Wow, Chaika. I worked for the Soviet Government as part of a cultural exchange program and was invited there as part of Glasnost. I worked in television as a sort of consultant, and helped write and produce TV shows. But I never had any sort of surveillance (that I am aware of!). I could come and go as I wished, and I often roamed alone all over Leningrad (the name changed to Sankt Peterburg while I was living there). I often hung out with my coworkers at the Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting.

The mafia was present, but usually I was able to avoid them and no one ever did me any harm. I felt safe even in 1992! My mom would read me articles about Russia from American news magazines like "Time" and "Newsweek" and I would laugh at them, because it just sounded so strange. Honestly, it was not that frightening for me at all. My friends were always good to me, they were just guys my own age, not spies or KGB or anything. We managed to have a lot of fun, despite how rough the times were.