It's a great pity that biggest quantity of Europeans and Americans know nothing about Ukraine. Their knowledge is often formed by the Mass Media but unfortunately not in positive way. In April 2013 social researches were conducted and it was indicated that Ukraine is still a big mystery for foreigners. I decided to publish the most interesting observations made by Korec Anastasia during this survey. Some of stereotypes are so ridiculous that even my friends which are not from Ukraine laughed a lot when they heard this.
1. Ukraine, it's somewhere in Russia?
40% of foreigners said that Ukraine is a part of Russian Federation. One guy from France even told that Ukraine is a capital of Russia. Another one fairly admitted that he heard about this country for the first time. Some people consider that Ukraine is situated somewhere in Europe but by mischance they didn't remember where exactly. Only 30% of people gave the correct answer to this question. And we are thankful for it because it could be even worse. Ukraine is situated in the south-eastern part of Central Europe and has its own territory. It borders with Russia, Byelorussia, Moldova, Slovakia, Roumania, Hungary and Poland by land and Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Roumania and Turkey by sea.
2. What do you have for lunch? And for dinner? "Salo"(lard)?
One of the most widespread stereotypes about Ukraine is that everybody and everywhere here eat lard. It's a truth that the "Salo" is a part of our national cuisine. But we don't have such fanaticism as people think. Moreover, almost all of them are sure that every second Ukrainian obese because of the excessive usage of this product. I do not want to upset anyone, but a huge number of vegetarianism lives in Ukraine. They do not eat meat and lard at all. By the way, according to statistics, the Ukrainians consume much less lard than, for example, the Poles or Germans.3. You have, ohhh - ... Klitschko!
4. How do you feel? Were everything in Ukraine contaminated by radiation?
90% of foreigners said that they know about Ukraine because of accident which occurred in 1986 year in Chernobyl. Most of them even can describe reasons why accident happened. During the interview one girl from Belgium asked: "How do you feel living in Ukraine?". The reason she asked it was her confidence that people in Ukraine are under radiation and mutation for us is a usual problem. Probably if we have an opportunity to meet man with seven fingers on arms or a dog - cyclops in the street we would be the most popular place in the world. Millions of tourists would like to see this and thousands of videos you could found in YouTube with amazing popularity. But the truth is that Ukraine doesn’t have such popularity and freaks can be seen only in horrors.5. I saw the news... In your Parliament bullfights every day!
I know that European's Mass Media very often talks about our politics, corruption, Yulia Tymoshenko, Gongadze and nothing else. But do you know the best part? Foreigners do not care what is the reason of everything, and between whom it happens. For them it's just a show. Very often Europeans and Americans receive distorted information. They take small parts from the truthful story and create new story. It’s enough to look at it without glasses and everybody will see that the same problems with government, fraud and dishonest politics. All the stories are illustrated in different ways.DO YOU THINK THIS IS REAL TRUTH ABOUT UKRAINE?
Of
course not. And all the people who were here and saw life here will tell you
like this. Ukraine is one of the largest countries in Europe, a country with a
long, heroic history, with good conditions for living, mild climate,
well-developed infrastructure. Of course if person prefer looking for negative it’s
possible to find it everywhere but not only in Ukraine. I am not idealistic and
understand that it’s impossible to find heaven on the earth. All countries are
different and have their own specific. Ukrainian society has its own
characteristics, behavior that may seem unusual to anyone. One of them is a
tribute to the tradition; the other is the result of a bizarre historical
development.
I hope my article will help you to think a little
bit about the truth about Ukraine. And you will be interested in searching and
watching undistorted information about Ukraine in Internet. YouTube is full of
different movies which will be interested for you. For example if you are still
thinking that we are eating only lard you should watch this video! The hero of
this story, Furious Pete, is traveling the world in search of new adventures
and experiences. And one more thing is that he really like to eat and a lot!
When he was in Kiev, he visited a few nice restaurants and bars. I hope his
experience show you how much delicious food in Ukraine and how varied our
cuisine. But not this makes
our country famous all over the world. The beauty of our girls, kindness and sincerity
- here's what tourists
and businessmen from different countries
really love in Ukraine!
In
conclusion, I would like to remind you that we have a lot of things for being
proud of our motherland. And of course, all of the respondents mentioned the beauty
of Ukrainian girls, rich architectural plan of the city and melodical language.
But also remember: Ukraine is not Russia or the Soviet Union. Ukraine is an
independent state with its own customs culture and history. Do not listen what government
say on the radio and what they show on TV. If you real want to know, how things
is going in Ukraine you must come and judge it by yourself!
