[katana]

Just a side comment, but if you ever have the opportunity to socialize (no pun intended) with Germans and Russians you'll probably find that the Russians are a lot more fun. This is generally true of all the Slavs. Personally I found Alexis de Tocqueville's surprising comments about the similar natures of Americans and Russians (NOT their politics) to be accurate. On a person to person level they can be excellent companions. But as somebody else once said, no one has ever invented a system that the Russians could make work nor one the Germans could not make work. The very best Communists, after all, turned out to be the East Germans.

[jmacusa]

I have had many German friends, as well as Poles(my favorite eastern European people) and some Russians and what I learned is :Germans hate Poles and Russians. Poles and Russians hate Germans. Russians hate Germans and are sh!t-scared of them. It’s no joke that East Germany was always the one place the USSR kept the largest contingent of occupation forces. When it came time to leave Eastern Europe the Russians left E.Germany last. And the last military train out of the old GDR was one mostly of flat cars carrying T-72 tanks with the turrets swung to the rear. That old habit Russians have of always looking over their shoulder. Continuing, Russians hate Poles and Poles hate Russians with a fury most Americans would find astonishing. One word to in Polish sums it up: “Katyn’’. I love Polish food, I’ll tell you that.