goofy pictures

During my time here, I've seen quite a few things that struck me as goofy. I've been photographing them, but so far, there hasn't seemed to be a good time to share them with everyone. So, while I wait for film from more exciting events to develop, I decided to clump them all into one giant blog of goofiness.

First of all, a little bit of "Englishky." On the train, when crossing borders, you have to fill out customs forms. Depending on what country you're entering, you may have to fill it out using the Latin alfabeth. As opposed to the Cyrillic alfabeth.



These next three examples are from a menu I had on a train trip.



Ooo, meals of one variant!! I wonder what variant awaits me? One thing's for sure, I'm thirsty... how about a nice cold bear?



Mmm. Refreshing.



In addition to the variants of dinner, the guarantee meals is also included something called Smoked Balyk. This is what it looks like:





I ask you- is this something you would eat? They say it's smoked, but it looks plain old RAW to me. Personally, I skipped over the Pit Produkt. Jonathan tells me I'm missing out. I'm not so sure.

This, however, looks like something I WOULD want to eat:



What kind of magic do you think they perform?? Maybe they cook your meat for you!

Or, I could enjoy the finest taste of original chocolate pie.



After all, it's now!



Here is a man dressed as a coffee pot.



This is a sign for a popcorn business I saw in Finland. It claims it's reducing the amount of corniness in the world. I strongly disagree.



Speaking of corny, here is an awesome pasta stand from Moscow, called "Pasta La Vista." The horrible take off of an Ahnold catch phrase sounds even worse in a Russian accent.



This is a beer bottle we saw in Latvia. Does this guy look like someone whose beer you'd trust?



While we're on the subject of trust, I'm not sure if I trust the contents of this juice box. Look at the lower left corner. What the hell fruit IS that?



When I broke the news to my family that I would be moving to Russia, for some reason, a lot of people were concerned about the low quality of the toilet paper. However, no one ever mentioned the quality of the toilets themselves. This is a toilet stall from a WOMAN'S bathroom in a park. Yes, those markings are to show where your FEET go. I paid 15 rubles (about 60 cents) for the privilege of using this toilet.



In addition to not understanding female anatomy, Russians also apparently don't understand how to eat cereal.



Like most things in Russia, you can get better quality items in Finland, including toilet paper. They're a good, clean society. This toilet paper remains a complete mystery to me, though. Notice there's NO HOLE in it. It is, in fact, extremely densely wound. I could not for the life of me figure out how this thing worked. I tried to pull it off the dispenser to figure it out, and I COULD NOT GET IT OFF. I'm still a little freaked out.



Maybe Finns aren't so innocent after all. Weird toilet paper, and just look at the name of their grocery stores. Tsk.



This is a billboard for some kind of drink. I don't know what it is. I'm not sure I want to know.



Here is a jar of peanut butter. Marketed as American- even has a little Uncle Sam-type peanut- and distributed in Russia. Why the Arabic?



Another jar of peanut butter. My husband and I have a bet going. Try telling me that's NOT Teddy Ruxpin. It has the mouth joints and everything. I swear someone just photoshopped the book out and replaced it with a giant peanut. My husband thinks I'm crazy. Back me up here, people.



This is from a restaurant we went to recently. So what exactly is IN that back room?...



Recently I stumbled upon a bag of Cheetos, which was really exciting. I was kind of nervous when I saw the picture of the ketchup packet on the front of the bag though. Were they ketchup FLAVORED or something??



No, it turns out, it just had a ketchup packet in the bag. Ketchup on Cheetos is about the grossest thing I can think of. Please tell me this isn't a trend in the US too. And why is Chester jack-hammering the ketchup?



Last but not least- okay, this is not technically a Russian product, but it's so darn cool I had to share. This is a Mallow Dog. It was sent to me by my in-laws after they found it at the Jersey Shore.



Yes, a giant marshmallow shaped like a hot dog. It's Fat Free! Cholesterol Free! And has Low Sodium! It's practically a "whole food"- just look at the brief ingredients list:



Who could resist?? Here's me, eating the Mallow Dog. Mmmm-mmmm!!



Well everyone, I hope you've enjoyed this journey into randomness. I'll write again soon about, y'know, culture and stuff.