American Misconception of Russia

“Your next appointment will be in three months,” said the middle-aged woman receptionist at the dentist office. 

“That’s July,” I responded. “I will be studying in St. Petersburg, Russia then.”

“Why would you go there?” asked the receptionist. “It is not safe.”

Until I left for my study abroad trip to Russia with Stony Brook University, this was the reaction I received when I told someone I was going to Russia. “Uh-oh,” people said to me. There was this common perception that Russia was dangerous for a young woman journalist to travel to Russia to report for the SBU School of Journalism.

From the moment I stepped foot on Aeroflot, a Russian airline, I took notice of the Russians surrounding me. No negative vibes at all. “What were these people warning me about?” I asked myself.

My first impression of this country was awakening. St. Petersburg reminds me a lot of Manhattan. It is busy and people are on the go. I think many Americans are not well-traveled. They are comfortable in their village. Once they leave their village they are fearful of others. To travel to Russia, a county not well known in American media, it can be a scary thought. I have been to a couple of countries, and have had a passport since I was two years old. I did not study about Russia any more than in my high school world history class. I did not speak one word of the language. But none of this stopped me from traveling to Russia.

I have been living in Russia for 10 days. The perception those particular Americans had of this country is wrong. It makes me wonder why did these people believe Russia to be a big, bad county where I was going to get kidnapped and never be heard from again.

I was surprised to see that in Russia there is a strong presence of Western culture. McDonalds and Pizza Hut are open for business next to traditional Russian cuisine restaurants. Designer wear, like Gucci and Armani, is becoming popular in the post-socialist society. Maybe I was uneducated about Russian society, but I was not expecting such a Western influence in this country. But why do many Americans have such a misconception of a country that is about 500 miles away from Alaska (or Sarah Palin’s backyard)?

At the New York Institute at St. Petersburg State University, I am taking a class called “Case Studies in International Media Coverage.” The students in my class hail from America, Western Europe and Russia.  Here, the American students have had a chance to explain this misconception of Russia in American society. I suppose the last time that Russia was displayed in American media was the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But one Russian student explained that Russians have bigger and more important problems to worry about then former Cold War enemy: America. Russia has since moved on from the time of the Soviet Union. For both world powers, we need to have some sort of enemy, and that to Americans is Russia.

For more on the School of Journalism trip to Russia, check out the students' blog.