Russian way of eating

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Was it also a capital the way it is now?

It was the capital of the “Minsk Governorate.”

Equivalent to a province.

It was also the capital of a province under the USSR.

A “Soviet Socialist Republic” was little more than a province.

Which brings back my question: why was it part of pale of settlement? I thought the whole point of pale of settlement was to keep them OUT of important cities, ESPECIALLY capitals?

It was part of the Pale of Settlement.

100% definitely.

Even ghettos have to have centers of government. The Pale was a bunch of ghettos.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 19 Nov 2019, 10:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I know it -- you told this several times. My question is *WHY*

Every region of some extent must have a center of government, finance, the intellectual, etc.

Minsk was the main city of this part of the Pale.

So are you saying the entirety of Belarus used to be pale?

That’s correct.

In America from my experience veriety is the key.

Breakfast may tend to be the same.

But lunch and dinner needs to be something different each day if possible.

And there is a great deal of consumption of Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, French etc cuisine. Along with American foods such as burger and fries.

Dinner time can be anywhere from 6 to 9 depending on the household or individual.

There's not a whole lot of order involved.

Why is this in autism discussion?

Anyway, here the eating bread with meals -thing is normal, especially with soup. (I'm from Finland.)

There are several differences between meals in the U.S. and eastern Europe and I imagine this extends to Russia.

Like you said the largest meal is the one near noontime. That is not a bad approach. It allows one to burn off the calories when they are active during the day.

Another difference is in the way we eat. Many times I will eat with my finger. Think of Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonalds. Most Americans eat with their fingers. But this is a cultural taboo in many European countries. One is considered uncivilized if they do not use a knife, fork and spoon.

When they first introduced french fries in Eastern Europe, they had to figure a way around this cultural difference. What they did in the early days was to also provide toothpicks so that the customer could use a toothpick in place of a fork.

Another cultural difference has to do with the etiquette when eating in someone else's home. In America, we generally say what we want. If we visit someone and we are thirsty, we speak up and expect the host to provide us a drink even if it is just water. Someone puts food on the table and we fill up our plate like in a buffet. We are very direct.

In Eastern Europe this was unacceptable. One never takes food or drink unless it is first offered. Many families tend to be poor and when you visit them, you do not know whether you might be robbing them of their last meal. The host might not have hardly any food in the house and as a visitor or guest it was impolite to ask for food or drink. So it was like a social game.

Host: I will fix you a lunch.
Guest: No, I am not hungry.
Host: Please I would be honored if you have a meal. It is no trouble.
Guest: I do not want to impose.
Host: Please
Guest: No, thank you.
Host: We have plenty.
Guest: No, that is O.K.
[after several more iterations, the guest finally accepts the offer for food and drink. The guest was really hungry all the while and the host in the end gave him all the food he had, his last meal in the house.]

Last edited by jimmy m on 20 Nov 2019, 10:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

I was taught to eat French fries with a fork, actually.

Side question: it says you are in the US (state of Indiana), but you write as if you are in Eastern Europe. So where are you at exactly?



I know in India they eat with their hands -- I spent 5 years in India doing postdocs and it kinda irritated me when I saw Indians eating with their hands until I learned to tune it out. I never ate with my hands though.

But I don't think Americans eat like that. I mean, if they did, how would you explain why I haven't noticed it during all those years I lived in US prior to coming to India?



Okay so could it be we are talking about different things? When I said Indians eat with their hands I was referring to the kinds of things that would make your hands all wet and dirty, while you are referring to things like french fries?

In this case I am actually surprised to hear that in Eastern Europe french fries used to be unacceptable. I mean, what about that "eating with bread" thing I mentioned in the OP? Obviously they eat bread with their hand and it is considered just fine.

But then again I haven't heard of french fries until I came to the US. But it never crossed my mind to think that the reason french fries were unheard of was the etiquet thing. I mean there were plenty of other things I didn't hear until I came to the US, including avodado, peanut butter, and so forth.



I have seen this in Russia but not to this extend. Usually it is one or two iterations, at most three, but not more than that.

My family is an exception though. In case between my mom and grandma, yes, it can be as bad as you described. But I always thought it was because my family are too over protective of each other.



I wasn't alive back at the time it was that bad. So maybe thats why they do two or three iterations rather than as many as you described, since they aren't as poor any more?

By the way, when you mentioned the thing about being direct something interesting crossed my mind. When it comes to telling someone off, Russians would be more direct than Americans. Whether its American girls that don't want to date me, or American professors that don't want to work with me, they would typically say they are "busy"; but Russians are more likely to say exactly what bothers them. Yet, at the same time -- just like you said -- Russians are a lot less direct when it comes to asking for food. I guess its not just food. Any other kind of help -- and Russians are likely to have the kind of conversation you outlined -- but then what exactly would they be telling you off for? Thats actually an interesting question, where exactly is the line between the territory where Russians are more direct and the territory where Americans are more direct?

I always thought that this forum was mis-labeled. What they meant is that it is "general discussion" rather than "general autism discussion". I mean, this is by far not the first post here that is not autism-related.



Well, Finland used to be part of Russia before the revolution.

I was born in the United States but my wife came from Poland. We live in Indiana and before that in California. I went to Poland over 45 years ago and proposed to her using a language dictionary. We couldn't even communicate in the same language but we managed to get engaged, married, raised a family and now we have grandchildren. It took her a couple years but she quickly learned English.

This is a good example of out-of-box thinking. I suspect very few NTs would ever think about this approach.

I know two guys who went overseas for brides and as far as I know they are still married.