Daily RT posts a new interesting fact about Russian culture or history in it's Russia Now section. This comes from the March 3rd entry about Emperor Alexander II:
I believe I have shown you, by coming to see you twice, despite your sulking... you know perfectly well what the only reason for it is and you cannot dare to doubt the being who belongs to you body and soul and who only breathes through you," one letter from Alexander reads.
"I saw in your eyes that you wanted to throw yourself on me to forget everything and enjoy our 'bingerle'," he continues, using the word ‘bingerle’ as their secret code for ‘love making.'This quote comes from RT's brief bio of Alexander II, aka “the Liberator” of the Russian Empire, who came to power on March 3 1855. While I do not question the importance/relevance of 'the Liberator's proclivity to bingerle, it is interesting that RT chooses to use its limited space (three paragraphs at most) to recite snippets of one of Alexander's love letters to his mistress. RT's Russia Now section is designed to pique foreigner's interest in Russia. This is certainly one way to do so.
Russia Now also includes links to information about Russian history, geography, cuisine, literature, nightlife and travel. The expanding database of all things Russia is testament to RT's long-term goal of educating foreign publics about Russia past and present. Some of my favorite posts include:
- The official RT top ten list of Russian vodkas.
- An amazing collection of Russian literature. Many great works of Russian literature, from authors such as Dostoevsky and Chekhov, are available in full-text and translated in English.
- And last but certainly not least. The first sentence from the sections' overview, "A vast snow-clad country, the native land of vodka, bears and the KGB: myths about Russia seem to be an integral part of its image." At least they identify some of the major stereotypes placed on Russians.
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