxically, by doing this you only strengthen the logical connection between these peoples in the minds of foreigners.
The more often you remember Russia during a foreigner’s visit to Minsk, the more he will associate this city with Russia. If you don’t want this, it’s better to compare with other countries.
You are picking up a guest from the airport
Also, do not forget to warn your friends that they definitely need to buy insurance at the airport, which is sold by Belgosstrakh (just say that there is a green booth with the inscription Insurance) right at the entrance to passport control.
It doesn't matter what they have, just like everyone else normal people, you already have insurance that covers expenses abroad, and it doesn’t matter that formally this is enough. With this insurance, there is a 90% chance that they will be turned into a green booth at passport control, because their insurance does not have the “Belgosstrakh” (free competition in Belarusian) stamp on it. Fortunately, thanks to the unpronounceability of this brand, your friends will never understand the absurdity of this objection and will decide that it is their fault. You still have a chance to save face for your homeland.
If you cannot meet your guests at the airport yourself, send a taxi from some decent company (say, “Friday”) to pick them up. Don't even think about recommending the bus. They will immediately stumble upon a ticket machine where there is no English interface, and you cannot avoid shame and grief. An express train will be able to solve the problem of transferring to the city in five years, when the rails will be laid to the terminal itself and you won’t have to take a bus to the train.
If a foreigner decides to take a taxi himself, he will be in trouble. As happened at many Eastern European airports in the 1990s, at the exit short-haired men in sweatpants will start accosting him, offering him a taxi. An experienced traveler will immediately sense a scam and, ignoring the athletes, will head to the taxi parking lot according to the signs. Taxi drivers will not understand him and will direct him back to the boys in tracksuits, thereby reinforcing the prejudice about Eastern European crime and racketeering.
Your next task is to take your guests to Minsk without exposing them to the horrors of the Belarusian village. You should prepare topics for conversation in order to divert the attention of passengers from the landscapes of the Queens of Stan in time. For example, you can pay attention to the flat landscape right side roads, noting that Belarus is the flattest country in Europe. The Netherlands also claims this title, but who will check them...
As you approach Uruch, draw your friends’ attention to the cornflowers decorating the facades of some of the panels. I’m not talking about flowers, but about the cross-shaped element of the Belarusian traditional ornament, which we use as decoration everywhere you go. This is a very unusual feature when a symbol that is not an official coat of arms is widely used in architecture and design of everything - from interiors to clothing.
By drawing the attention of your guests to this, you can encourage the most adventurous of them to start looking for cornflowers everywhere. With luck, this may distract them from seeking confirmation of their vulgar prejudices.
Just imagine how difficult it is for a foreigner to understand the names
Few people in Belarus have thought about this, but by world standards we have a completely anomalous situation with the names of cities and streets.
There are many countries in the world with two or more official languages. But not many countries have different street names depending on the language. As a rule, names, like other brands, are not translated. And we even translate proper names.
For a foreigner accustomed to everything having one name, this can be very confusing. For example, you invite him to go to Victory Square. He writes in Ploschad Pobedy's notebook. Then he looks at the map and can’t find it because it says Victory Square. Then he takes the metro, and there they announce Plošča Pieramohi. This is impossible to understand with the mind.
Therefore, I personally try to adhere to the UN international toponymic standards, according to which all names are transliterated from Belarusian language using the official Belarusian Latin alphabet, and be consistent in this. Our city authorities are also trying. In the subway and on the signs, that’s what everyone says. But on the maps it happens that this is not so...
Which restaurants and cafes to take a foreigner to?
Many Minsk residents do not realize this themselves, but compared to many European capitals, Minsk is very high level quality of restaurants and cafes. In the center today it is difficult to find a place where you can feel ashamed of the interior and where the food is disgusting. But there are things to be wary of.
One thing - we allow smoking in public places. Therefore, if your friends do not smoke, then you should not take them to places like Malt & Hops, where their fashionable outfits stink and they will hate Minsk (and you) for it.
The second problematic point is the complete unpreparedness of most establishments to serve foreigners. Most of the waiters either don't speak English or speak very little English. Many restaurants do not have menus in English. Some have it, but it’s outdated, with prices in old rubles with twenty zeros. Therefore, when booking a table, it is better to clarify these points in advance and ask for a table that will be served by a knowledgeable English waiter. Reliable places in this regard are Pinky Bandinsky, ID Bar, The View, Don Coffe’on, Grünwald, News Café, Mai Thai, but there are others.
When you arrive at a restaurant, ask for English menus for everyone, including yourself. For what? I have repeatedly discovered that the English menu differs from the Russian/Belarusian one in content and page numbering, not to mention translation flaws. This circumstance can significantly complicate the discussion of dishes and create misunderstandings and disappointments.
There is also this point: many waiters, although they speak English, try to avoid this if possible. If they see that there is a local in the company, then they begin to conduct all communication regarding all guests only with you, in Russian. Personally, this tires me terribly, because I have to free time work as a translator and do part of the waiter’s work, taking responsibility for possible errors translation and forgetfulness. But I also came to rest.
To avoid such cases, when I am in the company of foreigners, I try not to pretend that I know Russian, which I advise you to do. Let them train!
What to see in Minsk?
Be sure that your guests in Minsk will be much more interested in everything scary and ugly than what you would like to show them.
No one is interested in the Trinity and Rakovskoe suburbs, the Upper Town with its microscopic town hall and the modest churches of the Holy Trinity, Symon and Alena, etc. Their overall architectural value does not greatly exceed the level of many provincial Western European cities.
We don't have huge Gothic castles, cathedrals and palaces. Even the National Library is of little interest to anyone. Ugliness and backwardness are what foreigners expect to see and can then tell their friends about. Your delicate task is to take them to places where there is the least ugliness, but to do this under the pretext of visiting something interesting.
For example, everyone is interested in seeing the largest monument to Lenin in the country, standing in front of the Government House. (Remember, this is a feature, not a bug!) Heading there, you can take guests along Karl Marx Street, showing the presidential administration and the tank monument (this is also a feature).
And after a photo session with Lenin, take them along Independence Avenue to the Upper Town to visit the bars on Zybitskaya and at the same time show them the KGB building (the fact that the KGB still exists is a super mega-trick!) and GUM (just don’t let them inside). This way, your guests will always be within a decent-looking part of the city, and this will form their overall impression of the architecture of Minsk, contrary to the stereotype of gray concrete boxes. They will be surprised that Minsk is quite beautiful and tidy, although there are no outstanding works of architecture here.
How exactly can you impress foreigners?
Evening illumination. I really have never seen anywhere else in the world (and I have visited more than 150 cities in 45 countries) where all the facades in the city center are illuminated every evening for several hours. Walk along the avenue with your guests before dinner. Beautiful, original and really memorable.
Keep in mind that the most pleasant impressions What will be left about Minsk is not buildings and statues, but a good time. After dinner, wander around the bars on Zybitskaya, have a blast in the Attic or hang out in the Hooligan, chat with interesting and pleasant people, and your friends will have the warmest memories of Minsk.
Well, remind them before leaving so that they don’t forget their migration card, otherwise other memories may be added at passport control.
I have a friend, let’s call him A., who is very energetically concerned about a certain “gene pool of the nation.” At the sight of a sweet couple, where the role of the stronger half is clearly not a descendant of the Radimichi - he is too dark, with black hair and a sparkling eye - A. tsks as a sign of disapproval. He also doesn’t like two-meter-tall Swedes with a red beard, but a Swede is a rare bird in our area. Historically, guests often fly to us on Turkish Airlines. They fly in and then captivate women’s hearts.
Tugruldemirel.com
« This is all because you women are complex. You don’t know your own prices. Follow the first one who beckons with his finger“, says A. and confidently leans back in his chair: he solved the infinity sign, no less.
I don't know, I don't know. Maybe it's the other way around? We believe that flowers should appear in our lives so often that we no longer want to be photographed with them. We believe that we are worthy of the words “beloved”, “the only one” (or “bunny” at worst), and in what language is the tenth matter. Dear A., you can’t blame us girls for wanting to hear compliments, especially if the eloquence of the interlocutor is more inventive “ beautiful eyes" And although “compliments” and “complexes” are similar words, the latter seem to have nothing to do with it. Even beautiful girls fall asleep with a photograph of the boy who taught them to dive in the Red Sea.
« There are few gifts - but there will be an economical husband, everything will go to the house, and no ostentatious gestures“, - the grandmother will say. Oh, grandma, why do I need all these slow cookers without love? Without love, carrot cake will always be missing nuts...
« Modesty hides deeper feelings”, - the next series will promote us not the most recent idea. But you don’t need to be a genius to understand: not every modest person is an enviable match. What if the man is not at all modest and economical, but boring and greedy, worse than Shakespeare’s Shylock?
« That's it! And you are fooled by money“,” A. grins condescendingly, as if he had checkmated a yellow-haired chess player. You can’t, they say, seriously love a person with a belly. And with a bald head. And even in his years... Stop, stop, stop. Since when did belly fat become a sign of ethnicity? It’s not just Apollos walking the Belarusian streets (and it’s good, because we don’t have production of aphrodites on the assembly line either).
Even the most patriotic girl who uses Tinder will have a hard time ignoring absolutely all foreigners. Unless she specifically pays attention to names. The reality is this: if the avatar is a well-groomed and courageous man with an infectious smile at 32, this is in the vast majority of cases a foreigner.
Read in full in the source with photos:
menrules.com
Foreigners immediately write “hi” and easily take the acquaintance offline. Our guys often remain silent after mutual liking, like partisan grandfathers. Marinate them, huskies. Statistics are collected. At the same time they look stern. It’s understandable: autumn, the dollar exchange rate, a car loan... Of course, a hurricane of passion may be hiding behind an icy wall, but not everyone has enough warmth to test this theory. And then, suddenly Kai... that's it? In other words, it cannot be resuscitated. Some people don’t smile because the weather is November, but others are just a boring misanthrope who needs to be run away from, and as soon as possible!
The tummies do not check the coat of arms on the passport. Everyone's bellies are growing. And by the way, there is a huge difference between an overweight, always dissatisfied guy in sweatpants and a fake Rolex, in whose look you can read: “I’m that guy who is always rude in line,” and a jovial fat man who cooks the best pizza in the world and knows how to laugh so hard the walls shake.
By the way, there are also fans of the bald head.
Read in full in the source with photos:
finebathroomvanities.com
« Nobody gives birth in the country", grumbles A. I can see him at the table of the Minister of Labor and social protection. By the way, A. himself has exactly zero children so far. I don’t know what’s stopping him from creating blue-eyed charmers for an entire hockey team. The dollar exchange rate or the fall, or most likely the fact that A. does not understand the main thing. If a girl married a foreigner, flew to Munich and supports Bayern, then it’s better for her. For others (the majority of them), no matter how many speeches sweeter than baklava are poured into their ears, it is much more important to experience similar emotions with the chosen one at the sight of an electronic toy, where the wolf from “Well, wait a minute!” catches eggs, and laughs at the same moments in “Yolki.”
Cultural commonality often outweighs openness to imports. Gives a ten point handicap. But you can earn at least five more if, in addition to knowing the chords of “Spleen,” you learn to switch your seriousness to hibernation mode at the right moment. Worth a try.
World Tourism Organization, Belarus ranks one of last places in Europe by number of visits by foreigners. Film crews from popular travel shows also rarely visit us, although you can find many episodes filmed in all neighboring countries on the Internet. TUT.BY looked at what foreigners talk about Belarus in video blogs and travel shows.
In 2009, the host of the cult program Top Gear, Richard Hammond, said the word “Minsk” several times on camera. This was connected with his ride on a pink motorcycle manufactured by MMVZ on the roads of Vietnam. And a year later, as part of the popular American TV show “Who Do You Think You Are?” "Friends" star Lisa Kudrow found her roots in Belarus. Recently, the National Geographic channel aired a film about the Wargaming company, and Animal Planet showed the program “”. Most other mentions of Belarus in ratings television programs in the US and Europe were related to politics, Chernobyl and Lee Harvey Oswald.
“Bad Notes” with Dmitry Krylov
The creators of Russian and Ukrainian shows About travel only recently discovered Belarus. In 2012, filming of the program “Unlucky Notes” by journalist Dmitry Krylov took place in Brest and Kamenets. Two years later, the presenter visited again Brest Fortress and released another broadcast by June 22.
"15 republics"
In 2014, as part of the “15 Republics” project, a film crew from the Ukrainian TV channel “1+1” came to Belarus. On YouTube video received 109 thousand views. Journalists visited Zhlobin, Mogilev, Soligorsk, Minsk, Zaslavl and Belarusian villages to study how Belarus changed after the collapse of the USSR.
The presenter was amazed that at the Mogilev railway station they were asked to hide their camera, since it was a military facility, and they were surprised by the toll roads. However, the driver of the group bought a BelToll sensor late and on the way back the transport inspectorate issued them a fine of 200 euros. In the same issue, they went to Vilnius and compared the countries.
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If popular Russian YouTube bloggers have been coming to Minsk to shoot new videos for several years, then for editors of entertainment television programs, 2016 became the year of discovery of Belarus. In the spring, the programs “Heads and Tails” were held in Minsk. Shopping”, the British presenter of the NTV channel John Warren also returned to Belarus. After filming a show about the country “Let’s Go Let’s Eat,” he and TUT.BY are of the opinion that Belarus needs to change its image.
In October, the 17th episode of the second season of the Russian show “Russo Touristo”, dedicated to Belarus, was released on the STS TV channel. In it, presenters Leonid and Ekaterina Morgunov got used to the new Belarusian money, prepared vereshchaka and toured many museums. “Minsk is a gorgeous city. You can still taste processed cheese made from cheese, potato chips and birch sap from birch trees. Minsk is one of those cities that are addictive. I want to come here again and again,” the authors concluded.
"I Travel the World" and "Mirror"
Last year, two film crews from popular Turkish TV shows came to Belarus. In the summer, the program “I Travel the World” was filmed for Kanal 7 with the well-known TV presenter Ozlem Tunca in her homeland. The show appeared in 2010 and has won several television awards in Turkey. A month later, the popular Turkish presenter Saim Orhan filmed a report about Belarus for his project “Mirror”.
“I Travel the World” was released in two episodes, one of which received more than 150 thousand views on YouTube. Ozlem Tunca came to Belarus with a small child, who often appeared in the frame in her arms and tasted Belarusian honey in Dudutki and red currants at the Komarovsky market. In two forty-minute episodes, the film crew showed the Mir and Nesvizh castles, a wedding in folk style, the construction of the Cathedral Mosque, the Mayak Minska residential complex and listened to classics at the capital's Town Hall. At the end of the episode, the presenter met with the Ambassador of Belarus to Turkey Andrei Savinykh and thanked him for organizing the filming.
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Saim Orhan was interested in slightly different Belarusian sights. In the issue of "Mirrors" he went to the "Stalin Line", where he shot from different types weapons, visited the museum of Belarusian costumes and talked with children who are studying Turkish in Minsk. The video has been viewed a little over 22 thousand times.
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“Belarus - how is it really there?”
The video, shot by Pole Michal Sikorski in September 2015, has received more than 473 thousand views. The blogger decided to get to know Belarus better, got into the car and drove through several cities. He began his journey in Grodno. Throughout the entire route, Michal praises Belarusian roads, and the first point of the journey impressed him as a clean, even sterile place, which in architecture is very similar to Polish cities.
In Novogrudok, he visited the House-Museum of Adam Mickiewicz and tried to resolve the age-old dispute about what nationality the poet belongs to. The director of the museum convinced him that Mitskevich always considered himself a Novogrudok resident.
Near Bobruisk, Michal visited the village of Velichkovo, where the estate of his ancestors, who were Polish aristocrats, was once located. After talking with local residents, he came to the conclusion that many Belarusians descended from Poles, but many Poles also descended from Belarusians. And he invited his subscribers to look for roots in Belarus.
Minsk gave the blogger the impression of a metropolis where people dress normally, there are a lot of good cars and foreign products in stores. And prices are the same or slightly higher than in Poland. In general, Belarus seemed to him a country in which he could live. Here, he said, he felt free and safe, since there are a lot of police in the city. In conclusion, he came to the conclusion that Belarusians are accustomed to living in a world of orders and prohibitions, and cited the example of prohibitory stickers on the doors of restaurants and cafes.
Michal’s visit coincided with the 2015 election campaign, therefore, reflecting on the differences election campaigns, he concluded that, based on the cultural and historical past, Belarus and Poland should be allies, and advocated the abolition of visas between the countries.
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Geography Now! Belarus"
On the YouTube channel Geography Now! the host named Paul introduces viewers to the countries of the world. Within 10 minutes, he provides basic information about states using statistics, foreign media and local assistants.
The video about Belarus begins with the phrase: “This is a country where people in Russian say: “Don’t call me Russian.” The video was released on May 15, 2015 and was viewed more than 402 thousand times.
Talking about the country, Paul pronounces the word “rushnik” and plays on the name of the city of Brest (breast - breast in English - Note TUT.BY). He dwells in more detail on tourism issues: “Border guards have the right to refuse entry to anyone they consider unworthy. If your nationality is not from Eastern Europe, it will be a little more difficult for you to get into the country. And this is one of the reasons why Belarus is one of the least visited countries in Europe. If you don't speak Russian or Belarusian, or if you don't have a Belarusian friend who can vouch for you, the trip can be quite problematic and costly, not including the visa. However, Belarusians love guests, they are just suspicious of you.”
Next, the presenter talks about the urbanization of the late 1980s associated with the Chernobyl accident, the most widespread natural resource- peat, hockey and praises Belovezhskaya Pushcha, where you can meet bison.
“The average temperature in summer is about 18 degrees, so you won’t see bikinis here. The Belarusian people are what really makes this country stand out mysterious country“, says Paul and is surprised that with 80% of people who consider themselves Belarusians, only 20% speak Belarusian.
The video was heatedly discussed by foreigners, and the most popular comment was: “Bison, hockey, a lot of forests, having a powerful ally, at the same time trying to create cultural differences so that the world doesn’t think that you are of the same culture... Belarus is European Canada?»
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"Minsk: amazing sights"
Norwegian Harald Balder visited Belarus last fall. The video about the country became the most popular on his channel and received more than 88 thousand views.
Harald arrived in Minsk by train from Gomel with a friend. Judging by the video, during the trip in a compartment with fellow travelers, they fully experienced Belarusian hospitality. The capital seemed clean and picturesque to him. After sightseeing, the Norwegian went to the Dozari club, where, according to his observations, there are more “hot girls” than in Bucharest. The next day he decided to attend an event that took place near the Sports Palace. After passing the inspection, he described his feelings: “In totalitarian Belarus, you will always be under surveillance and videotaped.”
While walking around the capital, the Norwegian concluded that the most beautifully dressed young mothers live in Minsk, and cited as an example several shots of them walking with their husbands and children around the city.
The next evening, Harald again went to the Minsk clubs, where he once again admired the friendliness of Belarusian women: “Not a single Minsk girl grinned when I approached her.” Then he and a friend ended up in the police station for drinking alcoholic beverages in the wrong place. The video was filmed without commentary; he later described his impressions of Belarus in a blog:
"We enjoyed a cold beer on the bench shopping center with several girls. Everything was fine until two uniformed thugs showed up and arrested us. Turns out it's illegal to drink in public. When at the police station my friend admitted our ignorance and stated the obvious: we didn’t know it was illegal, one of the officers replied: “Everything here is illegal!”
Apparently this incident was one of the last days imposed a negative impact on the entire duration of the Norwegian’s stay in the country. In his blog, he writes that it is impossible to maintain anonymity in Belarus: you are searched everywhere, filmed and interrogated about your intentions.
He called the Belarusian service “hellish” and cited as an example the purchase of train tickets and service in one of the Minsk cafes, after which he decided to go to dine in establishments with a self-service system: “All the Belarusians that I have met, without exception, are more or less amazing, overwhelming most waiters, shop assistants and government bureaucrats are complete idiots. They're clearly trying to piss you off, even if all you did was try to buy a train ticket. My travel companion, who speaks Russian well, encountered one such woman on railway station. After asking for three tickets and ending the sentence with the word “please,” she rolled her eyes, sighed, and looked away.”
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The most positive impressions on tourists were caused by the Museum of the Great Patriotic War and Belarusian women: “They all look like they are well off. How they can afford it is a great mystery. With an average salary of $300-400 per month, girls have to spend a huge portion of their income on this to look as good as they do. I expected Belarusian women to be cold and uncommunicative. This turned out to be 110% false. All the girls I spoke to were always smiling and wanted to chat, even the married ones.”
Residents of Switzerland, Albania, Latvia and Luxembourg told KYKY how they imagine Belarus. The answers turned out to be controversial: authoritarianism, “part of Russia,” dishes made from animal entrails – this is the composite portrait of the country in the West. I’m glad that at least for an Albanian girl it’s easy to meet a Belarusian guy - just say in Russian: “Hello, I love you. That's it, come on!"
Matthias, Switzerland: “Men and boys in Belarus are strong and big, and wear sweaters that their grandmothers knitted”
I know that the capital is Minsk, but I cannot say what the city is like. Your president, Lukashenko, is called “the last dictator of Europe” - he has been in power for probably 15-20 years. Political system quite autocratic, democracy is not well developed, and in addition, Belarus is quite closed to a European country.
It's probably cold in Belarus because you're close to Russia. In winter the temperature is -10 or -15, or even -20 - when the wind comes from the northeast, from Siberia, it must be completely cold here. But in summer it is hot - above 30 degrees. In Belarus there live foxes, maybe arctic foxes, and many small fluffy squirrels.
I don’t have a clear idea of what Belarusians look like: girls and women probably almost always wear skirts. Men and boys in Belarus are strong and large, and wear sweaters that their grandmothers knitted and hats (but not French ones). There are not many hipsters here - maybe 0.5% of everything. Maybe something related to the military is popular: combat boots, camouflage, short hair. These are not skinheads, not political activists - they just like the military style.
I have a feeling that Belarus is a rather conservative country in terms of gender roles: men are strong, and women mostly stay at home and raise children. Therefore, in order to meet a Belarusian girl, I would act in this direction. You need to appear strong, that you are able to provide for your family and so on.
In their free time, Belarusians do the same things as the Swiss: they watch TV, guys play football. Maybe you play chess? You are close to Russia and its culture has influenced you, and Russians love chess. You probably also love fishing.
Arilda, Albania: “Belarusian writer won the Nobel Prize - to be honest, I expected her to be sent to prison”
I study in Lithuania and know a lot about Belarus. Your President has been in power since you gained independence. Therefore, he is authoritarian: he tries to control not only politics, but also society. The coolest thing is that you can't clap in the street because of the protests that happened a few years ago. A Belarusian writer won the Nobel Prize - to be honest, I expected that upon returning to Belarus she would be sent to prison.
I wanted to visit Belarus, and I had the opportunity: the university organized a trip for foreign students to several countries, including to you.
But they didn’t give me a visa: I had to provide an invitation and couldn’t get a regular tourist visa. The email said: “You cannot go because your nationality is prohibited.”
Why is unclear. Although I did not have a chance to visit Belarusian cities, but I can imagine that they look a little Soviet - similar to Klaipeda, for example.
On this topic: Architectural features of Minsk that foreigners like 
It seems to me that the Internet and social media it is more limited here than in Europe: there is no access to all sites. You use VKontakte instead of Facebook - and therefore you sort of separate yourself from the Western world and connect more with the Russian community, because only Russians and Belarusians use this network. I think you also use Instagram and Snapchat ( messaging application with attached photos and videos. Users set a limit for how long recipients can view them - approx. KYKY).
Belarusians eat borscht, maybe something similar to Lithuanian zeppelins. But a special product is potatoes. Probably Belarusians eat it three times a day. The Belarusians I know are very quiet, they don’t like to talk and show their feelings - even when I ask them about the country, they don’t want to tell anything. To get to know handsome guy in Belarus, I would say in Russian: “Hello, I love you. That's it, come on."
Laina, Latvia: “Belarusians have soft facial features. Looks a little round to me"
Your president is Lukashenko, and people call him “Dad.” Your flag is quite beautiful because it has the national pattern on the left side. I know the anthem, but I can’t sing it now. I was in Belarus, came to the competition. True, I don’t remember what kind of city it was. I know that there is a stadium there where preparations for the Winter Olympic Games and biathlon training take place.
Belarusians are very kind and sympathetic people. Our car broke down and we had to stay three more days. Not only did the money run out, but we didn’t even know where we could get the car repaired—we were in an isolated place. But they gave us a good room for free, fed us and helped us get to the border - this really saved us.
I noticed that Belarusians have soft facial features: there are no sharp lines on the jaw or nose. They even look a little round to me. Women are quite short, and men, on the contrary, are very tall. At least that's what I can say about the people I've met. How to meet a Belarusian guy? I think I would say, “I think you should be able to dance!”
Richard, Spain (Catalonia): “Probably the center-right is in power”
Belarus is a post-Soviet country. It is medium in size, but smaller than Spain. Probably the center-right are in power - it seems so to me, because your past is connected with communism. I heard about your president and that he is not completely democratic. He may have been in power for 25 years.
I think Belarusians are tall, white-skinned, with clean, clear eyes. Girls wear braids because it is a traditional hairstyle. Belarusians usually spend their free time at parties and drinking vodka. They eat a lot of soups and wild animals: wild boar, maybe moose, like in Estonia. I think also potatoes and vegetables, like broccoli.
To meet a girl, I would pretend to be Spanish ( Richard considers himself a Catalan - approx. KYKY). There’s not much southern here, and it’s different from what people in the north are used to – that’s why something from the south seems cooler.
Leonor, Luxembourg: “It seems to me that Belarus has always been part of Russia before”
I don’t want to speak for all Western European youth, but personally I know little about Belarus. But in many ways I associate it with Russia - for me it’s practically the same thing, because the names of the countries are consonant and they are nearby. It seems to me that Belarus has always been part of Russia before.
Belarus gained independence after the Bolshevik Revolution or after the First World War.
The country probably wanted to become independent for a long time, but after these events such an opportunity arose. I don't know what Belarusians look like national symbols. There is definitely a red color because communism ( laughs), dark green. Perhaps it looks like the flag of Lithuania. There's probably a third color - but I have no idea what it is.
I think that Belarusians are similar to Russians. Belarusians have stern faces and eyes, women are cold and distant. Strong in Belarus family tradition: You have many children, three or four each. You probably love political jokes, irony and satire. The IT sector is important for Belarus. For some reason it seems to me that Belarusian men really love computer science. Agriculture It can hardly be the main branch of the economy - the Belarusian climate is not very suitable for that.
Stella, Germany: “Belarusians drink in their free time”
The only thing I know is that the name is translated from German as “White Russia”. Plus or minus, I know where it is - not in the EU, but it borders the Baltic states and Ukraine in the north. This will probably sound racist: Belarusians do not Slavic type appearance, but more Russian. But Russia is a very mixed country, so I will say that Belarusians are similar to Siberians, northern people: blondes with blue eyes.
Belarusians drink in their free time, but I’m not saying this because of a stereotype. All people do this: in Spain, in Germany, in the Czech Republic... I think that famous and important personalities are depicted on Belarusian money: poets, musicians.
Airen, Cyprus: “Belarusians eat hot fish soups with fish and herbs or meat soups with animal entrails”
I learned about Belarus several years ago in a geography lesson at school - before that I had no idea that such a country existed. And the only thing I know is that the capital is Minsk. Belarusians are similar to Russians and Ukrainians because they are closely related. Belarusians probably have blue eyes, blond hair and always white skin! Belarusians eat hot fish soups with herbs or meat soups with animal entrails - like in Edinburgh, because it is a cold country.
Probably the most profitable occupations are economist or businessman. I say this because I have a friend from Minsk who is studying marketing.
This suggests that this area is in demand in the country and, perhaps, a good future awaits people involved in this.
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