Sarees, Sorries, and Saint Petersburg: 12: Favorite Random Lecture Quotes of the Year

I don't know if it's the cultural difference, or just how things happen to translate from Russian to English, but some fairly interesting things have been said during some of my lectures this past semester. As much as I would looooove to get you to also sit through 1.5 hours of lecture on The Communist Phase, I'm guessing that's probably not going to happen. That being said- still taken widely out of context, with as little background as I can provide you (to add to the oddity of what is being said), here are some of my favorite things that have been said (taken directly from my notes!):

(In learning about Russia's population, we learned that here, Caucasian means "black", as in black hair and eyes. Caucasians are not particularly liked among most of the general population. As most people here seem to have beautiful, sparkling blue eyes, it's fairly easy to point out someone who looks a tad bit different. That day, we also learned that....):

"To Russians, President Obama is not black, he is chocolate-it is a very beautiful color."

(On the planning of mid-term examination dates...):

"Here, we pay more attention to the mental health of students, so we try to organize 1 mid-term per day."

(On Russia's Home and Foreign Policies under Krushchev):

"He wanted to put a hedgehog in the trousers of the United States."

(What the heck would a hedgehog in our pants do?! I thought to myself...then imagined Sonic the Hedgehog trying to get as many rings as possible while running around in our pants....awkward.)

(Don't let this little menace into your pants America!)

(On the availability of television channels in sparsely populated areas of the country):

"The population in Eastern Russia is so sparse, and since bears and wolves are indifferent to the TV channels, there is probably no need for it."

(It here being of course an increase in available channels)

(On how issues were dealt with by Yeltsin):

"He walked around the issue like a cat around hot porridge."

(Can't say that's something I've ever witnessed, so I'm not exactly sure how he dealt with the issues...maybe he would go to dip his paw in, then fall face first and cover his fur in a sticky mess?)