Let me lead you through the streets of Moscow

by Brit Muscovite

We find it very important to know what do other people think about us. Do you agree? With this purpose I’d like to start today a new theme in this blog - attitude of russian people to different countries and nations. Before you go to Moscow, let you inform about.

Article by Gvozdeva E. www.fom.ru

Holland

Only 28% of Russians know that Holland and the Netherlands are the same country, poll data shows. About half of them (42%) think these are two different states (an opinion shared even by 36% of university graduates), and 31% have difficulty answering the question.

Men proved to be better in geography than women: 36% of male and only 21% of female respondents said Holland is the same as the Netherlands.

Russians scarcely know Holland's capital: only 17% of those surveyed managed to give a correct answer, and men here, too, are better informed than women. 23 percent of male respondents (against 13 percent of females) specified Amsterdam as the capital of the Netherlands.

The Dutchmen best-known in Russia are the painters Van Gogh and Rembrandt, and the soccer players Gullit, Cruyff and van Basten.

In addition, the philosopher Spinoza, the painters Rubens and van Dyck were named, mostly by Muscovites. Interestingly, among famous Dutchmen some respondents mentioned the Norwegian scientists Amundsen and Nansen and the Danish fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen.

Obviously, a considerable number of respondents erroneously placed Holland among the Scandinavian countries. This might be one reason why many of those surveyed described it as a cold northern land:
• "Cold mountainous landscape."
• "A bald land, few woods."
• "A country on the seashore, the land is recovered from the sea, the land is getting lower, the sea is encroaching upon the land."
Other respondents, on the contrary, believe Holland to be a land with a mild climate:
• "Warm climate, wide fields."
• "It's nice there, it's hot."
• "It's warm, it's summer."
At the same time, for all their unawareness about Holland's geographical setting and culture, the majority of those surveyed associate this country strongly with consumer goods imported from there to Russia.

A 29% plurality of those who answered the open-ended question, "What do you think of first when you hear the word Holland?", spoke of high-developed agriculture and food processing industry:
• "Agriculture is well-managed."
• "Good foodstuffs with no preservatives."
When it comes to the achievements of Holland's agriculture, its famous dairy products, above all cheeses, are mentioned first of all. They are appreciated as ecologically pure and of high quality:
• "Dairy products are tasty and ecologically pure."
• "I recall Dutch cheese."
• "Cheeses are made very well there."
Beside food products, 17% of those surveyed reckon flowers and canals among Holland's highlights:
• "The world's flower market."
• "A sea of tulips."
• "Flowers, the Dutch roses."
• "Canals, boats."
Overall, Holland is conceived of as a wealthy "foreign country" (4%) with a high living standard (5%):
• "Just an alien country."
• "A normal prosperous country."
• "A civilized, highly-developed state."
The living standard in Holland are estimated by those surveyed to be considerably higher than in Russia.
• "People live there, while we just exist."
• "They have a better living than Russia."
• "I would like to live there; it is an exemplary country, they live well there."
The general impression of Holland's people has to do first of all with their industry and goodhearted nature:
• "A very industrious and peace-loving people."
• "People who work and understand what they want to achieve."
• "People in this country are good-hearted, kind."
• "People who smile a lot."
Holland's sports traditions were mentioned by 2% of those surveyed, primarily soccer teams.
• "Their soccer team is a super-team ."
• "The Dutch National soccer team."
• "Amsterdam's 'Ajax' ."
Some respondents believe, Holland is famous in history due to its highly-developed shipbuilding (2%). As a rule, this idea is associated with the memory of Peter I's trip to Holland:
• "An old ship-building center, a country of navigators, Peter I learned in Holland."
• "The young years of Peter I; he took a lot from Holland for Russia and for the navy."
• "Peter I's visit to Holland."
Holland is viewed by many respondents as a very liberal country where drug consumption, prostitution and homosexual marriage are legalized (2%):
• "Drugs, marijuana, a free life."
• "It is a licentious country where it is allowed to take drugs."
• "Gays are loosened up on, drug addiction is legalized."
• "Freedom of sexual relations."
The most knowledgeable of those surveyed recall that euthanasia is legalized in the Netherlands:
• "Killing hopeless patients."
• "They want to give old people the needle."
1% of the respondents could think of "famous Dutch artists," "Dutch lace and linen" and Dutchmen's "cleaning their streets with detergent powder."

ARE HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS THE SAME COUNTRY OR TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES?

WOULD YOU PLEASE TELL US, WHAT IS THE CAPITAL CITY OF HOLLAND?

OPEN-ENDED QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF FIRST WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD "HOLLAND"?

Article by Gvozdeva E. www.fom.ru

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