The Foods
Name 3 ingredients in Borsch
beets, carrots, potatoes, celery, dill, onion, garlic, porcini, parsley, cabbage, pepper...
What language (besides Russian) commonly appears in classic Russian literature?
French
What does one put on immediately upon entering a house? This is also something that can be thrown across a room at miscreants. Bonus point if you know the Russian name.
Slippers! Tapochki.
Name 3 currently existing countries (besides Russia) in the Former Soviet Union
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
What do you call the dumplings we made tonight?
Vareniki
Who wrote the music for The Nutcracker Ballet?
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
What will happen if you go outside with wet hair?
Why must you never whistle in the house?
You will catch a cold (and maybe die?)
You will "whistle away" all your money
What does USSR stand for?
United Soviet Socialist Republic
What is the most common "grain" eaten in Russia? (Bonus point: It's not actually a grain, what is it?)
Buckwheat! A pseudocereal. True grains are grasses.
What is one unique feature of Baba Yaga's house?
chicken stilts
When is the appropriate time to get a holiday tree for one's home? Why? What is one method of procuring said tree in the U.S.?
Right after Christmas, when many people immediately discard their trees and leave them on the sidewalk. Non-Christmas, New-Year's-celebrating Russians pick them up and carry them off to their homes. Russians have a New Year's tree! Reduce reuse recycle y'all.
How many time zones are in Russia?
12! TWELVE! HALF OF THEM!
What herb is the main flavoring for Tarhun?
Tarragon
What is the Russian equivalent to Tom and Jerry?
Nu Pogodi, wolf and rabbit
What is the proper way to gift a knife?
The recipient must give symbolic payment (even a penny/kopeika will do) in return to make it an exchange/sale, and not a gift.
Otherwise, *~you will argue~*
What land does Russia claim the U.S. stole from it?
Alaska.
What condiment(s) are typically eaten with kholodetz?
Mustard, Khrein (horseradish)
The bark of which tree is a commonly used as a craft supply?
Birch
Under Socialism in post-Stalin USSR, many kinds of books, movies, and music were banned. What methods did people utilize to copy and distribute them underground anyway?
Makeshift LPs were etched into used X-rays, which were playable on a turntable.
Impromptu public poetry readings that were often quickly shut down by authorities.
Samizdat (self-publishing, zines, hidden in other book's binding)
"Samizdat: I write it myself, edit it myself, censor it myself, publish it myself, distribute it myself, and spend time in prison for it myself."
—Vladimir Bukovski
This Siberian plant and Siberian fungus are currently over-harvested and sold on the black market. (Both are considered adaptogens)
Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea), Chaga (Inonotus obliquus).