I don’t know who started on this perestroika meaning restructuring. The two most common pre-Gorby usages of the word did not come from строить, but from строй (either military or in music) – redeployment and retuning.

Openness is not a very good translation of гласность either, since it has the extra meaning of “open” society. Gorbachev’s гласность was one way only – the government was going to tell subjects more. So it was more of heralding…

And that is consistent with Gorbachev’s initial goal – he never intended for any of this to happen. He only intended to redeploy socialism more efficiently and maybe re-tune it and make party a bit less secretive

They look like typical Vermonters to me!

Q: What’s slow, green, and goes backwards?
A: Vermont.

I had to go down a whole new career path when the Cold War ended. Damn that Gorbachev. No more showing Soviets around posh stores and neighborhoods and claiming that that’s how average Americans live.

One time I took a wrong turn and accidentally led my charges into Southeast LA. Almost lost my job over that little mix-up.

http://img476.imageshack.us/img476/7434/driveinya6.jpg

What was that? Happy people shopping in malls?

How did you know?
Were you that guy? )))

I didn’t know who was surprised more – I or my US partners that decided to show me “regular western life” ))

My in-laws biggest surprise while here was that the McDonald’s restaurants were almost empty.

I would never have taken them to one, but they insisted on seeing how they compared to the Russia variety. We actually had to go to two McD’s because the first one we visited was filthy, despite a recently renovated interior.

What was that? Happy people shopping in malls? Did they take you to the slum?

First person I met in US (outside official contacts) asked me very strange question – “How could I come to CCCP to live there?”
“Well…just buy a ticket. But why do you want to go there?”
“Because here I have no future. For the guys like me – from poor families etc….”
It happened in some department stores – don’t remember the name of the chain (West Coast).

I didn’t know who was surprised more – I or my US partners that decided to show me “regular western life” ))

Also recently met with the guy from US who met first live Russian (me) in his life. After some beer and exchange of opinions he came to conclusion that US propaganda was better than Soviet.

That reminds me. There is a nice quote by Limonov (someone I in general don’t give a damn about, except for some of his fiction) about Yakovlev. I don’t remember it verbatim, but it goes something like “Yakovlev experienced the West through the window of a Cadillac. I experienced it on welfare.”

I wish I could find the original quote.