Well, After suffer though a Russian like winter here in the Northeast USA, One can see why they drink so much.
Yes, vodka is still consumed, and is the drink of choice when making toasts, but I think Russians have become more diverse in their drinking habits.
I thought we figured this out a couple of centuries ago.
I met a woman who left Russia and moved to the US about 18 years ago. She was a psychologist in her country - she became a hairstylist in the US. She now looks back on her life there amid all the despair. She recalls getting up in the morning and drinking vodka. More vodka at noon, more vodka...more vodka...
She is amazed to recall that vodka made her life better than it otherwise was - how bad would her life have been without vodka etc. She doesn’t drink it in the US unless it is at evening traditional celebrations - she doesn’t ‘need’ it. But she wonders what was so bad about her life there that made her feel that drinking vodka made it better. She can no longer remember what it was -but she remembers “we all did it” (drink like that) just to get through the day.
I’m a wedding photographer. I few years ago I photographed a Russian wedding. I noticed on the tables at the reception that in place of the usual wine, that there were three bottles of vodka. I thought “no good can come from this.” I was wrong. Those people drank all that vodka and not one person looked or acted the slightest bit drunk.
Whoa! The Russians drink?
Who knew!
Some of my family lived in Russia for many years. It’s so sad to think of the Russian men dying young like that. They used to say the rule of thumb for a good party was how many days you could not remember.
Being born Russian is punishment enough!